Week 28 - Kitty Harbor

Schlitz and Lucy adopted in September from Kitty Harbor

Kitty Harbor, Inc is a No Kill 501 (c) (s) cat sanctuary. Their mission is "to provide a loving home and solid adoption opportunities for abandoned, unwanted, or abused felines.  To educate the community through humane education to spay or neuter their companion or feral felines.  To attempt to return lost animals to their owners; to find suitable homes for homeless animals; and to provide a humane means to end an animal’s suffering."

My mother has been involved in rescue work with cats for decades and throughout my life, we have always been advocates for spaying and neutering. The below chart easily illustrates why spaying and neutering pets is so important.

 This year on Easter, we lost our 19 year old Cat Goldie. Goldie had been with me since she was about a year and a half. She came to us as an abandoned barn cat with two kittens. We found homes for the kittens and had her spayed and she stayed with us ever since. She moved from Colorado, to Indiana to Connecticut with me. She has been dearly missed, but we were lucky to have her in our lives for so long.

We decided to treat ourselves to two kittens. And in September we adopted Lucy and Schlitz. They came to Kitty Harbor when they were 3 weeks old and in very bad shape due to owner neglect. Through the efforts of a very dedicated volunteer, they were nursed back to health and we were able to take them home in September.

Organizations like Kitty Harbor provide a vital service to the community by educating and helping pet owners understand the consequences of allowing their pets to reproduce. Kitty Harbor has improved the lives of countless unwanted cats and continues to be a welcomed presence in our community.

To learn more about Kitty Harbor or to donate, please visit their website or Facebook. My donation will be matched 100% by my company.

 

Week 27 - Susan G. Komen Ride for the Cure

I've been donating and raising funds for the Susan G. Komen Ride for the Cure for 7 years now.  This year's riders raised a whopping $58,580 to help women in CT treat and prevent breast cancer. I beat my personal goal this year due to the generous support of my friends and family and my company match to my own donation. My three year old son rode the entire 10 mile ride with me and it that was quite an accomplishment for us both! Everyone already knows about the Susan G. Komen Foundation and all the wonderful work they do to support breast cancer research. So I'm not going to write anymore about them. However, you can find more pictures and a great video about the Ride for the Cure here on Facebook  and the main organization's site here.
  
Every year, fall seems to be a time of "falling" behind for me. I'm not sure why my favorite season of the year always seems so packed to the brim. In the midst of my constant struggle to remain focused, the chaos of life is catching up. So time for a deep breath and some reflection. 

I've really been enjoying the author Brené Brown and her most recent book Daring Greatly. She reminds us that we are living in a culture where "exhaustion is a status symbol." This is an idea that really resonated with me and I'm making a conscious effort to realize when I'm running myself ragged and see what I can do to change that. I think exhaustion is a sign of the breakdown of personal boundaries where we let the world suck us into a vortex instead of grabbing a tree and holding on.

The thought I want to grab and hold on to at this moment is pure gratitude for the life I am in. After seeing many friends plucked out of their life and thrown into the devastating course of breast cancer, I know that none of us are immune. What we have at this moment that can seem overwhelming and trying is in fact the journey, and many women in our lives never get to complete that journey. I am thankful for the path I am traveling down surrounded by the support of my friends and family.

So remember to do your monthly self-exams, get your mammograms, and do what you can to help stop the course of this disease for our mothers, sisters, friends, and daughters.

Week 26 - Child Fund International

from www.childfund.org

This week marks the halfway point in my year of giving! I am a bit behind, but alas that is life and I will catch up one way or another.

Child Fund has a long history is my family. Originally Christian Children's Fund, my Grandmother sponsored her first child approximately 50 years ago. She kept in touch with many of her sponsored children for decades and continued the tradition of giving, encouraging my mother to give. My mother sponsored her first child when she was a freshman in college in 1969 and has been giving ever since. She then encouraged the tradition by asking my brother to forgo a gift to her and instead sponsor a child.

