Charity Matters Inspiration Archives - Page 31 of 37

Charity Matters Inspiration September 10, 2014

September 11th-Patriots Day

Photo by Scott Lewis 917-386-4555 Library Tag 09112008 National/Foreign

Tomorrow markes the 13th anniversary of the fateful day that changed the face of our nation forever, September 11th, now renamed Patriots Day. Each year I wonder will we remember? Should we remember? It is so painful, even more than a decade later we all feel the pain of reminders when we watch the news and see the images. I debated, is it time to stop reflecting on this fateful day?

After some thought, my answer is no. We promised never to forget. We promised to hold those families in our hearts and to come together as a nation. So, if ripping off the band-aid yet another year reminds us of our promise, then that is what needs to be done.

So tonight, tomorrow and every day after, hug your children, tell the people in your life that you love them. Just as the song says, “I believe love will find a way.” Make Pariots Day stand for something, love.

We will never forget.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration August 20, 2014

Where does a movement begin? The Ice Bucket Challenge

How do trends start? What was the impetus to all of us dumping buckets of ice water on our heads? Who was the inspiration behind this chilly trend?

The answer is simple. His name is Pete Frates and this is his story.

So the next time you are looking at Facebook and/or pouring a bucket of ice on your head, remember why you are doing and for who. You are doing it for Pete Frates and everyone else who has ALS. The trend that is changing the face of ALS belongs to one face only and that is of Pete Frates…. an inspiration to us all.

Charity Matters.

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Cancer August 13, 2014

TCU Frogs for the Cure

I never ceased to be amazed by the way that the right people always enter my life at just the right time. As you all know, this week I have been prepping for my first-born to leave the nest and head off to Texas and TCU. In all the craziness I received a phone call from a friend who wanted to introduce me to an incredible woman named Ann Louden, who helped start and drive a non-profit at TCU.

The organization is called TCU Frogs for the Cure and is dedicated to supporting those with breast cancer and helping to find a cure. Ann, a breast cancer survivor, called to chat about her organization’s new video that is being filmed this weekend at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl. She said the organization began in 2005 when TCU athletics partnered with the Susan G. Komen® Greater Fort Worth to sponsor a first-ever pink out halftime presentation at a university….which has now become a national trend.

A few years later they created a music video that combined inspirational music and hundreds of survivors and supporters. Each year since, the music video has gotten more elaborate and included more students, survivors and community leaders. This year, the video is being filmed in 5 cities, including my own hometown Pasadena, this Saturday August 16th from 1-5pm.

So grab your friends and register here to be a part of this epic celebrity filled music video to inspire others to find a cure. It is events like this, started at TCU, that have influenced and inspired thousands to adopt a cause and come together to make a difference.

I know I’m inspired and so grateful my son is heading to TCU. Whether pink or purple is your color, it doesn’t really matter but what does, is that you care to give of yourself to help another.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration August 6, 2014

Camp with a Cause

Its summer and summer means time for camp. Camp is a time for children to play, make friends and have new experiences. However, when a child is suffering from a serious illness camp takes on an even bigger purpose. Camp becomes a place to be a kid with others who are facing the same challenges. Camp becomes a place of hope and healing. That is exactly why Camp Soaring Eagle was created. This special place provides the healing power of laughter to thousands of seriously ill children by giving them the opportunity to go to a medically supervised camp at no cost to the campers and their families. The camp was founded by entrepreneur Max F. James.

Max began his life as a Tennessee farm boy where his father was a share cropper. A life of hard work and dedication lead him to the Air Force Academy, Vietnam and then Stanford Business School, where he received his MBA. Max said in an interview recently, “My two children and my wife, Linda, helped me build the business, so we set up a family foundation, wanting to start giving back to the community. Over the years we wrote a lot of little checks, but then my son sent me to Orlando, Fl, to Camp Boggy Creek, one of Paul Newman’s Hole In the Wall camps, where seriously ill kids can attend a medically supervised camping program. We decided we could also do something like that. ”

Since 2009, Camp Soaring Eagle has sent hundreds of seriously ill children to camp and continues to keep growing and expanding. Providing campers and families a happy slice of summer fun and memories to last a lifetime. As Max F. James said, “I have been tremendously blessed and strongly believe that when one gives it comes back tenfold.”

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration August 4, 2014

The language of kindness is universal

Seeing random acts of kindness fills our hearts and brings us joy. This video simply doesn’t need words because it speaks the universal language of kindness.

There is no better way to begin a week than with a little smile and some kindness.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration July 30, 2014

Special Delivery

I am sad to say that it isn’t very often that I turn on the evening news anymore, it is simply too depressing. However, on Monday evening I did and imagine my surprise to find this amazing story. It is the story of a six year old boy, named Danny Nickerson’s birthday wish. Even if you happened to catch it, it is worth a double take.

As the reporter said, “This is what love and hope look like. You just wish there was more to go around.” I think those cards prove, there is more than enough.

