Care package

Instead of throwing old luggage away, donate your used suitcases and roller bags to foster homes. The children there often pack their clothes in garbage bags. Contact Family Services in your county to ask how to donate.

Pass on the Pleasure of Reading

Drop off your old magazines at a retirement home, hospice, or any other place where the residents or patients may enjoy them. At my place of work, we get large-print copies of our books sent in multiples, so we keep one for our library, send one to the author, and share the others with our local retirement home. An elder Beat poet lives in the El Cerrito village for seniors, so I can drop off a collection of magazines and large-print books and then sit down for tea and a nice chat. I leave having received much more than I brought with me.

Serve the Public Servants

Bake some goodies to take to your local police department, fire department, or teacher’s lounge as a way of saying “Thanks!” They are your neighbors, too. 

Be Generous

True generosity, with no strings attached, expecting nothing in return and without scorekeeping, is a direct expression of abundance. Be generous with your time and skills by volunteering for something you believe in; leave an extra tip for the wait staff; give away thank you notes. Go through your closet and gather up things you don’t wear and donate them to a homeless shelter or people in need. 

Turn Off Your TV and Turn Your Brain Back On

Nowadays, children have computers and chat rooms, mobile phones, and a TV in their room with hundreds of channels in glorious color. Children can be techno-wizards- but TV is a time filler and time killer. It both encourages and normalizes violence, in both behavior and attitude. TV makes children lazy, and sluggish in thought and action.

If you feel your children are watching too much television and it’s having a negative impact:

• Have all cable disconnected.
• Remove all TV’s except one from the house.
• Limit TV viewing to set hours, such as only after homework is finished; and no TV during meals and no morning TV.
• Limit channels watched
• Have family evenings that are fun. Encourage new hobbies.
• Don’t rely on the TV for entertainment. Make your own. Talk to your family, and have them talk to you.

Rice is the Grain that Feeds the World

Rice is the grain that feeds more people in the world than any other, going back many thousands of years-to 6,000 BC in Northern Thailand, 5,000 BC in Northern India, and 10,000 BC in Kashmir. It is grown in paddy fields (water-filled beds) in countries all over the world-India, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, the US, Greece, Turkey, and others.

There are so many wonderful ways to use rice that you could cook a new recipe per day for the rest of your life and not run out. Just be sure to use the correct rice type for the recipe or the dish will not be successful. For example, risottos need Arborio rice, a fat, starchy grain, which cooks to a soft, creamy texture yet remains a firm middle. Jasmine is aromatic and used in Thai cooking: it is a long grained yet sticky rice that remains moist and tender. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Just learn how to cook each type, use a heavy pan, and don’t overcook-or buy a rice cooker.

Be a Kid For a day

Remember the good ol’ days when you had more art projects than responsibilities? You can still embrace your inner child by spending the day with a young relative or your own child while playing games, making crafts, and encouraging activity.  You may reawaken talents and interests you had long since forgotten and introduce your child to new ones along the way. Paint a picture together, read storybooks aloud, play dress up and talk with them. This will create a stronger bond between you two that will last a lifetime and make for great memories. Time is the most precious resource and spending it with a young person will have lasting, positive results on their life.

Mindfulness at 55 MPH

Be a mindful driver, not a distracted danger to yourself and others. Driving, texting, and talking on the phone are very dangerous. Typing out a quick text may feel harmless, but texting requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention that you should be giving to the road. Think about-and educate yourself on-the dangers of distracted driving. Here are a few statistics provided by distraction.gov to get you started:

• An estimated 421,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver.
• 11% of all drivers under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to be distracted at the time of the crash.
• Sending or a receiving text takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent-at 55mph-of driving the length of an entire football field, blind. Bottom line: don’t do it!

Compassionate Crafts

Some of my friends love to knit and crochet. Everyone I know has already had a colorful throw given to them, so what to do with all the products of all that handiwork? Look no further!

The Red Scarf Project (fc2success.org/how-you-can-help/red-scarf-project/) is looking for knitters to donate homemade red scarves for foster children in school. Whether you just learned to knit and purl or you are an expert, you can send encouragement and warmth to a foster student with a simple scarf. 

Newborns in Need (newbornsinneed.org) would love clothing and bedding items for newborn, sick, needy, and premature babies. You can donate blankets, hats, booties, and afghans. All they ask is that you use the softest yarn possible. 

Warming Families (warmingfamilies.webs.com) is a 100% volunteer-run project that delivers donated blankets and other warm items to the homeless and displaced. They supply to local shelters and nursing homes.

Life is Too Short to Not Have Good Coffee

Get your next cup of joe and help orphans in Kamba, Kenya, with World Vision’s 12-ounce whole bean coffee set, complete with hand carved olive wood scoop. You can find it at worldvision.org.

National Thrift Shop Day

Donate to and shop at thrift stores. You’ll be recycling gently used items, supporting the local economy, and save money along the way. There are so many thrift stores working for charity but my favorite is this one in Denver that I discovered a couple of years ago while at a trade show: Denver-Cancer-Charity.org. What they are doing is so cool! The Cancer Cache Thrift & Gift Shoppe is operated as a not-for-profit charity that raises funds to provide free hats, wigs, scarves, and medical equipment to cancer patients. When I was undergoing treatment, I could never have afforded a wig or even a very nice hat, so these fabulous Rocky Mountaineers get my business every time.