Founded by a Presbyterian minister in 1938, Child Fund is not an evangelical mission. The mission is to change the lives of deprived, excluded and vulnerable children. That mission does not include forcing religion in exchange for help, which is a philosophy I disagree with. They stopped all evangelical work over 30 years ago. This was a smart move which may have been a strategy to remove them from the negative image associated with "McChurch" leaders of the likes of Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer, who hold services  designed to extract money from vulnerable populations in order to fund their own extravagant lifestyles. Child Fund International has transparent accountability and reports that 83% of every dollar goes directly to helping children in need.

Child Fund has a unique and well recognized approach of one-to-one connection with children. By tying an individual directly with a child, the giving becomes much more personal. Donors are sent pictures and letters from the child encouraging a relationship that can last for years and years. My mother has watched the progress of her sponsored children over the years and watched them thrive into young adults who are getting the education and support they need to benefit the next generation.

Children come from 31 countries (including the US) and 13.5 million children are helped each year. By providing help to individual families, local organizations, and global communities, children are given a broad range of support from education and health care to job training and emergency aid.

For more information on Child Fund International, click here.

My donation will be matched 100% by my company.

Week 25 - Disabled American Veterans

from www.dav.org

It is with a sad heart that this week’s donation is made in honor of a my friend’s father, Ronnie. This is the same friend that last week’s donation went to. On September 3^rd, her father passed away with his family surrounding him. His family asked that in lieu of flowers at the funeral, donations be made to the Disabled American Veterans. He was a Navy veteran as well as having a long and productive career at many companies including Electric Boat. Unfortunately, his career spanned a time in our history that occupational health was not a concern and workers were continuously being exposed to carcinogenic agents such as asbestos, leading to horrible cancers like mesothelioma. Ronnie fought his illness valiantly. I am grateful that I got to visit with him only weeks before his death. He was so positive and friendly and was speaking of the future as if it was assured. His family has been renting one of our cottages on the lake the same week in August for well over 30 years. Every year he busily spent his vacation raking and cleaning up around the cabins and the property. He could never sit still and always had a smile on his face and a story to tell. We will miss his presence enormously around here.

One of the most poignant moments in the funeral was when his nephew got up to say a few words about his beloved Uncle. He reminded us how his Uncle had lived his entire life serving his family, his community, and his God and was always thinking of others and how he could help. The nephew went on to ask everyone at the funeral to commemorate him by doing something for someone else as a living memorial. I love that. In this complicated time of political bickering, poor economy and struggling people, it’s just that simple. Do good for others. Period.

And I’m happy to donate to the Disabled American Veterans organization since it was meaningful to Ronnie. This is an old and unwavering organization that has a long standing history of helping disabled veterans. One of my favorite aspects of the DAV is their National Service Officers who are available to assist veterans in so many ways, from representing them at medical review boards to assisting them with home loans, finding services, healthcare, employment and so much more. The military system is unorganized and chaotic when it comes to assisting veterans. Any veteran returning from a deployment oversees knows what a hassle every aspect of receiving entitled benefits can be. The DAV is an excellent resource for guidance and help.

This here for more information about DAV or to donate.

Week 24 - Spa Day for a Deserving Friend

In my year of giving so far, I've realized that giving to a friend in person is so much more fun than sending money away to the abyss. Although I research my organizations, and am positive that they are worthy causes, its just not the same as the personal touch of giving directly to a friend.

This week, I am hoping to ease the stress for only a day for a close friend. She has been subjected to more tribulations in a short period of time than any one person should have to endure. A painful divorce, followed by  the drastic up and down of a rebound relationship. Next her mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. Amidst doctors appointments and keeping up with her mother's health, she suffered the devastating loss of her dear older old dog. Then last year, her father was diagnosed with serious sarcomatoid mesothelioma, which is the most aggressive type.

The loss of a pet is one of the most heart wrenching life experiences.

My friend has held her head up and taken on the majority of the care, medical and emotional needs of both of her parents. She is taking FMLA leave from work to care for them and shuttle them to and from appointments with specialists long distances from home. The love and dedication she has shown to her family is an inspiration.