Charity Matters.

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Cancer June 30, 2014

Brides Who Make a Difference

We simply could not end the month of June without some sort of wedding post. All those beautiful June brides, who are just returning from their honeymoons and now wondering what do I with their big white dress? Chances are pretty good that you won’t be wearing it again anytime soon.

Here are a few suggestions whether you are a bride new or old, know a bride or happen to have a big white dress stashed somewhere in your closet. That special dress that made your day will brighten someone else’s and help support these amazing causes.

1. The Bride Project Wedding dresses are donated to The Brides Project from all across the country. Some are “pre-loved” donated by brides who want to see them dance another day. Many are donated directly from bridal salons, so they are brand new. The best part of all is that the money raised from the sale of gowns supports families touched by cancer through the Cancer Support Community in Ann Arbor, MI.

2. Brides Against Cancer Wedding gown sales are an important fund-raising event for Brides Against Breast Cancer. The thousands of generous donations received from designers, manufactures, bridal shops, and individuals worldwide, enables Brides Against Breast Cancer to contribute to wellness and educational services to those impacted by cancer.

3. The Bridal Garden The Bridal Garden, has a collection of one-of-a-kind wedding gowns for sale at up to 75% off the original retail price. Their vast network includes; couture designers, exclusive retailers, and individuals who generously donate their gowns. The Bridal Garden is not only a bridal boutique, but also a not-for-profit charitable organization whose proceeds benefit education for disadvantaged children.

4. Brides for a Cause a bridal store that raises funds for charity. Brides for a Cause is partnered with Wish Upon a Wedding, a non-profit organization dedicated to granting weddings and vow renewals for couples facing terminal illness and serious life-altering situations. Brides for a Cause will accept your wedding dress on their behalf, sell it and send 50% of the proceeds to the charity.

So the next time you receive a wedding invitation, think about sharing this info with the future bride. Since weddings are all about love it seems to be a match made in heaven. Who knew that cleaning out your closet could raise funds, change a life and spread the love and joy that you felt on your wedding day to someone else?

Sounds like the best wedding gift of all.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration June 13, 2014

To all the Dads

This sunday is Father’s Day. Last week as we celebrated high school graduation my husband gave our son a copy of something he has kept in his wallet since I have known him. It was a poem. It was the most beautiful gift a father could give a son. I wanted to share it with you.

If

by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Happy Father’s Day to my Dad, my incredible husband and all of you wonderful fathers.

You teach, inspire and enrich our lives.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration June 6, 2014

This is it.

“You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world.”

Tom Brokaw

Tomorrow is the big day, Graduation Day. For 18 years of guiding, homework, making lunches, driving and all of the work that goes into being a parent….this is it. Is it over? No. Is it a parental payday? Maybe. To me it is simply another milestone. His first smile, first step, learning to ride his bike, then his driver’s license and now to use those same wheels to head off to college. It is a milestone and like all great milestones it is a celebration of achievement. It is a time to be in the moment with all of the people who helped us get to this moment.

Just like the first smile, the first steps and the first pedal strokes there were more. This will not be the last milestone or celebration of achievement. Like all the wonderful accomplishments, I will cheer, smile, cry and beam with pride. Although my son has earned this moment, it is one for all of us to celebrate.

He can change the world tomorrow. Today his smile is more than enough.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration June 4, 2014

To the graduate

Since I have brought all of you along for this journey, it seems only fitting that we have inspiring closing remarks, as all graduations do. Charity Matters has nothing to do with graduation you say? Yes, you have a point. However, Charity Matters is about making a difference, food for thought, a little nourishment for the soul. In looking for that, I came across this. A graduation speech viewed by millions, entitled, “You are not special.”

Perhaps the title is deceiving but the message is outstanding. Like all great commencement speeches it is full of inspiring comments about “dreaming big, working hard, get up, get out, explore.” But the overall message (spoiler alert here) is that “selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself.”

So whether or not you watched all twelve minutes, like millions have, or simply skipped to the end…congratulations. You walked away with the message that selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself. As a result, you walked away a little bit better and wiser, than when you arrived, just like our graduates. So, congratulations to you. As our speaker so eloquently shared, “Wisdom is the chief element of happiness.”

Wiser and selflessness, I feel happier already.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration June 2, 2014

A gift.

Education is on my mind. It usually is, but this week especially. I have been thinking about how education shapes, molds and can transform a life. When this video was sent to me, I knew it was not by coincidence. It is truly one of the most inspiring beautiful stories I have ever shared. It is a story of education, hope and purpose.

This Verbum Dei graduate from Watts, Caylin Moore, shares his journey from poverty to college and now as the recipient of the Fulbright scholarship. If ever the expression dream big fits, it is here. I was only going to watch 2 minutes but was so enthralled by this young man’s message of hope I watched it all. Caylin, his story and message are a gift.

