Historic Preservation - Our Next Charity Selection!

There is nothing more delightful for our family than spending an afternoon outdoors.  We love taking walks in the woods and visiting community parks.  Several years ago, we spotted a historic park just off the highway.  What made this location special was that our first visit was an exploration of preserved buildings, beautiful gardens, lakes, trails and small museums.

This delightful location was none other than Historic Oak View County Park.  A restored 19th century farmstead, Historic Oak View features three museums: one at the main home with temporary exhibits, a cotton museum at the cotton gin house, and a farm history center.  There is a pecan grove, cotton field, gazebo and a water tower.

On our first visit many years ago, our daughter (4 years old at the time) had a fine time pretending to cook in the big stone fireplace at the plank kitchen.  She'd open the door, invite us in, show us her soup and push us out so we could do it all over again.  I swear we "visited" about 15 times in a row.

That day may have started her fascination with all things old - antique typewriters, homemade wax candles, feather pens with ink pots, even the cotton gin we saw at Oak View.  Sometimes the digital age just can't provide the same tactile experience of those simple machines of yore.

Historic preservation is so important to us.  Learning about our history helps provide a thread to our past and tells the story of our ancestors.  We decided to support a local organization that had a personal impace, therefore, our Charity of the Month is the Historic Oak View Park!

Historic Oak View is part of the "Raleigh Heritage Trail" that includes several historic sites, museums and facilities.  Read more at www.raleighheritagetrail.com

Donations to Historic Oak View can be mailed to:
Oak View
4028 Carya Drive
Raleigh, NC 27610

Photos of our visits to Oak View Park...

Cookies for Troops

As you may have noticed, there are lots of ways to support our troops overseas. Some of my favorite ones include sending a letter through A Million Thanks, sending care packages through Operation Gratitude, event sending guitars through Guitars for Troops! Incredible efforts like Soldiers' Angels allow people to participate in projects to supply handmade blankets, laptops, canes, and homemade treats.

My daughter is a Girl Scout and every year we become deeply involved in "cookie season": the 3 months out of the year when Girl Scout cookies are available and girls everywhere (and their moms) go beserk selling cookies to benefit their troop.

Even though we become engrossed in door-to-door sales and managing cookie tables outside stores, there is one aspect of cookies sales that I just love: Operation Cookie Drop.

Operation Cookie Drop, also known as OCD (which is about how I feel during cookie season...), is a program where folks can purchase boxes of cookies for our troops overseas. In our region, all cookies are shipped out from Fort Bragg.

One of my favorite moments during cookie sale season happened 2 years ago. While selling cookies in our neighborhood, one fellow wasn't keen on buying. My daughter explained Operation Cookie Drop and his eyes lit up. His son in Afganistan had received cookies a few years prior. He said it was such a boost for their troop and lifted their spirits. He was happy to support a program that had direct benefits for the ones he loved.

So, it goes without saying that our March Charity of the Month is Operation Cookie Drop! A great way to support both the Girl Scouts and our troops overseas.

To see photos of cookies being shipped out, visit Girl Scouts of NC Coastal Pines.

Pretty In Pink...

My heart nearly broke when my friends voice quavered and her eyes filled with tears: "I have to have surgery next week... a mastectomy. They found 3 pea-sized lumps at my last mammogram. It was very sudden, but they can get me in right away."

I hardly had time to process the news. She'd mentioned some strange tests coming back from her doctor but who could have imagined such shocking results. Strangely enough, only a few weeks earlier, a neighbor of ours had her second mastectomy. Then, my twitter friend announced that she was participating in a 39 Mile Walk for breast cancer (yes, 39 miles!) She posted a touching story of several friends of hers who are also battling the terrible disease.

With the subject of breast cancer swirling around our home, we decided we wanted to make our February gift to a local cancer organization, but we didn't know too much about which ones served this area. To my delightful surprise, my local networking group, the Tweet Divas, announced that our New Year's gathering would support a vital breast cancer organization serving North Carolina: The Pretty In Pink Foundation.

A vibrant and articulate Pretty In Pink Foundation representative, Bernadette, attended our luncheon and talked about their work. The agency provides funding to women who are not able to pay their medical bills when diagnosed with breast cancer. The website told of one woman who was freshly divorced and was no longer on her husbands insurance policy. Some women have insurance but not enough to cover all the additional expenses, including the recovery time that can often last for months.

Bernadette told the story of many women who discover there is no way they can ever pay the bills (that often skyrocket above $100,000), so they don't tell their families about their condition. The cancer spreads, taking their lives. Hundreds, if not thousands, of women in North Carolina are dying from a disease for which they could have received treatment.

We knew immediately that we had to choose the Pretty in Pink Foundation as our charity of the month for February. In addition, we decided to make the gift in honor of our friend and in honor of all the courageous women who, right now, at this second, are battling this ferocious disease.

