Charity-Raising Funds For Team Keegan

It has come to my attention that people will often find themselves doing amazing things after finding themselves in challenging situations.  Take for instance this family i know.  Their son Keegan had cancer…and life got pretty challenging not only for Keegan but for his whole family.  Keegan lives with his parents and he has a younger sibling and an older sibling.  Living in a rural area means that when you have cancer treatments you often have to do a lot of traveling to and from bigger cities that have the facilities that you can not necessarily get in your own small town.  This not only puts a financial hardship on families but it also creates many opportunities for separation of family members.   It is difficult  to be able to work a job or two, balance the physical and emotional needs of all the family members and still find the extra energy to take care of yourself.   Those are issues this family understands, the stress of it all, as they have been through it themselves.

This particular family has gotten through all of that and they decided, as a family, to give back to others going through similar situations.  They were blessed over and over again by friends, family members and  even total strangers during all of the trials they faced while going through testing and treatments.  They have decided to form a non profit to help others.  To get the non profit status, they must raise funds to file all of the necessary paperwork with the state and federal government.

This week they are doing an online auction on their Facebook page Team Keegan   If you believe in doing good things, in taking a challenge and using it to bless others…won’t you visit their page and bid on some of their donated items?  I believe there are wonderful items such as:  a child’s wooden rocking horse, a picture hand-created by Keegan, a sock monkey in a hospital robe, baby chickens, a hand-sewn American made fabric purse, a tote bag with a swaddling blanket and burp rag and a photo package from a local photographer.  This is a fundraiser…and they are planning on doing good things to bless other children and their families facing medical challenges.

If you have ever known someone who has faced cancer then you know just how important support can be.  Please help this family achieve their dream of becoming a non-profit organization who reaches out to others in need.  Thanks for being willing to read this far.  Now won’t you go visit their page at Team Keegan ?

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Man Shoes- Book Review

Wow!  Can I just tell you what a joy it was to read, Man Shoes-The Journey To Becoming A Better Man, Husband & Father?  It is my privilege to review this book; I believe that the author, Tom Watson, has some real valuable wisdom to offer his readers.   Tom  was born to parents ill prepared to raise a child in a healthy & life affirming way.  He was placed into 13 different foster homes…some of which were little more than a systemic form of a physical & psychological torture chamber. 

Tom was placed into foster care because his Aunt Donna & Uncle Roy found the courage to report the erratic parental care that infant Tom was experiencing.  His parents would drop him off here and there and neglect to pick him up at the times that they agreed to.  At one year of age, he became a foster child because his aunt and uncle found the strength of character to endure family censure by reporting the situation to the proper authorities.  Tom expresses his gratefulness to them for doing so…even though he suffered greatly in multiple foster homes until he came to the place where his body and soul were nurtured.  His life story actually proceeds with joy and gratefulness.  To read the rest of this review go to:  Book In Review

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Soap Saves Lives So Please Help Save Soap

In America we take so many things for granted.  If we get sick, we go to the pharmacy and pick up over the counter medication that can help us get well.  Other times, we go to the doctor and get prescription medicine to help us get well from an infection or sickness.  We are blessed.  We have instant access to information to help keep ourselves well.

The best thing is that we have been taught that washing our hands well with soap can help to keep us healthy.  We have access to soap and water on a regular basis.  Not everyone is so lucky.  What they don’t know and don’t have access to can harm them or kill them.  Soap and water save lives and there is a Global Soap Project that you may not be aware of to get soap into the hands of people who are in need of it, to stay well.  To continue click here.

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Stamp out Hunger Food Drive-National Association of Letter Carriers

Wow, that is a mouthful for the title of this blog post…but, it is what it says it is.  The National Association of Letter Carriers have committed themselves once again to their annual food drive.   They do this to help combat hunger.  In the last two years in the United States, more than 50 million people have found themselves living in homes that don’t have enough food.  This is outrageous, we can all do something to help.  No one should go hungry in a country that supplies other nations with food from our surplus produce that farmers work so hard to grow.

You may say, I am only one person…what can i do?  You can support the National Association of Letter Carriers help stamp out hunger by leaving a bag at your mail box, on Saturday May 14, 2011, with non-perishable food items.  That is only 2 days from now.   Make sure that the items you are donating are not out of date or in danger of expiring any time soon.   Don’t have a lot to give; give what you can.  If you are blessed enough to have the means to give…give generously; we all have a responsibility to share our blessings with others.

Support businesses and organizations that sponsor the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive.  This is an amazing grass roots program that blesses your local food banks.  All the food collected by your local mail carrier stays in your local area.  The people you help may be your own friends, family or neighbors. With the economy being so challenging in recent years more people are affected by not having enough to eat.  The numbers of children in homes without enough food is rising.  The elderly are having a harder time making ends meet.  Young wage earners are finding themselves without steady income to support their families sufficiently.   Natural disasters have hurt many families and those people still need to eat.  Churches can’t do it all…they need our help to provide food for those who are struggling with hunger!  Won’t you help?