Puppy Love

Show that you are well trained and buy a Kona Benellie blanket for your pup at konabenellie.com, and you’ll also keep shelter dogs warm and cozy. Dog is your co-pilot, right?

Gifts That Give Back

For every pair of thick and warm hand-knitted cable mittens purchased, Cherry T Co. donates another pair to a child in need. Buying a pair at cherrytco.com is like sending out two big high-fives!

Go Back to School

Give an elementary-school pupil who reads below grade level a leg up by tutoring them in bi-weekly 45-minute sessions through Reading Partners (readingpartners.org). Tutoring struggling readers is placing a bet on our future.

#Helpful

Are you software-savvy? Sign up to teach older adults computer and technology skills through SeniorNet (seniornet.org). Helping our elderly with tech skills is so rewarding. I have seen grandmothers go from never having emailed before to loving the world wide web and contributing their own wisdom, one tweet at a time. 

Help from Behind the Wheel

Be a volunteer instructor in AARP’s Smart Driver course (aarp.org/drive), which allows older drivers to brush up on their behind-the-wheel skills. Next time you want to give back, just put it in drive.

Make Furry Friends

Studies show pets provide both a psychological and physical boost to their owners-so donate to petsfortheelderly.org to help a senior get a dog or a cat. The unconditional love of a pet can make a life that much sweeter.

Make Sure Our Elders Are Well Fed

https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/find-meals

One in six Americans over age 60 faces the threat of hunger, and Meals On Wheels is there to help. A total of 2.5 million seniors in all 50 states, many of whom have chronic health conditions, rely on the service. Go to mowaa.org to make a one-time donation ($35 provides 5 meals), or join the Next Meal Club to donate monthly.

Become a Modern Digger

There is plenty of free stuff to be found in every community. Urban foraging, or dumpster diving, has become very popular in the last few decades. Well-known proponents of the movement include Food Not Bombs, which began feeding the hungry with salvaged food 30 years ago; and I first heard about The Diggers when I was interviewing the great poets Diane di Prima and Janine Pommy Vega for Women of the Beat Generation.

The Diggers, who came together in the sixties in San Francisco, regularly fed around 200 people a day on donated and foraged food. They also ran free shops, threw free parties, and started a free medical clinic.

Some contemporary urban foragers call themselves Freegans (a composite of free and vegan) and pride themselves on their recycling prowess. The Freegan mission is to live with minimal consumption of resources and limited involvement in the mechanisms of the conventional economy. If you fancy learning the skills necessary for successful dumpster diving, Freegans (freegan.info) are the people to contact. Active groups are listed, and some organize trash tours where they instruct newcomers on how to scavenge safely. The basic rules are common sense: forage with at least one other person, always thoroughly check food when you get home and wash as needed before eating anything, and don’t leave a big mess at the scene- the rodents will love you, but the store owners won’t!

Open Your Home

The gift economy is a really helpful concept for the budget-conscious, and it can help you, too. It may be time to reexamine everything you thought you couldn’t do and see if there is another way. Vacationing is a good example-you can trade homes and explore what you could not afford before, while offering the same in return. This free accommodation exchange will give you a really unique and much more personal view of a new place as well as a way to connect with people who live there. The idea is not new; Servas International (servas.org) was founded in 1949 and is recognized by the United Nations as a hospitality network. Check out the wildly successful and well organized CouchSurfing (couchsurfing.org) and Hospitality Club (hospitalityclub.org). And take time to look around the web; there are  many similar, smaller initiatives online catering to the budget traveler or people wanting to take a volunteer vacation in another hemisphere.

One Man’s Scrap Is Another Man’s Treasure

Redistributing surplus has been the driving force behind many nonprofit organizations serving local communities. One of my favorite initiatives is the Scrounger’s Center for Reusable Art Parts, otherwise known as SCRAP. SCRAP has been operating in an industrial district in San Francisco since 1976. Donations of paper, paint, and all kinds of arty bits and pieces are the mainstay of SCRAP’s inventory. I’ve seen reams of embossed ribbon, plaster casts, tubes of glitter, and circuit boards. They offer art supplies at very low cost and provide free materials for art projects. Go over there and get inspired to create! Learn more information about SCRAP, a source for the resourceful, at scrap-sf.org

Popcorn and a Movie

Donate movies and toys to the children’s ward at your local hospital. Even better, stay and watch a movie in the social room and bring doctor-approved treats! 

Slow Down

Take it easier. There is a lot of hustle and bustle in this world, and it’s easy to miss the simple joys of life if you are always in a hurry. Alter your perspective a bit and take your time. When grocery shopping, instead of rushing through your list, walk down every aisle, notice all the colorful fruits and vegetables, enjoy the errand, and be grateful that you can afford to buy groceries.

Here is when you know you are going too fast: when you forget to be nice. When that happened to me, I took stock and realized I was heading in the wrong direction. Now I am doing my best to not do the crazy busy thing. It doesn’t do any of us any good. Least of all me. Least of all you.