Charity Matters Inspiration Archives - Page 26 of 37

Charity Matters Inspiration August 3, 2016

Ideas for summer kindness

On Monday, I shared a guest blog post by Molly Yuska, founder of Project Giving Kids. In it, she reflected on the importance of teaching kindness, not only for the healthy development of our children but for our society and our world at large.

This summer, Project Giving Kids is challenging kids and families everywhere to get in on the action to see just how far and wide the message of kindness can be spread. You too can join the #SummerKindnessChallenge.

Any act of kindness, however big or small, will do. Quick, easy, important and the only way to make our world better, one small act of kindness at a time.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration August 1, 2016

Guest blogger: Molly Yuska Project Giving Kids

Since Charity Matters just celebrated its 5 year anniversary it seems time for some fresh perspectives. So I have invited our first guest blogger, my friend and non-profit founder, Molly Yuska. Molly is not only a mother but founded Project Giving Kids, a place to empower and teach children about philanthropy.

So, without further ado, here is Molly….

For many of us, the world has started to feel rather scary lately. Almost every week there seems to be a report of some major attack somewhere on our small planet. I can’t help but think how much scarier it must feel to kids who can’t remember a time when the world seemed at peace.

I believe when faced with these kinds of tragedies, we have a choice – to move away in fear and try to hold on even tighter to safeguard our own self-interest in hopes the tighter grip will protect us just a little bit more (or at least make us feel that way) OR to put the fear aside and see it as a call to action, a call to spread kindness and to turn that dark tide back toward the light.

I recently came across an article about kindness and kids. In it, a teacher by the name of Marlem Diaz-Brown states: “I have learned that when you teach kindness and compassion to students and they really understand the concept, everything else falls into place. This should be the first lesson of every teacher.” (Article: http://bit.ly/25IIynS)

Whether the teacher be a parent, an after-school mentor, a grandparent or an actual teacher, I think our children today, perhaps more than any generation that has come before it, need to be reminded of the power of kindness. I want my children to live in a world where they don’t walk the streets in fear of what senseless tragedy may come next. I want them to walk the streets knowing that the power of kindness is stronger than the fear that drives violence. And the sooner we turn them on to their own power to create ripples of kindness, the better off we all will be. After all, kindness is a choice like any other.

I couldn’t have said it better myself! If you want quick and easy project ideas your family can use to begin teaching kindness, visit Project Giving Kids.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration June 23, 2016

700….how did that happen?

Next month will be Charity Matters five-year old birthday, hard to believe. I had planned on writing this post to you then, however, when I saw the 700 posts appear on my screen I had to stop and acknowledge this milestone.

Five years ago, I set out to share stories of amazing people who make our world better, share a few of my own and inspire people to serve. I didn’t have a plan other than that. I had never blogged, was and am still tech challenged and thought if I could inspire just one person than it would be worth it.

Today, seven hundred posts later with thousands of new friends and regular subscribers, I am in awe. There are not words to express my gratitude to you. You wake up, read this, share, reach out to me with ideas and inspiration and keep me going. You make me a better person. Because of you, I strive to give my best, share what I have, always want to learn and grow and for that I thank you.

Life is a journey and I am so grateful you have included me in yours. Thank you, thank you for all you do to inspire me and for your friendship and loyalty. My heart is full of gratitude. So here is to the next 700….thank you all for knowing and believing that….

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration June 8, 2016

Full circle, a life full of purpose

Have you ever had a surreal moment that you never in your wildest dreams thought would happen? Well, that is what happened to me this past weekend. I was the commencement speaker at my Alma Mater, a surreal experience for sure!

Confession: I was a bit naughty in high school and had at least annual trips to the headmaster’s office, so standing there on Sunday, imparting some of the lessons I have learned this far, was both a privilege and a full circle moment.

If you had to tell students what you have learned along the way, what would you say? I know! It is overwhelming to pick just one message. So to give you all the cliff notes version, here is what I came up with. I talked about living a life full of purpose. Pablo Picasso’s quote, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”

A life full of purpose breaks down in to the following 6 categories:

Exercise- You have to take care of yourself first before you can care for others.
Make friends- What is life without them? There isn’t one!
Road bumps- Life is full of them, they are just road signs
Serve, serve and serve- Charity Matters…just sayin
One thing leads to the next-Regardless of your plan, purpose’s plan is bigger
Gratitude-The ultimate key to happiness.

