Entries Tagged 'Philanthropy' ↓

Do you ever call a best friend or favorite aunt or your mom and just chatter endlessly? Filling almost the entire hour conversation with everything you’re doing, what you’re thinking about and what you kids did this week? Never quite taking a moment to breath and allow the other person to get a word in edgewise? 

Please tell me you do this, because I do this ALL the time.

And guess what? I consider you are all close friends of mine, so I am going yammer on here for a little bit. Inspired by my “always the link lover” friend Florinda at the 3 Rs, I want to share some links that have me thinking this week as well as just some stuff I like. I am warning you, it will be haphazard, one sided and excessively chatty. But you all don’t mind right? That’s whats friends do, at least what my wonderfully patient friends do, I guess.

First of all, Ike. Yup, the hurricane. It busted right through Texas last week, remember? I know all I saw were live garbled feeds of newscasters positioning themselves in the wind, doing their damnedest to get knocked over. (Is that like some sort of notch on a weather forecaster’s belt? To get blown over during a hurricane?)  And then I saw some pretty insane damage being reported the following day. But then little by little, I haven’t heard much else thanks to our piss-poor economy and election updates.

Well, here’s the scoop. A fabulous blogger, Julie Pippert, expereinced the hurricane for herself. Please read her plea for help here. Things there are NOT ok. And as you will read in her post, a donation to the red cross, even $5, will make an enormous difference. Please consider giving.

How much disposable stuff do you go through? How many paper towels? How many grocery bags do you stuff in your closet or throw away? How many diapers do you use? How many wipes? The Crunchy Domestic Goddess is running a Ditch the Disposables Challenge for September and October. She is asking all of us to try and cut down on some of your disposable products. My goal is to not use paper towels or paper napkins but use cloth towels and sponges. (Shoot, its partially a selfish thing, paper towels are expensive!) Also I am desperately trying to keep using those cloth grocery bags. I think I am doing pretty well with it actually! They stay on my car front seat so I have them ready to go. Also, I am using my old plastic grocery bags as my trash bags and won’t buy actual trash bags either.

Can I just make one more plea for folks? Join the 29 Day Giving Challenge! It’s really been a lot more do-able than I expected. Plus, I am having fun trying to think up a new thing to give everyday. Often I have 2 or 3 things on my list!

Um, this is kind of an obvious one (but who am I to ignore the obvious). A veeery important election is coming up. Have you registered to vote? Do me a favor and please make sure you are registered.

If you know me, you know I feel very strongly about equal rights. One of these rights is marriage – loving couples of every sexual preference deserve the right to marry. A fantastic writer and person, Lesbian Dad, is living in CA. right now with her family. Please read her blog when you can, and this post has a great video to watch. If you live in CA., vote no on Propostition 8. But you certainly don’t have to live in CA. to donate to the cause, so please consider doing that if you can’t vote. There is a long way to go to change discrimination against same sex couples. Did you know that here in Florida, a same sex couple, or single homosexual person, cannot adopt a child? It’s outrageous.

Speaking of discrimination, do you know what I have been recently stressed out about? Racism in this election. I wonder why this election is so close when Obama seems like such a strong choice. I wonder if he were white, if the spread would be larger. I wonder if this country really wants change… or can change. I know there is a post coming about this in my future but read this post here from Momocrats about individuals out rightly admitting they would never vote for a “black”. (Shudder.)

So why should you really vote for Obama? In case you still need more convincing (and assuming race has nothing to do with your decision… please, tell me it doesn’t), the amazing Queen of Spain did a fab job this week of continuing to back Obama. Read about it here. Don’t know who Queen of Spain is? If you have been watching CNN recently during both the DNC and RNC, you’ve seen her. Shoot, here she is – just a mom blogger in her own right – interviewing Obama himself.

After posting about my son C. getting his doll, I read this article here from Motherhood Uncensored about her son playing with “girl” toys. I thought it was fantastic.

Oh and hey, did you know I am writing for Type A Moms now? I am their “Liberal Moms Editor”. Perfect, huh? Here’s the funny part, I am nervous about having a grown up EDITOR title and, as a result, I am having some major writer’s block for my next (and really first ACTUAL) post. I’ll come up with something - I have ideas of course, but nothing seems good enough quite right. I just need to get into the groove of it and gather some confidence, right? Wish me luck.

Finally, I want to list some fun stuff I just plain old really like.

My 5 year old T. and I have been reading these “From the Black Lagoon” books about different people he might meet at school. They are hysterical and I really recommend them for your children if they are just starting at a new school too!

My 2 yo C. and I have just started Music Together classes. He loves them and the music is fabulous (we truly enjoy the 2 CDs you are given when you sign up, one for the car and one for home). There is great teaching about children’s development for the parents and I honestly get a workout every Friday jumping, spinning, dancing, and marching with my kid. If you’ve got the time, I wholeheartedly recommend signing up for a class with your children in your area.

Need a good gift idea for someone or for Christmas coming up? Hyper-dashis a huge hit in my house. I bought it on a whim and both kids really love it. It really gives them a work out too! Yay for tired children more likely to nap…

We recently were given a subscription to High Five Magazine. What fun for my kids to get a magazine in the mail too! They read it cover to cover, T. loves the Spanish learning section in particular.

And another adorable book that I can’t get enough of? The Peace Book. LOVE IT.

