I haven't ordered anything from Avon in years. No particular reason, just haven't checked out a catalog in a long time. Recently while I have having my hair done I was flipping through an Avon catalog at the salon and noticed that in addition to the company's support of breast cancer research, they also have another charity as part of the Avon Foundation. The actress Reese Witherspoon is their Global Ambassador for these campaigns. I am going to use her words here to describe the jewelry item and what Avon is doing with the profits from its sale:
"I am proud to introduce the Avon Empowerment Necklace. Thanks to you, 2008 sales of the empowerment Bracelet raised over $1 million for the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and generated more than $2.5 million in additional funds for local programs in the US and globally to help victims and their families. Purchase the necklace now and let's help stop the violence - - together."
For more information you can visit avonfoundation.org.
The necklace costs $5 and 100% of the profits from its sales go to the fund. I don't work for Avon and I am not related to anyone who does. I just wanted to point out something good when I saw it. I respect the fact that a large company is taking violence against women seriously, and bringing much needed attention and funding to helping to stop it.
I know times are tough and we all have to think about how we are spending our money, even a spare $5. I love the idea that I can buy this necklace and not only will my purchase price go toward something I support, but I can use the necklace itself as a tool to bring attention and advocacy to an important cause.
Showing posts with label Charity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charity. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
An Act of Kindness
I hadn't written about about this, because it is personal, but also because I know my friend will be embarrassed, not because of something bad, but something GOOD she did. I decided to change her name to protect her privacy. The story is real.
My mother and I moved into our house in the beginning of October this year. Before moving here we were living in an apartment building, where we were very unhappy, and had a lot of trouble with the lack of maintenance, brown water, and loud and mean neighbors. We found an ad for our current house and had come to look at it. The landlord had explained on the phone that the reason the house was available for rent was that the elderly couple who had been living here had been killed in an auto accident a few months prior. The night we came to see the house, one of the daughter's of the previous tenants was here cleaning up. I'll call her Nancy. Well, as you can imagine, Nancy was upset. She had lost both her parents suddenly only a short time ago. Her son was with her as well. He is a wonderful 8 year old boy I'll call John. Instead of looking at the house, I spent most of my time here that night talking to Nancy about her parents. She told me how happy they had been here, how good the landlord had been to them and how she and John lived nearby and used to ride their bikes over almost every day in the good weather to visit her parents. I hugged her as she cried and told her that she and John would always be welcome here. I think that made her feel a little better, she wouldn't have to give up the last touchstone to her parents she had. We exchanged phone numbers and promised to keep in touch.
My mother and I did take the house and just before we moved in, I got a call from Nancy. She wanted to know how we were doing. My mother had just been in the hospital, I was stressed from trying to pull together the move in less than 2 weeks and we were ready to be out of that awful apartment. Nancy promised to be in touch after we got settled in.
The day of our move, Nancy showed up at our door with a basket filled with goodies. There was a loaf of Irish Soda Bread (my favorite!), a box of chocolates, a map of the town, a local newspaper and several other helpful things. She and John delivered it to our door, along with a card welcoming us to our new home. What a change from where we had been living! I was so touched, not only at her thoughtfulness, but I knew all she was going through in her grieving and felt it was especially kind that she reached out to us in her own time of grief and pain. I was also grateful to have a new friend so soon after moving in.
We spoke on the phone several times, but it took us almost a month to get together. Both of us had busy schedules. We met one morning for tea and scones. We started chatting like old friends and found we had much in common. Unfortunately one of the things we share in common is endometriosis. While I was sad to know that Nancy had suffered and struggled to have John, I was glad to meet someone who "gets" what having a chronic illness is like. She is a nurse and works in a local hospital. What a blessing for the patients she deals with, she is kind and compassionate, having firsthand experience with pain, illness and loss.
During our talk I mentioned that mom and I didn't have a Christmas tree. We had an artificial one when we lived in North Carolina, but when we ended up in an apartment in New York, with nowhere to store it, we hadn't moved it up. Money was too tight this year to even think of buying a tree, real or artificial, so we had decided we would be without one this year. I knew it was the right choice, but it did make me a little sad, I mean I love having a tree. Immediately Nancy offered us a tree. They have a small artificial tree that they had used in the past down in their basement as an extra tree. Last year her parents had used it in this house. She wouldn't be having Christmas at her house this year (they are going to her sisters) so she wouldn't be putting the little tree up anyway. Would we like to borrow the tree? I was so touched. It was like an answer to a prayer. She brought the tree by just after Thanksgiving and it sits decorated and lit up in my living room as I type this. It is perfect for this house, only about 4 1/2 ft. high, we have it up on a box. Not only did it make us happy, but I know it made Nancy feel better about the holiday too. Just the week before we had gotten together she and her husband were going through things in their basement and had come across the tree. He had asked if they would be putting it up this year and she had said no, and had thought sadly about her parents. Now her tree stands once again in the same house as last year, albeit under very different circumstances, and blesses another family with the love and kindness that Nancy learned from her parents. I can tell her parents were happy here, you can feel it in the house. I know that may sound hokey to some, and I never thought I would say a thing like that, but this house has a happy vibe, something our apartment certainly didn't.
