Museum Day

Saturday, September 26th is Museum Day, sponsored by The Smithsonian. Their web site has a place you can click to print yourself a free admission pass for two to any participating museum.

Tomorrow is a great opportunity to practice some budget philanthropy by taking a guest to a museum. Not only do museums rock (and are sometimes expensive!) but by going you can learn one new thing about history and culture that might expand your horizons. Knowledge gives us the opportunity and desire to show more compassion and tolerance for our fellow roomies on this planet we call our home.

Take the kids or borrow some kids if you don't have any of your own. Personally, my family are "treating" the grandparents to an outing. Tomorrow we're piling in a van and headed out to a discovery museum a couple hours from our home where we'll look at cool bugs and all sorts of other weird things.

Whose horizons can you broaden tomorrow?

Free Chocolate Friday!

It's Free Chocolate Friday! Spread some happiness by signing yourself or a friend or loved one up for some TOTALLY FREE CHOCOLATE.

It's good. So good!

Hurry over to:  Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act

Sharing Backyards

I live in a small town surrounded by rural countryside. Even here in town most folks have enough space around them to have a little garden, often a generous garden.

In the cities people aren't so lucky. They are surrounded by pavement or have little tiny postage stamp sized yards. Sometimes in the city you can get creative and have a rooftop garden or use your flowerbeds for vegetables. Some cities offer neighborhood parks and community gardens.

But there's another way... how about sharing a backyard? The Sharing Backyards web site has a database where you can enter a request for a backyard to share or offer your unused space to a local gardener. You post what you have or what you want and you can contact each other online and work out a deal.

I had a great time browsing the site to see what people were looking for in other cities.  If you've got a grand backyard to share, why not see if someone in your area is looking? And if not, please pass the word and maybe you will make a gardener happy somewhere!

Collecting Little Things

Recently a friend of mine sent me a link to a young woman, Katie Davis, who has amazing energy, compassion and a zest for life. She works with kids in Uganda and has a web site where she documents her work at Amazima Ministries International.

While I was there reading about Katie, I noticed that on her blog she has a list on her sidebar of things that they happen to need at the moment, just little things like gummie vitamins, deflated soccer balls and packets of dry soup. They live a life that is simply in survival mode. They are not asking for better Internet connection, more TV channel choices, MP3 downloads, chicken parmesan, a car with better gas mileage or the latest designer sneakers. No, they're asking for packets of dry soup and some underwear.

So why not get some friends together and see if you can make a care package for Amazima? Go check out the list she has on her blog and see if you can pull some of that stuff together to send. Want to do it cheaper? Print out this article and take it to several stores around town and see if they will donate some products to you. Also, if you do need to buy some of the items, be sure to check online and see if you can find coupons for some of the products. Frequently, stores who have their own brand names (like Kroger, Walgreens, etc) offer 2-for-1 sales on vitamins. And if a store won't donate, see if you can negotiate a deal where you can purchase items at cost or near-cost since it's for a worthy cause.

The little things make a big difference!

(By the way, I'm guest posting over at A Year of Living Charitably while Jen is on vacation. Go over and show some love!)