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Nature and nurture

“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” 

John Muir

I grew up the daughter of a recycler, my dad used to tell us he was a trash man. He began recycling paper in the late 1960’s long before it was trendy or cool to be green. To my dad it was something that just made sense. He came from a generation that fixed everything and threw nothing away and we were taught to do the same. To us we thought it was kind of cool when he ran the newspaper recycling drives at our school and later in life when he was the member of international recycling boards but to my dad he was simply a garbologist.

Now retired, my dad spends a good chunk of his time doing organic gardening and raising a huge portion of the food he eats. Again, not to be trendy, but more because it just makes sense. So this week when you read Wednesday’s post about a young girl who fell in love with gardening and inspired an incredible nonprofit called Katie’s Krops think for a moment how one simple action such as planting a seed can create such change.

Later in the week we will circle back with Grades of Green. I recently talked with the incredible organization that is not only greening our schools but they are inspiring a generation to take care of our planet, to recycle and to make good choices for our beloved earth.

Only a week out from the tragedy in Las Vegas, I am ready to be uplifted, inspired, reminded of our human connection and think that John Muir’s words still ring true over one hundred years since his death. “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” 

Charity Matters.

 

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Ways to make a difference

Somethings happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear…

 

I think we will all agree that this week has not started off as intended. While I had planned a fantastic story to inspire and lift you up, rather than share that now, I think it is so important to take a moment and recognize what we are all dealing with. We are living in a crazy time. Somedays it is truly hard to focus with all the pain and suffering in the world.

 

In the past month alone we have had multiple hurricanes with thousands left homeless, the earthquake in Mexico City, terrorism across the globe and now this horrific tragedy in Las Vegas. None of it makes any sense. It is simply impossible to wrap your head around what is happening around us. It is scary, so shocking that it doesn’t seem real, and the sadness is palpable.

 

We all feel it together and come together. We help brick by brick, and unite to support one another.

While I wish I had the answers, but sadly, I do not. However, rather than focusing on the chaos, the sadness and all that we can not control, I thought I would share a few thoughts on what we can control.  We can talk to one another about how we feel. We can give blood, smile at a stranger, be kinder, hug our children and tell those that we love how much they mean. We can live fully and without fear. More than that we can love with abundance. That is in our control.

When the world doesn’t make sense, I think of this quote from Leo Rosten, “I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think that the purpose of life is to be useful, responsible, to be compassionate. It is above all to matter, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.”  We can make our lives matter, the choice is ours….

This is dedicated to all those who lost their lives too early and to each of you who strive to live a life that matters.

 

Charity Matters.

 

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Charity Matters Inspiration

Finding the path by reading the signs

“When the path reveals itself follow it.”

Cheryl Strayed

Have you ever felt lost? Not because you don’t have navigation or you lost your phone…I mean the type of lost where you are really not sure where you are heading in life? The big kind of lost. Perhaps a heavy question for the first Monday in October, but one on my mind. Maybe the beginning of a new month and season has me pondering larger directional questions….

Like everyone, I have my daily routine and path that my phone has now memorized. Each morning I get into my car and the phone announces how many minutes to get to the gym. Is my life really that predictable? Obviously, it is. I find myself wanting to drive the other direction, just to confuse the phone and to break from routine in search of a new destination.  Yet, the problem with being lost is that the path is unclear.  Would I recognize it if it revealed itself?

A few weeks back while driving on the 110 freeway, I asked God for a sign, a direction, anything to give me some navigation and this is what I received….

Seriously? I grabbed the same phone that I cursed earlier, to snap the picture of the license plate in front of me that read TRST GOD. Wow! I have never asked for a sign and received such a quick reply. But before I even reached the second tunnel there was another sign…….literally.

Above the tunnel were the words PERSIST. Trust God and persist. I snapped away trying to process the fact that I was driving with navigation on, yet feeling completely lost. More than that, I was trying to comprehend the fact that I had just asked for a sign and been sent two!

Just when you think you are lost, the path slowly begins to reveal itself. Do I now know where I am heading? No, but somehow I have a profound peace knowing that I am going to persist in finding my way. This fall when the path continues to reveal itself, I will follow it wherever it may lead.

Charity Matters.

 

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Causes

Invictus

 

This week’s news certainly seems to be about football and country. While many are talking politics, there is another game involving the two, that is all about strength in the face of adversity. It is the Invictus Games that are happening this week in Canada.