I feel blessed to have met Nancy, and although I wish the circumstances had been different, I know her parents are looking down from heaven and watching this friendship grow - helping both of us in different ways!
Again I am reminded how blessed I am. Blessed to have this friend, blessed to live in this house and still have my mother with me, blessed in the health I DO have. It's a small thing to have a tree, but it has big meaning to me, and Nancy could see that and she responded in love and generousity when she could have hid in grief. I hope I am as good a friend to her as she has been to me.
I've written a lot of posts lately on the little things we can each do to help someone else. This is another example of something that didn't cost any money, but couldn't have been more priceless. When we take the time to listen to people, we often find what they need most isn't even a "thing", usually it is someone to care about them. Maybe you have an elderly neighbor that would welcome a visit from time to time, or who needs a ride to church or the store once in a while. Maybe you have a working mom who could use a few hours of childcare to get some shopping or gift wrapping done.
In the past week I have done several small acts of kindness that didn't cost me anything. We had our first snowfall last weekend. When I went out to clear off my car, I cleared off the car of my upstairs neighbor as well. This way when she came down, she could just get in and go. It only took me about 5 extra minutes and it made her day easier. Yesterday my mother had a doctors appointment. When we arrived at the office, there were 2 ladies that my mother has met through the local senior center. They were finished with an appointment and were asking the receptionist to call them a cab. I offered to drive them home instead. My mother was going to be back in the doctors office for awhile, and instead of sitting in the waiting room, I took them home and came back for my mother. It took me about 15 minutes in total and saved them at least $10. Surely we can all do small things like this for others.
I want to close by saying that each night as I look at our tree, I say a little prayer for Nancy and her family, for their friendship and kindness to us. And I am trying to honor it by passing it on.
My mother and I moved into our house in the beginning of October this year. Before moving here we were living in an apartment building, where we were very unhappy, and had a lot of trouble with the lack of maintenance, brown water, and loud and mean neighbors. We found an ad for our current house and had come to look at it. The landlord had explained on the phone that the reason the house was available for rent was that the elderly couple who had been living here had been killed in an auto accident a few months prior. The night we came to see the house, one of the daughter's of the previous tenants was here cleaning up. I'll call her Nancy. Well, as you can imagine, Nancy was upset. She had lost both her parents suddenly only a short time ago. Her son was with her as well. He is a wonderful 8 year old boy I'll call John. Instead of looking at the house, I spent most of my time here that night talking to Nancy about her parents. She told me how happy they had been here, how good the landlord had been to them and how she and John lived nearby and used to ride their bikes over almost every day in the good weather to visit her parents. I hugged her as she cried and told her that she and John would always be welcome here. I think that made her feel a little better, she wouldn't have to give up the last touchstone to her parents she had. We exchanged phone numbers and promised to keep in touch.
My mother and I did take the house and just before we moved in, I got a call from Nancy. She wanted to know how we were doing. My mother had just been in the hospital, I was stressed from trying to pull together the move in less than 2 weeks and we were ready to be out of that awful apartment. Nancy promised to be in touch after we got settled in.
The day of our move, Nancy showed up at our door with a basket filled with goodies. There was a loaf of Irish Soda Bread (my favorite!), a box of chocolates, a map of the town, a local newspaper and several other helpful things. She and John delivered it to our door, along with a card welcoming us to our new home. What a change from where we had been living! I was so touched, not only at her thoughtfulness, but I knew all she was going through in her grieving and felt it was especially kind that she reached out to us in her own time of grief and pain. I was also grateful to have a new friend so soon after moving in.
We spoke on the phone several times, but it took us almost a month to get together. Both of us had busy schedules. We met one morning for tea and scones. We started chatting like old friends and found we had much in common. Unfortunately one of the things we share in common is endometriosis. While I was sad to know that Nancy had suffered and struggled to have John, I was glad to meet someone who "gets" what having a chronic illness is like. She is a nurse and works in a local hospital. What a blessing for the patients she deals with, she is kind and compassionate, having firsthand experience with pain, illness and loss.