At the end of the day, I think this is what we all aspire to, isn’t it? To find our purpose. It is after all that magical intersection of where your passion and purpose create this elusive thing we call happiness. Sunday, I felt it. Communicating and sharing, the message of service was my intersection, one I never thought I would find….but so worth the wait.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration June 6, 2016

The great one…

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”

Muhammad Ali

This weekend we lost a great one. A man born into a family of pre-Civil War era American slaves, who experienced the segregated South first hand and was determined to use his life to help others, which is exactly what he did.

Muhammad Ali devoted his life to helping promote civil rights, cross-cultural understanding, interfaith relations, hunger relief, and world peace. He did this through a variety of actions and causes. According to the National Constitution Center, he has been responsible for providing over 232 million meals to serve the hungry in such countries as Indonesia, Mexico, Cuba, Morocco, and Cote d’Ivoire, to name a few.

In addition, to his work abroad as a Goodwill Ambassador, he also used his fame and success to bring attention to causes such as Make A Wish Foundation, Special Olympics, Muhammad Ali Parkinson’s Center and the Muhammad Ali Center in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

The Muhammad Ali Center’s mission sums up the legend’s life and legacy best, “To promote, respect, hope, and understanding and to inspire adults and children everywhere to be as great as they can be.”

He was great and continues to inspire us all, to do the same.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration May 30, 2016

Memorial Day-Arlington

Each year this day comes and I wonder how can I convey and share my gratitude for those that have served our country. There is no real way to express how grateful I am for our freedoms. While searching for something, this video came to my attention.

While I am an occasional country music fan, I had never seen this song called Arlington. If you do one thing today, to stop and feel grateful, watch this.

As we light our barbecues and pack up from our long weekends. Let us be mindful of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us all and their families. God Bless America and Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration May 23, 2016

Charity Water

With 1.9 million non-profits and more stories to share than we possibly could right here, Charity Matters had to put some filters on who we covered. The core root is people helping people in the United States. As a result, we don’t always cover some amazing international causes because it is a little outside the scope.

Every once in a while, we come across someone, who just gets it and it really doesn’t matter where they live or who they serve, it is what they do for others that becomes the filter for goodness. Without trying to create water and filter jokes, Charity Water is one of those stories. More specifically, the story of Scott Harrison, the former nightclub promoter who turned his life and thousands of others he serves around by creating Charity Water.

Scott says in his bio, “For me, charity is practical. It’s sometimes easy and more often inconvenient, but always necessary. It is the ability to use one’s position of influence, relative wealth and power to affect lives for the better. Charity is singular and achievable.”

Since 2006, Scott and his team have provided over 6 million people with the gift of clean water. Now that is a true filter for goodness.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration May 16, 2016

Purpose

I have been searching for inspiration everywhere as I sat down this weekend to work on a commencement speech I am giving in June. Truly a terrifying prospect. If you were to impart wisdom, which by the way I am not sure I have to impart….to a group of young high school graduates, what would you want them to know?

There is so much to I want to say but I need them to leave with one nugget, one seed, one thought that they might possibly remember….although to be honest, the only thing that comforts me is that most of us do not remember our commencement speaker…..just sayin.

I digress, so I came across this, and thought I would share it with you. I honestly wish this guy would write my speech because this is good stuff. Enjoy!

If this doesn’t get your week off to a great start, then I am not what will. Happy Monday everyone!

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration May 9, 2016

The Year of Magical Thinking

One of my favorite books is Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking. It is the real life story of loss and grief. A book I have given to many a friend who has lost a loved one.

What makes this book magical is that it talks about what triggers these emotions, in such a beautiful way. This year, has been a year of magical thinking. No, I have not lost a loved one but there has been much loss. We moved from the home where we raised our sons, we didn’t just get rid of the house, but most of everything inside…who knew that purging is loss? Our second son went off to college, our new house was truly empty, the dog died and I realized that perhaps my youth was on its way out too.