I believe people come into your life for a reason and she came into mine for a very specific reason many years ago. She has been my confidante when I needed a shoulder and helped me to learn how to talk about the hard stuff and be honest with myself. We have spent many tearful and joyful hours on the phone over the years since we don't get to see each other nearly enough in person.

So this week I'm giving her a spa gift certificate that I hope she will use to take a day off from her life. It is well deserved. Love you girl! (you know who you are)

Week 23 - American Heart Association

Week 23 is in support of a friend who is walking with her daughter in an American Heart Walk event in Rocky Neck, Connecticut. My donation will help her achieve her fundraising goals and will also be matched 100% by my company.

The American Heart Association has a simple mission, "Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke." They do so through 6 areas of focus: Improving patient care, advocating for better health, reaching out to populations at risk, raising awareness, protecting the future and education Americans.

The focus on protecting the future is the most meaningful to me. Currently 1 in 3 children in this country are overweight or obese which leads directly to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes. This is a staggering statistic which is so preventable. It is our job as a responsible society to protect our children and help them grow up to be healthy functioning adults. Right now, we are failing one third of our children and that is unacceptable.

We are being immersed in a culture where entertainment and food are inseparable. Our kids are being raised on prepackaged, long shelf life, food substitutes. They are being trained on words like flavor burst, power punch, taste explosion and normal healthy food cannot compete with the flavor scientists who are striving to get them addicted to Doritos and Mountain Dew.

And this is a HARD habit to break. My husband and I try very hard to avoid most processed foods in our household. And yet they are a prevailing force especially when grandparents are involved. Believe me, kids deprived of packaged cookies are like ravenous panthers when a bag appears secretly at the hands of a grandparent!

We are led to believe that we aren't good parents if we don't spoil our kids with food. I believe exactly the opposite. We as parents need to do everything in our power to raise kids who understand the difference between food and food substitutes like Capri Sun, gummy fruit snacks and yogurt snacks all of which are different forms of high fructose corn syrup. Not a food.

So jumping down from my soap box, I do appreciate the mission of the American Heart Association and am pleased to support my friend and the fun day she and her daughter will have together on the walk.

For more information, check out her fundraising page here.

Happy Thursday!

Week 22 - Studio Desmeen New Studio Fund

Performance at the Franklin Farmer's Market

I've been learning the art of belly dance since 2009 when my husband was deployed to Iraq. I needed an outlet from a very stressful home life with a newborn, a 3 year old, a master's degree in the works and a corporate career. I was overwhelmed and drowning in responsibilities.

I heard about an adult education class in belly dance and was intrigued. None of my friends would sign up with me, so I registered for the class and went by myself. After the first 15 minutes I was hooked. The music, the laughter, the beauty, and the camaraderie of a handful of moms brave enough to try something new was intoxicating. After the six week class was over, I wanted more. But I didn't want to just learn the basics, I wanted to really learn the craft.

That's when I found Studio Desmeen. The first time I called, I was daunted to learn there was no beginner class available and I would have to join a group of girls who had been dancing together for 7 years. I am NOT a dancer. I had flashbacks to floundering through an aerobics classes always doing the exact opposite of everyone else while the veterans of the class lost patience with me. But something inside of me wasn't ready to give up, so I showed up to the first class with all the bravery I could muster.

And it was HARD. And I was terrible at it. But these women welcomed me with open arms. We laughed together, they empathized with me and they accepted me as is, lack of rhythm and all. The second class they invited me to jump in and try the choreography with them. And it was then that I decided I was going to learn it, no matter what.

Fast forward 2 years to April of this year. Our Desmeen came to class and announced calmly that the Studio was closing, she needed some time off and she couldn't promise she would ever be back. We were devastated. The next several weeks, we danced without our hearts. We could all go elsewhere to other studios, but it wouldn't be the same and we would lose each other as dance sisters.

Our Farewell Party to Studio Desmeen in it's original location

We decided to try to maintain the studio rent on our own for the next few months. Some of the most experienced girls taught the classes and collected the money to keep the studio going, but the lease was over for good at the end of July. Desmeen came back to rehearse for a performance we had scheduled and told us that she was negotiating a lease on a new studio just blocks from the current one!