During our talk I mentioned that mom and I didn't have a Christmas tree. We had an artificial one when we lived in North Carolina, but when we ended up in an apartment in New York, with nowhere to store it, we hadn't moved it up. Money was too tight this year to even think of buying a tree, real or artificial, so we had decided we would be without one this year. I knew it was the right choice, but it did make me a little sad, I mean I love having a tree. Immediately Nancy offered us a tree. They have a small artificial tree that they had used in the past down in their basement as an extra tree. Last year her parents had used it in this house. She wouldn't be having Christmas at her house this year (they are going to her sisters) so she wouldn't be putting the little tree up anyway. Would we like to borrow the tree? I was so touched. It was like an answer to a prayer. She brought the tree by just after Thanksgiving and it sits decorated and lit up in my living room as I type this. It is perfect for this house, only about 4 1/2 ft. high, we have it up on a box. Not only did it make us happy, but I know it made Nancy feel better about the holiday too. Just the week before we had gotten together she and her husband were going through things in their basement and had come across the tree. He had asked if they would be putting it up this year and she had said no, and had thought sadly about her parents. Now her tree stands once again in the same house as last year, albeit under very different circumstances, and blesses another family with the love and kindness that Nancy learned from her parents. I can tell her parents were happy here, you can feel it in the house. I know that may sound hokey to some, and I never thought I would say a thing like that, but this house has a happy vibe, something our apartment certainly didn't.
I feel blessed to have met Nancy, and although I wish the circumstances had been different, I know her parents are looking down from heaven and watching this friendship grow - helping both of us in different ways!
Again I am reminded how blessed I am. Blessed to have this friend, blessed to live in this house and still have my mother with me, blessed in the health I DO have. It's a small thing to have a tree, but it has big meaning to me, and Nancy could see that and she responded in love and generousity when she could have hid in grief. I hope I am as good a friend to her as she has been to me.
I've written a lot of posts lately on the little things we can each do to help someone else. This is another example of something that didn't cost any money, but couldn't have been more priceless. When we take the time to listen to people, we often find what they need most isn't even a "thing", usually it is someone to care about them. Maybe you have an elderly neighbor that would welcome a visit from time to time, or who needs a ride to church or the store once in a while. Maybe you have a working mom who could use a few hours of childcare to get some shopping or gift wrapping done.
In the past week I have done several small acts of kindness that didn't cost me anything. We had our first snowfall last weekend. When I went out to clear off my car, I cleared off the car of my upstairs neighbor as well. This way when she came down, she could just get in and go. It only took me about 5 extra minutes and it made her day easier. Yesterday my mother had a doctors appointment. When we arrived at the office, there were 2 ladies that my mother has met through the local senior center. They were finished with an appointment and were asking the receptionist to call them a cab. I offered to drive them home instead. My mother was going to be back in the doctors office for awhile, and instead of sitting in the waiting room, I took them home and came back for my mother. It took me about 15 minutes in total and saved them at least $10. Surely we can all do small things like this for others.
I want to close by saying that each night as I look at our tree, I say a little prayer for Nancy and her family, for their friendship and kindness to us. And I am trying to honor it by passing it on.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Pictures Of The Seasons Fun
I recently wrote about attending our local tree lighting, complete with horse drawn carriage rides and a visit from Santa, as well as a trip to Westbury House for a tour and concert. The above picture shows one of the beautiful trees at Westbury House, with the mantel decorated for the season.
This is a photo of santa, my mom and I at Westbury house. I have to tell you, I think this is the real Santa, he takes you on a tour of each room and has stories about his elves and which room they sleep in, where they make the toys, etc. . . He is as entertaining for the adults as he is good with the kids.
This is an "after" shot of the tree with Santa and all the local dignitaries. They really did a nice job of putting this event together. After you finished the carriage ride you got a goodie bag filled with stuff from all the local merchants. There was also hot cocoa and cookies to warm you up, and the local tv station had us all taping holiday greetings to air the week of Christmas!
This was a "before" shot of the tree. It was pretty even before it was lit. Not a huge tree, and not overly decorated, it makes a nice statement.
Last but certainly not least, the horse drawn carriage that took us through the neighborhood to look at the lights. The carriage was pretty comfortable and we had enough people on each trip to snuggle up and keep warm. The horses were so beautiful. We donated a toy for a tot to take the carriage ride, which made us feel good and hopefully helped some local kids have a better holiday! Only a few hours after this it snowed for the first time this year. The only thing that could have made it better was if it had snowed during our ride!
