Dollar Philanthropy

Take a Sneak Peak at Superbowl Ads and $1 is Donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Beginning today, visitors to the Coca-Cola fan page on Facebook® at www.facebook.com/livepositively can share a special Facebook “virtual gift” with friends and family.  Each virtual Coca-Cola gift and commercial sneak peek triggers three outcomes:

1. Coca-Cola makes a one-dollar donation to Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
2. Gift recipients receive a special Coca-Cola bottle image, which is displayed on their Facebook page and newsfeed, reminding them and others they can also share virtual gifts.
3. Gift-givers receive a 20-second sneak preview of one of two new Coca-Cola ads that will debut during the Super Bowl broadcast on February 7, 2010.
4. Once game day arrives, gifters will receive both ads in their entirety – before their television debut later that evening.
   

A Little Marketing and A Lot of Good

Small businesses are always looking for affordable ways to get the word out about their goods and services.  Small and medium nonprofits are always looking for ways to raise money.  Plus--- nonprofits, if they are smart, have a list of folks who support them and who are willing to be potential customers of small businesses who also help causes they care about.  By teaming up, small businesses and nonprofits can really monopolize on their synergies. 

I sit on the board of directors of a local animal rescue/welfare nonprofit.  They are now looking for small businesses who could contribute goods and services to their annual silent auction.  Last year, the silent auction raised enough money to rescue a dog from death in a local animal shelter who had bone cancer and provide him with the needed surgery that saved his life.

If you own a small business or have something you would like to donate for the silent auction, please email Heather Held. If you need, Heather can provide a letter explaining who Our Pal's Place is and how the fundraising proceeds will be used to help solicit gifts, as well as a tax receipt for donors. All items for the silent auction need to be at Our Pal's Place by Friday, February 12th for our Valentine's Day Gala event.

What I'm Pondering (001)

Sometimes I come across quotations that make me wonder.  When I run this through my life, my experiences, and my guiding principles, what TRUTH distills out?  How does that Truth challenge what I know to be true?

"A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. "  ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day and January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

Human Trafficking has been on my radar for a few months now.  I can't begin to tell you how many countless posts I've contemplated but never written.  This is mostly due to how ticked off I get and an unfettered rant does nothing to promote a cause.

So... a "Human Trafficking Awareness Day"  seems like a benign-enough thing to begin this discussion.  Afterall, it is about education and awareness and not about how another human can find some warped way to justify the enslavement of another human. 

So consider these facts:

• According to the June 2009 report by the UN’s International Labor Organization, "there are at least 12.3 million adults and children in forced labor, bonded labor, and commercial sexual servitude at any given time. Of these victims, at least 1.39 million are victims of commercial sexual servitude, both transnational and within countries, and 56 percent of all forced labor victims are women and girls."
• Major Forms of Trafficking of Persons
• According to the Georgia Governor’s Office for Children and Families, any where between 200 to 350 girls are prostituted each month in Georgia. And it is not just on the streets anymore. Today girls are also exploited over the Internet, through escort services and in hotels.The average age of girls being sexually exploited for commercial gain in Georgia's 14½, and most of them were first exploited at age 13. Girls as young as 9 have been rescued. Click here for more facts on Georgia's Child Trafficking problem.
• Video on Child Exploitation
• Obama Declares January Human Trafficking Prevention Month

Wanna do something???

• Work to change the laws in your area.  Click here to read about the miminum standards for any legislation designed to protect trafficking victims.
• Be a conscious consumer.  http://www.free2work.org/home

No doubt there is more to come from me on this... I've just got to locate my civil tongue and solution-focused outlook.  

Photo credit

This has Got to Stop! Ex-child soldiers leave Nepal camps after 3 years

Ex-child soldiers leave Nepal camps after 3 years - Yahoo! News

This might be my "Mom-ed-ness" showing, but this is appalling. No child should ever have to be a soldier. No child should ever be held in a detention camp.

How are we ever gonna have peace and happiness in the world if we allow people to systematically F-Up our children?

Off Soapbox...

January is National Soup Month and People are Hungry

  Soup is just a little LOVE in a bowl!

This morning I saw that parts of New York have gotten 30, 40, 50 inches of snow.  The good news it that it offered me some perspective on the cold weather we are getting here... afterall, it could be worse. However, when it gets cold like this, I often dust off my crockpot and see how many days in a row I can use it.  I love soup and I'm thankful that my family does too as it sure does make life easier.

