Toys For Tots!

Toys for Tots is a donation program set up by the U.S. Marines, where Good Samaritans like yourselves can recycle your old toys or buy new toys and donate them to underpriviledged children. This program all began with a man by the name of Major Bill Hendricks, USMCR and a group of Marine Reservists in 1947. Together, they collected and distributed 5,000 toys to needy children. Today, there are nearly 20,000 Marines, Marine Corps League members, veteran Marines and volunteers involved in annual campaigns. The motto then and still today is to "bring the joy of Christmas to America's needy children." To read more about the origin of this foundation you can visit, http://www.toysfortots.org/about_toys_for_tots/toys_for_tots_program/origin_and_evolution.asp

The primary goal of the Foundation is the same as that of the overall Toys for Tots program: i.e. - to deliver, through a shiny new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to needy youngsters that will motivate them to grow into responsible, productive, patriotic citizens and community leaders. And as for the monetary aspect, from 1991 - 2005, the Toys for Tots supplemented local toy collections with 64.5 million toys with the overall worth of $344 million. Also, Toys for Tots provided over $3.9 million worth of promotion and support materials, which enable local Toys for Tots coordinators to conduct more effective local campaigns. (http://www.toysfortots.org/about_toys_for_tots/toys_for_tots_foundation/default.asp)

So, this holiday season if you are looking to be a Good Samaritan and brighten up Christmas for a child in need, think about donating to the Toys for Tots Foundation. It it a good way to not only be a Good Samaritan, but also be patriotic while doing so. Some sponsors of Toys for Tots are the Dr. Phil Show, Google, Toys R Us, Disney etc. To see a lit of more corporate sponsors or for the location of where you can drop off toys check out http://www.toysfortots.org/corporate_sponsors/national_corporate_event_sponsors/default.asp?year=2007&type=Corporate

Volunteer!

I have done a lot of my blogs on topics for the organizations that specifically enhance the acts of kindness experience. I decided to take a different approach to this blog. I wanted to research volunteer opportunities that people are involved with or can be involved with. I think it is just as important to associate people who volunteer with people who are doing random acts of kindness around the world.

While searching the web I found a website involved with the Good Samaritan Hunger Center. This website specifically asks for certain tasks from a person to volunteer. A person can volunteer their time and work at the center, or even just make food to donate to the center. Every little act from a person helps the center and makes a person’s like that much better. The website offers some statistics to help a person understand how important it is to volunteer. For example, the Good Samaritan Hunger Center cooks & prepares 12,500 hot meals annually; homemade soup also. This vision all started in 1982 by Sister Jordan and has grown ever since. I think this gives so many amazing opportunities for people to help out a lot of just a little. To find out how to help visit http://www.goodsamaritanhungercenter.org/home.html

I have taken it into my own hands to help the community and volunteer to help. The first weekend in December I am volunteering my time for an organization called Brian’s Walk. Brian’s Run began in 1978 as a one-time fund raising event to benefit Brian Bratcher. He was a West Chester Henderson High School football player who sustained a life-challenging spinal cord injury at the age of 15 during a scrimmage. His friends, family, and people around the world wanted to raise money to help him with this injury. Finally, after a few years he felt as if he had enough and wanted to pass the money that was raised each year to other deserving people. Little children up to adults participate in this event. I am very excited to be involved with such a program and I hope to learn a lot about this. To find out more visit http://www.briansrun.org/index.html

Support Children's Hospital this Holiday Season

As I stated in my last post, the holidays are a great time to help people and also to give to children in need and less fortunate than ourselves. So, in addition to all of the great ways to share our wealth with those who aren't as lucky as ourselves, we should also think about those who cannot be at home for the holidays, especially those children who are sick. It is sad to think that so many people will not be able to spend this special time in their homes in a comfortable environment happy with their families. So, for all of those children who have to stay in the hospital this holiday season, we should try to help make it a happier time for them. Also we can find many ways to support hospitals during this time in finding cures and just raising money for all of the tools and equipment the hospital needs to take care of the kids.

One way this can be done is through Children's hospital's special holiday card project to benefit them, which can be found at http://www.stlouischildrens.org/tabid/62/itemid/1703/2007-Holiday-Cards-to-Benefit-Childrens-Hospital.aspx. These holiday cards were designed by children at the hospital. The website shows the different designs, the kids names who designed them and the ways it benefits the hospital. The particular web page i looked at benefitted St. Louis Children's Hospital with the slogan: "Friends of St. Louis Children's Hospital invite you to share in the true spirit of the holidays!" This is a great way for anyone who wants to show that they care by donating to the hospital through their purpchase of the children designed holiday cards, which show everyone they send it to the wonderful message as well.

Another Children's Hospital website I found was one from East Tennessee, who this year are celebrating with the Fantasy of Trees. They have the Giving Tree which provides a way for families to celebrate the spirit of giving during the holidays through helping give the hospital small items like Popsicles for Emergency Department patients, diapers for premature infants, disposable medical supplies used hospital-wide to aid in keeping germs from spreading, and batteries for toys in Children's Hospital playrooms. In return the donator receives a recognition ornament for their tree at home to signify their holiday contribution. With the assistance of sponsor Regions Bank, this new area will allow Fantasy of Trees visitors an easy way to directly support children who are patients at Children's Hospital with small things that are needed for their recovery—and have a reminder of their contribution to take to their home for the holidays. The website breaks down the gift categories into $5, $10 and $25 areas and shows exactly what you will helping give the hospital with each of the monetary values. For more information visit http://www.etch.com/fantasyss.cfm.

