31 Days of Goodness....

Last year, I wrote a post called 31 Days of Goodness. That post had a record number of views because of you. Yes, it had a lot of great information but it was shared and viewed because YOU are great and interested and willing to do great things for other people. I believe most people, given the opportunity or information, contribute to the goodness of the world and the happiness of others. There are new charities formed every single day so let’s refresh our options for this year and present 31 Days of Goodness Part Deux with some old favorites and some new favorites mixed in.

By nature, I am a person who includes thankfulness and gratitude in every day. The economy has been challenging enough for so many people but it is heart breaking to see the list from the family our son’s class adopted for the holidays because it does not include toys. It does not include DVDs or games for the Wii. It includes basic things likes shoes, toothbrushes, and blankets. It is the state of affairs for many families and a clear reminder hard luck can hit anyone, but also that kindness and generosity can (and should) be easily shared. It is not the amount that is given, it is the act of giving itself. So many people donate, contribute, and volunteer to causes throughout the year; I think it is outstanding to see human kindness in action.

And now with the turn of December, there are an abundance of opportunities for every person to contribute. It’s the 31 days of goodness, and easy exercises (and many of them free) to put a smile on someone else’s face as well as your own. And to lean over that blade of grass and whisper: grow, grow.

FREE GOODNESS:

1. One of the best thing I personally did all year: I donated eleven inches of hair to Locks of Love. They make wigs for children with terminal cancer.

2. You can also donate your hair to Matter of Trust where environmental experts have learned hair and other natural fibers can clean up oil spills.

3. Get involved. To start, visit Do Something which is a fantastic website which  can help you find service projects in your zip code. They also encourage you to engage your teenage family members to get involved in philanthropy. Their aim is to inspire the next generation of “doers”. You can also find local events/charities/nonprofits to support at Do Good Channel.  

4. Mentor/coach/tutor a future John Grisham, Louisa May Alcott, or Chelsea Handler at http://826national.org/ which is 7 nonprofits working to celebrate and advance creative writing in students age 16-18.

5. Go to your book case and clean it out. Instead of donating to the library, take those books to a local literacy program.

6. You can also join Books For Soldiers for free and send them to troops.

7. Give blood. To find a local blood bank: Visit Give Life.

8. Send a holiday card for FREE to a soldier abroad through a Xerox sponsored program called Let's Say Thanks.  A very quick and easy way to show support and solidarity.

9. Save all of your magazines from the month and donate them to a local women’s shelter.

10. Call a local retirement community and schedule a visit. You can spend an hour or two calling bingo. We have done it and it is a total hoot. One of the elderly ladies won and yelled “OH SWEET JESUS”. I crack up now thinking about it. (You can also take your sassy OPI or Essie nail polish instead and do some fun manicures.)

11. You can donate baby blankets, stuffed animals, and children’s books to Project Night Night  which helps homeless children.

12. Donate your old cell phones to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Go to the site and click under Take Action and then Donate.

13. Donate shoes (you know you have more than you can ever wear!) to Share Your Soles.

14. Mentor an at-risk teen online at I Could Be. 

15. Become an online reading mentor and penpal for kids in 3rd – 5th grade at http://www.in2books.com/ (They do a background check: Use promo code: SAV2449 so it won't cost you a cent.)

16. Play Free Rice and every correct vocab word you identify, 10 grains of rice are donated to the UN World Food Program. You can also play Free Kibble and for every correct answer, they add 10 pieces of dog food for an animal shelter in need. You need a break from playing Word Mole or Farmville right?

17. Put your favorite charity on your  Facebook page or Twitter account. You are on there all the time anyway.

18. Donate gift cards you won’t use to Plastic Jungle.

19. If you knit, you can send squares to Warm Up America. The squares will be knit into afghans and donated to battered women’s shelters.

20. Sign up to volunteer at http://www.keenusa.org/  and become a one on one volunteer to teach kids with disabilities about noncompetitive sports.


SMALL DONATION RELATED GOODNESS

21. Give a $35 Gift of Hope to women and children rescued from Sex Slavery and Sex Trafficking at http://www.sharedhope.org/.