 

Prince Harry is perhaps an unlikely nonprofit founder.  In 2013, while he was on a trip to the United States visiting the Warrior Games, Harry saw how the power of sport helped to heal physically, physiologically and socially. In that moment, he decided to create the Invictus Games to be an international sporting event for wounded, injured and sick service personnel.

 

The word Invictus means unconquered and the purpose of these games is to harness the power of sport to inspire recovery. This week over 550 competitors will gather from over 17 countries to compete in eight days of fierce competition.

Prince Harry wanted to honor those that he has served with and all military service men and women around the world in hopes of creating a wider understanding and respect for those who serve their country.  The motto of the games is based on a poem entitled “Invictus” which says, “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.”

As Prince Harry said, “These games have shown the unconquerable character of service men, women and their families Invictus spirit.  These games show the very best of the human spirit.”  Here is to an amazing week of recognizing those who serve and cheering them on!

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration

The heart of football

 

Last Friday was the first day of fall, and with the new season comes a host of familiar traditions. Football, of course, being at the top of the list for most. This year there is a new football tradition that is more than worth highlighting and one that began from one Iowa fan’s idea to help lift the spirits of all of the young patients at Iowa’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

 

What makes this children’s’ hospital so unique is that it is attached to the University of Iowa’s football stadium. Hawkeye fan, Krista Young, who works with young children for a living, had an idea to lift the spirits of these patients. She posted a comment on the Hawkeye Heaven Fans Facebook page that said, “I think with the new University of Iowa hospital addition open, Kinnick should hold a wave to the kids minute during every game. Can you imagine how neat it would be to have all those fans, players and coaching staff looking up at you sending a little extra inspiration?”

Krista’s idea was shared and shared and momentum began to build. Take a peek at what happens when 65,000 people come together to show their love.

We all make a choice each day with what to focus our energy and attention on. Krista Young’s loving heart and selfless idea, not only warmed patients and families hearts but reminded each of us what is truly important.

 

The power of what happens, when we come together and show love for others in solidarity, with something as simple as a wave is truly healing.

Charity Matters.

 

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Causes

Hope and Comfort

In the recent weeks following Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma we have watched the citizens of Houston as they struggle with the most basic of needs, food, water, shelter but one thing we often forget about when discussing basic needs is toiletries. Something as simple as a toothbrush, deodorant or a bar of soap and more importantly the huge effect that not having these basic essentials has on our self-esteem and life.

I recently had a fantastic conversation with a remarkable man named Jeff Feingold, who identified this need in 2010. An unlikely nonprofit founder, with an MBA from Harvard business school and over 20 years working as a portfolio manager at Fidelity, yet his huge heart and overwhelming gratitude inspired the nonprofit, Hope and Comfort in 2010. Their mission is to improve the health and self-esteem of school age children and young adults in the Boston area. His story is one of gratitude, inspiration and hope….

Charity Matters:  What was the moment you knew you needed to start a nonprofit?

Jeff Feingold: It started in 2010 when my daughter was having a birthday party, and my wife and I decided she didn’t need anything but so many other children did. We asked people to bring items needed by a local nonprofit.  We were overwhelmed by the toys, toiletries and clothes that  friends brought to donate. In delivering these items, I met a social worker who shared with me a statistic that 58% of low-income families are unable to buy personal care items. She said, if you don’t have a bar soap it is hard to go forward.

We knew then that we needed to do more and began sourcing toiletries out of our garage. In 2011, we applied for our nonprofit status for Hope and Comfort.

Charity Matters: You have a full-time job and run a nonprofit what fuels you to keep doing this work?

Jeff Feingold: I think the realization that life is short and fragile and there is so much need. We have been blessed but there are so many kids who are not. Children who do not go to school because of their hygiene, that are afraid to smile because they haven’t brushed their teeth, students being bullied because their families can’t afford soap or shampoo, who are refusing to go to school.  Knowing that we are able to bring resources together to change this for so many kids is what keeps us going. That and the need seems to keep growing.

Charity Matters: When do you know that you have made a difference?

Jeff Feingold:  I know we have made a difference when we hear that children are going back to school, when they send us notes saying that they are smiling again. I know that we have been able to thrive in a crowded nonprofit landscape by partnering with food pantries, human services, children’s organizations and bringing everyone together in partnerships creating a distribution network to get these toiletries to those who need them.

We have made a difference in inspiring hundreds of volunteers, young families and young children, including our own on teaching them how to give and make a difference.

Charity Matters: Tell us what success you have had? What has your impact been?

