Walking Across Scotland to Raise Money

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By JohnPosted In: Charity Activity

Most people get on a plane and visit a country for a week, maybe two. They travel on buses, in cars and with taxis. But not the Roberson family. They, instead, are visiting Scotland and plan to trek 170 miles across the country to pay tribute to cancer victims. Scotland is the homeland of the family ancestor, Clan Robertson, and they set their sites on this location for this reason.

Now, Adam (40), will be going on the trek with his dad Dan (63) and his brother Donavon (43) and cousin Devon (32). They have been planning the charity trek for three years and they hope to be able to complete the journey in 10 days. Devon’s father died of the same disease nine years ago.

Now, the Robersons (the family dropped the “t” in their name centuries ago after a family fight) are raising money for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. They hope to raise £5,000 to find a cure for the disease. They are starting from the Isle of Mull and ending in Pitlochry.

Join in the Zumba for a Good Cause

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By JohnPosted In: ChildFund International

It’s such a great idea when people combine charitable giving with doing something healthy for themselves. That’s what the Zumbathon Charity Event in Saratoga Springs, New York will soon be doing as they open their doors to a Zumbathon to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. The event will take place on April 9th at the Saratoga Springs High School gymnasium.

There will be at least ten local Zumba instructors dancing with people to raise money. The local Zumbathon was started last year by Zumba instructor Mayumi Kato of the Saratoga Regional YMCA.

The event last spring was a hit. As Kato explained, “We were very excited to see so many participants at our very first event,” which raised $2000.

She continued, “It could not have been done without participants, instructors who donated their talent and time on the stage, many local businesses that donated their products as raffle prizes, and Kivort Steel Team to accommodate us at a great venue, the Saratoga High School Gym.”

When discussing this year’s event, Kato said, “We think that our community looks forward this type of event where we all can smile, dance, sweat together for a great cause, especially during the winter.”

Discussing the event, Nicole DeCelle, market executive director of both Albany and Central New York for the American Diabetes Association, said

 “We are honored that Mayumi and the Kivort Steel Cycling team are bringing back their Zumbathon in 2017. It was a tremendous success last year, as well as a great deal of fun. We are continually amazed and grateful for the support of folks like Mayumi and the creative ways in which they help raise funds and awareness for the Tour de Cure and the fight to stop diabetes. There are more than 2 million New Yorkers living with diabetes and it’s thanks to the funds raised through events like the Zumbathon, teams like Kivort Steel and riders like Mayumi that the ADA is able to continue our work in improving the lives of those impacted by diabetes and to ultimately find a cure.”

Reducing Landfills

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By JohnPosted In: EducationTagged: ,

There are many ways that we can be more thoughtful with our food and our waste. You’d be surprised to learn just how much of a difference one person or one family can make when they are being careful with their waste management. The more that we throw out, the more that the landfills fill. Here are a few ways that you can help.

Eliminate Plastic Bags: When you bring your own bags with you to the grocery store, the mall and even the pharmacy, you are saving the landfills like the West Lake landfill from having one more plastic bag (or 20) in them. This can have a huge impact. Think about it – if you take a plastic bag every time that you get a prescription filled, some people will end up with a lot of bags. If you don’t take those bags you can really make a difference.

Buy a Reusable Water Bottle: Millions of water bottles are thrown out each day. If you buy yourself a reusable water bottle, you’ll avoid filling landfills (and you’ll probably drink more since you’ll have water with you all the time!).

Recycle: Certainly, you should recycle whatever you can find. This includes glass bottles and aluminum cans. If also includes paper, metal, plastic cups, batteries and more.

Smiles Forever Is Making a Huge Impact

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If you haven’t heard about Smiles Forever, it’s certainly a place worth knowing about. They have provided free dental services for over 15 years in Bolivia. They also offer oral health education. Over 30,000 poor children have received quality, free preventative and restorative dental care and 37 disadvantaged women have completed the Smiles Forever two year vocational dental hygiene program.

