Have you ever heard a speaker who left you thinking? Really thinking? Two weeks ago, I attended an event down at USC that left me deep in thought. The talk was given by a local priest who had worked with Mother Teresa years ago in Calcutta, when he was on a year’s sabbatical. The Monsignor spoke about being lost and shared his journey of self discovery during his time in India serving the poor.
He spoke about feeling, ” so alive and on fire” about his time there and the work he was doing with the poor, the sick and the dying. This feeling had him, at times, contemplating staying permanently in India. The priest shared this idea with Mother Teresa, who told him to, “Go home.” The priest in turn told each of us,” that we must all findour own Calcutta and that love is a decision.”
No matter how many post I write, the miracle of the human spirit always continues to inspire me and leave me in awe. The one I am about to share, is no exception. It is the story of an Orange County, CA teenager named Tim Vorenkamp who was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer called Synovial Sarcoma. A cancer so rare that is only strikes 1 to 3 out of every million. The boy as rare as his cancer, determined to make a difference with the hand he was dealt……which is exactly what he did.
Tim used his illness to help bring awareness to this horrible disease and to establish the Live for Others Foundation.
Sadly, Tim lost his battle on January 10th, 2016 but his legacy lives on in the foundation he and his family began. As he said in the video, ” Battling cancer you never lose, and you will never lose. Even if one day the fight ends! Once something like this happens, you never lose, you just start a new journey.”
As fall kicks into gear and we all begin to settle into our new school year routines, one thing that I always look forward to is watching my boys participate in sports. There is nothing more fun that sitting with a group of parents who are all cheering their children on.
A few weeks ago, I sat down for lunch with an amazing woman and non-profit founder, named Clare Gurbach. Clare has two daughters that are college athletes and her youngest daughter seems to be following in the family footsteps. We talked about our children, sports and the moment that all of those came together to inspire Clare to help so many children keep playing sports.
Charity Matters: What was the moment you knew you needed to act and start your non-profit?
Clare: “In 2007, I was watching our oldest daughter play volleyball and seeing the disparity in resources between our team and one we were playing. The other team did not have nice uniforms. Some of the girls had masking tape on the back of their shirts for their numbers. Many did not have knee pads or proper shoes. Our team had everything and a professional coach as well. Winning that game 25-2 was not a good outcome for anyone.
We were called to action to “level the playing field” in providing uniforms, sports equipment and resources for under-resourced Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. We named our non-profit The Saint Sebastian Sports Project after the patron saint of athletes.”
CM: What fuels you to keep doing this work?
“Seeing the huge impact we are having as we have grown. We know that sports help children in so many ways. Beyond the obvious physical benefits of playing sports, children also learn sportsmanship, commitment, and leadership and have fun at the same time. Our students must maintain a minimum GPA to play on their teams so they are incentivized to work hard in school.”
CM: When do you know you have made a difference?
“When we see the smiles on the faces of all the children we serve. When we visit the students at school and bring the schools’ funds and equipment to support their sports programs. When students attend our various tournaments, camps and college visit days at USC and LMU. Many of our students are now trying out for their high school teams that never would have had this opportunity in the past.”
Tell us what your impact been?
“During the 2009-2010 academic year, we were able to support seven sports programs. This academic school year we will assist 39 schools with grants and will serve at least 2,500 students this year.
There are 100 schools in Archdiocese of Los Angeles that need funding. We hope to find more foundation money and person donations to fuel additional growth in the future.”
A few years ago, I was worked to put on a Women’s Entrepreneurial Conference, that highlighted amazing women who had started incredible companies. One of our guest speakers was a woman named Lee Rhodes, the founder of Glassbaby.
Her story and business, a true social entrepreneur, where beyond inspiring. I never forgot but just recently received a Glassbaby candle as a gift and thought her story was worth sharing with you. When Lee was diagnosed with lung cancer she had an epiphany. She began to, “see the inequities of cancer, people who could not afford their chemo, the bus to get to chemo, or a lunch to sustain them through their treatment.”
So in 1995, when she was going through her third battle with cancer, as a mother of three…her husband came home from a glass blowing class with a little jar. Lee dropped a votive in his homemade creation and knew it was something special. In 1997, she began making these beautiful votives and giving them as gifts to dear friends and by 2001 Lee was selling Glassbabies out of her garage with the goal of donating as much as she could to support those with cancer.
Today, Glassbaby has donated over 3 million dollars to charities and has started their own 501c3, non-profit called the Glassbaby White Light Fund. The goal is to continue their mission of lighting the way for those in need.