Would you like to learn more?  Visit their website here:  Stamp Out Hunger and if you happen to have a Facebook account or a Twitter account…then Like them or Follow them to lend your support.  Spread the work online and off.  Tell others about the food drive…encourage others to donate.

Remember to thank your mail carrier.  They are dedicated to helping people stamp out hunger in your community.   Do you know someone who has had to use food from a food pantry or food bank?  Tell them about my friend Connie who heads up a website that teaches people how to eat healthier with the food that they bring into their homes through SNAP, food pantries, commodities, and farmer’s markets.  She does this in a way to help people stretch their budgets and to encourage the people who visit her website to form a community to share tips and ideas with one another.  Her site isn’t just for food stamp users…but for anyone on a tight budget who wants and needs to eat well.  Food Stamp Cooking Club

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Westboro Baptist Church Rights To Protest Protected-What About Responsibility?

Well, I guess I can honestly say that I am not surprised about the Supreme Courts decision for Westboro Baptist Churches right to free speech to protest funerals, as they see fit, has been protected.  However, with the vitriol that they spit out at will, towards fellow human beings that they personally deem as going to hell; it is offensive to many that they have the right to say what they will, wherever they choose to take their message, according to the highest court in the land.

My own personal belief is that homosexuality is wrong…a sin if you will, however, I do not think that this group or any group has the right to protest at someone’s funeral.  This is a time for a family & friends to grieve and honor their loved ones.    I think that Westboro’s conduct or behavior is shameful for a church and shows a lack of compassion or love for their fellow man/woman; and, that there are better ways to communicate their beliefs or faith.  To me it is now more like a legal sort of bullying that has the stamp approval from the Supreme Court (except for one Supreme Court Justice).  To continue reading click here: Write Where You Are

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Food Stamps Cooking Club Is A Growing Community

I had the honor today of interviewing Connie Baum the inspiration behind the website Food
Stamps Cooking Club about why her website is growing in numbers and with such a sense of community.  The site was created to teach people how to stretch their food dollars to purchase foods that are filling and nutritious.  To hear the interview click here:  Write Where You Are

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Business Friends Help Kids With Cancer And Their Families

 

 

 

Business Friends Help Kids With Cancer And Their Families Feb 16th, 2011 by Rainy Friends Like Us is a wonderful nonprofit that reaches out to families of children who have been diagnosed with cancer. What they do for families goes over and above just sending those children a cuddly bear to hold when they are scared, lonely and needing something to cling to while they go through treatment for a disease that they don’t understand; even though, Friends Like Us does do that too.

The extra mile is what this organization does provide. They often listen to a parent, of a young cancer patient, express their fears, anxieties and questions about what to expect when cancer hits their family. Mark and Deloris Bailey, founders of the organization know what it is like as they have been in that position when their son was diagnosed and treated for cancer. So they created Friends Like Us to meet the needs of young cancer patients by providing them with a chemo bear.

This chemo bear comes with a medical bag which has tools that doctors and nurses can use to help explain treatments and procedures that the young child may be having to go through. It is a wonderful tool. This chemo bear even may have a port just like the child and can have it removed in a bear clinic when the child has his or her port removed. In the meantime, the bear can be of service when the child is at it most vulnerable going through tests or long lonely nights in the hospital.

To continue reading click here: Write Where You Are

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Self Esteem And Relationships

This past weekend I had what I would call an eye opening moment concerning self esteem and interpersonal relationships.  My pre-teen daughter had a couple of friends overnight.  These girls spend many hours together at school but this was the first time that they had an overnight together.  All three are high energy girls and each one is a bit of a diva.  So, I didn’t expect the weekend to go without a hitch. However, as the girls got comfortable I started to hear comments and partial comments that made me stop and listen a little more closely.  The reason for that?  Continue reading:  Write Where You Are

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Money Doesn’t Fix Everything

When someone doesn’t have enough money to meet their daily needs it is easy to think that putting their hands on a boatload of money would just fix just about everything wrong in their life.  Yet, if you look around and observe the world you start to see just how wrong that is because money doesn’t fix everything.

There are rich people with just as many problems as poor people.  If you would like to continue reading click here: Writewhereyouare

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Homeless Not Hopeless-Ted Williams

The media is bombarding us with a feel good story about a man by the name of Ted Williams.  He has been homeless for quite some time as he struggled with drug and alcohol addictions, as well as legal problems.  That is not all that unusual when you stop and consider the large number of people living on the streets and learn about their individual stories.  Often you will find that there is a dependency on either drugs or alcohol, or even possibly a mental illness that often goes untreated.  With the economic disasters of the last decade, there are more people out on the street because they have been uprooted by a sudden change in their finances.  Military veterans often struggle with a return to civilian life and end up homeless.   Runaways also can end up homeless after they have run through the willingness of their friends and family to allow them to couch surf for a period of time.  Still, people become homeless for a variety of reasons and it doesn’t have to be permanent.  People living on the street can also become a victim of violence or intimidation.   Homelessness can be a reaction to a temporary situation in a person’s life.  Homeless does not have to mean a hopeless situation.  If you would like to read more of this post click here: WriteWhereYouAre

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