As explained on their website, “Smiles Forever believes the only way to break the cycle of poverty in developing nations such as Bolivia is to educate young women and girls. The culture may relegate females to second-class status, yet there is no denying that the woman is the primary socializing force of the family. An educated woman practices family planning. An educated woman knows that equal opportunity should be afforded to both male and female children. An educated woman understands and values the importance of prevention when it comes to both medical and dental care. She is less likely to accept domestic violence as a situation she must tolerate. She has self esteem, which allows her to make appropriate decisions within her household, community and country.”

Learn more about Smiles Forever and see how you might get involved, or replicate this program in other places.

Great School Fundraiser Idea for Valentine’s Day

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By JohnPosted In: Charity Activity, ChildFund International

Now this is a lovely idea for Valentine’s Day and one that more schools might want to implement. Alma’s Stepping Stone school in Arkansas, which was organized in 1972 to help almost 300 children with developmental delays and disabilities, has a fundraiser every Valentine’s Day. All money that is raised goes back to buying supplies for the school classrooms.

The way that it works is that there is a gift shop filled with Valentine’s Day items include premade gift bags, stuffed animals, candy, balloons and more. Items range in price from $6 to $20.

As Mariann McCause, the service coordinator, said, “It’s a great way to not only raise funds but also to be out in the community. It gives people the opportunity to come in and see what we do and how we help the children.”

As a nice addition, the organizers will even deliver gifts to other schools in the area.

The fundraiser will run through Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14. Stepping Stone is located off Highway 64 East, and their doors are open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“It’s our biggest fundraiser and we just get anything we need like supplies for the classroom,” said McCause.

Organizers will also deliver your gifts for you to any school or residence in the River Valley. The deliveries will be made to Fort Smith, Van Buren, Alma, Mountainburg, Dyer, Kibler and Mulberry.

Portillo’s Offering Valentine’s Special to Help Others

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Portillo’s is stepping up to the plate with their charitable work. They have just launched their donation program Portillo’s For Good. With this non-profit, organizations can partner with them to assist in fundraising and support of charitable causes. As its first initiative, Portillo’s For Good is teaming up with the American Red Cross on the program Cake for a Cause. Portillo’s is offering a heart-shaped chocolate cake for Valentine’s Day. They will be available from February 10-14 and a portion of the proceeds (up to $25,000) will be donated to the relief organization.

They will also take pre-orders by calling 866-YUM-BEEF or ordering online at www.portillos.com.

As the CEO Keith Kinsey said,

“Portillo’s has always valued the importance of belonging to the local community and finding ways to support charitable endeavors. As a Marine, our founder Dick Portillo has supported charitable giving to support our service men and women. It was a natural fit to partner with the American Red Cross in launching our Cake for a Cause and Portillo’s for Good programs.”

Life Saving Tips & Those Who Help

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By JohnPosted In: American Heart Association, Charity ActivityTagged: , , ,

It is always heartwarming to hear stories of people who have helped others in their time of need. Most of us don’t expect to have to come to the rescue as we go about our daily lives, but it’s possible that if we do, we could actually save someone.

This was the case in August, when financial executive Jeff Feig suffered a cardiac arrest while vacationing in Pine Lake Park in Cortlandt Manor, New York. When he collapsed, rather than watching helplessly, his neighbors jumped into action. One person called for an ambulance while another started doing chest compressions. Someone else did mouth-to-mouth ventilation and a fourth person ran to get the defibrillator.

Jeff Feig would probably not have survived had it not been for their help. The ambulance took ten minutes to arrive. As Jeff Feig told Jane E. Brody for her New York Times article entitled “Increasing CPR Training to Save Lives”

 “I feel like I’ve been given a second chance at life and I’m not going to waste it. My goal is to spread the word to increase the level of CPR training in the population and get every institution to have a defibrillator on hand and people trained to use it.”