Jeff Feingold: In May 2010 we started with a donating a few items from our daughters birthday party and within the first year of working from our garage we distributed over 1,000 toiletries. By 2014 we partnered with the Boys and Girls Clubs and Mass General Hospital to provide products and hygiene lessons, distributing over 50,000 toiletries. Today, only seven years later we have distributed over 375,000 toiletries to close to twenty thousand children in need. 

As Jeff said, Hope and Comfort has gone from soap to hope…..a shinning example of what love and gratitude can do!

 

Charity Matters.

 

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Charity Matters Inspiration

Never forget….

“No day shall erase you from the memory of time.”

Virgil

It is almost impossible to fathom that sixteen years have passed since that fateful day September 11th, 2001. We all remember where we were when we heard the news. Our brains could barely comprehend the surreal images being flashed on our televisions. Family members called family members, all of our lives were forever changed in that moment, and our innocence lost.

I will never forget taking my young son on a private tour of the makeshift 911 museum a couple of years after that fateful day. Our tour guides were the survivors’ families, the brother of a fireman, the other lost her husband in tower two and both of these grief-stricken people walked us around the Twin Towers perimeter of the rubble, while recalling the path that their loved ones took that morning of September 11th.

When the tour ended at the American Express Building, we all gathered around the fountain of eleven tears that was created for the eleven American Express employees that lost their lives. There was not a dry eye amongst us as we watched tears drop into the fountain and roll down each others faces recalling the stories, the people, and the lives which ended too soon.

Last year we went back to NYC and took our youngest son to the 911 museum, a cavernous space that was filled with thousands of people and yet, the museum is silent. Each person walking through, what was the bottom of the World Trade Center buildings, remembering, reliving that day, the loss, hearing the loved ones memories of each of those faces, reminding us never to forget.

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey and Irma, it is overwhelming to think of so much suffering, yet it is up to each of us to remember that, “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.”

Charity Matters.

 

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Charity Matters Quotes

Happy Labor Day 2017

“Labor not — for one day,
just sit, breathe, and rejoice
drinking what you please
and enjoying what you may.”
Terri Guillemets

I have to admit that this picture is what I dream of for Labor Day. The thought of simply sitting on a beach seems like the most glorious way to spend a coveted and cherished day off. Sadly, I won’t be at the beach this year, but a girl can dream.

Labor Day is always a little sad for me because it is the official end of summer and does anyone ever really want to see summer end? I don’t think so! This year, I can’t help thinking of everyone in the Houston area and wonder what their Labor Day looks like?  I continue to be inspired and uplifted by all the incredibly hardworking people who are helping one another and showing the best of humanity. For each of them, I hope today is a day of rest and renewal.

Let’s face it, we are Americans, and as a result, we work really hard. With all that hard work, and we all need to take some time to play, have fun, relax and enjoy ourselves.  So, regardless of where you are spending your day off…your back yard, a friend’s pool, a park, the lake or just firing up the grill for friends, I really hope you truly enjoy it.

Happy Labor Day!

Charity Matters.

 

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Charity Matters Inspiration

A storm of support

“The welfare of each is bound up in the welfare of all.”

Helen Keller

As we all have watched the effects of Hurricane Harvey in Houston over the past few days, we continue to be inspired by the way that families, neighbors and even strangers have come together to help one another. It is how we are hard-wired as human beings, to reach out and help one another.

The city is literally underwater and it is going to take a big group effort to rally around and help these people out. Houston football star, JJ Watt of the Houston Texans began a crowd-funding effort to support those effected by the storm, if you are so inclined, the link is here to donate.

When moments like this happen, we roll up our sleeves, and reach out to help. It is during challenging times that we become the best of ourselves and who we are supposed to be to offer a storm of support. As we begin our week, remember that, “The welfare of each is bound in the welfare of all.”

Charity Matters.

 

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Charity Matters Inspiration

Unforgettable

There are days, when I really wonder what is going on in our world? I turn on the news and get seriously depressed, last week Charlottesville, yesterday Barcelona and I could go on and on. Yet, everyday I am privileged enough to meet, interview and learn about remarkable people who inspire, lift us up and show us the sunny side of humanity. These are my people.

Yesterday, in the shadow of the Barcelona attack, I came across this piece from an unlikely source but the perfect messengers of how love must overcome. These women are truly unforgettable.

 

This isn’t about religion, or race… it is about being human. It is about being kind and good, which if you are reading from a site called Charity Matters, chances are high that you are already amazing. So in the spirit of that goodness, we all need to #WeRemember and spread our love to all.  Love will always over come.

Charity Matters.

 

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Charity Matters Inspiration

Service comes in many forms

“In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it’s wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.”