There are so many ways to benefit Children's hospital for the holidays. Their calendar of events found at http://www.seattlechildrens.org/home/about_childrens/calendar.asp shows the dates of all of the specials throughout this holiday season that supports the hospital, such as: The 2007 limited edition of the Aflac Holiday Duck is dressed in holiday-themed attire, complete with a night shirt, night cap, fuzzy slippers and holding a candle, which can be purchased at any Aflac or Macys on December 1st and 100% percent of the proceeds from in-store and online sales from our area will benefit Children’s. In addition to events for the holiday season, this online event calendar also has events listed for next year as well.

Helping support Children's Hospital during this time of giving is a great way to make the holidays even brighter than they already are. It is a way to make these children's holiday happier for them and their families and to help give the hospital what they need to make sure the children get better as quickly as possible.

We Are Made Kind By Being Kind

While researching this topic, I have found that the most intriguing aspect is the nonprofit organizations that are created to help enforce the idea of being a Good Samaritan. While searching I found many articles about random acts of kindness. While looking in a magazine, there was an article about a nonprofit organization for students.

Kindness Acts Foundation is a nonprofit organization that has a goal of honoring students for their acts of kindness. When first entering the website the homepage quotes Eric Hoffer, “We are made kind by being kind.” Then there are different links throughout the page. There was a link labeled Honor A Student so I clicked it to see what would happen. It brought me to a page where a teacher or any person with a leadership role in a school can nominate a student for their act of kindness. The organization receives this request, and after reading what the student did and agreeing, they send a pin and a certificate to that student. I think it is really special that this website is doing this to reward people for their acts. This way the student can feel good and keep helping out people not expecting a reward each time. To further investigate this website or to nominate a student visit http://www.kindacts.org/

Another organization is called the M.I.S.S. Foundation. This foundation honors children who die and let their families do something special in their honor. I have seen this foundation in action. My cousin, who was 13, died of heart defect only a year ago. The hospital was unable to detect what was wrong in time to save him. He was a very intelligent boy and just had a true love for learning. He was always asking questions and solving problems. If something seemed impossible, he put his whole life into that act until it was complete. Ironically his initials spelled out the word ASK (Andrew Sean Kries). Knowing that this love for learning isn’t known in many children, my aunt decided to start a scholarship in his name. The scholarship is called the A.S.K award. She is hoping that the Good Samaritans will make donations to help preserve his name and inspire children to learn.

This is just an example of the M.I.S.S. foundation in play. This foundation is in hope for the children to be remembered and a way for the families to heal from their loss. I think this is a really special foundation. The website focuses on their goal for the website and includes stories that people have posted. There are also ideas for families, and cards that you are able to send to people who help with your idea. Knowing how hard this hit home for me, I really appreciate this website and what it has to offer. It really helps the family move on and spread their kindness to the world. To find out more about this great foundation visit http://www.missfoundation.org/kindness/index.html

Commercial Campaigns

Recently, as I was watching television a commercial came on the grabbed my attention. It was a commercial that was somewhat like the movie that I had previously wrote about, Pay It Forward. In this commercial, a girl grabbed a pizza delivery man by the arm before he was about to go out into the street and just as she did so, a car came whizzing by. This unknown girl saw the car coming whereas the pizza man didn't, thus her being his Good Samaritan. The commercial goes on with the pizza man helping a stranger, that stranger helping another stranger, another stranger helping the unknown girl, and back to the scene where the unknown girl pulls the pizza man out of the way. It turns out that this was a CocaCola commercial, trying to spread our same idea that everyone should lend a helping hand. These helping hands make the world turn as we see in this CocaCola ad, where what goes around comes around in the best of ways.

After seeing this commerial, it made me think of what other ads there are out there that deal with helping other out. Certain commercials that I think are good that are out on the television are the Above the Influence campaign(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Above_the_Influence). It is obvious that Good Samaritans are behind these advertisements, trying to make it so that in such a challenging and influential world today, youth and teens will stay away from drugs and alcohol. In one advertisement, we see a boy wheeling a stand-up mirror from his house and into his cafeteria at school. He places the mirror in front of his used-to-be best friend and his friend looks into the mirror, seeing his worn out reflection. The tagline for this commercial is "Drugs and alcohol change you," and this commercial gets the point across to the youth of America that it not only changes you personally and emotionally, but also physically and if you stay "above the influence" you won't have to worry about letting yourself, and others down. You can view commercials like these and read more into this subect on http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/.

Another television advertisement that I think is good to be out in the media is the Truth campaign(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_(advertising)). This is an anti-smoking campaign that is aimed towards the youth of America. The come across with mind blowing statistics and truths that leave you thinking. I believe this ties in with our theme of Good Samaritans because it is campaigns like these that try to prevent more people from smoking, which they are not only harming themselves but they are also harming others and our environment. There is a really creative and interesting site http://www.whudafxup.com/?ref=truthsite, if you are interested in learning more about this specific campaign ad. As for me, after looking around on this site, as a college student, I found some interesting facts that I think people of all ages would find interesting:

43.9% of young adults who are of college age, but do not attend college, smoke.

Female college studnets are more likely to smoke daily than male college students.

25.7% of college students smoke.

Other interesting facts that are on this site are:

Hydrogen cyanide is used in prison executions. It is also found in cigarettes.

Smoking kills more thatn 9 times more people per year than car accidents.

Every 6.5 seconds, someone dies from smoking-related diseases.

You can find other facts like these on http://www.whudafxup.com/?ref=truthsite.

Overall, I think it is important that there are people out there who develop campaigns, commercials, websites, anything that gets a good message across to the youth and teens today. From a catch Coca Cola commercial to more controversial anti-drug ads, their are surprisingly more people in the media, than we think, that we can call Good Samaritans.

Help for the Holidays

The holidays are a great time of year to help those in need. It is a time we notice especially as a time of giving. But not all people have the money to buy gifts for others. It is especially heartbreaking to me when children don't get gifts, which makes them think Santa doesn't love them or that he forgot about them. That it why I support charities and people who make it a point to see that all children receive something and to know they are loved.

