Be a Hospice Volunteer

 

    Jollyologist Allen Klein shares this beautiful story:

    When I was a hospice volunteer, one of the patients I was assigned to look after was an elderly woman who loved classical music. For many years, she, her son, and her daughter had season symphony tickets. But she was way too ill to use them now. Her prognosis was only a few weeks left to live.

    I discussed the situation with the hospice team and how we might get her to a concert. Perhaps we could put her in a wheelchair or even a gurney and have her at the back of the theatre, But in her condition, we realized that that would not work.

    Then I had an idea. I called the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, one of the leading schools in the country, and asked if they had a student who might volunteer to play something for a dying woman. A few days later, they sent over a talented young woman, a violinists, who gave a private performance for the patient and her family.

    I wasn't at the apartment at the time, but from what the daughter told me the next day, it was glorious. She said that after the intimate living room recital, her mother told her, "In all my years of going to the symphony, that was the best concert I have ever attended."

Ring Your Bells

    Ring bells and help raise money for people in need. The Red Kettle Christmas Campaign enables the Salvation Army to provide food, toys, and clothing to over six million people during the Christmas season and helps more than 34 million Americans recovering from all kinds of personal disasters nationwide. The Red Kettle campaign, first started in San Francisco in 1891, has traditionally been the Salvation Army’s most prominent fundraiser. For more information and to find out where you can volunteer, go to ringbells.org.

Make Merry

    

    Santa Claus came early to a Pennsylvania retailer recently. In December 2014, an anonymous man walked into a store and told the manager he wanted to donate $50,000 to help pay off customer layaway accounts. “We made him say it twice,” said store manager Steve Meyers. “When we started telling customers, they thought it might be a joke.” 

    The donor, who asked to be known as Santa B., arrived just in time, as unfulfilled layaway orders were set to be cancelled that day. “He just wanted to bring Christmas cheer to everyone,” Meyers said. “He was in and out, kind of like Santa Claus.”

Save the Planet, One Tree at a Time

     

    Buy an artificial Christmas tree. People love my blue and silver disco tree which I got at a yard sale a few years ago. It is very festive! On average, over 30 million Christmas trees are sold in the United States each year- those are trees we could be saving and using for oxygen, housing material, and paper products rather than as decoration for a small amount of time. When you purchase an artificial tree, you will save money within the first few years and they look just as nice without the mess of pine needles! For more information on the history of the Christmas tree, go to urbanext.illinois.edu/trees/facts.cfm.

Human Rights Day

    

    Today presents an opportunity to celebrate human rights and advocate for equal human rights everywhere. As much as we like to think that the world is all sunshine and rainbows, that is not the truth; we should not be blind or ignorant of the truth. Today, make yourself aware of the injustices going on in the world by doing some research on the prejudices and hate that many people experience from others. Do what you can to help promote human rights today and everyday.

    To keep up on all the latest, check out hrw.org. 

Support Diversity in Education

    New York-based Folk Arts Rajasthan (folkartajasthan.org) and India-based Lok Kala Sagar (LKSS)-meaning "local folk arts society"- are nonprofit organizations joined since 2005 by a shared vision of a thriving and just future for the Merasi people and their unique musical culture. The Merasi of northwestern India carry a powerful legacy of 38 generations but they also carry the burden of the still-enduring caste system. To reclaim an identity as storyteller, the Merasi of Jaisalmer have shed the derogatory caste label Manganiyar, meaning beggars. The name Merasi, instead means musicians, and is a symbol of self-determination.

    The FAR-LKSS collaborative approach recognizes that education, preserving this intangible cultural heritage, and achieving social justice for a continually marginalized people are mutually dependent goals.

    In the face of obstinate hierarchical norms, FAR and LKSS are together nurturing a generation of ambitious and capable youth with their programs. Significantly, two FAR scholarship girls, Sitara and Mobeena Khan, participated in a 2014 US-based international science conference, after their project won awards both local and state level in Rajasthan. In February 2015, a troupe of Merasi youth traveled to Mumbai to play in the prestigious Kala Ghoda Arts Festival and exchange cultural activities with students at a variety of schools.

cultural heritage, and achieving social justice for a continually marginalized people are mutually

dependent goals.

In the face of obstinate hierarchical norms, FAR and LKSS are together nurturing a

generation

of ambitious and capable youth with their programs. Significantly, two FAR scholarship girls,

Sitara and Mobeena Khan, participated in a 2014 US

-

based international science conference,

after their project won awards at both local and state leve

l in Rajasthan. In February 2015, a

troupe of Merasi youth traveled to Mumbai to play in the prestigious Kala Ghoda Arts Festival

and exchange cultural activities with students at a variety of schools.

Charity Rocks!

     When Jaime Finkel, assistant to music manager Scott Rodger, began working at Maverick in Beverly Hills, she noticed there was a lot of unclaimed "merch" in the office. The newly-founded company, which is composed of nine of music's top managers- who collectively manage more than two dozen of the planet's biggest artists, including Madonna, Paul McCartney, Miley Cyrus, Pharrell Williams, Alicia Keys, Arcade Fire, and U2- is at the forefront of major changes taking place in the music industry today.

    Instead of throwing away the excess and unwanted tour products and unsolicited gifts, Jaime initiated a Merch Box. Every month, she selects an organization to donate these items to. It seems like a natural match since for every celebrity and wanna-be star in Hollywood there is a person in need, but no one had thought to do this before. It's as simple as setting up a bin in your office lunchroom and creating a sign that reads "For Charity."