Heifer International

“Heifer International is a non-profit organization whose goal is to help end world hunger and poverty through self-reliance & sustainability.”

I love doing this blog because every week, I learn about organizations and people who truly make a difference.  Some weeks, I discuss organizations with which I’m pretty familiar.  This week, I’m highlighting an organization I’d never heard of until my friend Michael sent its link my way.  Heifer International fits perfectly under the theme of this blog as it produces ripples around the world.  Its motto is “pass on the gift.”

I asked Michael to help me with this post and he graciously obliged.  Based on the website, he wrote the following:

A Four-Footed Attack Against Hunger
A Midwestern farmer named Dan West was ladling out rations of milk to hungry children during the Spanish Civil War when it hit him. "These children don't need a cup, they need a cow." West returned home to form Heifers for Relief, dedicated to ending hunger permanently by providing families with livestock and training.
In 1944, the first shipment of 17 heifers left York, Pennsylvania, for Puerto Rico, going to families whose malnourished children had never even tasted milk.
Heifers are young cows that haven't yet given birth – making them perfect not only for supplying a continued source of milk, but also for supplying a continued source of support. That's because each family receiving a heifer agrees to "pass on the gift" and donate the female offspring to another family, so that the gift of food is never-ending.
Since 1944, there have been 13.6 million families helped directly or indirectly —more than 70.5 million men, women and children. In 2009 Heifer International helped 1.63 million families.
The program has expanded to include ducks, geese and chicks as well as sheep, llamas, rabbits, goats, water buffalo, bees and other animals. For as little as $20 you can help a family on their way to self-sufficiency.

To learn more about Heifer Project International, here is the link:   www.heifer.org

How can we get involved?

-the website has a “get involved” tab as well as “gift” tab

-you can buy an animal (or part of one) on someone’s behalf for a gift.  Come on, if someone bought a goat or llama on your behalf, you know you would never forget that!

-you can make a donation under the heading “where most needed”

-you can help fund a project

We know there is plenty of food to feed everyone in this world yet so many people are starving.  Although it sounds silly, the topic makes me think of the children's song by Raffi because it seems it could be resolved rather simply if we took the lyrics to heart. 

“It’s mine but you can have some.  With you I’d like to share it.  ‘Cause if I share it with you, you’ll have some too.”~Raffi

Organ Donation

Ever since I could make the choice to be an organ donor on my license, I chose yes.  However, it wasn’t until four years ago that I realized there was more to it than just having that put on my license.  My brother-in-law, Greg, was the first person to tell me I needed to register and receive a sticker to put on my license.  He is very passionate about this subject and agreed to help me with this week’s post.  This is what he wrote:

April is Donate Life Month

Being an Organ & Tissue Donor means that you can save the lives of 8 others!

There are over 110,000 people on transplant waiting lists in need of organs.  18 of them will die every day.  At one point my Dad was one of those people.  He suffered for years with severe health related issues while on the transplant list waiting for someone to save his life.  Because so few people have signed up to be Organ Donors there is a lack of available organs.  But, one day someone saved my Dad’s life.  They took just 2 minutes out of their day at some point in their life to sign up and be an Organ Donor.  My Dad received their liver through a transplant after they died in a car accident and although there is a family out there who lost a loved one that day that person now lives on as a part of our family. 

Last year alone, organ donors made more than 28,000 transplants possible. Another one million people received cornea and other tissue transplants that helped them recover from trauma, bone damage, spinal injuries, burns, hearing impairment and vision loss.

Please take the time to save a life by signing up today!

Facts

·         You can still have a traditional funeral if you donate your organs

·         You can choose which organs you would like to donate and which you would not

·         Most major religions support organ donation

·         There is no cost of organ donation to the donor, their family, or estate

·         Doctors will always do everything they can to save your life regardless of whether you are an organ donor or not

·         You should tell your loved ones about your decision to be an Organ Donor because they will be asked to confirm permission to donate your organs even though you have signed up

For more information & to sign up to be an Organ & Tissue Donor go here:National Organ & Tissue Donation website:  http://organdonor.gov/
Arizona Donor Registry website: http://www.azdonorregistry.org/

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)

Pat Tillman Foundation

In honor of “Pat’s Run” taking place this weekend in Tempe, the Pat Tillman Foundation is the highlighted charity for this week.