When I was a freshman in high school and I received our first community service project, I panicked because I had never really done any real community service for people I didn't know. In addition I didn't know where to find places that needed help that I could volunteer for. So, my mom looked through the newspaper and showed me that their are many opportunities available around our neighborhood. In particular, she found one for wrapping donated presents for children in need and preparing them to be given to certain families around the community. I really liked that idea of helping people, especially children around the holidays, so my best friend, Julie, and I went to help. It ended up being a very touching experience that I was glad to be a part of. We even put the children's names on the gifts and picked out what would be good for kids of different ages, which made it feel even more real that we were making their Christmas.

As I thought of my past experience, I decided to look up other ways of helping this holiday season as well. I came across a great website http://www.brightholidays.org/donate/ where people can go to help and donate to underprivileged students. Their mission is to help improve the lives of underprivileged students and their families in the greater Jacksonville area during the holiday season. This site allows you to donate any amount of money using PayPal, buy mail or through their online site, and reminds you that every dollar counts. This is a great idea for helping those less fortunate children this holiday season, and it is just an example of one community that has done this. If you are interested in donating, many areas do this during the holidays, so look around your neighborhood to see or even start a program such as this if you are interested in helping childrren this holiday season.

I also found a site http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20061207/ai_n16894619 where a 12 year old girl named Katie helped to make the Christmas of children in need as happy as hers are. This was a story from last year and this seventh grader reflected on what Christmas means to her by helping through her school by giving to these children in a great way. She worked hard to collect toys for all ages and put the other children's Christmas before her own. It was a special way that made her Christmas so special and got her recognized as such a caring a giving young girl.

I feel that giving to children over the holidays is a great way to make yourself feel rewarding and good about yourself this holiday season. There are many ways to help people so find a way in your community to do something good for others this year, especially children who are the heart of the holiday season.

Good Samaritan Greeks

Sometimes Greeks get a bad reputation. Fraternity and sorority men and women are stereotyped as people who drink and party all the time. Although, this is a very unfair statement to make considering the many good things that they do as a part of these organizations. Every individual Greek organization has its own national philanthropy, which each chapter supports every year through school and neighborhood fundraisers, etc. to earn money towards it.

As a sister of the Zeta Gamma chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma at West Chester University, I am proud to say that we raise thousands of dollars every year toward our philanthropy, The National Kidney Foundation. I also found another blog posted by the Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation about the NKF Walk that numerous Phi Sig girls participated in found at http://phisigmasigmafoundation.blogspot.com/2007/11/delta-sigma-participates-in-nkf-walk.html. This foundation is extremely important to us, so as a chapter we have fundraisers and events going on year round to support it.

My chapter at West Chester does a Rock-A-Thon twice a year where we literally take turns rocking in rocking chairs outside of a local pizza place for 48 hours straight. There we collect donations from passersby in addition to selling baked goods to profit our cause. Like my organization, all fraternities and sororities have their own specific foundation or cause that they support as well.

At West Chester, all of the Greek organizations come together and support Camp Dreamcatcher, which is a camp for children affected or effected with HIV and AIDS, http://www.campdreamcatcher.org/. Camp Dreamcatcher runs year long programs for these children, but Greek Life at West Chester specifically earns money for a week of camp for each of these children. The money we collect through going canning in different cities or any other projects we plan goes to sending these children to a week of camp for free. In addition we can become camp counselors during this week and interact with all of the kids to make sure that week is one of the most enjoyable weeks of their life. I have heard many stories about the children and how they loe the camp so much they don't want to leave when the week is over. This really touches my heart and makes me feel proud to be part of an organization that is supporting it.

Real Life Samaritan

I have a small story about my recent encounter with a Good Samaritan. This weekend, I went shopping for a gift for my mother for her upcoming birthday. I decided to go into this knick-knack shop because the little figurines in the window were both cute and eye catching. When I walked in, I was greeted with a pleasant smile and a "Hello! How are you today?". "Good, Thanks!" I replied. After looking around for a bit, I asked one of the workers if she had any lighthouse products, such as little lighthouse figurines, or a pillow, or anything really. My mother is a very picky person to buy for but if you give her something that even remotely resembles a lighthouse she will be pleased with you. Unfortunately, the woman told me that they had just packed all of their lighthouse and summer-related products away and brought out all of the winter and Christmas products in their place. She told me that if I left my name and number she would personally take her time to go into the storage room and search for two little lighthouse ornaments that she knew were back there. I left my information figuring that the woman was just saying this to be nice and not actually going to look for them, because I know that I myself have pulled that move a few times. To my surprise, I received a phone call Sunday night from the owner of the store saying she found the two lighthouse ornaments if I wanted to stop by Monday afternoon to pick them up. Of course, me knowing that I had limited time to buy my mother a birthday present that she would actually like, I walked back to the little shop on the corner and purchased the two ornaments. I thought this was a very kind gesture of this woman to take time out of her busy schedule to dig into a storage room looking for two miniature lighthouse items. This woman motivated me to follow through with my actions when I say that I am going to do something, and I am grateful that I now have a present to give to my mother that i know she will love!

World Kindness Week

I always knew there was a Black History Month and a Breast Cancer awareness month but I never thought there would be a World Kindness Week, which runs from November 12 through November 18. World Kindness Week was started by The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. I stumbled across an article involving this special week, and then searched the web to find out if there were more organizations involved in this week. To my surprise there were a lot.

