Over the last few days, we have witnessed the very depths of humanity capacity for depravity — and also the heights of its capacity for compassion.

The world stood in shock following the pair of deadly terrorist attacks in Lebanon and France, which took place almost 24 hours after each other on Thursday and Friday. Nearly 200 people in Beirut and Paris lost their lives at the hands of the extremist militants with the Islamic State (IS), with hundreds more in both nations injured.

Following the atrocities, people throughout the globe came together to show their support for the victims of the attacks. Be it through monetary donations to relief organizations or merely displaying a flag over their profile picture on Facebook, millions of people demonstrated a level of solidary for their fellow man that is rarely witnessed these days.

As both countries attempt to heal and carry forward following the attacks, the continued support from their international neighbors will no doubt be of great use to their efforts.

Even though we are far removed from the violence witnessed across the Atlantic, residents living in southwest Michigan can pitch in from relief efforts, by contributing to humanitarian organizations. Here are a few such agencies that are people can contribute to in the coming weeks:

• Red Cross: The French Red Cross mobilized 300 volunteers to assist with relief efforts following the attacks in Paris. People can donate directly to the French branch at https://www.ammado.com/nonprofit/crf. People also donate to the Red Cross’ collective international relief efforts by giving to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, at http://www.ifrc.org/en/get-involved/donate/.

• Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders): An international relief organization that provides medical assistance for people suffering from armed conflict, epidemics and natural disasters. While the organization has yet to announce relief efforts in France or Lebanon, people can still donate at http://www.msf.org/donate.

• Secours populaire française: A nonprofit that provides assistance to the impoverished in France and beyond. The organization’s president has called for “gestures of humanity” in the wake of the Paris tragedy. People can donate to organization at http://english.secourspopulaire.fr/page-donnez_en.0.html.

People can also find other reputable nonprofits to donate to at sites like http://www.charitynavigator.org or http://www.guidestar.org.

We encourage locals to contribute however they can in the days ahead, and continue to show their solidarity behind the victims of these reprehensible attacks.

 

Opinions expressed are those of the editorial board consisting of Publisher Michael Caldwell and editors Ambrosia Neldon, Craig Haupert, Ted Yoakum and Scott Novak.