Sharing Baby Food Saved My Sanity

This is a story of a woman who wanted to make healthy food for her baby, and also wanted to sleep. She formed a group of like minded parent who each made a big batch of one kind of food and shared it with the group. This idea works for baby food, soup, casseroles, you name it. If anyone in the Santa Rosa area wants to try this, I'm in.

How do you create and host a local babyfood exchange?

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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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Builders of Hope - rebuilding homes, neighborhoods and lives

This story has it all, saving older houses from demolition, reducing waste at landfills, creating "green" homes, providing affordable housing and giving the homeless and recently incarcerated folks a job.

Watch the video, read the article and be inspired.

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Cities offer homeless free storage

Last Thanksgiving, Phillip Black says most of his belongings were thrown away by the police.

Police told Black they mistook the bags in a Whole Foods shopping cart for trash. "I couldn't even enjoy my Thanksgiving," he says.

Finding a place to safely leave possessions is one of many challenges homeless people face each day, homeless advocates say. Some cities, including Portland, Ore., St. Petersburg, Fla., New York, San Francisco and Chicago are trying to help people in Black's situation by offering free storage space to the homeless.

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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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Prom Dress Recycling

Times are tough and, in many families, money is tight. But no matter what the state of the economy is, girls want a beautiful gown for the prom. There are programs throughout the country that allow folks to donate their used formal wear, jewelry, and shoes so that everyone can go to their prom.

Watch  antother video
http://cnettv.cnet.com/recycling-prom-dresses/9742-1_53-50023313.html

Website - donate my dress:
http://www.donatemydress.org/

Another Website:
http://princessproject.org/

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Portraits of the Fallen

This week, if you only have time to visit one link from my blog and watch one video, this is the one. Get the kleenex.

Kaziah Hancock is a Utah artist who paints portraits of fallen American heroes at no cost.  She was driving home in early 2003 and heard the story on the radio of a fallen soldier from Utah.  It was at that point she decided she would do a portrait of every fallen soldier. 

Linda's 2 cents:
One of the purposes of this blog is to find stories that give folks hope. Another is to find areas on which we agree regardless of our politics. I believe Liberals and Conservatives alike feel that loosing a child is a parent's worst nightmare. This artist brings comfort to families who are hurting and she has my deepest admiration and support. I hope she also has yours and that you will take the time to comment on this article in the comment section below.

If you or someone you know has lost a loved one in the war, I encourage you to contact this program.

Video of artist and one family she has helped:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it7NQBN-lO0

Another video - Mom is there as Artists paints her son's portrait:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZMqzEKSTNI&feature=fvw

Article about the Artist:
http://www.defense.gov/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=2392

Another program providing a similar service
http://www.fallenheroesproject.org/ 

Special Thanks to Butch D"Amico who sent me this story

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Meet Your Street

Psychology student Alex Loughlin is using Halloween as part of a nationwide campaign to encourage people to get to know their neighbours, the program is called Meet Your Street.

Alex is encouraging students to enter the Pass the Pumpkin competition as a way to meet their neighbours. The idea is for folks to buy and decorate a pumpkin - then knock on a neighbor's door in their street and pass it on to them as a Halloween treat, taking a picture which can be posted on Alex's Facebook page.

I wish I had found this link a few weeks ago, I would have posted it earlier.

Alex has another campaign "Pass a Pie". Make a pie and give it to your neighbor this holiday season

Read the article
http://optimistworld.com/Halloween-Pass-Pumpkin-community-bonding-initiative/

Video of Alex and  his mentor finalize  the details for the "pass a pie" program.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn2LK0Llm0s.
I do have to warn you, they recommend passing a mince pie, and that is not my favorite, I am going to try this and I think I will stick with apple.

Post your comments on how we could participate in the "pass a pie" idea. How fun!!

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United Through Reading

United Through Reading helps parents separated from their children share the simple joys of reading aloud together.

Picture a young Soldier in Afghanistan walking into a tent, dropping his gear, and picking up a copy of Green Eggs and Ham to read to his daughter at home. Imagine, back home in base housing, his wife and daughter sit down to watch Daddy read a bedtime story from the other side of the world. At that moment, Daddy is home.

The Military Program, has more than 250 recording locations worldwide including nearly every deployed US Navy ship, in 75 USOs, and from forward operating locations around the world, including 46 camps in Afghanistan.

More than one million American children are separated from one or both parents due to military deployment and nearly double that for children separated from their loved ones due to incarceration, drug treatment, or social services. Still others are separated from their grandparents, and therefore, from generational love and learning. United Through Reading has served 1 million beneficiaries over the past 21 years.

If you know of someone who can benefit from this program, please pass along the resources listed below.

Original Article;
http://www.serve.gov/stories_detail.asp?tbl_servestories_id=407

I found this story at a government website - United We Serve
http://www.serve.gov/stories_all.asp

United Through Reading website:
http://www.unitedthroughreading.org/

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Smart Power Outlets

John La Grou unveils an ingenious new technology that will smarten up the electrical outlets in our homes, using microprocessors and RFID tags. The invention, Safeplug, promises to prevent deadly accidents like house fires -- and to conserve energy.

His solution, Safeplug, is a cheap data chip placed into the plugs of appliances that can be read by a cheap wireless receiver in the socket. The device and the outlet are now an intelligent network, trading information of the safe operating ranges of the device. This allows the wall socket to shut off power if too much energy is flowing.

Whenever there is nothing plugged in, the wall unit can just simply shut off. Considering the amount of sockets in the States alone, shutting them off when not in use can save an unbelievable amount of wasted energy. It could even prevent injuries caused by children playing with electrical sockets. 

Watch the video and read more at
http://www.ted.com/talks/john_la_grou_plugs_smart_power_outlets_1.html

I found this article at the TED site - ideas worth spreading
http://www.ted.com/

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