Caylin’s message of who he plays football for, his purpose, his struggles and his faith are humbling. This young man is a walking example of what the gift of an education and dreaming big can accomplish…..anything.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration May 12, 2014

Back on My Feet

I like to run. A few days a week, I throw on my tired sneakers and just go. It clears my mind, takes away the stress and centers me in a way that few things do. There are millions of other people who feel the exact same way about their runs, however, very few have the running story that Anne Mahlum has.

In May 2007, Anne was on her regular early morning run through the streets of Philadelphia and became friends with some of the men from the local Rescue Mission. She had an ephifany, what if running could help these men deal with their own challenges, the way it had helped her deal with her own?

By July 4th, a few shorts months later, Anne had nine men beginning their own version of Independence Day. It began by signing a Dedication Contract that committed them to arrive on time at 5:30am, have a great attitude and commit to running 3 days a week with her. That first run was the beginning of Back on My Feet. Six months later Charlie Gibson featured Anne as ABC’s person of the week and the donations, interest and program began to gain traction. By January 2008 Back on My Feet had its non-profit status and was up and running….literally.

Today, Back on My Feet has a $6.5 million dollar budget, 45 employees and has expanded to more than 10 cities from coast to coast. Since its inception in 2008, 743 of their members have obtained employment and 519 have housing. What began as a morning run has turned into a game changer one step at a time.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration May 7, 2014

Build it and they will come

Ten years has gone by in a flash! Where it has gone? Somedays I honestly don’t know. A decade ago a group of us got together and founded a non-profit called The Spiritual Care Guild of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Our goal was to provide chaplains 24 hours a day 7 days a week for the children, families and staff at CHLA. We knew then if we simply could help one life, then we had succeeded. That was the beginning of the motto, “One Spirit, One Soul, One Child at a Time” and of our non-profit.

I am happy to report that we have exceeded our wildest dreams. Dreams are exactly what started this in the first place. Our friend, Father John Sigler was a chaplain at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and he had a dream of chaplains of all faith traditions at CHLA and reached out to us for help. Our first event was appropriately called, “Field of Dreams.” A benefit held in a stunning backyard that had a regulation baseball field. That in itself was an almost impossible feat!

Guest walked in thru turnstiles, strolled throw rows of fresh corn, met Dodgers and Angels baseball players and then at the twilight hour set up their blankets and watched the movie Field of Dreams on a 30 ‘outdoor screen. It was a magical night that changed everything.

This Saturday, May 10th, the 10 founders will once again return to the baseball field and revisit our very own Field of Dreams. What started a decade ago was much bigger than a cornfield, it was bigger than each of us and continues to continues to impact thousands of patients and families. I know that 10 years ago I could not have imagined what has been accomplished today. The one thing I will know for sure when I walk onto that field this Saturday night. I will know that dreams do come true if you just Go The Distance.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration April 29, 2014

Operation Gratitude

Don’t you love it when you get introduced to someone incredible? It always makes my day! Last week, my business call turned into much more….an hour and a half call with the most amazing woman and non-profit founder. Her story touched and inspired me and I hope it does the same for you.

Her name is Carolyn Blashek and on September 11th, 2001 she was a young mother of two watching what was happening in her hometown of NYC and sure that her parents were in the Trade Center. They were not, but the events of that day drove her straight to every recruiting office in her suburban neighborhood trying to join the military. Thankfully, she was deemed “too old.”

Her backup plan was the USO, which at the time was sleepy at best. One day alone in the office, a soldier walked in asking for a chaplain, there was no one there. He asked if she would listen, she did. He had come home to bury his mother, his infant child had died and his wife had left him. He told Carolyn that if he didn’t come home from this war, no one would care and she told him she did. That was the beginning of Operation Gratitude. It was March 2003.

The war was just beginning and so was Carolyn. Like most non-profits they started from her living room, writing letters and sending care packages to the troops. At the time there were no other military support organizations and her children were 10 and 12.

Carolyn’s daughter now grown, lives in New York City and her son is returning home this summer after four and half years in the Marines. A Princeton undergrad who will be heading off to Stanford and Yale to complete his MBA and law degrees. Carolyn said,” She had addressed thousands of care packages thinking she knew what mother’s and families went through until she addressed her own sons, when she truly understood.”

Today, Operation Gratitude annually sends 150,000+ care packages filled with snacks, entertainment, hygiene and hand-made items, plus personal letters of appreciation, to Veterans, First Responders, Wounded Warriors, Care Givers and to individually named U.S. Service Members deployed overseas. Their mission is to lift the spirits and meet the evolving needs of our Active Duty and Veteran communities, and provide volunteer opportunities for all Americans to express their appreciation to members of our Military.

Since its inception in 2003, Operation Gratitude volunteers have shipped more than One Million Care Packages. The beauty, love and simplicity in simply saying thank you is pure inspiration.

Charity Matters.

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