Bernadette passed out a bag of pink ribbons in delightful patterns for the TweetDivas. I wear mine with pride.

More:
View the Pretty In Pink Facebook Page
Follow them on Twitter @PrettyInPinkNC

Angels in our Midst

When my daughter was born, I strived to do everything right. It was my mission to be the best mother possible to this precious, new little life. From regular feedings, to scheduled naps, fresh air and playtime, we make sure to give our daughter the best start possible.

It saddens me to think there are mothers in this world that can't give their children the best that life has to offer: living in huts with dirt floors, no fresh water for miles... no protien rich foods, no vegetables, no clean bottles or diapers. I'm sure some of them would be shocked by our sanitation rituals for every little thing that comes into arms reach of our babies.

I didn't start thinking of any of this until we learned about an organization called Vitamin Angels. This agency provides critcal vitamins to babies and young children to help reduce mortality rates, improve young immune systems and boost healthy development.

Amazingly, 25 cents will provide two doses of vitamin A and antiparasitics - enough needed for one year... enough needed to reduce the morality rate in children under five by 23%. As little as 25 cents can make a huge difference in the life of a child!

In 2010 alone, Vitamin Angels has reached over 24 million children! Their website shows the amazing breakdown in countries worldwide: 30,000 in Afghanistan, 45,000 in Ghana, 940,000 in India, and 1.4 million in Haiti, to name just a few. Imagine the millions of mothers that have been saved the tragic sorrow of losing a child to disease and infection because of this inspiring organization.

Their programs are incredible: Operation 20/20 is a worldwide vitamin A campaign and Thrive to Five "gives children under five the vital first step to excel physically and cognitively, rather than simply survive their key developmental years."

As such, we are proud to choose Vitamin Angels as our January Charity of the Month. What a wonderful way to kick off the New Year!

May & June Charities - For the Birds...

Several weeks ago, we went on a camping trip with some friends to Falls Lake State Recreation Park. The shaded spot we chose was right on the water, surrounded by tall pines and maples with birds chirping and fish splashing in the lake. The park offered a free migratory bird program and we had the chance to wander along the beach and through the forests spotting ospreys, eagles, hawks, songbirds and gulls. It was fascinating to learn about their migration patterns and seasonal activities.

So, having just been so absorbed in the lives of birds and blissfully entrenched in natural environs, it's been more than disturbing for us to hear about the terrible conditions of wildlife habitats in the Gulf due to the BP Oil Spill. Recently, we caught a story on NPR about the plight of the brown pelicans on the nesting islands near Grand Isle Louisiana. One biologist, who has been helping to catch the birds so that they can be cleaned and released off the coast of Florida, was choking back tears while she was interviewed; which made me choke back tears of course. A few simple Google searches will bring up photos that will break your heart.

As we've been researching the oil spill online, it's heartwarming to see all the public response to helping the wildlife in the Gulf: kids holding lemonade stands fundraisers and teens organizing garage sales. I was especially intrigued by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Wildlife Triage Center through which hundreds of birds have been processed.

Of course, there are lots of invaluable charities that are helping these habitats and all of them are worthy organizations doing great work. We decided that we not only wanted to help birds, but also help the other natural resources in the gulf. So, for the months of May & June, we have selected The Audubon Society and The Envronmental Defense Fund.

The Audubon Society responded to the oil spill almost immediately, sending volunteers from the Louisiana Coastal Restoration and Mississippi River Initiative. They opened a volunteer response center in Mississippi for the rescue of birds and are working on long-term recovery efforts. Thousands of volunteers are still in the trenches, making nets and cages to help.

The Environmental Defense Fund is not only helping on the ground with recovery efforts, but they are also restoring the coast, establishing clean-energy regulations, and establishing scientific research to track the ongoing impact of oil on the environment. We appreciate and applaud this multi-faceted approach to the disaster.

Learn more about these two tremendous organizations! You can follow the Environmental Defense Fund on Twitter @EnvDefenseFund and the Audubon Society @audubonsociety.

Additional Resources:
BP Oil Gulf Response Home Page
Deepwater Horizon Response Website

April Charity Selected (finally.)

Life can sometimes get in the way, even when making an important decision like selecting a deserving charitable organization! About a week into May, we realized that we still had not chosen our April charity. But it just so happened that a local networking organization that regularly supports philanthropy held an event. The charity they selected was such an inspiration that we could not resist.

TweetDivas is a group of women in the Triangle Region of North Carolina who use the successful social media service, Twitter. The group meets every month while giving back to the community at the same time. Some of the organzations that have been supported by TweetDivas include Horne United Methodist, a local church that supported efforts in Haiti, the Women's Center of Wake County, helping homeless women with children, and the Kramden Institute, providing computers to students in need.