When actor Gene Wilder passed away a few weeks back, I was reminded of his beautiful love affair with Gilda Radner and their subsequent involvement in cancer support. Wilder’s death coincided with a lunch catch up with a friend, who works for the organization that helped Gilda Radner through her battle with ovarian cancer, Cancer Support Community.
As I caught up with my friend, Meg Symes of Cancer Support Community, she told me her own story of watching her mother go through cancer in the 70s without the support, community or a place to go where it was “socially acceptable to have cancer.” When cancer struck Meg decades later, she was blessed to have the resources her mother did not. When the opportunity presented itself to be a part of supporting those with cancer Meg was all in.
Meg explained that Cancer Support Community was founded in 1982 by Dr. Harold Benjamin to provide free support, cancer education and hope. “So no one needs to face cancer alone,” patients and their families learn skills to enable them to regain control and restore hope. Patients and families can attend workshops, classes, yoga and come to a safe warm welcoming place that feels like home and gives the support needed to take on cancer.
In the Pasadena chapter alone, Cancer Support Community serves over 1,100 people a year, all free of charge. Today, Dr. Benjamin’s concept of providing support, education and hope for people with cancer has expanded to over 100 locations worldwide. Regardless if you were Gilda Radner, who attended the Santa Monica location or in Tokyo or someone here in Pasadena, because of people like Meg and thousands of donors and volunteers…..no one has to face cancer alone.
Yesterday was the first day of fall. In LA, we had an unusual crisp, 75 degree September day with big puffy clouds and the tiniest hint that perhaps Mother nature was up to something. As I drove home from my son’s high school football game, I felt joyful. Let me be clear, it wasn’t the score of the game that put me in the mood, but rather the feeling that change was in the air.
There is something that happens with change, it brings little pieces of hope and inspiration. As I sat in crazy 5 o’clock LA traffic, with the sun roof open, I had my first glimpse of fall.
No, it wasn’t a tree with turning leaves, but rather a women whose car was broken down. She had a look of fear and panic on her face and then something magical happened….two separate men parked their cars and rushed out to push the women and her broken car through crazy rush hour traffic.
Perhaps, an everyday occurrence…..but to witness chivalry, kindness and compassion, to this Angeleno, the first and best sign of fall…..and the feeling that change and hope was in the air.
Ever wonder what happens when you go out to eat and your children leave all their free crayons behind at the restaurant? Well, you are not alone, one LA mom did too. Her name is Sheila Michail Morovati and after dining out weekly at their families’ favorite restaurant, she noticed all of the unused crayons being left behind. After a little research, she learned that there are actually 150 million neglected crayons that get tossed every year in the U.S. Who knew?
Determined to teach her children about waste and giving, the Crayon Collection was born. Here is how it works: The non-profit organization creates presentations for each restaurant that signs on, gets trained in how to collect the crayons so that they are clean and not soiled, and how to store them. The restaurant is paired with a school about 2-5 miles away and a crayon pick-up is scheduled for about once a month, to get those crayons to the school and in the hands of students who will actually use them.
Believe it or not, they even take those scrappy not so pretty crayons too. “The schools we are serving are so undersupplied that even the chalky crayons offer some benefit,” said founder Sheila Morovati.
The goal is simply to reallocate gently used crayons from restaurants, and in the process begin to teach children at a very young age about the needs of other children who can benefit from this simple resource so often taken for granted, teaching the joy of generosity and recycling for a greater good….all while helping another.
Now that seems like the perfect art of childhood….
I don’t know about you, but I have always adored Katie Couric. I follow her on Instagram and for the past two weeks every day she has posted a picture and told the story of someone’s life affected by cancer. Each story more devastating than the next, with faces of children, mother’s, grandparents….each one of us knows someone who has been affected by this horrible disease.
Katie has been involved with an organization called Stand Up 2 Cancer. It began as an idea in 2008, to bring the entertainment industry together to raise funds for cancer research. Tonight, once again they will do just that.
Since 2008, Stand Up 2 Cancer has raised millions of dollars that have funded over one thousand cancer researchers and 19 cancer dream teams put together to end this disease. So, tonight turn on your tele to be entertained, inspired and to join in this fight that Stands Up 2 Cancer.
Last week I was privileged to speak at the launch of the USC’s Women in Leadership Society at the Annenberg School for Communication, my alma mater. An amazing organization founded by Professor Christopher Smith to provide support, build self-confidence, build community and connect young female undergraduates who are at the intersection of tech, media and entertainment. So what could I possibly say to these young women?
