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Category: Make a Difference: Community & Calls to Action

  • Making a Difference: the Fresh Air Fund

    Making a Difference: the Fresh Air Fund

    playing in waves

    Nature introduces children to the idea….
    they are not alone in the world.
    -Edward Hoffman

    The Fresh Air Fund is looking for host families for next summer.

    Host families range in size, ethnicity and background, but share the desire to open their hearts and homes to give city children an experience they will never forget. Hosts say the Fresh Air experience is as enriching for their own families, as it is for the inner-city children. There are no financial requirements for hosting a child. Volunteers may request the age-group and gender of the Fresh Air youngster they would like to host.

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    Fresh Air children are boys and girls, six to 18 years old, who live in New York City. Children on first-time visits are six to 12 years old and stay for either one or two weeks. Youngsters who are re-invited by the same family may continue with The Fund through age 18, and many enjoy longer summertime visits, year after year. A visit to the home of a warm and loving volunteer host family can make all the difference in the world to an inner-city child. All it takes to create lifelong memories is laughing in the sunshine and making new friends.

    The majority of Fresh Air children are from low-income communities. These are often families without the resources to send their children on summer vacations. Most inner-city youngsters grow up in towering apartment buildings without large, open, outdoor play spaces. Concrete playgrounds cannot replace the freedom of running barefoot through the grass or riding bikes down country lanes.

    What a wonderful way to make an impact on a child’s life.

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    A recent survey suggests that when kids have more opportunities for meaningful experiences outdoors, they become more likely to value nature, engage with it, and feel empowered to do something about it.

    There are plenty of studies pointing to the health benefits of nature time and outdoor play. So much so, that doctors are writing nature prescriptions.

    But what keeps popping up in my brain is:

    What a wonderful way to enrich the life of your own child.

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    If you think you might be able to be a host family next summer, click here for more deets.

    If you know someone else who might be a good fit, tell them about the Fresh Air Fund website.

    Or make a donation.

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    Now watch this video and tell me if I’m the only sap who teared up a little bit. Go ahead, I can take it.

    And if you’ve had any experience with the Fresh Air Fund I would love to hear about it!

     

     

  • Professional Car Washes Save Water

    Professional Car Washes Save Water

    cadillac

    We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.

    -Thomas Fuller

    When we first moved in to this house we heard peepers every night in our little vernal pool. (Spring peepers are tiny frogs with big voices; you can hear them singing here.)

    The next spring I eagerly awaited the peepers, having learned what they were (city girl born and bred, I knew nothing of wildlife and its calls until I moved out here). And I heard them down at the creek at the end of our road, but I didn’t hear them in my yard. And I haven’t heard them since.

    I’ve thought and thought about it, and my thoughts point to all the times we washed our car near that pond. All that runoff.

    This specific experience was what prompted my firm decision to “go green,” and out of that this blog was born.

    Now, I’ll start by saying that my instinct is to think that rain is enough to wash my car. I couldn’t care less about how my car looks. But my brother, a former mechanic, says that car washes are important to keep rust from happening and stuff like that— helping to preserve the resale value and whatnot. (Although I plan to hand my minivan off to my children as they start driving. This thing is probably never going to see a second owner.)

    In most instances, the green way of doing things coincides with the DIY lifestyle, but car washing is one exception. Washing your car at home with a garden hose uses about 7 gallons of fresh water every minute, amounting to nearly 100 gallons of water in 15 minutes.

    But car washes enrolled in the WaterSavers program (meaning they meet certain environmental standards) use 40 gallons of water per car, max, in conveyor and in-bay/rollover systems. Self-service washes in the program use 3 gallons of water or less per minute.

    Given that there are over 110 million registered vehicles in this country, if everyone switched to professional car washes that’s a savings of a hella lotta water. AND, car washes in the WaterSavers program treat and recycle their water, keeping it from poisoning our waterways and spring peepers.

    There are more than 800 WaterSavers car washes across the U.S. and Canada; check to see if there’s one near you.

    Register before October 15th for your chance to win an iPad 2!

     

    ‘Fess up, now. How often do you wash your car?

     

    blue cadillac

     

  • 6 Ways to Volunteer and Give Back, With Kids

    6 Ways to Volunteer and Give Back, With Kids

    Thanks to Walgreens for sponsoring my writing. Help Walgreens help others! Visit their Facebook page here to learn about their charitable partners and decide which cause Walgreens will donate to with a quick vote.

     

    only way-give

    No one is useless in this world
    who lightens the burden of it for someone else.

    –Benjamin Franklin

    There’s a lot of worry out there.

    I see headlines wondering about a double-dip recession. I know people in this area who are recovering from all the flooding that’s occurred these past few weeks, others who are going from a two-income family to a one-income family.

    Meanwhile, donations are down when people need it most:

    • Blood donations are down.
    • Food kitchens are starving as food and money donations are down nationwide. Oh yeah, and food prices are rising.
    • Salvation Army donations are down as much as 30 percent.
    • You know what’s up? Unemployment, that’s what.

    I get that people are feeling poor all over, but we need to bear two things in mind:

    1. For 99.999999% of us: we have it better than someone else. Therefore we can afford to help that person, and

    2. We are rich in proportion to the extent we can help others. You need to give of yourself to feel truly rich.

    If your situation is such that every penny counts, there are ways to give to your community that don’t involve dipping into your bank account. Even better, these are real, tangible ways that can include your children.

    (Perhaps, one day, we will look back on these hard times and acknowledge that they helped teach our kids lessons we didn’t have opportunity to learn, in our own youths.)

    • Clean the outdoors. This can be as part of an organized community cleanup, an every-once-in-a-while effort, or you might decide to keep your block or a corner of your favorite park litter-free. Everyone benefits from a beautiful outdoors.
    • Feed the hungry. Hold a food drive for your local food pantry, and prepare some land in your yard to “plant a row for the needy” next spring. Clip coupons for shelters and food banks.
    • Give the gift of comfort. Collect blankets, comfort items and toiletries to donate to a women’s shelter, or collect books and toys for the children’s ward at the hospital. Some hospitals collect for care packages, and some will take volunteers to read to sick kids.
    • Go mobile. Drop off Meals on Wheels for the elderly and housebound, and stay and visit for a while. Check with your local library, too. Mine has a program where volunteers drop off library books; you could see if anyone would like to be read to or might need a bit of a helping hand.
    • Remember our four-legged friends. Animal shelters need towels, old stuffed animals, and pet food. They’re always looking for volunteers to walk, play with and clean after animals. Many pet stores have adoptable animals as well and could use donation items.
    • Build something. Habitat for Humanity has programs that kids as young as five can help with.

    Giving back to your community teaches kids responsibility, empathy, and communication and practical skills that will serve them well later in life.

    But mostly, it shows them firsthand that one person really can make a difference.

    If we as parents give our children opportunities to volunteer, give back, and see the difference they can make in people’s lives—

    if we raise them to believe that is their duty, and privilege—

    think what a world our children could build.

     

    Don’t forget to help Walgreens help others! Visit their Facebook page here to learn about their charitable partners and decide which cause Walgreens will donate to with a quick vote. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.