An organization D.A.N., Do Anything Nice, is encouraging people to interact and follow the special activities they have planned for each day. For example, on November 13: call a loved and on November 16: clean your room. This organization is hoping to encourage student involvement and leadership. They want to remind students that this week is full of opportunities of making a difference and the many possibilities of taking action through kindness. To find out more about this cause visit: http://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20061115230541374

Amazed by this wonderful organization, I searched for more involvement of different organizations in this special week. I went to Starbucks to see they were involved in this kindness week. Starbucks is hoping to raise awareness of this week by rewarding their local citizens. Their plan is for their employees to drive around and attach a Starbucks magnetic red cup to the car. When someone stops the person driving the car and asks about the cup, that person will be able to receive a coupon called a Cheerpass from Starbucks. That Cheerpass has a special code and when that person enters the code into the website, they will also pass on the act of goodwill that accompanies that card. This allows people to track what people are doing around the world. To find out how to get involved in this cause visit: http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2007/10/29/daily68.html?ana=from_rss

Finally, there is one more foundation that is donating it’s time to help people get involved in this week. The RAOK Foundation was founded in 1995 as a non-profit organization. The goal of this foundation is to inspire people to practice kindness and to “pass it on” to others. Being kind, they believe, is something that everyone can do through a variety of small--but important--ways. The RAOK Foundation offers sixteen pages of examples, among them sending a surprise letter, telling others that you love them, and paying compliments to the people in your life. This foundation is special and really helps a person get involved in this week if they want to. To get some great ideas of spreading the kindness visit: www.actsofkindness.org and select what are people doing?

I really think it is important for people to get involved and this is a great week for people to start their kindness around the world. In all of these articles, they quote that a small act of kindness can change the world, so if we all do a small act of kindness imagine the improvement to our world we will be making.

Give Thanks By Giving Back

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it is a great time to give thanks by giving to others less fortunate than ourselves. Yes Thanksgiving is a wonderful day for families and friends to get together and share a traditional meal of thanks with each other, but not all people in America can always afford such a lavish meal. That is why it is important to put others before ourselves and do our best to make everyones day as special as it should be.

I have seen so many advertisements already about Thanksgiving food drives, Holiday Harvest Projects, Canned Food Drives, etc. that show the America does support and love our country enough to make sure that all families get to celebrate in remembrace of the first Thanksgiving.

As a child in grade school, I can still remember when it became this time of year and our teachers made us write down in our homework books to bring in a certain amount of cans each for the Thanksgiving drive. My school gave each grade a family to feed, so every student in the class was responsible for getting part of the meal. Doing this made me feel good about myself, especially considering most of the families we were feeding we people from our own church or neighborhood community that were just having troble affording everything that year.

As I searched for Thanksgiving food drives that were underway for this year, the pages filled with millions of matches for it. I noticed that many of the drives were put together by groups. There was one that I noticed was a Girl Scout Food Drive at http://www.currentargus.com/ci_7345617 which appealed to me because I was a former girl scout myself and also remember doing charity work such as food drives through that. It said that their Thanksgiving food drive has been underway for a few days now since November 1st. The good thing that this food drive encourages support from everyone. Anyone is able to donate money to the drive and that money is used to help the girl scouts buy all of the food they can to give to people in need. It is this particular troops seventh year doing the drive and they are very proud of all they can do for their fellow Americans.

Another Thanksgiving Food Drive that has been done annually since 1998 is one run by the Raise Foundation who last year created over 600 boxes of food to help feed Orange County's families and children. This year they are trying to surpass that total and feed even more families. This great volunteer opportunity can be found at http://www.volunteermatch.org/results/opp_detail.jsp?oppid=359491, and is an awesome way to show thankfulness by giving to those less fortunate than ourselves.

No matter what kind of charity or organization you help support during this time of thanksgiving, you are still in reality supporting not only that one group but the whole US. We together celebrate this holiday as a important moment in time in our American history, so it is essential that everyone is able to be part of the feast of thanksgiving. Do your part the best way you can to contribute to a local or national project and make this thanksgiving a unforgetable memory for all.

If You Can't Pay It Back, Pay It Forward

Recently, we've been talking a lot about movie reviews and it made me think of how many movies there are that are about Good Samaritans(if there are any). Usually, we see hit movies coming out that are comedies, love stories, or horror movies. But what about a movie about doing good? Do we not see them put out into the media because they won't sell due to lack of sexual scenes or gore? Though there are not many immediate movies that come in mind when I think about Samaritans, I can recall this one movie I saw about two years ago..

Pay It Forward came out on October 20, 2000. This movie staring Oscar winners Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and nominee Haley Joel Osment, was based on a novel written by Catherine Hyde after she had a real life experience of "paying it forward". As discussed on http://www.payitforwardmovement.com/media/media_time.html, the author was driving home late one night in a section of Los Angeles when her car stalled and started to smoke. As she leaped out of the car, she saw two men running at her with a blanket while thoughts of muggings danced in her head. It turns out that these men were not muggers but they were there to put out the fire that was burning along the throttle line of her car. As Hyde said, "I finally realized these two guys could have died. I could have died. I turned around to than them--and they weren't there. For the next few months, I walked around with this great sense of regret. But without realizing it, that planted the seed for the idea. If you can't 'pay it back, pay it forward.' "

Eventually, Pay It Forward made it's way onto the big screen. According to http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0223897/plotsummary, the plot of Pay It Forward revolves around young Trevor McKinney(Haley Joel Osment), troubled by his mother's(Helen Hunt) alcoholism and fears of his abusive but absent father, is caught up by an intriguing assignment from his new social studies teacher, Mr. Simonet(Kevin Spacey). The assignment: think of something to change the world and put it into action. Trevor conjures the notion of paying a favor not back, but forward--repaying good deeds not with payback, but with new good deeds done to three new people. Trevor's efforts to make good on his idea bring a revolution not only in the lives of himself, his mother and his physically and emotionally scarred teacher, but in those of an ever-widening circle of people completely unknown to him.

