Food for Thought

Play an on-line vocabulary game and for each correct answer, the sponsor will donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. It doesn't seem like much, but they have donated over 64 trillion grains of rice! Play the game at http://www.freerice.com/ and improve your vocabulary while feeding the hungry.

Combat illiteracy

Twenty-one million Americans can't read at all, 45 million are marginally illiterate and one-fifth of high school graduates can't read their diplomas,

What can YOU do?

• Be an example. Let children and teenagers see you as a positive example of reading. If families with children visit your home, let the kids browse your book collection and invite them to join in discussions about books. Never lecture or force kids to read. Just let them see your enthusiasm, and they will be more likely to catch the reading bug.

• Get your children library cards and take them to the library

• Start a lending library. Offer to let children borrow the books in your collection. You may want to keep track of your books and give kids a chance to check out your "library catalog" with an online program such as LibraryThing.com. If you live in an apartment complex, consider starting a give-one-take-one laundry room lending library. Just fill a cardboard box with a few books and leave the collection in your common laundry room. Tell your neighbors about the idea and watch as the people in your complex discover and share their favorite books. You can also start a book swap at your church, community group, or child’s school

• Give books as gifts

• Donate books to classroom libraries

Help "Room to Read"

Here's your chance to help bring education to children around the world. Help Room to Read reach their goal of 20,000 libraries by the year 2020! Founded by former Microsoft executive John Wood, Room to Read is dedicated to bringing schools, libraries and other educational opportunities to countries in need. In addition, they provide scholarships, publish local-language children's books and create computer and language labs. With 770 million illiterate adults in the world and 100 million children not enrolled in primary school, Room to Read needs your help! Click here to donate today!   (Every $1 equals 1 book!)

Donate Clothes to Charity:

You know about the Salvation Army, Veterans, and Deseret Industries.

Another you should know about is: Dress for Success (212-532-1922 ), whose numerous affiliates accept clothing donations throughout the U.S. It's a great cause: Their goal is to help needy women in its programs schedule job interviews. Once they do, DFS "personal shoppers" will outfit them in your donated suits (or other business-appropriate duds): and when the women land jobs, they come back for a week's worth of clothing suitable for their new offices. This organization has aided 450,000 women since it started, in 1997.

Sew Many Ways to Serve

12.6 million children have been orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in Africa. This means that 8 out of every 10 children have lost a parent. As the death toll continues to mount at a rapid pace, there is a tremendous need for supplies for babies and small children who have been orphaned by the AIDS outbreak. While we may not be able to put an end to this growing epidemic, we can do something. We know of an organization that supplies quilts to an orphanage in Tanzania. (One of its members has personally checked out this particular orphanage and our quilts will be hand delivered to the children in need at least once a year.)

Quilting is something you can do at your leisure, in your own home, and in a relatively short period of time. If you don't quilt but would like to help, you can donate old, gently used baby blankets and quilts to the cause. We are also collecting fabric, yarn, and batting for those people who will make the quilts if supplied the materials.

You can send your quilts and/or materials to:
The Johnson family
P. O. Box 1505
Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067

The young and innocent victims of this scourge are growing in number every day. Anything you can do to alleviate their suffering is appreciated. This project will continue as long as this post is up. THANK YOU!

Disaster Relief

Unicef and the American Red Cross are always in need of your donations.  You don't have to wait for a disaster. But whenever you hear of one, give what you can.  (It's MONEY that is needed first. It takes too long to get clothing and food to the victims.)

Family First

When you think about serving others, your first priority should be your family and friends... but finding time to visit in between naps, carpools, and work (and/or housework as the case may be) can prove difficult. Nevertheless, there are ways to keep in touch and show your love:

Send them a kiss by going to www.virtualkiss.com/ekiss

Send a free greeting card by going to Kiwee.com , MyFunCards.com , or 123Greetings.com

Send them links to family photos or blogs (by utilizing blogspot, myspace, flickr.com, or babyjellybeans.com, to name a few) This is especially helpful for busy moms because it allows you to update your entire family with one link in a mass e-mail.

Send flowers, a cookie bouquet, or a special drawing or craft from your child to let them know they are in your thoughts.

And, naturally, don't forget the power of a simple phone call or e-mail "just because."