Pandemic emphasizes role U.S. plays in charity around the world

While the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be winding down in the United States, that's not the case when it comes to India, Brazil and other countries who are facing major outbreaks.

COVID-19 has illuminated the fact that we're all interconnected - especially when it comes to our health and well-being - and that a virus can spread quickly beyond borders to become a global pandemic in a short amount of time.

In my corner of the world, as president of Judson University, the pandemic has fundamentally shifted how we operate both on and off campus in order to follow health and safety protocols. While we were fortunate to operate the 2020-21 academic year with in-person classes and events, many students remain isolated from their peers and greater community - particularly those students who come to Judson from countries all over the world.

Despite these hardships and challenges, there's a sense of hope as we turn a corner in this pandemic. I see it in my students on campus, in our Elgin community and even across the United States. As humans, we are resilient beings who can persevere and find ways to work through tough situations. But more than that, we're hardwired to reach out to others and help those in need.

As a lifelong educator, I teach my students about charity - not only in dealing with other people who don't agree with us, but in dealing with those who are less fortunate than us. And as Christians, we're called to help our neighbors both near and far. Jesus called us to love our neighbor as our self, whether they live next door, in the next state or another country. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only created more urgent needs, but also given us more opportunities to do our part to help.

All too often, we forget about the need for charity in our policymaking on Capitol Hill and how the United States can help others in a meaningful, robust way through our foreign assistance and global health programs. These programs save lives, lift people out of extreme poverty, combat hunger and food insecurity and fight infectious diseases - among many other impressive feats.

We need look no further than places like India and Brazil to see nations in dire need of compassion and support as they experience massive COVID-19 surges.

One of our local lawmakers, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, has been outspoken on how we can use our resources to help India and other countries fight these COVID-19 outbreaks. By supplying vaccines, oxygen, masks and other emergency supplies, our assistance will help communities abroad deal with these humanitarian tragedies, as well as the rising levels of hunger, poverty and violence brought on by the pandemic.

In these instances, our charity helps more than our neighbors abroad, it also helps us look out for our neighbors at home. Krishnamoorthi compared COVID-19 to a wildfire and if it rages out of control, "it will come back and burn us here in the United States."

He's one in a number of congressional leaders in Illinois, both Republicans and Democrats, who are calling for increased American assistance and engagement around the world to address the ongoing pandemic, as well as the resulting humanitarian and economic crises. Several weeks ago, led by Senators Dick Durbin and Todd Young, half of the Senate signed a bipartisan letter encouraging their colleagues in Congress to support strong funding for foreign assistance and other humanitarian programs, most notably to help close the gaps that "threaten to prolong the pandemic and undermine our progress at home."

Together, these lawmakers build on a strong bipartisan legacy across the state of Illinois on the importance of American engagement and lifting the lives of those abroad - through our global health and development efforts, as well as through our diplomacy and peace-brokering.

As we continue to recover here at home, our actions now can help stem the further spread of COVID-19 in India and other countries, as well as our own. In an interconnected world, our neighbors are much closer than we think. Just as much as a disease can cross an ocean in a matter of hours, so too can our charity, helping to make a real, tangible difference in the lives of our neighbors - both here in Elgin and halfway around the world.

• Dr. Gene Crume is president of Judson University in Elgin.