Listen to the Wisdom of Our Veterans

Senator John McCain always reminded me of my dad: strong minded, funny, loyal and dutiful and they both suffered a lot of wounds and trauma in serving their country.  What can you do to help?

 

Counselors can contribute enormously to our troops when the return back at the end of their service term. I honestly think my Ex-Marine dad has PTSD but that posttraumatic stress was not even acknowledged until long after the Viet Nam War and only through the activism of many.  Therapists and mental health professionals can really help our military veterans by volunteering their own service through the organization Give an Hour (giveanhour.org) and this is extremely helpful to families of vets. Listening can change lives for the better here in a big way. Volunteer of give to the Wounded Warriior Project: www.WounderWarriorProject.org

Dad’s Big Day: A Brief History of Father's Day

On July 19, 1910, the governor of the U.S. state of Washington proclaimed the nation’s first Father’s Day. However, it was not until 1972, 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day official, that the day became a nationwide holiday in the United States. Celebrate your father today by making him feel special and loved with a homemade gift or meal or even the nicest gift of all, your time!

For your friends who may have lost their father, check in with them as this day will be difficult and there are many “rad dads” who are elders with wonderful stories to tell at senior centers.  Head to your local café and grab some yummy pastries, coffee and tea and honor the elders in your community

Games That Give

Instead of playing games that take you out of this world and into another, potentially violent one, play on Games That Give, http://www.gamesthatgive.net/play/. This website donates approximately 70% of their advertisement revenue. Everyone wins here.

Here is one of this week's causes:

Fund 12 Days of Research to Protect Biodiversity

Help recover overgrazed land in Cajón Bonito in Sonora, Mexico by funding a biodiversity expedition!

Cajón Bonito is one of the most important riparian habitats in northwestern Mexico and southeastern Arizona. This riparian land (land on the banks of rivers), is home to many diverse and unique species of plants and animals, like the trogon. The brightly colored trogon can turn its head 180 degrees to always keep a watch on what may be coming. Even with this amazing ability, the trogon cannot see that overgrazing has destroyed a large part of its habitat, hurting its fellow plants and animals. Twenty years ago, the Cuenca los Ojos Foundation (CLO) tried removing cattle from its protected natural area. It worked. Today, the cottonwood-willow forest in the area has made a dramatic recovery. CLO recently purchased another section of the Cajón upstream that has been badly overgrazed and requires immediate action to save its flora and fauna.

The Madrean Discovery Expedition in April 2017 compared the pristine, ungrazed riparian habitats in Cajón Bonito with the newly-acquired heavily overgrazed area. The evaluation will help develop a recovery plan for this new habitat. With your help, we can recover and restore the habitat and expand an important wildlife corridor.

Read more at https://greatergood.com/project/#guTy9TXpds6z8z6w.99

Help a Teen Girl Have the Prom Night of Her Life

Making Sure She Has a Night to Remember

 Did you know that many teen girls long to attend their high school prom but end up missing out on the sweet tradition simply because a fancy dress is not in the family budget?  Help these girls out by visiting http://www.glassslipperproject.org/

You’ll discover that you can donate your old prom dress and shoes to the delightful folks at the Glass Slipper Project, a non-profit organization that gives free prom dresses, shoes, and accessories to high school juniors and seniors.  Generosity can be very glamorous!

Let's Make Sure All Children Have Books: Give to www.BooksForKids.org

Lit Love!

Every child should learn and expand their mind through the wide world of literature. The fine folks at Books for Kids have a love of libraries and have helped disadvantaged family have libraries at home.  And you make that happen one kid at t time and one book at a time.  Pick out some of your favorites that you loved as a child and get in on the fun.

Who have you affirmed today?

The noted psychologist and philosopher William James, also brother of novelist Henry, said that the core human emotional need is affirmation. People want to be truly "seen" and acknowledged. This is pretty easy to do by listening and paying attention.

Ask, “How are you?” and mean it!

Ask someone how their day is going and make their reply into a conversation. Sometimes people want to talk more than they let on and your interest will show them you care. One day, you’ll get the chance to tell some kind-hearted person exactly how YOU are. Your answer to that question might not always be pretty but it will feel wonderful to be heard.

Ask someone how their day is going and make their reply into a conversation. Sometimes people want to talk more than they let on and your interest will show them you care. One day, you’ll get the chance to tell some kind-hearted person exactly how YOU are. Your answer to that question might not always be pretty but it will feel wonderful to be heard.

Foster a 4-Legger:

If you are a parent of young children, you are probably hearing a steady chorus of requests for a dog. You can try it out to see if dog-ownership is right for your family by volunteerism at www.guidedogs.com to raise a puppy for the blind. What a wonderful way to experiment and do good.  This is an excellent demonstration of responsible behavior that will doubtless leave a lasting imprint upon your child.

Stopping World Hunger, 10 Grains of Rice A Day

Save a few dollars each month and donate it to a different charity. The website http://freerice.com/#/english-vocabulary/1504 quizzes you online and for each answer you get correct, they donate 10 grains of rice through the World Food Program to help end world hunger. Think about how much rice will be donated if even half of the population did this!

Make Beautiful Music Together

If you’re a musician living in NYC, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Nashville or Miami, you can volunteer through the nonprofit Musicians on Call to deliver a live, in-room performances to patients undergoing treatment or unable to leave their beds. (wwwmusiciansoncall.org) Add a dose of joy to life in a healthcare facility or a senior center by bringing the healing power of music to people who need it. 

Name Ten Easy Things You Can Do For Someone This Week:

No Strings Attached

Write down the things that someone has given you, no strings attached, for which you are grateful. It can be an old sofa, some sound advice, or a lift to the airport. Now list ten things that you would like to give someone yourself, and see how many of those things you can cross off in a week.