First, I remembered what a challenging time USC was for me, my parents had gone bankrupt and I was putting myself through school. I had boyfriend problems, was trying to figure out my path and the basic challenges of having fun, growing up and juggling it all that all young co-eds face.
I wanted these young women to know that we all go through this. More importantly, I wanted them to have a bigger goal and keep their eye on the prize. So often, the vision is short-sighted and they can only focus on the internship, the A, the diploma or the job. I want them to focus on living a life full of purpose, where you are using your gifts to the greatest ability.
While leadership is a tool that helps you on the path to acquiring all of the above, isn’t the real goal of leadership simply one life inspiring another? I shared my favorite leadership quote by Woodrow Wilson who said, “You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”
Because Leadership is at its essence….one life simply inspiring another and after all, isn’t that is the purpose?
As thousands of students head back to school in the next few days and weeks ahead, it is time to take a look at what these young brilliant minds have to say about school and learning. More specifically, these wiggly little souls with learning disabilities, who are now facing months of sitting still, (oh the agony ahead of them) after a summer full of playing.
As the mother of children that faced similar challenges, once upon a time. Brilliant and extremely smart, but their brains do not process like the average brain, the following video really spoke to me.
Today, there a so many resources for parents and students with learning disabilities. The most well-known, is The Learning Disabilities Association of America or the LDA, which was founded in 1963 by a group of parents in Chicago that wanted to explore their concern over this growing group of students. By January 1964, these parents had formed a 501c3, non-profit to do just that.
Since that time, a number of significant Federal Legislations were passed because of these passionate parents. Today, hundreds of volunteer leaders across the country continue this important work and LDA‘s national conference draws over 3,000 people committed to the mission of helping those with learning challenges.
Not just endure it, not just suffer it,not just pass through it, but to live in it.
To look at it.
To try to get the picture. To live recklessly. To take chances.
To make work and take pride in it.
To seize the moment.”
Joan Didion
I am a huge fan of Joan Didion and her writing. Her book The Year of Magical Thinking was a gift to me after losing my mom. Her writing, if you have never read it, gets so deeply to the point.
I know, I do try to share inspiration to make our world better each week, however, this quote spoke to me so completely that when I read it I began to cry.
All we have is now and this moment. So let’s make the best of every one we have!
Last year this time it was the ice bucket challenge to bring awareness to MLS and this year the challenge no longer involves ice but push-ups…..22 push-ups to be exact. I have been challenged to do the 22 push-ups a day by a friend of mine to bring awareness to the 22 veterans who commit suicide each day across this country due to PTSD.
In 2012 a Veteran’s report came out releasing the shocking statistic about our veterans and suicide. In 2013 a non-profit called Honor Courage Commitment began to spread the word about this epidemic amongst veterans. In July 2015, the non-profit split into an additional non-profit called # 22Kill. 22Kill’s mission is to create a global movement that will bridge the gap between veterans and civilians to build a community of support.
A bucket of ice last August helped spread international awareness and raise millions for ALS. Today, 22 push-ups a day to bring awareness to the suffering of millions of our veterans, is a small sacrifice and privilege to help those who have served us so bravely. Join us, in honoring those who have served us.
I suppose when you pose such huge questions to the universe, as I did on Monday with, “Where is the love?” The universe begins to send answers, and of course, you begin to see answers everywhere. So as we end the week, I thought this was the perfect story to share. If you have seen it once, it is more than worth seeing again.
It is the story of a man who received an organ transplant, more specifically a heart transplant and if ever there was an answer to the question, where is the love? It is here…
Two strangers connected by a heart and there is the love.
I know on monday, I asked the question where is the love? I thought today I would share a little piece of inspiration. A friend reached out to me when she saw this and thought of Charity Matters and it made me smile, so my hope is that it does the same for you.
Last week a Minnesota police officer came home to find his front lawn newly mowed and this note taped on his front door. The note was left by the young neighbor and lawn mower, who wanted to show his support of the local police by doing something kind for the officer. He says, “Because your job is hard enough and I think people like you should know that we are behind you guys.Take the extra hour that it takes to mow and spend time doing what you love.”
A beautiful gesture and a perfect follow-up to Project Giving Kids Summer Kindness Challenge.…as well as the answer to the question…Where is the love? Love is all around us, we just have to look, and to share it all.
I don’t know about you, but I have always adored Katie Couric. I follow her on Instagram and for the past two weeks every day she has posted a picture and told the story of someone’s life affected by cancer. Each story more devastating than the next, with faces of children, mother’s, grandparents….each one of us knows someone who has been affected by this horrible disease.