After watching this movie, it made me think about ever action I did. I wondered if me holding the door open for someone or picking up a dropped book would make them think of me in the future and want to do something small for something else. I think if you haven't seen this movie you should definitely take a look at it. It will open your eyes to a whole other side of lending a helping hand. I think everyone should join in the pay-it-forward movement.

The Kindness Crew

I was browsing the web trying to find a spectacular story about an act of kindness. This being my fourth post I want to find something that would intrigue someone who is reading my blog. As I searched, the same old story came up or the same websites I used before. It was so frustrating! I soon stumbled across a website which I think is worth mentioning. It is the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. I couldn’t that there was a website that is labeled Random Acts of Kindness. What a perfect topic for Good Samaritans.

As I browsed through the website, I came across some fascinating things. The first link I clicked on was the Kindtimes Newsletter. There were hundreds of posts from people that did random acts of kindness for the people around them and posted what they did for others to read. It was amazing to see the amount of posts there were. I read through some of them and one post really caught my eye. It was titled the Kindness Crew. In this newsletter, the members of this crew talked about the kind acts they did for people, and how they tried to encourage the people around them to do the same. I loved seeing that to be a Good Samaritan people don’t think that they have to do huge acts to achieve this name.

I then clicked to the next link labeled Kindness Days. It was all different graphics and calendars that people had created for them to remind themselves about doing these acts. There were bookmarks, calendars, and bumper stickers to help themselves and the other people around them. There were also cards and poems to send to people you love. Another link on the website encourages people to go and create their own kindness website. It gave ideas and themes for the websites. A lot of people have created websites just from this one link.

Finally at the top of the page there was a link labeled In Your Classroom. This caught my eye the most being that I want to have a successful classroom in the future. There were lesson plans, rules, and guides to help teachers incorporate acts of kindness into their classrooms. This was amazing since I always found it so hard to find ideas to one day do this. Now teachers around the nation are sharing their ideas to help make this an everyday known fact. There is also an option for teachers to make a website for their students. This way the teacher can track the student’s acts and then the students can feel accomplished for their acts of kindness.

I really think this website is something special. To find out more check out http://www.actsofkindness.org/?gclid=CJqaxqSNuo8CFQh6gwodMivLcQ.

"Kids CAN Make a Difference!"

Adults aren't the only ones who can make a difference in the world today. There are so many wonderful projects kids and teens can work hard at, and in fact many times children have more initiative to work hard at attaining those goals. I remember as a child in grade school when we all went around the school playground as a class just picking up trash to keep our school clean. Sometimes it's just the small things that make a big difference, and maybe even inspire others to do their part too. It is important to keep our Earth clean and safe for everyone living on it. Just like we don't like walking down our neighborhood streets seeing trash thrown on neighbors lawns, we are not the only occupants of this world. There are millions of animals and plants living here as well, who too are affected by these actions we make. Not only land pollution, but air pollution as well.
Because of these problems that we are being faced with everyday, we dedicate one day a year, which is not the only day that we should be respecting our Earth, but is a special day when we put it first and do projects that we had put off all year long. This day is Earth Day, and it has been a tradition started in 1970 by a man named John Mc Connell from the United States. It is annually observed on or around the date of April 22, and is a day that the whole world participates in! As a child, I always remembered seeing posters aroung my school about the day we dedicate to planting new trees, picking up pollution and just beautifying the Earth we all call home.
One website I found http://wupcenter.mtu.edu/education/earthweek/index.htm talks about the many different projects 410 students from nine schools in Houghton, Baraga, and Gogebic Counties in Michigan did while celebrating Earth Day this past spring. They conducted twelve different projects that benefitted their schools, their communities, and the environment. These projects were not only just on Earth Day itself, but continued throughout the school year. Some of these projects were: "Cool to Carpool" an 8th grade project raising awareness about air pollution and encouraging kids to walk, ride bikes or carpool to school to reduce the use of fossil fuels, and "Litter Critters" a 2nd grade project where the kids were reusing discarded items to make creative art. Every grade at these schools contributed in some way to these projects, which made worldwide news.
Another Earth Day project that children can work on is called "Dive In To Earth Day". It is an international Earth Day celebration of coral reef and marine conservation activities that take place during the week of April 22 and are focused on a common theme: to remind the public that more than 70% of our planet is covered by water and our marine resources need to be protected. More information can be found at http://www.coralreefalliance.org/divein/. They had an amazing turn out this past Earth Day of 60 Countries 222 Events and 32,000 Participants. It is just something everyone should be aware of and obviously anyone can help support.
If children are keeping the Earth clean and working so hard to obtain such wonderful goals, Anyone can do it. We all learned and were told since we were very young that we should take care of what is ours. The Earth is ours too, and just because we share it with billions and billions of other people too, doesn't mean we should just leave it up to those others to take are of it for us. It is at least important to start of by making a difference in your own community. If all of these kids are putting so much effort into it, we know a goal is attainable. Kids are people too and love their Earth just as much as everyone else does. They are our future, it is important that they are taught right and to respect their surroundings at a young age so they will continue to make a difference in years to come.

A slice of nice, makes a mile of smile!

I am going to hopefully one day be an elementary teacher. One of my biggest concerns about teaching is teaching the children the right thing to do and say. Basically their manners, but why should teachers be responsible for that? When I grew up, my parents taught me manners and the respect I should give to my elders. Why are parents pushing off this responsibility to their child’s teacher?

A woman by the name of Margery Cuyler recognizes the problem and has created a hopefully good solution. She is an author who has seen that children aren’t learning what they should be at the young age, so she took it in her hands to be a Good Samaritan and make it easier for teachers who already have a lot on their plates. She has created books for teachers to read in their classrooms to teach about acts of kindness.