22. Donate a minimum of $10.00 to www.pajamaprogram.org which provides jammies and books for kids in orphanages, group homes, and shelters. To date, they have given almost ONE MILLION books and pjs to kids who need them. J

23. A small $10.00 gift to http://www.helpamotherout.org/ will give a supply of diapers to a struggling Mom.

24. Lend $25.00 to http://www.kiva.org/ which takes your loan and helps woman all over the world start businesses. You can choose your cause and the money will be paid back. So many people did this last year, it was incredible.

25. Donate to The Wounded Warrior Project  which provides benefits, services, counseling and more to men and women who have risked their lives to protect our country and our freedom. This is my Mom’s favorite charity.

26. A $10.00 donation to Noah’s Ark helps abused children rehabilitate abused animals. I know someone very involved in this program and it is amazing.

27. Help the teachers who are educating our children! At http://www.donorschoose.org/, you can views long lists provided by teachers regarding classroom needs. Everything from writing utensils to science equipment.

28. A $35.00 donation to Sleeping Children Around the World  provides a Bed Kit that consists of a mat or mattress, pillow, sheet, blanket, mosquito net (if applicable), clothes outfit, towel and school supplies for a needy child.

29. $35 dollars will also feed a needy child for one month with Share Our Strength. 

30. Go to Best Friends and make a small donation to help this organization dealing with thousands of displaced pets. Your money can help set up shelters, prepare furry friends for adoption, or have microchips put into the animals.  

31. And finally, and of critical relevance: Go and buy a new super-fly cold-drink canteen for $19.00 at Water.Org. EVERY dollar goes to help people around the world gain access to clean drinking water. 1 in 8 people DO not have this access.  

If everyone we know did just one of these things, consider the benevolent impact. We can make December beautiful for people who need it the most.

Take it all off. Or, what I did for love

In my post Monday, I shared my celebration of a wonderful woman and friend who has been a long term role model for me. She is also a breast cancer survivor. I shared her story with you, and thank you so much for the amazing comments you shared. I have printed all of these and will send them to her. The cameraderie that is shared in Blog World is a powerful force and Monday was a perfect example. I also wrote that post to share my thoughts about her with her because I am a true believer that people you love should never wonder about your feelings towards them.

And I want to share something else. When I spoke to MA earlier this week, she thanked me for the birthday gift I mailed. And I told her that in her honor, I also gave a gift to someone else.

Locks of Love is a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces for children suffering from hair loss from any long-term illness. When I went in for the cut, the salon began to buzz with a few women sharing stories of doing this similar act. And one person said to me, "You know, there is a little girl who goes to class and never smiles because she doesn't look like all of the other kids. And because of you, she will have the most beautiful hair in school." 

If the reason for doing it didn't stir enough emotion in me, that particular statement resonated with me all day.  And MA knows exactly what this would be like for a young girl.  So this is what I did for love. And for Locks of Love.

I am not special. I am not finding a cure or eliminating a single family from being told their child is sick. But I do think we can all play a small part in making life better for others. And  leaving the salon with a gift in honor of an inspiring woman did add a little lift to my step. It could be that by removing 11 inches of hair, I certainly weighed less. Or it could be that my heart felt a bit more buoyant that day. And a buoyant heart is always welcome.

I am off tomorrow for a day with MiniMac. And if you are celebrating, have a beautiful Easter. I know we will and I am grateful and thankful for so many things in my life. Have a fantastic weekend.

31 days of goodness

I spend at least a few minutes of every day being thankful. When 1 in 8 people in the world do not have access to clean or safe drinking water, that I sit and clack away on my laptop is not lost on me.

Our family adopted a family this year for the holidays. A family in which the children are asking for bare necessities as gifts instead the usual barrage one might expect; it is as telling as it is affecting. But it is a reminder that hard luck can hit any family, and that kindness and generosity can be easily shared. It is not the amount that is given, it is the act of giving itself. So many people donate, contribute, and volunteer to causes throughout the year; I think it is outstanding to see human kindness in action.

And now with the turn of December, there are an abundance of opportunities for every person to contribute. It’s the 31 days of goodness, and easy exercises (and many of them free) to put a smile on someone else’s face as well as your own. And to lean over that blade of grass and whisper: grow, grow.