Given the tradition rotten weather, it should be no surprise that someone was smart enough to make January National Soup Month.  So today's post is about how this month's honorary cuisine can change your corner of the world.

1.  The holidays have depleted the food supplies at many food banks.  One thing you could do is to assemble the ingredients needed to make your favorite soup and donate them to local food pantry.  The Feeding America website can help you find a food bank in your area.

1.1  If the food bank will accept assembled meal boxes, consider including a recipe card and note of encouragement for the meal recipient.

1.2  Consider having a soup drive at work, church, or other social group.

2.  Have a "SouperBowl" party where your friends bring soup or chili ingredients that can be donated to a food pantry. 

2.1 Have "The Best Soup/Chili Cookoff" at your party or workplace.  Ask people to bring entries into the competition AND bring the canned goods/ingredients for a family in need. (Don't forget the recipe card).

3. Women's Bean Project in Colorado is one of my favorite nonprofits. I have written about them before.  Since 1989, WBP has been helping women break the cycle of poverty and unemployment through their job readiness and life skills program that offers employment in their gourmet food and jewelry production business. Women come with the goal of transforming their lives and moving toward self sufficiency.  I have a few friends who always expect their holiday gift to come from them.  

In January, WBP is having a special on their soup mixes. Each mix is $5. The 10 Bean and Black Bean are my favorites.  I also love their fair trade coffees.  So.....consider purchasing a few for a warm cozy meal for your family. You'll be able to eat a great meal and help a woman move toward a new life. Click here to order.

4. Volunteer at a Soup Kitchen.  Volunteer Match is a website that can help you locate opportunities in your area.  You can also contact your local food bank.  They will likely have a list of places and organizations that feed the homeless.

Thanks to Basheertome for the soup photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/basheertome/2081791355/

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Planting the Flag, Claiming Success. What's next?

The epiphany of a new global view is like falling in love.  It comes in a flood and it seems like new life is being breathed into every cell of your body.  It is fun.  Its exciting.  Its  why motivational programs are so energizing.  

A few years ago I made a New Year's resolution to use DP to delve into those quiet little mind messages I gave myself that kept me from giving to causes I care about.  That process led me to the notion that I could be a courageous giver of time, talent and treasure.  I was all excited and I was in love with the new me.  Or at least what I thought was the new me.

Well... the idea that an epiphany could automatically transform me is good in theory, but the unfortunate news is that real change required repeated acts of will to begin to really free myself my self-imposed cynical prison.  Although probably not a newsflash for those of you who are also walking the path, but personal growth is a lot of hard work.  Anyone who tells you different, is selling something.

Another important part of the process of personal growth is to take a minute to plant the flag and take a moment to enjoy being king/queen of the mountain. So, to start 2010, I'm claiming my success.  I'm not saying that I've been cured of my cynicism, but I do have some coping skills when those thoughts raise their ugly head. 

Now...What's Next?

I'd like to say that I have a clear idea of my new goal.  Well... I just don't.  However, I'm clear that this is a new chapter. Yet, I'm really struggling to articulate and understand where I'm to go next.  I hope this post will officially close out the old and set me on the way of finding the new.

For starters...I've not been as good at blogging over the last couple of years as I had hoped.  In my excitement over the fact that I could release my cynicism and give out of abundance and gratitude, it was easy to write.  However, when I hit the trenches of actually doing it... well, the words did not come as easy.  Now, I realize that writing about the struggle is helpful for those who are also on the same path.  That's just not me.  For me, writing about the struggle takes me to the edge of whining and puts me back on the precipice of negativity, where I am just one step from the pit. I find I do better when I plow on through and then analyze what I could have done better. 

So perhaps a good goal to start with is to use DP to 'plow on through."  I know I have neglected it.  So lets start a new.  My interim goal is to just tap out something once a week.  I'm not going to worry about the cohesiveness of the topics.  I'm gonna just write about things that strike my fancy, with the hopes that overtime, I'll notice a trend.

I hope that you gentle readers will be patient with me as I incorporate my new voice into a new journey for something more.  Please know, that I look forward to your comments and conversation.  Afterall, I am one of those people who uses language to define obstacles and propel me forward.  In the past, debate here has been quite helpful.  So... Chime in!

Happy New Year and Happy Journeying!