Maybe you haven’t heard of the website Starfall? It is honestly the best letter and phonics learning website out there. And that’s not just my opinion. My teacher friends, my pediatrician and my speech pathologist aunt all heartily agree. T. likes to put it on with C., teaching him the ABC’s while playing fun songs and games. Its really terrific, they are on it right now.

Oh and I saw a pretty funny movie last night that I hadn’t even heard of. The Promotion. Great actors you (and esp. your husband) love to watch: Sean William Scott (aka Stiffler) and John C. Riley. And the story is just about regular guys trying to get ahead and take care of their families. I really enjoyed it!

And…. I’m spent.

And how was your week?

As you all know, my friend’s story of charity was very inspiring for me. I was truly moved. And then, after reading my post, my blogger friend Mary from Everyday Baby Steps shared the link for the 29 Day Giving Challenge in her comment. I took a look. Wow. If I was ever inspired to get on board with a cause such as this one, it would be now.

Here’s the deal. For 29 days, I need to give something to someone every day. It does not need to be something of great value. It can be support, a hug, a favor, moving someones garbage cans off the road, spending more time with your children than you normally would, and on it goes. What is important here is the spirit of the gift and how it changes your own outlook on life.

Is this challenge starting to peak your interest? Then, go to the website, watch the video and really absorb what this is all about.

And I have to be honest, I was a little intimidated by this challenge. First of all, we aren’t exactly rolling in it these days. I am holding on to every tiny bit I have to get by. So what do I have to give? What could little ol’ me possibly give? Money is easy, but I don’t really have money to give. So I need to be creative. I need to *think* about what I can do to bring a little positivity into someones life – every day. FOR 29 DAYS. Egad.

All day yesterday, I hemmed and hawed about whether I could really do this. Am I selfless enough to be that thoughtful? Everyday? Am I even that nice?

Aw, c’mon Caroline. Buck up, you can do a little something more everyday for someone.

And you know what else I really like about this whole challenge? Its all about fostering good karma. Yeah, bring on good karma, I love that stuff. 

So, ok then. I’m in.

Now first of all, I want to be sure I do something I wasn’t planning on doing anyway. For instance, I can’t say giving my children dinner would count. As awesome as I think I am for toiling over that stove (er, microwave) - for me, that act of “charity” doesn’t really count (not that my kids would agree carrot sticks are exactly charity anyway).

Hmmm. So what am I going to give today? Yikes, I don’t know. We’ll see how the day unfolds. But you can be sure I will let you know. I am going to keep track of what I do everyday and then check in here once a week and give you a quick summary of how I am doing.

So. How about it? Yup, now I am looking at you. Are you in? Are you up for the 29 day challenge? If you are in, let me know! I need a “Giving Posse” of sorts. So come along for the ride and join the cause. And be sure to share your ideas! I still need to come up with something for today, for cripes sakes…

Happy Giving!

When was the last time you gave something to someone? I am not talking about a present for a child’s birthday. Or offered a diet coke out of your frig to a friend stopping in. I’m talking about really REALLY giving, to a cause, to a family member, or how about a friend in need?

Times are tough for our country right now. Granted, comparably to those in many countries, we are still living the high life. But, in the grand scheme of our own economy, things have not been very good. And many of us, many of us living on one income, in homes with dwindeling equity, scraping it together to buy more expensive groceries and gas - times aren’t easy.

I have a friend of mine who has been really struggling. I will keep her details private but I am worried about her. Even with three young children, her family has already cut the fringe stuff: cell phones, cable, internet, their second car - and they still can hardly keep their nose above water. If they even are, its hard to know.

And here’s the thing about my friend. Her freezer can be bare, literally just ice cubes, some frozen broccoli and a frozen pizza – and she will share that pizza with my family, gladly. If she has anything, she wants to give, to share, to have friends over, to gather all the kids and pass out Popsicles.

Well, I stopped in to her home the other day. When I arrived she looked at me and said, “Caroline. You won’t believe it.” And she led me into her kitchen. She has a friend whom she sees fairly often and she had been by that day. Her kitchen had changed.

This friend had made a trip to Sam’s club and had delivered to my friend: pounds of beef and chicken, blocks of cheese, bags of frozen foods, giant cans of formula, boxes of diapers and wipes, jars of pretzels and snacks, boxes of cookies, big boxes of pasta, jars of sauce… on and on it went. And then, she even filled the tank of my friend’s SUV.

I was speechless. I stood there staring at her freezer, absolutely amazed. I looked back at her and we both KNEW how much that meant. How far this would take her. What relief this honestly was.

And her friend told her to never even consider paying her back. Her friend said that if she is one day in a position to do the same for someone else, she should. Pay it forward and leave it at that.

As a mom struggling in my own way to make sure we have our groceries, gas in our cars, school uniforms bought, I could not appreciate the beauty and selfless nature of this gesture. It was extraordinarily inspiring. It was something that should be shared.

So, when was the last time you gave something to someone? If you are ever in a place to give, have you? Can you? What could you do that might affect your community? Your loved ones? Your church? Your child’s school?

For whatever small amount you can afford to give, that is an enormous amount to someone else. Take a look around, take a look at what you have and figure out a way. You may never entirely realize the difference you might make but the need is always there. Be inspired and simply find a way.