Helen's Pajama Party

I love this group! I just found out about them today, but already I am madly in love with their mission which is to provide women in domestic violence shelters with brand new comfy jammies.

Helen's Pajama Party is based out of Iowa and their mission is to provide all women's shelters in Iowa with brand new comfy PJs for the women who are sheltered there.  The goal is to gather about 3000 sets of pajamas per year in various sizes.

Would you consider having a pajama drive or a pajama party?  Wouldn't that be a fun thing to do with your girlfriends?

Check out the web site and see what you can do to help!

What I've Been Doing for Two Weeks

Some months ago I wrote a blurb about CASA for this blog.  I've always thought it was a great organization and had been trying to talk my mother into starting to volunteer for them now that she is retired. I know her particular skill set would be great for what one needs to accomplish.

Finally I got her to do it!  And it turns out she loves it and is great at it.  So, now my mom is a child advocate and my sister-in-law does their outreach and another sister-in-law used to volunteer and I have several friends who volunteer and just by a natural progression I decided I'd go ahead and get certified.

SO... I have been sitting in the certification class for a week and have another half of a week to go.  I wonder about the sanity of the decision since I'm raising two kids (with my husband) and we're running our own business. But then I think about the kids that need a voice and I can't ignore that.

It's remarkable to think what can be done if we all band together to help stop the cycle of abuse and neglect. I sat in court for three hours last Wednesday and listened to various testimony of people -- child protective service workers who testified the parents aren't doing what they need to do to get their kids back, parents who say they are doing all they can, listening to drug test results, police reports, advocate reports, lawyers who try to turn their client's lemons into lemonade...

One of the days in class we discussed domestic violence. We listened to a 911 call from a little girl named Lisa. I have a fairly tough exterior and most of the time remain in great control of my emotional self, but this one really got to me.  As I sat listening I wondered if I cried because it was just horrible or if it was because I still struggle with the repercussions of my niece being stabbed by her husband  I could not separate the two and I'm not sure if the depth of my sorrow was for little Lisa (and all the other little Lisas in the world) or if it was for my own family and our loss.

Not that it matters. My perspective has certainly changed since I've had children and crimes against children seem way worse now than they ever have because I put myself and my kids in the place of the people in the stories I hear. And I want to be a good example for the two boys I'm raising.  I tell them they should make the world better than it was when they arrived to it and I ask myself constantly if I'm doing that myself.

How many lives must we make better to counteract those who are selfish or careless or violent? It would be nice if there was a formula, but there's not. So my plan is to just keep trucking and do the best I can do in my own small way, one person at a time. If you'll do it with me that will be two of us and if you bring a friend that's three times the good.

(If you have time to be an advocate for a child who is a victim of abuse and neglect, please check out CASA and see if it would be a good fit for you!)

Crafting for Haiti

There are some pretty amazing things happening over at Craft Hope!  Their Etsy shop has raised $27,000 for Doctors Without Borders in just a very short time. This is all from stuff that has been donated by artisans and crafters.  What amazing work!

Please take a minute to check out Craft Hope's store. Get someone something cool for Valentine's Day and raise money for Haiti at the same time!

170,000 Yards of Yarn

Lion Brand Yarns recently did a project with Partnership for the Homeless and provided hundreds and scarves and hats to those in need.

Go check out how awesome they are!

Here are some other craft philanthropy groups that I love:

Craft Hope
Afghans for Afghans
Newborns in Need

And for many others try:   About.com Crafting for Charity

Send Love Today

Send Love Today is a nonprofit organization that provides emotional support to brain tumor patients and their families in the form of cards and small gifts.

Do you have a little bit of time on your hands to commit to jotting a few notes to people who could use some encouragement and uplifting? Go to the site and read more about this great organization and see if you can do something to help.

And if you can't right now, do pass it on!

Dove Builds Self-Esteem

Did you know that 7 out of 10 girls believe they are not good enough in some way? And 75% of girls with low self-esteem participate in negative activities such as disordered eating, bullying, cutting, etc?

If 70% of our girls feel like this, how are they going to feel when they are grown up women?

As I was coupon surfing this morning I ran across Dove's web site and notice they are doing a "click to donate" program. Their campaign is all about building self-esteem in girls.

If you go to the site it asks for a UPC code from a Dove product, but it will also let you choose a product from a list so you don't have to enter your code. My selection donated $1 to the program and I was able to choose from three organizations to which to donate.

Awesome program. Go do your free donation!

And while you're at it, what can you do to help build up a lovely young lady's self-esteem? If you have a daughter or granddaughter, look further at the site and you will find some workbooks and other tools that you can use with that girl in your life to help build her self-esteem.

If you don't have a girl in your life, at least read the key findings in the self-esteem study and help educate others and influence them to make a difference, too!

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?