In her book she has a teacher by the name of Mrs. Ruler, and her classroom is filled with grumpy children because it is raining outside. One of the students realize they are acting up, and she responds with “Kindness is cooler, Mrs. Ruler.” I think this is a creative way to intrigue children and catch their attention. I know in middle school rhyming always caught my attention. The author makes sure she uses rhyming lingo throughout her book to keep the subject fun and entertaining.

Mrs. Ruler makes sure that her students know that acts of kindness are a must in our world today. In the book when her students act up, she gives them the task of, “five acts of kindness for your families,” and reporting back for show-and-tell. The next day the children come back with their stories. Such as, vacuuming the house, setting the table or sharing their toys.

Cuyler is getting some criticism from the media for her book. Mrs. Ruler’s moral hyperbole: “All it takes is one simple act — one act of kindness that will make the world a better place.” But, some view this as a bad moral because they think that even the smallest things done by the children become homework and a simple chore becomes an act of kindness, something is wrong at home. I think this is not a good way to view this book. Cuyler is trying to remind parents and help teachers in their classrooms. She is trying to help parents teach their children about manners and acts of kindness. This article, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/books/review/London-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin, helps explain more in depth about the book and how it is being utilized by parents and teachers.

All in all, I think that people need to realize that the youth is our future. Sometimes we just assume that things are known especially when it involves children. I think we need to focus on teaching our children the right things to do and the acts of kindness they should perform for their neighbors. I feel like this book is a great start to creating awareness in parents. She is really pushing for parents to talk to their children, and make sure they understand that children need to be taught.

O and her Academy

Oprah Winfrey. She's a household name, a talk show host, a therapist to everyone sitting on their couch at home or in her studio, a producer, an educator, a magazine founder and what we here like to talk about most, a Good Samaritan. "Oprah has used the power of the media and created an unparalleled connection with people around the world.", according to http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-te5Q5aMoRKfY7EFGVSqQq52GFXY7cinb?p=1530.

Her most recent, and by far most outstanding act as a Good Samaritan was her founding of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. Located in Meyerton, just south of Johannesburg, South Africa, this academy is an all girl boarding school that was inspired by Oprah's own disadvantaged childhood. Oprah was born into a family of two teen aged parents, her mother a housemaid and father a coal miner, and was forced to be raised by her grandmother in impoverished, rural conditions. Here, she experienced a dysfunctional family life with a grandmother who beat her and with a cousin, an uncle and a family friend who would molest her. Oprah managed to overcome her past and use it to make the lives of girls, who most likely experienced similar situations, and provide them with an education and leadership opportunities for the academically gifted girls who wanted to make a difference in this world.

The 52-acre, 28-building campus features state-of-the-art facilities, including large dormitories, wellness center, gymnasium, dining hall and libraries, with many of the rooms having large fireplaces. The curriculum includes languages (English, Zulu, and South Sotho), arts, culture, life orientation and leadership, mathematics, natural sciences, technology, social studies and management sciences. The first two classes of the Academy include 152 girls aged 11-12, who were selected from 3,500 hopeful girls nationwide in South Africa. Although the incoming classes of girls will enter grades 7 and 8, the Leadership Academy plans to provide middle school and high school education for girls in grades 7 through 12. To qualify as a candidate for the Leadership Academy, the potential student must show that she is academically qualified, and that her family must have a household income no greater than $787 a month. For more information, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey_Leadership_Academy_for_Girls.

Of course, we all know the old saying that "no good deed goes unpunished", and so it was with Oprah and her Academy. Oprah faced a lot of criticism with opening up this school in South Africa. Many questioned why she did not open up a school for the impoverished in America. She replied with,
"Say what you will about the American educational system — it does work. ... If you are a child in the United States, you can get an education. ... I became so frustrated with visiting inner-city schools that I just stopped going. The sense that you need to learn just isn't there. ... If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod, some sneakers,or for some money. In South Africa, they don't ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school."

This shows us the difference of American school systems versus African school systems and it tells us that children in America take education for granted because it is readily provided for them, but when you are raised in a rural town in South Africa and it's either get and education or get a job to provide for your family, an everlasting education is way more tempting than a low paying, hard labor job.

Karen Russell of the Huffington Post came to Oprah's defense of the Academy in saying,
"Critics say the school is too lavish for such an impoverished country. How dare Oprah have the audacity to spoil these Black African girls?! Why are so many quick to question if these girls deserve the best education Oprah's money has to offer? ... Oprah will get a lot of bang for her buck by educating poor Black girls in Africa. She realizes that educating South African girls must be a priority to help turn the tide in sub-Saharan Africa…where an education is quite rare, and birth rates for uneducated girls are so high, a little education could make a dramatic difference"

Do you think Oprah is being out of line by providing housing an education for poor girls of South Africa who are academically gifted and can make a change in this world? I think that the media should not criticize our beloved O, but thank her because I have confidence that the girls in her Academy will make a difference in our future.

Hollywood or Small Neighborhood: Lend YOUR Hand to those in Distress

Lately I have been hearing a lot of stories about celebrities doing good deeds. Although some people think the stories are false, and they very well could be, at least they show something positive coming out of Hollywood. In my last post I talked about what people consider a good samaritan to be, and gave some example stories on the subject. Now even if you are thinking that celebrities are just doing these nice things to boost their fame and status, you still can't admit that you would rather hear about their horrible drug overdoses or their latest trip to rehab than stories of them actually helping others.

