“This is a basic human necessity that needs to be addressed now,” she said. “I want to help any way I can in order to raise awareness toward the life-threatening clean water crisis happening not only in Africa but around the world.” - Jessica Biel, in response to her acceptance of the challenge to climb one of the world's largest mountains in hope of raising awareness for the clean water crisis happening around the world.
She'll be joined by others for the group's climb scheduled to take place in January. Rumored to be joining her is boyfriend, Justin Timberlake. The sponsored climb will raise money for the Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and PlayPumps International.
Next time you drink a fresh glass of water, think of eight year-old Evan Frank. Just a young boy from Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, Evan is on a mission to provide clean well water to people across the globe in Africa. He started raising funds by baking and selling brownies; and instead of asking for presents for his birthday, he simply asked for donations to help support his cause. So far Evan has raised more than $8,000 in his first year. You can learn more about Evan and his campaign "Water For Life" by clicking on the image below.
People of all ages throughout the US can help support bringing clean water to Africa by visiting The Water Project and learning more. Having found Evan and his inspiring story, I now know that 1 out of every 4 deaths under the age of 5 worldwide is due to a water-related disease. His story and his mission is helping raise awareness and support for this crisis. $8,000 maybe in cash, but his effort is priceless.
Manic Monday...one of my favorite tunes from 80's hit band, The Bangles and certainly one song on my weekly soundtrack of life. But this Monday I came across Debi Tenzer, a self-proclaimed "nice-o-holic"and founder of the site DoOneThingNice.com. She is turning this crazy day of self-loathing into a way to focus on getting through it by helping others. The site is motivating people to do one nice thing each Monday that helps someone else. She builds the activity into your weekly routine making it easy to remain committed. Most of all, I love the site's warning:
WARNING: DOING ONE NICE THING CAN BE HABIT-FORMING. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Be sure to check out the site's IDEAS page. Its complete with projects and ideas that are creative and easy. There is even projects under a subject titled as "Do One Nice Thing Stimulus Packages."
According to the site, here is what they have accomplished since starting the Monday tradition in 2005.
- One hundred fifty thousand pounds (that's 75 TONS) of school supplies have been sent to U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, who give them to local children so they can study.
- More than 4,000blankets have been sent to U.S. soldiers in Iraq, who requested them for local people living without electricity or heat.
- More than10,000 hand-made cards have cheered hospitalized childrenin Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle, Memphis, Boston, St. Louis,Houston, New York, Miami, Detroit, Tucson, Richmond, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Jerusalem, Natal (South Africa),Rwanda and Baghdad.
- Thousands of breakfast bars, school supplies, toys, games and art kits have been given to needy American families.
So with it being Monday and all...what are your waiting for? Go to www.doonenicething.com
I came upon the site, www.kidsareheroes.com, thanks to my new obsession, Twitter. (Follow me @KateAtwood) Its fantastic - the site that is. I'm bringing it to my blog for all you moms and kids out there looking for ideas and inspiration to jump in and start changing the world.
The site recognizes "Kid Heroes" who are doing great things to give back to their community and beyond. With their stories, you also get great ideas for projects that you too can do. Some of the projects, such as collecting change to buy mp3 players for 150 kids battling cancer, offer great ideas that kids can do all by themselves. Other projects take a more family approach, such as fostering dogs, but are still led by the action of the kids themselves.
Check out Little Women for Little Women in Afghanistan. This is an amazing initiative started by Alaina Podmorow at just nine years of age to raise money to educate girls in Afghanistan. To date, she has raised over $100,000 for the mission.
Kids have an amazing ability to keep their lives in perspective of their capabilities - until they reach adolescence and test those boundaries of independence, but that's for another blog. But what this shows all of us at any age, is that you can be successful in your giving of your mind, money, and time, at any level because you are doing SOMETHING. You are sharing yourself to help someone else.
You gotta check out the full site. Its quite entertaining and inspiring.www.kidsareheroes.com
Oh and if you have a kid who is a Hero, you can nominate them on the site as well and share their story with others.
Americans may have realized of late that we are a country that has expensed most of its natural resources and that with the global markets of today we may have to use our financial resources to protect those treasures throughout the world. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation certainly sees the importance of that in Asia. The Foundation is committing $68 million over seven years towards a new security initiative that will increase the effectiveness of international cooperation with the goal of facilitating peace and security in Asia. The booming development over there, along with the massive amount of land containing some of earth's most prized resources, has led them to decide to step up and invest in protecting that area by coordinating the work of 27 global institutions. Its certainly a collaboration unlike many we have seen initiated by a private philanthropist to promote peace. But then again the MacArthur Foundation is known just as such.
The MacArthur Foundation President, Jonathan Fanton stated, "the growing economic and political power of Asia is transforming the globe. Over the coming decades, the Asia-Pacific will be the world's economic engine, helping millions in the region to find new prosperity. Yet, in this time of great opportunity, security challenges - from power conflicts to resource scarcity - threaten to undo the region's many gains. As China, India, and other Asian nations become regional and global powers, Asia-Pacific nations must think anew about how our societies can work together to foster peace and prevent conflict."
Well said. I truly feel you can't protest for peace unless you have done your part in proactively promoting it. Now, I know most of us can't step up to the extent that of the MacArthur's, I can barely spare $68.00, but we can educate ourselves and donate to initiatives that are doing this work in amounts that are suitable to our giving capabilities. Never underestimate the power of this knowledge and this gift.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 09:18AM 