At the most recent meeting, the TweetDivas chose to support The Helene Foundation. This invaluable organization provides support and comfort to mothers and their families as the women undergo cancer treatment. They assist with purchasing food, provide transportation and offer childcare so that the mother can focus on her treatment and recovery. Of course, family support of this kind is dear to our hearts and we are happy to provide a little additional help to such a mission.

We are proud to have selected The Helene Foundation as our April Charity of the Month!

Also, check out this TweetDivas video to which I contributed on behalf of the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina!

March Charity Selected!

Ignite Raleigh is a series of interesting, unusual and inspiring 5-minute presentations made by local professionals, techies and folks from all walks of life crammed together in one 3 hour event. We attended the most recent gathering that was free but they asked that everyone make a contribution to DonorsChoose.org, an online charity that connects donors to classrooms in need.

When our family sat down to discuss our charitable options for this month, of course, DonorsChoose.org was one of them. We considered health organizations like Operation Smile, humanitarian agencies like the Salvation Army, groups like the SPCA of Wake County and other global poverty organizations like The Hunger Project.

We decided to take a closer look at DonorsChoose and found one high poverty classroom in particular that was looking for science kits. The teacher shared that "We are a rural Title I school in North Carolina. 97% of our students receive free or reduced lunch on a daily basis. Many of them do not have televisions, take vacations or even have a chance to leave this town. I want to bring the world to their fingertips through these experiments and realistic pictures." That bit of information sealed the deal.

Our charity for the month of March is DonorsChoose.org. We've selected Ms. B's Classroom in North Carolina and chose her project "Bringing Science Vocabulary to Life" for the purchase of science kits.

Talk about designating your gift! That is one very specific contribution and we are so happy to help!

February Charity Selected

Several weeks ago, we had a pretty good selection of organizations for our charity project: animal shelters, wildlife protection, childrens agencies, all sorts of noble and worthy entities. We had a fairly good idea of who we were going to support.

That was, until the Haitian Disaster. Hundreds of thousands of people are helping in any way they can - either by funding, clothing and medical collections, or volunteering. It occured to us that millions of dollars are providing food, water, and medicine. But, who is passing out the food, who is driving to remote areas to supply water, who is administering the medicines?

That's why this month, we chose to support International Relief Teams. IRT is "an international relief organization dedicated to organizing volunteer teams to provide medical and non-medical assistance to victims of disaster and profound poverty worldwide." Within days of the earthquake, they sent a team of ER physicians to work at the general hospital, they shipped over 1,200 family tents, they airlifted 100,000 meals of shelf-stable food and sent $160,000 in medicines & medical supplies. They are a 23 year old organization and a 4-star Charity Navigator agency. They also have some inspiring stories and photos on the IRT Facebook Page.

We're very happy to know that our small donation will help such incredible and necessary efforts. Congratulations to International Relief Teams: our February Charity of the Month!

Want to learn more about IRT and their efforts in Haiti? Watch this incredible video of IRT volunteer Colleen Buono of MD providing medical attention to a boy pulled from the rubble of a collapsed home after 4 days - inspiring!

To learn more about making your own donation to IRT, visit the donation page of their website. To learn more about other organizations providing relief in Haiti, view this article on CNN with a list of worthy causes.

January Charities Selected!

In December of 2009, we received lots of charitable solicitations by mail. This was great because we pulled them all out and fanned them on the floor. We discussed supporting valuable national organizations like the Cleft Palate Foundation or Smile Train, the Salvation Army, the Hemophilia Foundation and our favorite local organizations like the SPCA or Carolina Tiger Rescue. We also discussed international organizations like Heifer International, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria and buildOn.

We ended up deciding to focus on national wildlife and conservation this month. There were two charities that we loved and couldn't pick just one - so we selected two!

The first is the National Parks Conservation Association. We love visiting national parks. In North Carolina, we've been to some breathtaking ones: The Blue Ridge Parkway, Cape Hatteras National Seasore, and the Wright Brothers National Memorial. When we moved cross-country, we were lucky to have the chance to visit the Grand Canyon National Park and Arches National Park. The National Parks Conservation Association works to protect the wildlife in national parks as well as focusing on clean air initiatives, protection from commercial development and park safety.

The second is the National Wildlife Federation. My daughter is an animal lover, so when we discussed the habitat and safety of bears, wolves and eagles, she was all for it. I loved their Backyard Wildlife and conservation programs, Climate Crisis efforts and outreach methods to kids. Have you seen the NWF Expedition Ecotourism Trips? What a dream!

We felt great about our decisions and mailed the checks this morning!

By the way, you can follow both organizations on Twitter:
The National Parks Conservation Association account is http://twitter.com/npca
The National Wildlife Federation account is http://twitter.com/nwf