My Expressions of Kindness

This one may surprise you a bit,...

but, stay with me.

And just smile really big!

Botox Cosmetic has started the

My Expressions of Kindness Campaign

to shine the light on all of the small, everyday acts of kindness.

Great idea.

They are trying to start a conversation about all of the good that is happening in the world and use it to help raise money for charity.

They want to empower your kindness and then pay it forward.

By promoting kindness done both by you and for you, Botox Cosmetic will donate 

$25 to your choice of three charities. 

They hope to donate up to $250,000.

The three charities are:

Make it Right 9

This is an organization (founded by Brad Pitt - Oh you heard that didn't you???) dedicated to rebuilding the lower 9th ward in New Orleans and to be a catalyst to build energy-efficient, green homes all across the country.

Go here or here to read more about them.

Dress for Success

This is an international NPO committed to helping disadvataged women take charge of their own lives.

They provide professional attire and a network of support and career development tools to help women thrive.

Go here or here to read more about them.

Children's Action Network

This organization uses the power of the entertainment community to increase awareness about children's issues and make them a top everyday priority. They are currently focused on helping to find more homes for children waiting for adoption and to improve the outcome of those in foster care.

Read more about them here or here.

Here's how it works:

1). Go here and create your profile.

2). At the end of your profile, choose your charity from the three mentioned above.

Done. $25 to a good cause.

Easy.

There is a question about receiving Botox, but it is NOT NECESSARY to have received or be interested in receiving Botox to participate.

You can then share your profile on Facebook or Twitter

and receive an additional $5 to your donation.

You can also Tweet about it for an additional $1.

Go here to read more about the campaign.

Hometown Heroes Contest

The Hometown Heroes Contest

sponsored by the Hyundai Sonata

This Old House is looking for people who go above and beyond their own "honey-do" lists to make their neighborhoods and communities better places to live.

If you, or someone you know is such a person, they want to hear about it.

Nominate yourself or someone you admire for...

a chance to be featured in an upcoming issue of

This Old House (love that magazine!)

AND

a $2500 donation to the charity of your choice.

Five runners-up will also receive $500 for their designated charities.

Hurry and go here for the nomination form

because this ends July 18th.

This is a double whammy!

First you have a chance to highlight someone already doing some good.

Second, you get to earn money for a good cause.

Doesn't get better than that.

A Good Hair Day

As seen on Do One Nice Thing

A nonprofit group called Matter of Trust is doing some amazing things to help with the Gulf Coast oil clean-up.

Volunteers are collecting human and animal hair and making it into handmade "booms." These are sausage-like barriers that are remarkably effective oil-absorbers.

So far, beauty salons, barber shops and animal groomers have donated tons of hair. Also needed are items that many of us have at home, such as used pantyhose ("sausage casing" for the booms), and zip ties for sandbags.

Here's how you can help:


They need volunteers in Tampa, Florida to help make the booms.
You can find the information here at Matter of Trust.


OR


They also need used nylons, or tights, and zip ties for sandbags.
They are also in need of funds.
You can donate here.

 Find out all the ways there are to help by visiting Matter of Trust online.

all images via Matter of Trust

Welcome Back!

I hope you had a tremendous weekend.

I love long weekends.

Pringles has a new way that you can help give back with their

"U Taste. We Donate" Campaign.

Until July 31st, every time you buy Pringles Multi-grain, 

you can help give Share Our Strength $1.

It's easy.

 Here's how it works.

Buy a  can of Pringles Multi-grain chips.

Find the 12-digit UPC code.

Go here.

Enter in the code.

Done.

A $1 donation will be made to Share Our Strength, 
with a maximum donation of $100,000 and a minimum donation of $75,000.

Go here to learn more about Share Our Strength and help end childhood hunger.


Now wasn't that easy?

Happy 4th of July!!!

I hope you all have great plans!

I for one am so grateful to be celebrating independence. 

Freedom.

I'm so grateful for those who make my freedom possible and continue to protect it.

Thank you!

Here are a few ideas of things to do this weekend in honor of Independence Day.

As seen on Do One Nice Thing:

Postcards for Wounded Service Members

Waiting for a flight, or relaxing on a trip? Send a postcard to a wounded service member in the hospital. Children can write messages of thanks or even just draw a heart and picture on picture postcards, too.

Hundreds of ill or wounded service members arrive from Iraq and Afghanistan each month at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. When they arrive they are handed a “welcome backpack” with hygiene products, an international calling card, a sweatshirt and a blanket. With your help, they can also receive a card with a sweet message from your nice family.

Mail to:

MTD
Attn: Soldiers' Angels
CMR 402
APO AE 09180

(It costs the same as mailing inside or to the U.S.)

OR

Participate in "Let's Say Thanks"

In case you missed this info in the Memorial Day post-- here it is again.

*You can go here and send an e-card very quickly that will be sent to our troops.

 "Let's Say Thanks" is a free service provided by XEROX. It is quick and simple. 

First you scroll through the designs (I believe all of the designs were created/drawn by children.) 

Then you personalize it with a message, your name, and hometown. 

Then you hit "send." 

Really simple. Really good.

OR

*You can contribute to USO Operation Phone Home. 

USO Operation Phone Home delivers prepaid international phone cards to deployed service members free of charge. 

100 percent of the money raised for the USO Operation Phone Home program goes to the purchase of phone cards.

I imagine a call home is just what some of these soldiers need.

There are a few ways to donate:

Online choose the "donate to a specific program" option.