“The mission of the Pat Tillman Foundation is to invest in veterans and their families through education and community.”  This organization is truly amazing and has already created many positive ripples as its nature and desire is to help one so he/she will be able to help many. The first big action of the PTF was its support to ASU for the “Tillman Scholars-Leadership Through Action” program which included a leadership development and service –learning component to the curriculum.    Then the focus turned more to the need of military families. To date, 1.3 million dollars have been awarded to over 111 Tillman Military Scholars.  “Family and friends created the Pat Tillman Foundation in 2004 to honor Pat’s legacy and pay tribute to his commitment to leadership and service.”  It’s amazing what a group of family and friends can do, and it’s because of one person that they’re doing it!

I will never forget the day I waited on Pat Tillman.  He and a few of the other ASU football players were grabbing a bite to eat and it happened to be his 21^st birthday.  I do believe I served him his first official (legal) beer.  I was very excited because even though I didn’t watch football all that much, I knew who he was.  After that, I was pretty attentive to any football games that had Pat Tillman playing.  Some months ago I read Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman.  To me, Pat Tillman is the epitome of a “humble hero” as his desire to not be seen as a hero made him that much more of one.

To learn more about the Pat Tillman Foundation, here is the link (it’s also where you can find the information I quoted):

http://www.pattillmanfoundation.org/

How can we get involved?

-Proceeds from merchandise (see site) directly benefit PTF.  There’s a pretty cool painting available for sale as well.

-Participate in Pat’s Run (Tempe, April 16)  30,000 people get together to run this race...again, because of one person!

-Donate directly to PTF (check out the “ways to support” tab on the website)

“Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts.  It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all.”~William Temple

Locks of Love

 “Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis” (http://www.locksoflove.org/index.html).  Donated human hair (in the form of ponytails), is turned into custom-made hair prosthetics that can retail between $3,500 and $6,000!  The child receives the hairpiece long and is then able to get their hair styled to their liking.  One of the differences between this and other wigs is they are specifically made to fit the child’s head and there is no glue or adhesive that holds the piece into place.

Locks of Love used to be a connected with a for-profit wig manufacturing business but it became its own separate entity and an official 501(c)(3) in 1997.  One of the women who spearheaded the development of the charity suffered for a time from alopecia (the loss of all hair) but later recovered.  When her daughter was 4, she too developed alopecia but unlike her mother, she was never cured.  This was the driving force behind her mother’s passion to create this organization.

The first time I donated my hair was right after I returned home from the Peace Corps.  I had a lot of hair!  The second time I donated my hair was a month after I got married (my husband prefers long hair!).  The third time I donated my hair was a week ago. 

The website gives a clear list of rules to follow such as the length of the ponytail needs to be 10” from tip to tip and they do not accept hair that has been bleached.  They do however accept gray hair or hair that has been colored.   

To check out the list of guidelines, click on this link:  http://www.locksoflove.org/donate.html

How can we get involved?

If you don’t have hair to donate, or if you really don’t want to cut your hair offJ there is a tab on the website that lists other ways to help.  Locks of Love is always accepting financial donations as the manufacturing costs are so great.

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.” (the fox’s secret- The Little Prince)~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

DonorsChoose and craigconnects

This week’s post is a 2-for-1 special and might involve some extra work!

One of the people who inspired me to do this blog is my friend and former colleague from my very first teaching gig, Brandy.  This past October she was visiting from L.A., and we got on the subject of donorschoose.org.  Donorschoose.org connects people who would like to "donate", to classrooms all over the country.  In Brandy's words, "It is an awesome site for people who want to donate to education.  You can pick from many classrooms across the US and donate any amount toward supplies needed for the classroom.  You can sort by grade level, subject area, and socioeconomic level.  It is easy to find schools in your area."  At the time, I had never heard of it but I thought it was an awesome idea.  Now I see Donorschoose.org everywhere and I’m glad it gets so much recognition because it is so needed!  You can read more about this organization from their website or from the following website I’m about to introduce.

A couple of weeks ago, another one of my friends and former colleagues (from my first teaching job) sent me an email stating, “you’re in good company.”  When I checked out the attached link, it was to a philanthropy site with an article about Craig Newmark, the “Craig” from craigslist and how he has a blog that highlights different non-profits as well. It is a great site, very professional and he chooses non-profits and charities he has had personal experience with as well as ones that meet the requirements of “Charity Navigator” (so you know where your money is actually going). 