FREE GOODNESS:

1. Get involved. A super easy website: http://www.dosomething.org can help you find service projects in your zip code. They also encourage you to engage your teenage family members to get involved in philanthropy. Their aim is to inspire the next generation of “doers”. You can also find local events/charities/nonprofits to support at www.dogoodchannel.com

2. Mentor/coach/tutor a future John Grisham, Louisa May Alcott, or Stephenie Meyer at http://826national.org/ which is 7 nonprofits working to celebrate and advance creative writing in students age 16-18.

3. Go to your book case and clean it out. Instead of donating to the library, take those books to a local literacy program.

4. You can also join http://www.booksforsoldiers.com for free and send them to troops.

5. Give blood. To find a local blood bank: www.givelife.org

6. Send a holiday card for FREE to a soldier abroad through a Xerox sponsored program www.letssaythanks.com

7. Save all of your magazines from the month and donate them to a local women’s shelter.

8. Call a local retirement community and schedule a visit. You can spend an hour or two calling bingo. We have done it and it is a total hoot. One of the elderly ladies won and yelled “OH SWEET JESUS”. I crack up now thinking about it. (You can also take your sassy OPI or MAC nail polish instead and do some fun manicures. )

9. You can donate baby blankets, stuffed animals, and children’s books to http://projectnightnight.com/ which helps homeless children.

10. Donate your old cell phones to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Go to www.ncadv.org and look under Take Action and then Donate.

11. Donate shoes (you know you have more than you can ever wear!) to www.shareyoursoles.org

12. Mentor an at-risk teen online at http://icouldbe.org

13. Become an online reading mentor and penpal for kids in 3rd – 5th grade at www.in2books.com (They do a background check: Use promo code: SAV2449 so it won't cost you a cent.)

14. Volunteer at a National Park. www.nps.gov

15. Donate your unused airline rewards miles to Salvation Army, Make A Wish, or others.

16. Play www.freerice.com and every correct vocab word you identify, 10 grains of rice are donated to the UN World Food Program

17. You can also go to www.freekibble.com and for every answer, you send 10 pieces of dog food to an animal shelter in need

18. Donate gift cards you won’t use to www.plasticjungle.com

19. If you knit, you can send squares to www.warmupamerica.org. The squares will be knit into afghans and donated to battered women’s shelters.

20. Sign up to volunteer at www.keenusa.org and become a one on one volunteer to teach kids with disabilities about noncompetitive sports.


SMALL DONATION RELATED GOODNESS

21. Every dollar donated to www.roomtoread.org promotes children’s literacy.

22. Donate a minimum of $10.00 to www.pajamaprogram.org which provides jammies and books for kids in orphanages, group homes, and shelters.

23. Buy some gourmet bean dips, salsa mixes, or spice rubs (among other things) from www.womensbeanproject.com which provides jobs and job training to homeless women. And they just celebrated their 20th anniversary.

24. Lend $25.00 to www.kiva.org which takes your loan and helps woman all over the world start businesses. You can choose your cause and the money will be paid back.

25. Give $25 to Puppies Behind Bars: a program teaching inmates how to train puppies to be service animals.

26. Buy beautiful handmade jewelry from http://www.madebysurvivors.com/ which is combating human slavery and trafficking by providing training, job skills, and life skills to women freed from sex slavery.

27. A $35 donation to Sleeping Children Around the World www.scaw.org provides a BedKit that consists of a mat or mattress, pillow, sheet, blanket, mosquito net (if applicable), clothes outfit, towel and school supplies for a needy child.

28. Give a $35 Gift of Hope to women and children rescued from Sex Slavery and Sex Trafficking at www.sharedhope.org.

29. $35 dollar will also feed a needy child for one month with Share Our Strength at www.strength.org

30. Make an online donation to www.doctorswithoutborders.org which provides aid in almost 60 countries to people suffering from abuse, neglect, famine, malnutrition, lack of health care and natural disasters. $35 will provide 35 vaccines.

31. And finally, because there are so many people on this Earth without clean and safe drinking water, you can donate $20 to http://www.charitywater.org/ and give one person drinking water for 20 years.


Have a beautiful December!