Consider this your invitation to join thousands of students already participating in American Idol for charities. It’ll take just a few minutes to vote, it’s absolutely free and it’s just a few mouse-clicks away to help save lives.

A close friend of mine, Dr. Patrick Lee, has dedicated his professional life to providing healthcare services and fundamental rights to the poor in developing nations. Currently, he serves as the Director of Chronic Diseases for Tiyatien Health in Liberia.

After two decades of civil war, more than 40 percent of Liberians suffer from major depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Up to 5 percent suffer from epilepsy. This fall, he and his organization began providing free, community-based mental health care in rural Liberia.

Soon after, many young adults joined his cause — spreading messages of social justice at major universities. “What’s been remarkable about Tiyatien Health in the past few months has been the wave of support we’ve gotten from the Harvard undergrad and med school community,” Dr. Lee told me. “We’ve literally tripled our U.S. staff size, most of them students.”

And it was one of Dr. Lee’s enterprising students that suggested an easy way to mobilize the interests of young people; and this is where Busted Halo social justice seekers like you can make a difference.

Be a Changemaker… for FREE!

Tiyatien Health is one of the finalists (out of 340 submissions from 42 countries) in a Changemakers Inititive “Rethinking Mental Health” competition, and Dr. Lee has until December 9 to garner enough votes to be declared one of the three winners. When he sent me the email asking for my help, I wanted to spread the word more broadly. It’s totally FREE, takes less than 3 minutes (trust me, I did it) — and you could make a real difference:

Please take a few moments to VOTE for the “Rebuilding Hope After War” initiative on the Changemakers website. The $5,000 prize would go directly to our communities in Liberia. If Dr. Lee’s organization wins, the advocacy gain would be immeasurable. The people we serve need this. They deserve it.

Like American Idol, winners are chosen based on popularity. Please help us make Tiyatien Health’s “Rebuilding Hope After War” initiative a global health sensation by DECEMBER 9.

Here are the simple steps:

1. Create a Changemakers account. This required step involves a confirmation email to activate your account, but you need not receive further contact from Changemakers. Nor do you need to give any personal information other than a username and email address (which is not visible to the public).
2. Once logged in, follow this link to the competition page.
3. VOTE for “Rebuilding Hope After War: Mental Health and Community Recovery” based in Liberia. You can read our full proposal — selected as a finalist from 340 submissions! — by following the link. Or just vote. (Note: Changemakers requires that you vote for 3 initiatives. Choose any for your other two. But vote for us!)
4. SHARE, SHARE, SHARE! Help us win a popularity contest that will make a very real impact.

A little holiday social justice work has never been so easy!