There is nothing that makes me happier than helping to support the new studio. Dancing with Desmeen and my sisters in dance have given me so much joy over the past few years. Currently, we are raising funds to replace the carpet in the new space with something friendlier to dancing feet.

Find Studio Desmeen on Facebook.

Week 21 - Financial Kick Start

This week goes to a dear friend who is in need of a little financial kick start. Increasingly, I have many friends in life who are struggling to find work. This reflection of today’s economic quagmire has hit close to home recently as I watch qualified, responsible people struggle so hard to find ANY work. Even retail jobs are scarce in this environment.

I’ve learned a few things while watching and supporting friends who are out of work. One is that a convenience most of us take for granted, non-cash forms of payment, is not accessible to many people. Checking accounts, debit cards, and online banking have become the norm for most permanently employed people today. However there is still a population of people out there who live on cash only. And wow, what a disadvantage they have! Here is a little story to illustrate this point….

               

My friend needed to pay her cell phone bill of $14.99. Lacking a checking account or debit card, she drove 30 miles each way to the store to pay it. Once there, she was informed she would have to pay a $3 fee for paying in cash. She went out to her car and scraped up $3 in change. When she came back in with the money, she was told that cash payments could only be taken if the bill was $20-$1000 and if the amount was less than that, she would have to pay another $2.00 fee. At this point she gave up in frustration and drove home, effectively wasting all the gas money she invested in getting there to pay her bill.

This donation to my friend will allow her to open a checking account and start to slowly build up her  financial independence. She has been controlled emotionally and monetarily to a point where she is financially crippled. She is about to take a brave leap in life and strike out on her own and I admire her strength, resolve and faith as she embarks on her quest for happiness. As one of my closest friends, I will walk by her side on this journey and I can't wait to see her succeed!

"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. " -Lao Tzu

Week 20 - Virginia Winslow Fund

Virginia modelling her own creations

This week I go back local to help out a friend. I met Virginia Winslow a few years back in a dance class. She makes stunningly beautiful accessories out of feathers, so the conversation naturally turned to my guinea hens that I keep as pets and tick-hunters. At our next class I brought her a bag of freshly plucked feathers from my birds, and alas I have been an observer of her success ever since.

Belly Dance top showcased at the RAW Artist exhibition in Hartford, CT

Amazing talent coupled with an entrepreneurial spirit has helped Ginny move her small business in the right direction. She maintains an Etsy shop, Feathers of Artemis , where she has sold her work nationally and internationally. And recently she has attracted the attention of several local artists, photographers, and retailers eager to collaborate and hinge off of her success and fashion smarts. She was invited to showcase her work at the nationally known RAW artists organization last month. Check out the video here:
RAW Artists Exhibition

  London-based musician Odette, wearing a Feather's of Artemis custom made top

Virginia is about to embark on a great adventure this fall starting her Master's Degree in International Relations. She will be traveling to London, Austria, Thailand, The Netherlands, and Switzerland as part of the program. This twist in her life plan comes right when her business Feathers of Artemis is enjoying great success. So she will be juggling international travel with maintaining her current business back in the states.

Her Fundrazr site hopes to raise funds for a camera to grow and improve her Etsy shop and document her travels abroad.

To find out more about Virginia visit her Facebook or Feathers of Artemis shop online.

This donation cannot be be matched by my company unfortunately.

Have Tuesday All!

Week 19 - Heal Africa

Week 19 was suggested to me by my mother months ago. When researching this organization again, I came across this recent PBS Video featuring Heal Africa. (also embedded below) It's a touching summary of the work they do in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The correspondent for the article, Fred De Sam Lazaro summed it up, "The United Nations says the Democratic Republic of Congo is the worst place on earth for women." Years of conflict over the country's rich mineral resources has produced a complete collapse of government, law, public health infrastructure and widespread rape, torture and sexual mutilation of women.



Heal Africa strives to combat these horrific conditions by providing 31 safe houses for women throughout the region, as well as one of only three referring hospitals in the region. They provide general surgery, orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology (including fistula repair), pediatrics, and internal medicine. Damaging a woman's body as a regular means of control over women is one of the most socially destructive practices in the world. Organizations that can help heal and empower these women are critical to any success the region will ever have.