Last time, I talked about a story I read involving a bike rider, who witnessed a horrible bicycle-automobile accident. But, instead of leaving it to others to help the injured woman, he quickly rushed to their assistance by calling 911 and taking the important job of directing traffic around the scene. This is a perfect example of a good samaritan, because the man clearly went out of his way to help another in need.
In fact this story reminds me of a time when I was younger, and I was walking with my family on the boardwalk down at the Jersey shore. We were just passing a huge lavishly decorated Christmas store when the woman walking in front of us just collapsed, falling face foward onto the hard boardwalk. It was a time when cell phones weren't as popular yet, but luckily my Poppop had one; so being the caring man that he is, he ran to their assistance to let them know he was dialing 911. Once they reassured that an ambulance was on its way, I noticed from hiding behind my mom's leg that my Poppop was bent over near a crying little girl. I could faintly hear him telling her that her grandmom would okay and that the doctors were on their way to her. It was then that I realized that that little girl could've been me, and that woman could have been my grandmom; I would only hope to be so lucky as to have a man like my Poppop go out of his way for a stranger.
This same sort of situation was seen about a month ago when basketball star, Allen Iverson, discovered a horrible car accident. The car was flipped over and two friends were inside. Iverson helped the women out of the car, called the police and insisted that they go get checked out at the hospital, where he visited to check on them later that day. For more details of the story visit http://www.philly.com/dailynews/opinion/20070912_Letters___Allen_Iverson__Good_Samaritan.html.

Another example that I gave in my previous post was about a man who stopped to help a family experiencing car problems. In the story, the man tried to help at first with no luck, but then came back in the end with anti-freeze to fix the car, accepting nothing in return for his deed.
I experienced a similar situation just this summer when I was on vacation in Disney World. My family and I were just leaving our suite at the resort to go get some dinner when we noticed a woman sitting on the ground shaking. Another couple had stopped as well because she had been screaming for help. She was still wearing a hospital bracelet, and after taking a pill that she had in her pocket, she explained that the doctor's don't know what is wrong with her yet and they are still doing tests. But, then again she began shaking and my dad was helping her open her medicine. As she began to calm down again we asked her if she was with anyone, because she didn't want us to contact a medic. My mom, my sister and I knocked on the door of the room number she gave us and checked by the pool for her family with no luck. When we returned to the scene a medic was present and staff was in search of her family. Although we weren't much help, we did make sure we got her into the hands of someone who could assist her better, even though it was not what she initially wanted.
A situation such as that, where you are bombarded with the decision to lend your hand or just ignore it, is never an easy one. Sometimes it is difficult or even scary to walk up to stranger in distress and try to help. I came across an example where Josh Hartnett was walking out of a tavern and found a man harrassing a woman at http://dailyblabber.ivillage.com/entertainment/archives/2007/02/josh_hartnett_is_a_good_samari.html. He stepped in, without throwing any punches, advising the man to step off. Even another source said that nothing physical was brought about, just a few raised voices and Josh gave the man a good talking to.

Are you a giver or a taker?

There are two types of people in the world: givers and takers. In my last blog, I talked about the worth of being a Good Samaritan. Does it pay off to make someone’s day better by doing a little good deed of the day. It is almost seen as a must to perform these tasks, or is it? In this blog, I am going to address the issue of actually performing these tasks.

I read a blog which makes a lot of sense to me. It made me think of things that I wouldn’t have thought on my own. The link for this blog is http://htacio.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/are-you-a-giver-or-a-taker/. In this blog, the author addresses the want to be a Good Samaritan. The author puts out the question, “Do people really want to do these acts every day?” Hearing this question, I would automatically say yes, but after reading the article I realized the answer to that question is no.

The blog states how people don’t want to give the effort of doing these good deeds. Yet, they want to be the victim, and have good deeds done to them all the time. We are content being the recipient of all the good things from other people. We want the gifts, but we don’t want to give them back in return. Whatever happened to the saying, “Leave a penny, take a penny.”

So, I will leave you with this. Are you the person that will go out of their way to help another who is in need, whether its opening a door, or picking up a piece of trash from the ground? Or are you the person that sits back, rushes one car ahead cutting off another driver and taking good deeds from people but not giving back?

A Safe Samaritan is A Good Samaritan

So, I previously wrote about how October is known as Breast Cancer Awareness Month but what it is also greatly known for is the holiday that is widely celebrated on the last day of this month, Halloween! Halloween can be a great time for kids and adults to get dressed up and go house to house trick-or-treating. Our duty as Good Samaritans is to make sure that holidays, especially this holiday, where most festivities take place at night, is ensued with safety. We can do this by giving out safe candies and carefully watching our children while they are out and about the streets on this night. This fun and exciting holiday can have a serious downside if parents don't take the proper precautions when trick-or-treating.

I found on this site the history, myths and realities of poisoned candy on Halloween and I think it is incredibly interesting and that everyone should check it out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoned_candy_scare. According to this site, the first poisoning of candy that took place was in New York in the year 1964. This New York housewife apparently was sick of children who were supposedly to old to be trick-or-treating, so on Halloween of '64 she gave out packages of steel wool, dog biscuits and ant buttons that were even labeled as "poison". No one was harmed by this housewife's dangerous gesture but she was prosecuted and pleaded guilty for the potential endangerment of these children.

On http://www.snopes.com/horrors/mayhem/needles.asp?print=y, this person talks about a more recent incident that occurred in 2000 in Minneapolis. A man by the name of James Joseph Smith placed needles into Snickers candy bars and gave them out to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Smith was charged with one count of adulterating a substance with intent to cause death, harm or illness when a 14-year-old boy was pricked by the needle that was put into the bar after he had bitten into it. Luckily, the boy did not have to require medical attention.