By Phone: 1-800-876-7469

By Mail:

(with O.P.H. written in the memo)
USO Headquarters
PO Box 96860
Washington, DC 20090-6860

OR...

*You can join Soldiers' Angels, The Chrylser Group LLC, and Zac Brown Band and participate in their Letters for Lyrics campaign. (Come on people, I'm droppin' names here -- real names, famous names! This is good stuff!)

Basically, here's how it works:

Their goal is to deliver 1,000,000 (that's one million -- in case you aren't used to seeing that many zeros), letters to servicemen and women around the world.

Go to any Dodge or Ram Truck dealer and write a card/letter.

In exchange you will receive a FREE CD (once again, I repeat, FREE CD) with three new songs from the Zac Brown Band and others from various artists also with the Southern Ground Label.

 {After hearing this I'm sure the hubs is thinking "You had me at CD. You had me at CD!"}

If you're interested in reading a little bit more about this, you can go to Chrysler's blog, here, or to Soldiers' Angels, or to Zac Brown Band's site.

This is a great campaign and you get something FREE from someone famous!

{By the way, I forgot to mention, there is also a brand new video you can watch for free.}

This campaign began May 10th and they are at 144,999 letters. They still need A LOT more to reach their goal.

There is also a free live track from Zac Brown Band available for download here. For every download they will make a donation to Soldier's Angels.

Actually, it's really great because it is an excellent way to spread some good to some of those that sacrifice the most for our freedom!

Show your gratitude for your freedom and give back to those who give so much.

Have a great weekend!

Conner and Cystic Fibrosis

I don't even know how to write this one so I guess I will just begin...

I want to introduce you to Conner and his Mom Sarah.

Conner lost his battle with Cystic Fibrosis a few days ago. 

He passed away on June 24th.

He was 7 years old. 

He also had a rare disease called Prune Belly Syndrome.

He is the only person to have ever been diagnosed with those two diseases together.

Here is a bit of info regarding Cystic Fibrosis from his Mom's blog:

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States (70,000 worldwide). A defective gene and its protein product cause the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that:

• clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections; and
• obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food.

He had smaller than average lungs due to the Prune Belly Syndrome and also lacked any abdominal muscles.

You can see how this would complicate a disease like Cystic Fibrosis.

Sarah has a blog that she has used to document her struggle and determination to save her son and to help bring CF awareness to the forefront. 

You can go here to read her entire story and learn more about her and her amazing son.

It is powerful.

It is moving.

I could never do it justice or recapture it.

I wanted to share this story with you for two reasons.

They have suffered personally at the hand of Cystic Fibrosis.

Thousands more suffer every year at the hand of Cystic Fibrosis.

Here are some statistics from Sarah.

CF deaths average:

484 per year

40 per month

9 per week

1 per day

Their story brings to life the reality so many people are living with.

You can go here to learn even more about Cystic Fibrosis.

Here are a few ways you can help.

The funeral service for Conner was held yesterday, but a few people that are friends with Sarah have organized a 

"wear a red-shirt day" 

to show her and her family love and support.

So, today, wear a red shirt.

Take a picture of yourself in it and send it to me. 

I'm going to send them on to her friend that is organizing a large group of photos as a surprise. 

Thousands have already been invited to participate.

We hope she feels loved and buoyed up during this difficult time.

A fund was started by another CF mom to help cover the cost of the funeral expenses.

You can go here to donate.

If you would like to further help fight CF consider going here...

to donate towards

 "Great Strides" -- a fundraising walk for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to help find a cure.
This particular page was setup by Jessica -- a blogging friend of Sarah's, who also has a personal connection to CF.

Interested in personally participating in Great Strides?
Go here for all of the information.

Or go here to donate directly to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Sometimes we are able to sit in our own homes, in our own lives, living the day to day reality that is ours and we sometimes forget about the individual who is suffering. We forget about the personal pain -- the one.

But, for someone else,

somewhere...



it is personal.


We need only to find a cause, and then move our feet.

Charity Camp

Summer is here.

Camps are in full swing.

They actually provide a way to do a lot of good.

If you are local consider this one.

Travis Hansen Charity Basketball Camp

It will be July 7th -July 9th.
at the Flash Factory in Lehi.

The Little Heroes Foundation has partnered with 
Nature's Sunshine to make this camp possible.


Travis Hansen, a former BYU All-Star will direct the camp along with several other volunteer coaches.
Children learn basketball fundamentals, teamwork, and leadership, but....

more importantly....


they learn about doing good


and being good


and giving back.


Part of the time at camp will be spent participating in a service project that will benefit children in need throughout the world.
A few of the causes they support include Russian orphans, Malaria in Africa, and children with cancer.
So cool.

Go here to register for the camp.
Hurry! It's next week!



The Little Heroes Foundation wants to make the world a better place.

From their site:
Our mission is to create a better world by inspiring the hero within. We believe that each individual born on Earth has the capacity to make a positive difference in the world around them.
To learn more about the Little Heroes Foundation go here.
To donate directly to the foundation go here


Not local? Basketball not your thing?
Need another idea?
Consider sponsoring a child in your area to attend a camp.
Maybe they have a talent they want to develop, but come from difficult circumstances.
Maybe they need a good distraction from life.


Remember the post about Camp Kesem?
A special camp for children whose parents suffer from cancer.
Real more about it here.


Look around in your area -- there are so many good summer camps to choose from.
There are so many kids in need of something good.