Saturday, December 6, 2008
The Meaning of The Season
I wrote a post about not letting people take away the true meaning of Christmas, and tonight, on Yahoo news I came across this story about secret santas. This was EXACTLY the kind of thing I was referring to when I said we could all give of ourselves this holiday season. We might not have $100 bills to hand out, but as the article points out we can give a kind word, make a small gesture and simply pass on some hope to someone who needs it. I felt better about our world when reading this article and I hope it will inspire others to do what they can for others, not only at Christmas, but throughout the year. I can't tell you how many times in my own life someone has done something for me that helped me see God's love, right at the moment I needed it. I try to return the favor whenever I can. One by one, we have the power to make this a better world. We can't solve all the problems, but we can learn to look at one another as friends, neighbors and brothers, and once we do that, we cannot look away from the problems. It's the first step. . .
Holiday Fun!
This evening we went to a local tree lighting ceremony. Since this is our first holiday season living in this town, we hadn't been to this event here before. It was really nicely done. The local shops got together with town hall and put the event on. There were Christmas carols playing, a horse drawn carriage ride through one of the upscale neighborhoods to see the decorated houses, Santa came on the fire engine and then got on the carriage ride with the kids. After you finished the horse drawn carriage, you were given a gift bag from the local merchants, which actually contained some nice things, not just junk and coupons. Then there was hot cocoa and cookies while you waited for the tree to be lit. We took our neighbor and met up with some friends. One of the girls had her son, who is 8 years old with us, and it was so much fun to watch it all through his eyes! The local cable station was there and had us all tape holiday greetings that will air the week of Christmas. They collected a toy or canned food as your "fee" to ride the carriage, so all those go to benefit the poor and needy in the area. We brought board games (Chutes and Ladders and Candyland) for the kiddies!
This is another reason I really enjoy living here, they have fun events like this all the time, they are free, and everyone in the area participates, so you get to meet new people while doing something different. The only thing that could have made it more perfect was if it had snowed a little, but it still had a nice postcard quality to it. I will post some pictures from it tomorrow.
This is another reason I really enjoy living here, they have fun events like this all the time, they are free, and everyone in the area participates, so you get to meet new people while doing something different. The only thing that could have made it more perfect was if it had snowed a little, but it still had a nice postcard quality to it. I will post some pictures from it tomorrow.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Trying to Get The Feeling Again!
I'm sitting here, thinking about all that has happened this weekend - the terrorist attacks in India, the trampling death of a man about 15 mins. away from my house at a K-Mart as he tried to open the doors for "black Friday shoppers", and I am wondering if I can find the Christmas spirit. What's going on with people? We've stopped seeing other human beings, as people, others have become things that stand in our way, our way of getting a good buy, our way of saying how everyone else should live or believe. . .
I pray for all the souls who were murdered in India, for those injured and for the friends and families of all the victims. I even pray for the terrorists, which I know some of you will hate, but you see we are all made in God's image, so it HIS place to pass judgment, not mine. Of course I hate their actions, and I won't even try to defend them, but I don't get to know what happens, only God does.
I'm reminded of how things felt here after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. How scared we all were, how for a brief time we all pulled together as one. I had hoped it would last longer than it did, I hope it will for India.
Christmas is coming, the day, that if you are a Christian changes everything. I can't and I won't let that be taken from me. There is too much good in the world to let the bad and evil win. I hope that we will all remember as we head into these holidays that they aren't about gifts, parties and food, not that you can't celebrate with those things - but you shouldn't allow those things to start to mean more than what Christmas does.
In these desperate economic times, look into your heart and see what you are capable of this season. Can you afford to help a charity out, whether it is financially or with your time? Can you afford not to? None of us makes it on our own, we all have help and support from someone. We have the chance to be that someone, that is a gift and a blessing. Share yourself this holiday season, you won't regret it. You'll never give without receiving!
I pray for all the souls who were murdered in India, for those injured and for the friends and families of all the victims. I even pray for the terrorists, which I know some of you will hate, but you see we are all made in God's image, so it HIS place to pass judgment, not mine. Of course I hate their actions, and I won't even try to defend them, but I don't get to know what happens, only God does.
I'm reminded of how things felt here after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. How scared we all were, how for a brief time we all pulled together as one. I had hoped it would last longer than it did, I hope it will for India.
Christmas is coming, the day, that if you are a Christian changes everything. I can't and I won't let that be taken from me. There is too much good in the world to let the bad and evil win. I hope that we will all remember as we head into these holidays that they aren't about gifts, parties and food, not that you can't celebrate with those things - but you shouldn't allow those things to start to mean more than what Christmas does.
In these desperate economic times, look into your heart and see what you are capable of this season. Can you afford to help a charity out, whether it is financially or with your time? Can you afford not to? None of us makes it on our own, we all have help and support from someone. We have the chance to be that someone, that is a gift and a blessing. Share yourself this holiday season, you won't regret it. You'll never give without receiving!
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