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Cancer September 26, 2016

Cancer Support Community

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.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration September 23, 2016

Fall is here

“Autumn is the season of change.”

Taoist proverb

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.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration August 12, 2016

Finding the answer

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.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Quotes April 13, 2016

Charity Matters Quotes: Make a difference

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”

William James

Just a small reminder that its only Wednesday and not to late to make plans to celebrate and participate in National Volunteer Week.

As the quote says, if you act as if what you do makes a difference , it actually will.

Something to think about.

Charity Matters.

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Childrens' Causes March 21, 2016

Circling Back: Junior Ambassadors

I think by now most of you know that I am a huge fan of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Over the years my involvement has expanded to a number of different projects, but one that I am so proud of is the Junior Ambassador Program.

A few years back, when touring the new hospital space, a handful of us began a conversation about the need to get our children involved with supporting the hospital. That conversation was the beginning of Junior Ambassadors Program, a place where children use their talents to help others. Some children sell their artwork or photography. Some students throw parties, our son threw touchdowns for sponsorship and raised thousands of dollars for the hospital, simply using his skills to help another.

A recent catch up with a friend from CHLA, proudly shared how the program has grown from a handful of ambassadors to hundreds and while these ambassadors may come in small packages, their work is mighty.

This year the Junior Ambassador will raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Childrens Hospital Los Angels. Children helping children, there is simply nothing better.

Charity Matters.

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Military November 11, 2015

Real service, Veterans Day

Today, we celebrate Veterans Day. We honor, remember and salute all of those who have shown us what real service is. I talk about service every week and don’t get me wrong, volunteering is important, but to serve, to give your life, your time and complete commitment to ensuring your country’s freedom…well that is service at an entirely different level.

So today, we salute you, our veterans….thank you for showing us all what real service is.

God bless America and all our servicemen and women.

Happy Veteran’s Day!

Charity Matters.

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What Matters? July 27, 2015

A new beginning

The expression that life is a mystery is top of mind today. This past week I have had so many friends lose loved ones, grandfathers, friends, fathers and brothers. The pain of loss is unbearable and to watch others experience it just opens old wounds. It isn’t empathy that I feel, but foreboding. I have taken that road and know how hard the path ahead is. I want to warn them, shout and tell them the way but it is theirs to walk and my words will not be understood until the journey is completed.

And yet, each loss magnifies how precious our lives are. What we do with them, how we chose to use these lives and who we spend them with. Each minute is a choice and a precious gift. Do we want the “resume life” with list of accomplishments and boxes checked? Or do we want the “eulogy life”? One filled with stories of love, friendships, families, moments and joy? We get to choose, it is ours to decide.

So as I enter year 5 of Charity Matters, I choose a eulogy life. Every moment telling those around me that I love them, savoring every breath, flower, smile and moment and using whatever is left to give back to this beautiful world, the life it has given me.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Quotes June 26, 2015

Summer is officially here!

“What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.”

Gertrude Jekyll

It is official, summer has arrived! What magical words. The longer days, no homework, the crazy schedule fades away and somehow life just slows down to a perfect pace.

It as if we all can take a deep breath and let the fun and joy of this perfect season take over. So wherever, you may be heading this first weekend of summer, remember to enjoy the beauty of the moments and the season.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Quotes May 22, 2015

Charity Matters Quotes: Just thinking

“Never be afraid to sit awhile and think.”

Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

The simple gift of thinking.

Our lives are so frenetic and full that we barely have a moment to complete the most mundane tasks. However, when we stop. Just stop, take a breath, a moment and give ourselves the gift to sit and think it is amazing what can happen.

Somehow we have become afraid of silence and perhaps our own thoughts?

This weekend, give yourself a moment.

Just one.

Imagine the possibilities.

Charity Matters.

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What Matters? May 18, 2015

A funny thing

As I mentioned, we recently put our house on the market. We have no plan but just threw it out to the universe because it simply seems like the right time with our second son leaving for college. While keeping beds made (with boys), the house picked up and clearing out for showings at a moments notice is no picnic, there has been an amazing transformation in our family in the last two weeks…..gratitude.

Every time we look at a potential nest for our clan, we hear “this room isn’t as nice as the one I have” or “our kitchen is better” and on it goes. Even my husband and I find ourselves at night, saying how much we love the old beautiful wood floors in our house and how blessed we feel to live in this very special place. While we have always loved our home, it is the twisted human condition, that you don’t appreciate what you have until its gone which has hit our household.

Perhaps, at the end of the day if we don’t find the “right” next stop and stay in our home, then maybe that’s the lesson in this journey. Afterall, I now know for a fact that my boys know how to make a bed, keep their room clean at all times and that they truly realize the blessings of home. If that is the end result of this process, with or without a moving truck, then I would have to say its a move more than worth taking.

Charity Matters.

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Childrens' Causes May 6, 2015

Get on the Bus

This weekend we will all celebrate Mother’s Day in some way, either being celebrated or celebrating our mothers. However, the sad reality is that thousands of children will be separated from their mothers because they are in prison. It is estimated that 856,000 children in California have a parent in jail or 9% of the state’s children. These children are victims of their parent’s bad choices and yet still crave the connection with their mothers and fathers.