All loss but in a different way. It just chips away at you little by little, rather than in that large earthquake of loss that we experience with death. But the sadness, the feeling of loss is still there. Joan Didion writes, “we are imperfect mortal beings, aware of that mortality even as we push it away, failed by our very complication, so wired that when we mourn our losses we also mourn, for better or for worse, ourselves. as we were. as we are no longer. as we will one day not be at all.”

Loss is life, it is change, it is growth and renewal and it is hard. Whether it comes to you in an earthquake or is chipped away piece by piece it is a process that each of us must endure in our own way. This past year of loss, has once again, been a year of magical thinking.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration May 4, 2016

What is old?

Aging is something that happens to all of us. This year with a “big” birthday ahead, I have been thinking about it, a bit more than usual. I have heard I should start looking in the mail for the AARP card, really? Let me be clear here, I am getting older (of course) but am not old, do not feel old and hope to be someone who never acts old, regardless of my age. One can hope.

I am also blessed with great role models, my grandmother in her nineties would take care of “the elderly,” people in their seventies. My Dad at 76, spins with me at the gym everyday, and as far as I can tell, everyone in my family who ever “retired” seems to just get busier.

So when I saw this recent video, I thought it was worth a share.

Age is a number, an attitude and a lifestyle. The number doesn’t matter but rather, what you do with your time….even if you have a little less.

Charity Matters.

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Cancer April 27, 2016

When Breath becomes Air

Have you ever read a book that haunted you? Spoke to you and really made you stop and think? I just finished one and I have to say, it felt as if the universe had given me a gift. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, a truly beautiful autobiography of a Stanford trained neurosurgeon who discovers he is dying of cancer.

An extraordinary view of life, from someone who spent his trying to save others. A man who loved literature and found himself pondering the question of what makes a human life meaningful? He writes early on the book, “If the unexamined life was not worth living, was the unlived life worth examining?”

Paul Kalanithi wrote of his experience of both living and dying, and how his perception of both changed through his journey with cancer. One of my favorite quotes from the book was, ““There is a moment, a cusp, when the sum of gathered experience is worn down by the details of living. We are never so wise as when we live in this moment.”

Such wise a beautiful words from a life well lived, and a legacy for all to learn from.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration April 25, 2016

Prince

“Compassion is an action word with no boundaries.”

Prince

FILE - In this Feb. 18, 1985 file photo, Prince performs at the Forum in Ingle

I have to admit that I loved Prince and his music, he sang the soundtrack of my youth. As cliché as it sounds, it is true. His untimely death surprised me for a multitude of reasons, but most off all for the strength of its impact. How can someone I have never met leave me feeling so sad and empty?

Again comes that question that threads through me often, what is the measure of a life? Is it using the gifts you have been given to help another? Sharing your God-given talents with world? Taking what you have to lift up another?

I heard this interview on CNN the other day and thought that it spoke volumes to who Prince was and the measure of his compassion. He helped so many everyday of his life but never told anyone.

Alicia Keys said, “There were many Kings in rock and roll but only one Prince.” It was so true.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration April 20, 2016

Do you?

“You really can change the world if you care enough.”

– Marian Wright Edelman

n-MANOJ-BHARGAVA

I was so inspired by Manoj Bhargava and his film Billions in Change, that I thought of him when I found this quote.

A man who cares.

Do you?

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration April 18, 2016

Billions in change

Over and over we hear it said that one person can change the world, a phrase I do believe in. Anyone who inspires change, knows it takes a village to do so. It is a global village that billionaire Manoj Bhargava is creating to deliver products that can directly impact humanity and he is seriously the real deal.

Manoj has taken his fortune, created from 5 hour Energy, to focus on three areas to improve the world;water, energy and health. His approach is to, ” make a difference in other people’s lives, not just talk about it.” A new documentary called Billions in Change, follows his journey. Take a small peak here at what one man can do to improve the lives of seven billion people.

As our world becomes increasingly smaller and the global village a reality. It is people like Manoj Bhargava, who will not only change our world but inspire each of us to do the same.

Charity Matters.

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