There are nearly 1 billion people who are hungry at this moment. Not hungry like the hunger we experience when we start to think what we might fix for the next meal, but the kind of hunger that eats away at their insides, consuming muscle mass and making them susceptible to disease. Nearly 800 million people lack access to safe drinking water. Without food and safe water, illness and epidemics have free rein. Every year 10 million children under age 5 die from lack of basic healthcare. More than 6 million could be save from simple, inexpensive therapies such as antibiotics for pneumonia and rehydration for diarrhea. One of the most effective organizations in the battle to save lives is Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Border. For the second year, Chic Management’s Culture Shock event is raising funds to support this life-saving work around the world.

Every charity event in Second Life has a few detractors. There are those who are uncertain about its legitimacy. That is not a concern with this events as you can see here, Culture Shock works in concert with MSF and MSF has its own avatar to receive the funds directly.

There are those who argue that these events make people think they are doing something when what they do is very little. That may be true on the micro level, but on the macro level, tens of thousands of dollars are raised.

But so what if it’s microdonations, the antibiotics to save one child from pneumonia cost only $0.30 cents. So buying one dress at Culture Shock can buy treatment for as many as 10 children.

Of course, there’s nothing to stop people from making direct donations to MSF. Charitable events do not prevent people from making independent donations, rather, they increase awareness and can inspire direct donations. Frankly, a good portion of those who will shop at events have their own charities, closer to home and heart, and supporting MSF is not on their radar. For many people, the money spent at Culture Shock will be money intended for pleasure, not charity, and so these donations are new money for the charity, money diverted by the generosity of Second Life’s creators and their customers to a worthy cause. Culture Shock is the very epitome of a win-win-win-win situation.

We, the customers win because we get to see the newest and best from 184 stores in a conveniently located spot and can discover new businesses in a simple promenade around the sim. The designers win because they have a chance to be seen and appreciated by new customers and they get the warm satisfaction of saving lives through their art. MSF wins because it will receive several thousands of dollars in donations from people who might never have heard of them or thought to support them before. Most importantly, hundreds of families whose fragile lives are threatened by famine, war and disease will win because there will be life-saving doctors, nurses and medicine to help them struggle to survive. So, open your hearts and your wallets and shop until it hurts at Culture Shock. It opens tomorrow and goes until May 26th, so you can spend lots of lindens and make a huge difference in the far corners of the world.