Jake Wood, who is about my age, is a former UW football player who graduated and enlisted in the Marines.  During his service, he completed two tours of duty, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan and is now retired.  I first heard about Wood when I found his blog, Jake’s Life, shortly after he deployed for the first time.  I’ve been following his blog ever since.

Team Rubicon flew into the Dominican Republic and drove overland into Haiti with supplies donated from people in America.  They quickly got to work helping people survive.

Their blog posts are heart wrenching and amazing, all at the same time.  Many of the pictures are graphic.  One of their recent posts was called Bureaucracy is killing people, not bandits, and laments the fact that donations are sitting at the airport and not reaching the people who need it most.  Today, Team Rubicon has managed to treat over 200 people, in addition to the hundreds they have helped in the past few days and are quickly running out of supplies.  Their entire mission is completely privately funded, so they rely on private donations.  Please check out their blog and think about what you can do to help their effort.

The world needs more people like Team Rubicon.  Their entrepreneurial approach to helping people is saving lives, while supplies sits at the airport.  Mark Cuban recently said, “We need people who try to change the game. Who don’t just approach problems with gutless answers.”  He was referring to NBC and the Tonight Show, but I think it really applies to Team Rubicon.  They have changed the game for hundreds of Haitians by acting, not just sitting around.  I am inspired by their work and wish them the very best.  Good luck, stay safe and keep up the good work!