The American Heart Association runs programs around the country training people in CPR and in the use of defibrillators. Certainly, the Red Cross does as well. And there are many people like Jeff Feig who are giving their time and their money educated others about heart health and about CPR.

One such person is Bob Schon who suffered a heart attack at the age of 51. He started to volunteer for the Minneapolis North Memorial Medical Center’s Mended Hearts, which is an affiliated organization of the American Heart Association. He then created the Heart Center Volunteer Program which has grown to include 60 members in the last 13 years. He also helped to form a “Heart Club” which is a monthly, one-hour program that focuses on health issues.

These are examples of people who have taken their health issues seriously and have worked to help others in similar situations.

Update (April 5, 2017): Here is another article which stresses the importance of CPR and healthy living. Enjoy!

Giving to Others With Your Credit Card

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Here is a great idea. While most people feel their charitable giving, since it comes out of their pocketbook, there are ways to give that you don’t really feel. There are credit cards that allow you to redeem your points and miles towards charitable organizations. Here are three cards that let you donate your points.

  1. Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard: Here you can donate your miles. They have ways for you to partner with organizations that can help those in need. For instance, with the Miles for Kids in Need you can give your miles so that a sick child can take a vacation. Or you can partner with Miles for All Who Serve which supports military families.
  2. Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express: They have also partnered with some places to offer you a way to donate to others. The Clean the World organization is a recycler of hotel soaps and amenities. Check Out for Children, another organization, has raised $30 million to help improve the lives of children.
  3. JetBlue Card: Another idea is the JetBlue Card that also lets you donate your points to many organizations and cardholders get three times the points on Jet Blue purchases, two times the points at restaurants and grocery stores and one time the purchase on all other items.

 

 

New Permanent Exhibit About Giving in America

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refreshment-438399_960_720Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C has a new exhibit, “Giving in America.” Museum curator Bonnie Lilienfeld explains that the exhibit shows the history of giving and how many of the fundraising operations have come about.

For instance, the 2014 ALS Ice Bucket Challenge started with a blue plastic bucket that belonged to a New York woman, Jeanette Senerchia. With a husband who had ALS, Senerchia was challenged to dump ice on her head to raise awareness about ALS.

There is a silver plate at the museum from 1764, for instance, that was given by Thomas Hancock to his church in Boston.

Lilienfeld explained that charity isn’t always just about money. As she said pointing to a blood donation kit, “That’s really sort of the ultimate gift of really giving of yourself. We included that story here to get people to understand, sometimes the smallest act really is an act of philanthropy.”

There is a tool belt on display, as well, that a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity used to build a house.

The exhibit is now on permanent display at the museum.

Survey Shows How Americans Do – and Don’t – Give Charity

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family-1466274_960_720A recent survey from RBC Wealth Management-US and City National Bank shows some surprising, and disheartening, statistics about charity in America. While 82% of American say that it’s important to them to give charity, most people don’t actually give throughout the year.

47% of respondents said that they give to charity sporadically without any specific plan. This can have consequences, say experts at RBC Wealth Management-US.

As Van Pate, Wealth Strategies Consultant at RBC Wealth Management – U.S , explained “A well-planned program of lifetime gifts to family, friends and charities can provide income and estate tax benefits and help preserve more assets for heirs. Taking a deliberate approach to giving can help you make well-informed decisions and increase the benefits to both you and the recipients of your good will.”

When Americans do give, do they do so to just a few causes? No. 53% give to three or more charities and 10% give to 6-10 charities. 4% even admitted that they support 11 charities or more.

Malia Haskins, Wealth Strategies Consultant at RBC Wealth Management – U.S., explained why dividing up the money may not be a good idea. As she explained,

“There is a strong argument that, if you’re interested in doing the most good, you should concentrate your giving on one, maybe two organizations.”

And who gives more in the country? Midwesterners give more than Southerners, the West and the Northeast.