It’s always a great thing when you can teach children from a young age about charity and giving back. And that’s just what happened at the 12th annual American Girl Fashion Show that took place at Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Oneida County, New York recently. The event featured a doll salon where you could get your American Girl doll polished and looking pretty. It had a photo booth, a raffle and other activities.

All money raised at the event helped to fund programs and services offered by Upstate Cerebral Palsy.

As Kathy Hartnett, Upstate Cerebral Palsy Community Development Vice President said, “It really is about accepting children with special needs and that no matter how young you are, a lot of young girls are here with us today, you can still do something to help someone else.”

Losing your four year old in a freak accident isn’t something that any family expects. Finding a way to deal with that grief through creativity is certainly inspiring. Hilary and Zac Cheney lost their son in 2012, when a 100 year old gravestone fell on him. At the time of his death, he loved playing with toy cars and he even had one in his hand when he died.

On the first anniversary of their son’s death, Hilary Cheney thought of a way to keep Carson’s memory alive. She and her husbands started hiding toy cars in their packaging around their hometown of Lehi, Utah with a card that honors Carson’s memory. The card said, “Finders keepers. Please enjoy this gift in honor of Carson Cheney, July 31, 2007-July 5, 2012.”

It also directs the finder to the Carson Courage Cars Facebook page where they can share their feelings about their discovery. The idea has really taken off and Carson Courage Cars have been showing up all over the world. Facebook posts point to Japan, Germany, Sweden, Italy and more. Every Sunday, as reported by a store owner in Wisconsin, he hides 100 more cars in memory of Carson

They feel like they are able to continue taking care of their son in this way.

With the 4th of July just behind us, it’s a great time to think about those who might be in need. And this is particularly true if it’s soldiers – people who have defended our country in time of need. Here, at http://www.business2community.com, they list 8 military charities that need assistance. Here is an overview of four of them:

The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund: This fund offers financial aid and quality of life solutions for marines and sailors. It also supports members of the Army, Air Force and Coast Guard who served in support of Marines, and their families.

National Military Family Association: As the website explains, “National Military Family Association is the only national organization that for more than 40 years has represented officer and enlisted families of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Public Health Service. The organization helps those seeking resources for: themselves and combat-weary service members returning home from war with fragile mental health, for optimistic-but-anxious children separated from parents during deployments, for spouses forging ahead with educations to build better lives for their families or to prepare for the unthinkable, for widows seeking information about benefits available to them as they cope with their losses, and for proud parents of single service members.”

The Navy SEAL Foundation: Their mission is to provide educational and motivational support and to promote health and welfare programs for the Naval Special Warfare Community.

Operation Homefront: They provide emergency assistance and morale to the troops and the families they leave behind. It also supports the soldiers when they return home.

Taya Kyle was the wife, and now widow, of Chris Kyle. He was the Navy SEAL known for the memoir “American Sniper.” Now, she is on a book tour, “American Wife,” and is working with her new foundation, the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation.

Her goal with the foundation is to provide breaks for military couples, veterans and first-responders such as the police and the fire fighters.

In her book, Kyle talks about her own marriage and how it almost fell apart a number of times. As Kyle told the U-T Talks audience,

“Nobody wants to tell their spouse: ‘You have the most fulfilling, purposeful existence in a job that you’ve dreamed of — and I’m out. It does feel unpatriotic.”

The Kyle foundation has joined with several others with links to the Navy SEAL community.

Kyle described the foundation as: “I know for a fact, when you give them a weekend away, even in their own hometown, where they can stay in their sweatpants or whatever, and they can do whatever they want with no stress, no bills, and not at home where there are things to do … that gives them a longevity that you can’t get any other way.”

Last month, around Chris Kyle’s birthday, the foundation gave $55,000 to many charities that work on behalf of veterans and the New York Fire Department.