Here are some statistics reflecting the efforts that our Integral Life Foundation group made during its health care visit to Haiti two weeks ago:

• We visited seven orphanages.
• The medical team assessed and treated approximately 600 children.
• We distributed 600 mosquito nets to the orphanages and hung about 300 of them.
• We cleaned and disinfected 300 mattresses and then wrapped them in plastic.

We returned to Kansas City last week, tired but with a feeling that we had done some good and made a difference that will help make those young lives somewhat brighter.

It was very exciting to see that our clinic is virtually built in Les Cayes, a metropolitan area in south Haiti located near an orphanage and a church. The clinic creates sort of an economic engine in the area. The residents are used to missionaries and medical teams visiting there and they line up for the doctors.

The clinic will be used as the base of operations to provide healthcare for orphans. This will become more evident as we bring more medical teams from the U.S. and as we begin to employ Haitian physicians.

The first chapter of the story is complete, along with the physical shell of the building. Now it needs to be equipped with standard medical office supplies, dental equipment and imaging apparatus.  There is not a single CT scan nor MRI machine in the entire southern region.

As U.S. citizens we don’t think twice about receiving basic medical care, and that is exactly what is needed in south Haiti, where children routinely go without immunizations for measles and malaria and care for HIV AIDS.

So when seven volunteers come from the U.S. to help, the results are tangible.

While you would expect that the current recession has diminished America’s capacity for philanthropy, a closer examination reveals that charitable giving continues to be strong. But people are changing their attitudes regarding where they donate and consequently, to what organizations they donate.

In 2008, the first year of our recession, U.S. charitable giving exceeded $300 billion for the first time. Yet, donations to churches and to arts organizations are down.

We have felt for some time that simply giving to religious organizations is not fulfilling the myriad of needs we see in the world. Churches are seeing that their congregations are not satisfied to give within their broad frameworks. Donors increasingly want to see results.

Barclays Bank recently reported that religious organizations and arts groups are facing uncertain futures as philanthropies. Over the last decade overall donations to these types of organizations have declined and some experts are predicting a further 16 percent decline in those types of donations within a few more years.

Reuters reports that wealthy people are maintaining their levels of giving during the recession, and young donors are becoming more active, just not in giving to churches and the arts.

Meanwhile, donations for children, health care and the environment are expected to rise dramatically. We’re posting a link from Philanthropy Today, which explores this issue further.

The Intergral Life Foundation fortunately seems to be positioned well to take advantage of the changing nature of philanthropy in America. We exist to build upon the foundation already established by our generous donors and to demonstrate how their donations are used.

ILF works with individuals and communities for the optimal benefit of all, starting with the most vulnerable — orphans. We help build the critical aspects of caring and competence around these children: home, health care, education and occupation — all for the opportunity to participate in the human capacity to dream. By giving them opportunity, they can pick up and wield the tools necessary to build their own communities and eventually their countries.

ILF exists to provide the gift of a dream come true. But it is, so to speak, a gift that keeps on giving.