Breast Cancer Awareness Month

In case you've been living in a cave, or haven't seen the plethora of pink items on store shelves, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So? So I'm doing a few things this year to help raise funds for this cause.

I'm walking in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk on the 18th in Detroit. If you're interested in walking with me, click the "Join my team" link to the right. Not near Detroit, or can't walk? I accept any and all donations. Despite what the thermometer indicates, I'm about halfway to my goal of $500. (The thermometer only shows donations made by people who clicked the thermometer.) All of the money donated goes to the American Cancer Society. If you have a spare $5, please consider donating it.

My Etsy shop is helping me raise money, too. Through the end of the month, 100% of the proceeds from sales of breast cancer items will go to the ACS. And profits from the sale of all other items. So get some Christmas shopping done - buy someone some jewelry, a scarf, or a rosary.

The kitchen tools company with which I'm affiliated has pink items available in October, too. Email me (through my profile) for a link to my website. I'm not allowed to post a link to my page with them for shopping - but I do appreciate any and all sales that I get this month. The pink items ARE charity items. $1 from the sale of each will be donated to the ACS.

And? So? The research that's funded by the ACS helps more than just breast cancer patients. Advances in treatment often cross over to other cancers. Early detection programs, including mammography for underprivileged women, increase survival rates and help keep families from losing someone. Your support, even in these uncertain economic times, can help strengthen families and help people for many years to come.

Better get something up here

Uh-oh. I was just linked from The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks, and I figured I'd better post something so I don't look like a total slacker.

I will admit that since adding Quotes and Crummy Church Signs to my regular reading list, Car Guy and I have more fun when we drive around town. Because now we look for bad signs. Even if they don't qualify for submission on either of those 2 blogs, there are a lot of bad signs around town. Sometimes they spark a riff of quotes from The Simpsons, sometimes just a "WTF?!?" Have you seen something funny around town? Send me a pic and maybe I'll post it here.

The big news around town today is the hearing to possibly remove the mayor of Detroit from office. Despite my last post being about politics (OK, barely), I actually don't follow politics. But the hearing, which has been on one of the local stations all morning, has been strangely compelling, despite simultaneously being boring as all get-out. Most of the testimony that I caught was from an expert in contract law, discussing documents at the heart of the city council's case against hizzonor. And for once, there was actually as much drama and attempts to trip up the witness as on TV courtroom shows.

OK- on to something else.

I'm walking in a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society in October. I've set a fairly ambitious goal for myself, and appreciate any and all donations. They're tax deductable and will help the American Cancer Society continue their education, awareness, research and service programs. The walk is specifically a breast cancer event, but I believe that any research and awareness programs for breast cancer will raise awareness for other cancers. There's a link in the right sidebar - please give what you can.

Donate

Walk with me

Happy Veterans Day!

NaBloPoMo day 12

OK, I know I'm a day late. Actual Veterans Day was yesterday. But today is the observation - post offices and banks will be closed.

Whatever your feelings about today's military (and if there's one thing this blog is NOT, that's a political forum), make sure you thank a veteran or several for protecting this country. If you don't see any today, go to Let's Say Thanks to send a card to a deployed serviceman or servicewoman overseas. Looking for something a little more significant? Head over to Toys For Troops. They're looking for items for holiday care packages, as well as financial contributions to ship said packages overseas.

Make a Difference

NaBloPoMo Day 7

A friend of mine passed this along to me yesterday. Please pass it to your friends - it's an easy way to make a difference.

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When you click this link, you'll feed a hungry person for a whole day! It's free. All it takes is a click.

A generous group of supporters has agreed to make a donation for every click we receive, up to $11,000, to rescue food and help hungry families. This is an amazing opportunity for you to quickly and easily keep food from going to waste and get it to those who need it most.

You might not believe it, but the average household in America wastes about 850 pounds of food every year! That adds up to 600 meals!

If we could rescue just 1/5 of that food, we could serve about 15 billion meals to families facing hunger. 15 BILLION MEALS! That is not a typo! 15 billion meals that are right now simply being thrown away.

But the solution is absolutely within our control. All you have to do is click here, then tell everyone you know so they can click too.

Remember, each click feeds a man, woman or child for an entire day.

TELL EVERYONE! We can make a difference!

America's Second Harvest - Feeding Hungry Families

Did you just finish dinner? You're lucky.

I was going to post something silly today, but then something that someone said at my cooking show last night struck a chord with me. We'll get back to silly tomorrow.

One of the great fringe benefits to being a consultant with "Spoiled Cook" (rhymes with "Hampered Jeff") is the opportunity we have as consultants to make a difference in the world. Not just by getting families together over mealtime, or helping other people become consultants so they can realize their dreams. But helping people who really need the help, through the charitable programs coordinated through our Home Office.

Following my usual show routine, I mentioned the current program last night. There are 2 parts: a special product, from which $2 is directed to the main offices of America's Second Harvest to be distributed as they see fit, and an opportunity to round order totals up to the next dollar (or more), with that extra money going to the local Second Harvest food bank. Here in the Detroit area, that's Gleaners, a large organization that helps thousands of metro Detroiters each day. Unfortunately for Gleaners, the poor economy in Michigan is hitting them with a double whammy: fewer people making monetary donations and more people in need of their services. A guest last night mentioned that there was a newspaper article recently about their plight. (Note: I haven't had a chance to look for it, but I will! And I'll post it here.)

As you've no doubt noticed, winter is coming. In northern climes, that increases the drain on food programs as people on fixed incomes are forced to choose whether to spend their money on heat or on food. You can make a difference, though. Make a donation to your local food bank. They're always in need of high-protein foods and other items that are considered "powerhouses:" peanut butter, canned tuna, canned chicken, stew, etc. But you can make a bigger difference. How? Rather than donate food, write a check for the amount you were planning to spend on food and send it straight to the food bank. They buy in bulk and can leverage discounts to get more food for the same money.

For more information, visit Gleaners online.