"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present," said Abraham Lincoln. "The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew." While Lincoln was addressing a national emergency from over a century and a half ago, his words are equally applicable to the global crisis presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. As leaders at all levels have struggled to respond adequately to the historic threat to public safety, one international agency has shown decisive, compassionate and creative action. The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the only governing sports organization to include every one of the world's 226 nations and territories, has made the most of its global reach. Acting through its do-gooder arm, the ITTF Foundation, the foundation has launched the #TableTennisUnited campaign to help those most affected by the pandemic. #TableTennisUnited has organized food and hygiene kits on an industrial scale, delivering truckloads of desperately needed supplies to communities in India, Kenya, El Salvador, Uganda, Ghana and Ecuador, just to name a few. Using the star power of such table tennis celebrities as Timo Boll, Ding Ning, Quadri Aruna and Sharath Kamal Achanta, the campaign has raised more than $254,400 USD for various charitable efforts around the world. Through the link below, you have the opportunity to donate to this campaign. If your community is in need, there you will also find a link to apply for a grant from #TableTennisUnited. The ITTF has declared the campaign an act of "defiant solidarity" in the face of the pandemic. Regardless of how you spin it, it is clearly an admirable instance of thinking and acting anew in the stormy present.

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