The word HEAL is an acronym created by Dr. Jo Lusi and his wife Lyn Lusi, founders of Heal Africa. It stands for Health, Education, Action, and Leadership. Each crucial components to the holistic view the organization takes on supporting the people of the Congo. Lyn Lusi died of cancer this past March and will clearly be missed by thousands of women in the Congo whom she has helped.

I love watching the women dance in this video. Having the freedom to simply dance off your worries is one most of us take for granted. These women can dance and be truly free only behind the walls of a safe house. That is truly something to think about. When societies become unequal with regards to gender, only chaos ensues and a society cannot heal until the roles are once again equalized.
My donation will be matched 100% by my company. For more information or to donate, please visit the Heal Africa website.

Week 18 - USO Bay Area

The inside of the San Francisco USO Center. An oasis for tired troops!

Back in January, my husband and I took a trip with our 2 year old son to visit friends in the San Francisco Bay area. I misread our flight time and we ended up at the San Francisco airport HOURS early for our red-eye flight that didn't leave until 10:15 PM.

We had a busy toddler and many hours to burn, so we decided to check out the USO. We were very pleasantly surprised to find such an oasis in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the airport. We walked through what seemed to be an endless maze of corridors until we came the USO. As soon as we stepped in, we were warmly greeted by a friendly veteran who was more than willing to help us with anything we might need. The center was decorated with all sorts of interesting military history and had leather couches and a TV to sit back and relax.

We had already dropped off our rental car, so he pulled out a stack of information and carefully explained to us how to catch the train to a nearby shopping and dining plaza. The facility had such a relaxed atmosphere that we decided not to bother going out and just made ourselves at home. He made us homemade ham and cheese sandwiches and coffee and there were snacks everywhere.

He then directed us to the nursery. A nursery!? I was flabbergasted and delighted at the same time. The nursery was fully stocked with toys and all things a baby could ever need. My husband and I sat back on the couch while our son happily pulled out cars and trucks to play with. Anyone with toddlers will understand how grateful we were to have a place for him to play. Definitely better than chasing him through the airport crowds in the terminal!

The USO has a noble mission to "To lift the spirits of America's troops and their families" and that is exactly what they did for us when we visited. The larger USO organization is also responsible for bringing big name bands and performers in theatre to provide entertainment for our deployed troops. When my husband was in Iraq, he got to see concerts by Kid Rock and the Zac Brown Band to name a few.

The USO Bay area has locations in the San Francisco Airport, the San Jose Airport and is opening a new center at Travis Air Force Base soon. More information can can found on their Facebook page or to donate, go here.

I am happy to be able to give directly to this USO center as they provided us with a quiet escape and perfect beginning to our long red-eye flight back to New England. My donation will be matched 100% by my company.

Week 17 - Gracie's Fund

Gracie is recovering from a broken arm that required surgery to correct

I love it when friends and family give me suggestions of people to donate too. It makes giving so much more real and personal even if I have never met the recipient. Gracie's Fund was suggested to me by an amazing artist and friend, Melissa. She has a fellow face painter who has fallen on hard times and needs help.

The following was taken from the Gracie's Fund Website:

"Lauren Wilson is a fabulous face painter in CT. Her husband Tim was laid off from work almost 2 years ago and they have been struggling. Lauren has been making ends meet with face painting but with this accident I don't think they will be able to manage. Because of Tim being out of work they do not have any health insurance to cover the cost of Gracie's surgery. Gracie fell out of a tree and snapped her arm in half, she needed surgery to put it back in place and it is unknown if there is nerve damage since she cannot seem to move 2 of her fingers. Please help in any way that you can..."

Sadly, this is a perfect example of the failing of our For-Profit health care system in this country. Because our entire system is designed with hundreds of layers of companies all trying to make a profit, the result is that a simple accident can cost a family with no insurance all of their life savings and put them in debt for years. This isn't fair. The consumers of health care get the worst end of the deal.

I hope for a quick recovery for both Gracie and her family.

Happy Wednesday!