There are plenty more stories like these floating around the interweb, so in order to keep yourself and your trick-or-treater from becoming the subject of one of these stories, make sure to check your child's food before letting them eat it. For help and tips on how to have a safe and happy Halloween you can check out http://stepdadsecrets.stepdads101.com/archives/82! So, you can read those over and get an early start on how to be a Safe Samaritan this Halloween. And remember, a Good Samaritan never tampers with candy and then gives it to unsuspecting innocent children!

Do you consider yourself to be a Good Samaritan?

Everyone wants to be considered a good person, and to be known as someone who assists others in their time of need. Although in many instances, more people are seen ignoring cases where their help might be useful then going out of their way to at least ask a person in distress if they are alright. This is what separates the true good samaritans from those who just think of themselves in that regard.

It is difficult sometimes to extend your hand to a stranger. I, too, have trouble being the stronger person in a crowd of on-lookers. But even if you are unsure if the person will accept your help, at the end of the day it will make you feel like a better person for at least offering it. In fact, your actions might even inspire others to do the same, or even make the person in distress learn to be more willing to accept the help of others.

There are good samaritans out there because we hear new stories of them everyday. One specific posting can be found at http://meddlingkidd.wordpress.com/2007/08/08/thanks-jerry/, which is about a man who helped a family having car problems. The family had been experiencing their temperature guage rising, but after putting some anti-freeze in it, the mini-van was fine until a few days later when it rose again. Luckily they were near a park, so they pulled the car over. They attempted to add water, but it just evaporated. Many cars drove by yet only one stopped. A man named Jerry got out, asked if they needed help and began to assist under the hood. They came to a conclusion that it was best to wait for the mini-van to cool down, so Jerry left apologizing that he couldn't do more. Yet about ten minutes later Jerry's truck pulled up again, and he got out with a bottle of anti-freeze. He refused to take cash from the family and just told them that it was his good deed of the day.

Another example of a good samaritan was a story of a biker accident found at http://blog.glennf.com/mtarchives/007913.html. A man had been riding his bike along Lake Washington Blvd. on Bicycle Sunday when a car came out of nowhere forcing him to change gears, which jammed his chain. He wasn't hit but he got off of the bike and turned it over to fix the chain when a group of four other bikers asked if he needed help. He graciously accepted their help and together they unjammed it in about five minutes. Then on his way home, the biker witnessed the results of another bike accident, this one much worse. A woman was laying on the ground bleeding from the head. Her friends were trying to help, and another passer by called 911. It took a few minutes to convince the woman that she needed medicle help, but once she agreed they had an ambulance sent over. An EMT on bike stopped and began to help as well, and the biker began directing traffic around the scene. About ten minutes later the ambulance arrived and she was taken to the hospital. Her injuries were very bad, but if she was not wearing a helmet she could have been dead or in fatal trama.

Deed of the Day: Donate!

Since this month is Breast Cancer Awareness month, I believe there's no better time to be a "Good Samaritan". Being a Good Samaritan doesn't always mean that you have to physically help someone out, you can find other a lot of other ways to reach out to someone in need. Donations are always a good idea and with Breast Cancer Awareness, there are so many different organizations out there that you can donate to.

I am a personal fan of shopping and I know I am not the only one out there. I found some interesting ways of donating your money, where you get something cute and trendy in return besides the pure satisfaction of helping another out.

Polo Ralph Lauren has supported Pink Pony for more than 15 years. There are fashionable products for both men and women with a portion of the proceeds going to the Pink Pony Center for Cancer Care and Prevention. If you purchase the Pink Pony Match Shirt 100% of the proceeds will support the Pink Pony organization. If you want to find out more about these products or about the Polo Ralph Lauren - Pink Pony visit http://www.misscrew.com/blog/?p=1208 or http://www.ralphlauren.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=1870143&ab=global_pinkpony

For pet lovers out there, you can even get your pets in on the good deed! As I found on http://www.supercoolpets.com/archives/2007/10/pink_ribbon_pet_products_for_t.php, they have Awareness Pet Products for your animals! This site offers you fashionable dog collars, cat collars, pink ribbon dog leashes and key fobs that benefit not only the look of your precious pet but also benefits those who are suffering from breast cancer. According to this site, 15% of the proceeds will be going to the Susan G. Komen For the Cure organization!

And for everything else in between, you can always visit the Breast Cancer Site Store at http://shop.thebreastcancersite.com/store/site.do?siteId=224&origin=BCS_GOOGLE_ADGROUP_ContentGraphic-160x600-Pink&gclid=CNPfx4K9-44CFUtyOAodwj4M2w, where there are loads of products that you can purchase and your money will fund mammograms for women in need!

Does it pay off to be a Good Samaritan?

Giving a helping hand and a caring gesture is seen every day of our lives. People are almost expected to do a good deed for the day. This helps everyone’s life be a little bit more peaceful. Sometimes, people are asked to step beyond what is expected. A specific example of this is seen in a posting about a fishing boat sinking, http://www.conservationreport.com/2007/10/fisheries-observer-six-rescued-from.html. The Coast Guard was called but was far from the scene. When the Coast Guard arrived, another fisherman boat heard the call over the radio, noticed they were close, and rushed to help these fishermen. I think that it was courageous, and that these acts help the world become a better place. Yet, what if a situation occurred, and you step beyond what is expected, but are soon punished for it?

A nightmare of this occurred to a young waiter in Florida. A blog addresses this article: http://www.ontopresults.com/blog/2007/10/02/good-samaritan-loses-job-after-saving-woman-from-attacker/. This waiter was working, and a woman’s purse was taken. He ran after the perpetrator and caught him. When he went back to his job, his boss fired him. The boss claims the firing was due to the young waiter being bad at his job. Yet, it occurred the same night, so this Good Samaritan got fired for stepping to help someone else, or so it seems. So what is a person to do when they are asked to help another? Some help is praised; some help is looked down at. So no one knows what is really expected of them.