Do-It-Yourself: Winter Break Camp Co-ops

The original article promotes a summer camp co-op, but since the kids will be out of school over the Winter Break this idea may just save a few of the Moms out there.

If you are looking for ways to save on childcare and day camp over the holiday, consider forming Holiday Camp Co-op through Care.com.  By creating your own day camp with other parents in your neighborhood, you can be certain that the care will be affordable, trustworthy, and provide unique learning experiences for your child.

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23 yr old Invents Solar Fridge

Proving once again that the best ideas are often the simplest, 23-year-old student/inventor/entrepreneur Emily Cummins has designed a brilliant portable solar-powered refrigerator that works based upon the principle of evaporation. Employing a combination of conduction and convection, the refrigerator requires no electricity and can be made from commonly available materials like cardboard, sand, and recycled metal.

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Local Dirt - connecting farmers and buyers

When Heather Hilleren worked for Whole Foods she noticed they had trouble finding and buying from local farmers.

By 2005, Hilleren had earned an MBA from University of Wisconsin Business School. As one of her class projects, she had developed a plan to use the power of an online interface to facilitate buying between local farmers, distributors, cooperatives, retailers, restaurateurs and even individuals.

Hilleren combined her savings,  a $600,000 National Science Foundation grant and  $1 million in new investment from O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures in San Francisco and Boston-based Peak Ridge Capital.

She's using the money to get the word out nationally and to continue to build her offerings for her site, which she says has thousands of farmers, distributors and buyers. Hilleren wants to offer electronic ordering services for local grocery store buyers, who can simply go online, check local farmers' inventory and buy what they need. Eventually, she plans to charge a subscription fee--probably $360 per year--to wholesale buyers and sellers.

The site saves the average wholesale buyer about four hours a week, Hilleren says. In addition, it gives farmers a new sales venue, and it offers transparency. "People can actually find out when the product was harvested and what the growing practices were that went along with it," she says. "All products need to be identified, so people know what they're buying and where it came from."

Read the entire Article:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217449

Visit the Local dirt website:
http://www.localdirt.com/

What can you do with this information ?

• Run, don't walk to your local organic supermarket and ask them if they use this service, if not print out the website and the article listed above and give it to the manager. 
• Share this information with local restaurants that use locally grown produce.
• If you or someone you know farms organically send them this information.
• Read the FAQ page at the website to learn more about the program (they sell a lot more than fruit and veggies) http://www.localdirt.com/faq-a193.html
• The next time someone tells you the government just wastes our money. Mention that the National Science Foundation supports this site which is creating jobs for local farmers nationwide.
• Write an note to the Hillary thanking her for creating this service, a little encouragement goes a long way. http://www.localdirt.com/contact_us-a194.html
• Share this blog with friends and associates

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Nuns Give Kids and Moms a Second Chance

Sister Teresa works with children who, for much of their early lives, only saw their moms a couple of hours a week during visiting hours - at jail.

"I was just moved to think a child was ripped apart from their mom," Teresa said. "The more I talked to the mothers I realized the mothers just needed a chance."

"Hour Children" meets moms in some of the toughest jails in New York. They offer women a fresh start.

On one block in Queens, Fitzgerald, or "Sister Tesa" as she's called - provides free housing and daycare, and thrift stores where former inmates can work and shop.
Next door to the store, there's computer training and job placement.

One of the main goals is making sure the women don't end up back behind bars. In New York state, more than 30 percent of female ex-convicts get arrested again. But the rate for Hour Children's is only 4 percent.







This posting was excerpted from this article, I encourage you to read the entire story:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/01/eveningnews/main6919890.shtml?tag=cbsnewsLeadStoriesArea

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Suits for Success

Dress for Success promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.
 
Since 1997, Dress for Success has served more than 550,000 women around the world. Each year they reach more than 50,000 women in the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, Mexico, Poland and the West Indies.

 On her initial visit a woman receives a suit appropriate for the industry in which she is interviewing and, if available, accessories. After a woman finds a job she returns to Dress for Success for additional clothing that can be mixed and matched to make several outfits, providing her with the foundation for a professional wardrobe.

Another way in which Dress for Success supports women joining or returning to the workforce is through Steps to Success, an initiative that focuses on the crucial first 30 days of employment, during which newly-hired women face many potential challenges. 

Visit their website:
http://www.dressforsuccess.org/

Read Article in the BBC about this group:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8605221.stm

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Tired of watching women pick themselves apart in front of the mirror, 24-year-old blogger Caitlin Boyle scribbled a note on a Post-it — “YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!” — and slapped it on the mirror of a public bathroom. With this one small act, a movement was born. Women of different ages, races, lifestyles and geographic locations began posting encouraging notes of their own. The messages are chronicled in Boyle’s new book, “Operation Beautiful: Transforming the Way You See Yourself One Post-it Note at a Time.”

This excerpt from “Operation Beautiful” highlights the damaging effects of “Fat Talk” and explains how to break free from it.

Watch another video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqOEP40Pmdg&feature=player_embedded#!

Read Entire Article:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38560934/ns/today-books/

Visit Operation Beautiful website:
http://operationbeautiful.com/

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