Examples:

Drive a friend to the airport

Carry groceries for an elder to their car

Baby-sit for a relative

Buy a friend a cup of coffee

Volunteer at a soup kitchen

Buy One, Donate One- Your New Shoes Will Give a Child in Texas, Florida or Puerto Rico New Shoes, too!

Who Knew Compassion Could be So Comfortable?

Buy a pair of Tom’s shoes. They are a one-for-one organization that donates a new pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair of Toms purchased. Visit http://www.toms.com/ to learn more about the cause and view the various styles. I like the shiny glittery Tom’s!

Let No Child Go Hungry; Another Way to Help the Families in Texas and Florida

Share Your Strength

When I worked on the Random Acts of Kindness project, we looked around for places to donate profits from the books and SHARE OUR STRENGTH came highly recommended. It remains an organization I deem as a real good in the world. Did you know one in children in America deal with hunger on a daily basis? Join SOS’s campaign www.nokidhungy.org so we can take care of those who need it most.

Craft Up a Storm to Help our Storm Survivors!

Here is my favorite resource that lists many ways to knit, sew and quilt your way to a better world. www.handcraftedwithlove.net:

      Socks For Soldiers knits socks for soldiers serving in the Middle East.

      Stitch for a Cause knits, crochets, sews, and quilts blankets and infant apparel for local children's agencies. Based in Louisville, KY, USA.

      Stitches From the Heart sends handmade clothing and blankets to premature babies across the nation. Based in Santa Monica, CA, USA.

      Stitching Up The World knits, crochets and sews items to donate to a variety of organizations. Their main effort is items for chemotherapy patients in New Hampshire, Based in Candia, NH, USA.

      Threads of Love provides clothing, blankets and other handmade articles for premature and sick infants. Threads of Love has chapters in the United States, Canada and London, England.

      Tiny Stitches is based in Gwinnett County, Georgia and provides basic layettes to disadvantaged newborns and preemies in north Georgia. They also provide burial ensembles to families who lose an infant.

      Ugly Quilts for the Homeless, My Brothers' Keeper.

      Victoria's Quilts and Victoria's Quilts Canada. Quilts for cancer patients.

Crafting Kindness: Inspired Ideas for Helping Flood Victims in Texas:

Compassionate Crafts

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

www.woolworks.irg has a section on knitting and crocheting for charity listed by state, with links for organizations that make donations to U.S. troops; to centers for battered women and children; to Native Americans Reservations in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah; and to the homeless in cities all over the U.S.

www.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.

www.warmingfamiles.org is a 100% volunteer project that delivers donated blankets and other warm items to the homeless and displaced while strengthening families with their charity work. They supply to local shelters and nursing homes. 

Compassionate Crafts

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

www.woolworks.irg has a section on knitting and crocheting for charity listed by state, with links for organizations that make donations to U.S. troops; to centers for battered women and children; to Native Americans Reservations in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah; and to the homeless in cities all over the U.S.

www.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.

www.warmingfamiles.org is a 100% volunteer project that delivers donated blankets and other warm items to the homeless and displaced while strengthening families with their charity work. They supply to local shelters and nursing homes.

Lean the Language of Kindness

Learn a new language. Or become more fluent in your less dominant language if you are already bilingual. The more people you can communicate with, the more valuable you are to working opportunities as well as opening yourself up to new people and cultures.  A friend of mine recently took a volunteer vacation where he taught English to orphans and abandoned children in Cambodia. He said he enjoyed every minute and wants to do this every year, as he loved working with the kids. As he told me this story, his smile was at least a mile wide!

Conscious Kindness

When I lived in the Panhandle District, I would occasionally wonder to myself from whence the name came. It is actually a skinny strip of land at the end of San Francisco’s spectacular Golden Gate Park, like a handle on a skillet or big pan. But with so many down and out, there is a good bit of panhandling, the verb- asking for money. In fact, it sometimes seems overwhelming, especially when on any given day, I might be hit up over a dozen times.  I noticed that after 9/11, it became especially grim, as there was a scary economic downturn that accompanied all the other chaos. 

 I developed a system of my own and I always kept change in the little pocket of my driver’s side door handle to be ready for when I was driving.  Here is my system and I just did it today: moms with kids, children, and amputee’s, anyone who really seems to me to need help now.  If I am driving an author around on tour or out-of-town visitors, they have, on occasion, been startled when I mutter,” Oh, an amputee; let me see what I have on me. “ I explain my seeming rudeness by saying this is my personalized system and that I was almost an amputee when I was hit and run by a drunk driver a few years back and managed to talk my doctor out of that idea.  I had to learn to walk again and it took a looong time and a lot of pain. So, I always think, “that could have been me” and I want to help.   Many a vet who served their country came back without a limb and even fewer options.  This really is the least I can do and wanting to do more is one of the reasons behind this book

Love Lifts You Up

If you have frequent flier miles you are not planning to use, give them to service members who have been injured in the line of duty and need to be flown to get proper medical treatment. This can also enable family members to visit.  Check out fisherhouse.org to discover all you need to know about Fisher House Foundation’s Hero Miles Program. Love has an enormous power to heal so sharing your unused miles stretches YOUR love a mighty long way!

Lend An Ear

Counselors can contribute enormously to our troops when the return back at the end of their service term. I honestly think my Ex-Marine dad has PTSD but that posttraumatic stress was not even acknowledged until long after the Viet Nam War and only through the activism of many.  Therapists and mental health professionals can really help our military veterans by volunteering their own service through the organization Give an Hour (giveanhour.org) and this is extremely helpful to families of vets. Listening can change lives for the better here in a big way.