Elizabeth Gilbert

I honestly don’t think there is a single person on this planet who enjoys moving, at least I have never met  one. This past week I flew to Texas to unpack my son and get him settled in his new college “home,” a process thousands of parents across the country are all getting ready to do. A messy chaotic time, but a rite of passage for sure, making sure our chicks our settled in their new nest.

Rather than stop with that move, I continued on across the country to help a very dear friend with a very big move. She is moving from the home she raised her children in and now that her nest is empty, she is simplifying. Since I recently went through this painful process, I realized I could actually be of service. More than that, I wanted to be there for her as she has been there for me, so many times.

While it seemed like an odd way to spend my vacation, it really wasn’t at all. Because at the end of our lives there is no possible way to express the joy and love that both my son and friend have given me. Both of these humans have enriched my lives in immeasurable ways and if serving them, in even the smallest of gestures, expresses an iota of my love…well then it was time well spent.

Charity Matters.

 

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Charity Matters Inspiration

Live simply

“Live Simply, so you can give boldly.”

Dr. Allen Hunt

As the precious days of summer go by ever faster, I find myself savoring the most simple treasures of the season. While my day job does not always make the summers of my youth a reality, certain simple pleasures of summer do.

Since the month of August began, I have committed to myself to find a little piece of summertime each day this month. No, I have not been to the beach or on vacation, but I have learned to find joy in the simplest of things. My first slice of watermelon this season, a beautiful peach, the sounds of my sons in the house….all gifts.

At 8pm the other night, I realized that I had not yet experienced a summer moment all day, which ensued a late night search for a soft serve ice cream cone…successfully I might add. It isn’t just food, but rather the simple pauses to stop and soak in the beautiful summer sunsets we had this week, all moments to be savored. The full moon, this past weekend, made me stop and take pause…all these beautiful gifts of summer slowly begin to refill an empty tank.

So while I dream of a piece of sand and sun…I treasure all the gifts big and small that summer brings. It is these simple gifts that give me gratitude, renewal and the ability to continue to give boldly of myself in the service of others.

 

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration

Guest blogger: Theresa Gartland

This past week I had a long over due catch up with my friend Theresa Gartland of Operation Progress. Theresa who is originally from the Washington DC area came to Los Angeles, more specifically Watts, right out of college. Watts is still considered one of the most dangerous places in Los Angeles, but Theresa fell in love with the children and families in Watts. In the past decade plus, she has worked for a few different organizations, all with the same mission of making Watts a place for children and families to thrive.

Today, I am handing the handing Charity Matters over to Theresa to share her remarkable story of service…she is a true inspiration to us all.

As I am embarking on my 15th year of working in Watts and serving the youth of the community, I cannot help but reflect on what keeps me energized and going, of course two words…the kids! Everyday, I’m so grateful that I get to fulfill my life purpose by provide the most incredible, life-changing opportunity for some of the most deserving youth.

Attending Holy Child High School in Potomac, Md, I was taught the values of giving back through action not words. This rang true for me during my high school service trips to an afterschool program in Southeast DC. During my service, I would play with the children, help them with their homework, and spend time getting to know they. I quickly learned that they only difference between them and me was our neighborhood, and they were just as deserving as all the opportunities I was given. It was my actions that were making an impact. Through service and volunteering I had found my voice, it sparked my passion but I no idea it would ignite my career.

One of the biggest lessons that I have learned through my work is that each child deserves to feel safe, validated and know that someone is proud of them. This has become my mission, to make sure every student feels apart of something bigger than themselves, to feel validated, nurtured, and empowered.

My biggest success thus far, has been watching two girls that I have known since they were in 2nd grade, now sophomores at an all girls catholic high school, flourishing and succeeding. To be apart of their journey and see how OP has literally changed their life trajectory has been of the biggest rewards of my career.

It’s truly been a joy, honor and privilege to work at amazing schools and organizations in the Watts community that are so committed to inspiring, fostering and developing the youth. Being able to be there for a children, to motivate, challenge, and encourage them is no short of a miracle.

Thank you Theresa for reminding us what it means to serve, you are an amazing example to all.

Charity Matters.

 

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Charity Matters Inspiration

Well hello August…

Well hello August!

I am so very happy that you are here, one of my favorite months of the year. Summer in full swing, long hot lazy days, camp season has come to a close…for me at least, and I think most of us have actually began to relax…

August is a gift for sure.

Wishing you all a magical month of sun, sand, water, reading, amazing summer fruit and all the goodness that comes with this special month.

Enjoy and savor every moment…

 

Charity Matters.

 

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