Fifteen years ago, Sr. Suzanne Stephan and Sr. Suzanne Jabro decided they could make a small step towards helping these children by coordinating a bus that would take 17 children to see their mothers in prison on Mother’s Day. The event was created to bring a much-needed connection for both mother and child and was named Get On The Bus.

Each child is given a travel bag, a photo with his or her parent, and meals for the day. For the emotional trip home, the children are given a teddy bear with a letter from their parent along with post-event counseling.

This weekend, Get on The Bus will serve over 1200 children, take 47 buses to reuniting mothers and children. It will be a Mother’s Day to remember for all.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration April 20, 2015

The Moral Bucket List

Yesterday, I was asked to speak to the high school volunteers and their parents at our annual Staff Recognition Day. I sadly had procrastinated on what to say and I found myself on Facebook…where I believe most of us procrastinators eventually end up. Before I knew it I found myself reading an article from the New York Times called The Moral Bucket List.

Upon reading it, I knew exactly what to share with our group of extraordinary volunteers and I thought it was worth sharing with you. The article talked about “resume virtues versus eulogy virtues.” It was written by David Brooks, who was more or less in search of enlightenment after finding career success, he began to ask what really mattered? He wondered why do some rare people emanate that light, joy, radiance and others do not.

Brooks goes onto say, “ Our culture and our educational systems spend more time teaching the skills and strategies you need for career success rather than the qualities you need to radiate that sort of inner light. Many of us are clearer on how to build an external career than on how to build inner character”.

The more I read the article, the clearer it became to me that everything he was searching for was in fact exactly the skills that our non-profit teaches to its 5th, 6th and 7th grade students. More than that it was what we ask our high school staff to pass onto their younger mentors.

The author posed three questions:

“What values bring happiness and character?”
“Have you developed deep connections that hold you up in times of challenge and push you toward the good?”
Lastly the author asks, “People on the road to inner light do not find their vocations by asking, what do I want from life? They ask, what is life asking of me? How can I match my intrinsic talent with one of the world’s deep needs?

I know these seem to be deep questions to ask to teenagers. Yet, as I spoke to them about finding their gifts and sharing them with the world, I looked at an audience of nodding heads. They already understood what “radiating light and joy” was that author was so desperately in search of ……because each of them was already aglow.

Charity Matters.

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What Matters? April 13, 2015

Alone

I am alone. I suppose we all are at sometimes in our life…the problem is that I cannot remember the last time, I was. Sure there have been moments in the car or shower but is that really being alone? For the next 24 hours my family is scattered for Spring break and I am holding down the fort solo.

A million thoughts run through my head…do I jump on the bed? Blast girlie music? After all, I do live in an all boy house….should I eat candy for dinner? Journal? Garden? Shop online? Read a book? Watch a sappy chick -flick? The options are endless….my mind is racing with possibilities….unsure of where to start with this magical gift of time.

Since my New Year’s resolution (remember those?) was to do things that bring me joy. I refer to my list (how pathetic is that?) and so I begin. Taking a yoga class, gardening, walking the dog in the park, reading and when the evening comes I realize I simply want to be. Quiet (shocker), alone with my thoughts and time to think about all the change happening around me as my nest continues to empty out.

I realize that this time is a gift, fleeting and to be savored because in hours, they will all barge in with tales of their journeys, dirty laundry, hunger and the noise will once again fill my home and alone I will no longer be.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Profile April 1, 2015

Spring Cleaning

We have begun our spring cleaning. No, not with mops and brooms but rather clearing out closets, drawers, garages of unwanted, unused and unnecessary possessions. Luckily for me, I was inspired by recent visit to the Los Angeles Chapter of The St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Time and again, I have cleared out my closets and driven to the Goodwill….and am embarrassed to say that I am not sure what it is exactly they do with my things? One of my earliest childhood memories was of the St. Vincent de Paul truck pulling up for our used donations. Over the holidays, I met the Executive Director of the LA Chapter, and he invited me down to see what exactly it is that they do and trust me, it is so much more than a truck!

On my visit I learned the history of this amazing organization, which was founded in Paris in 1833 by a compassionate college student named Frederic Ozanam. He was challenged by the poverty he saw on the streets and organized a “Conference of Charity” to help the poor of all religions. Frederic wanted to create an avenue that assisted people to express their faith and grow spiritually through acts of charity. My kind of guy.

For over 100 years, SVDP has been serving the needy throughout the United States. The Society, as its called, is able to help provide the needy to become self sufficient by providing emotional and financial support, food, clothing, furniture and housing because of donations both financial and household. Many of the household items are passed on directly to someone in need.

Today, the Society, is an international volunteer organization with over 1,000,000 members in 142 countries and continues its founder’s mission to “seek and find the forgotten, the suffering or the deprived.”

So, as you start your spring cleaning, remember how much good your unneeded items are for another.

Charity Matters.

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