So, my idea was to have you go through craigconnects.org to find more information about donorschoose.org.  You can find the information at the following link: http://craigconnects.org/2011/03/donorschoose-hp-netbook-to-connect-and-create-with-aussie-e-pals-2.html

Or the home site for DonorChoose is as follows:

http://www.donorschoose.org/?afsrc=1

How can we get involved?

Look at the sites!  Craig Newmark’s site has a lot of great information about wonderful charities and even has certain categories you can check out under the “areas of support” tab.

On the DonorsChoose site, you can look into different projects and maybe find one you personally think is important enough to support.  Try it outJ

“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” ~Nelson Henderson

TOMS Shoes

The first time I heard of TOMS shoes was when my oldest daughter, a global studies major in college, was giving me some ideas for different charities to write about.  She told me about TOMS and said practically all of her classmates in her major wore them.

TOMS was founded in 2006 by a young guy from the states who was inspired to help young children in Argentina fight hookworm and other diseases caused from the absence of shoes.  The founder wanted to do something more than just supply shoes for the children once, so he created TOMS with the idea that for every pair of shoes bought, one pair would be donated. 

As stated above, these shoes are pretty popular with college students in universities across the USA.  Once a year, many college students partake in the movement “One Day Without Shoes” and walk around for the day barefoot.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a pair of these shoes but the design takes after a shoe typically worn by peasant farmers in Argentina.  I own a pair of TOMS and I still can't believe how comfortable they are.  The style I chose is very earthy, in fact, they’re made of burlap but I like them just the same.   

If you want to know more about this organization, check out the website:

http://www.toms.com/our-movement

How can we get involved?

-Check out the selection of shoes that are offered.  You can purchase the shoes from the website or from local retailers listed on the site.

-The website gives information on the “One Day Without Shoes” movement taking place this April 5.

I was curious as to why the shoes are named TOMS and not BLAKE’S as Blake is the name of the founder.  TOMS is short for the “Shoes for Tomorrow Project.”

“There is no TOM.  We like to say that everyone is TOM, because what TOM stands for, it’s a derivative of the word “tomorrow” and the idea that we have a better tomorrow.” ~Blake Mycoskie (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/09/the-th-interview-toms-1.php)

GlobalGiving

This post is dedicated to the Japanese “survivor” who escaped the water by running to the third floor while holding her daughter’s hand.  She was unable to maintain a firm grip and lost hold of her daughter.  Her daughter is missing.  I can’t even begin to imagine the pain the people of Japan are enduring.

Although there are many reputable organizations for Disaster Recovery that are sending aid as I write, the organization I chose to highlight is GlobalGiving.  Based out of Washington D.C., its mission is to “build an efficient, open, thriving marketplace that connects people who have community and world-changing ideas with people who can support them”(www.globalgiving.org/aboutus).  Although GlobalGiving is not a Disaster Relief specific organization, their website has quick and easy ways to donate as they have a Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.  GlobalGiving is unique in that this organization keeps you informed as to how the money was spent/used. 

Typically, a person going to GlobalGiving can look into over 1,000 projects being developed all over the world and select a certain project by topic, such as:  human rights, women and girls, education, etc.  The projects are carefully prescreened and selected by a team from GlobalGiving.  Once a project is selected, a donation is sent via GlobalGiving and feedback is given regarding the donation as well as updates on the project’s progress. 

So, how much of the total donation goes to GlobalGiving versus the project? 15%, and it is stated right off the bat.  If you do choose to donate, you will have the option to add on the 15% right then and there so 100% of the donation you intended will actually go to the project.  For example, if you donate $25, it will give you the option of donating $28.75 so the full $25 will go to the Disaster Relief Fund.  Confusing?  Check out the website.

I like this organization because I think it truly is a neat concept for people who are looking to give their money to where their passions lie.  Right now, Japan is overwhelmingly in my heart.

If you want more information on GlobalGiving, check this out:

https://www.globalgiving.org/howitworks.html

If you would prefer to go straight to the core of Disaster Recovery/Relief organizations, check out the list NPR gathered:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/03/14/134532391/crisis-in-japan-heres-how-to-help

How can we get involved?

GlobalGiving:  Consider giving someone the “gift of giving” by getting a friend a gift card as he/she will get to choose which project she/he deems valuable.

Disaster Relief:  So many options are available; it’s just more about taking the time to look into an organization with which we feel comfortable.  It’s also about recognizing we do have the power to help.

“Now’s the time that we need to share, so find yourself, we’re on our way back home”  "Give a Little Bit" ~Supertramp