Day 157 - Community Giving Day

It was the day of the Kansas City Royals home opener and it was also the 24th annual

Kansas City Community Giving Day $.

To honor both of these notable events, I did what George Brett and Adam Bold, honorary co-chairs of the day did - I made a contribution to the Kansas City Rotary Youth Camp Foundation.  The families of the Rotary Youth camp kids can rest assured that, once again, their physically limited children, ages 9 through 16, can swim and do arts and crafts and other camp activities this summer. The camp was named for the Rotary Clubs who also help with the $1400/camper fees.

Day 156 - Sugar Free Turtles

My opened package of turtles

Local Kansas City favorite candy maker, Russell Stover, has a huge shop in Fairway, KS that has a sugar free section.  Oxymoron I know, but there's a good reason to go sugarless in this case.  I love turtles as much as the next person and the Russell Stover Pecan Delights are chewy and delicious, as they should be.  Check out the back of the package for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation logo.  This is what it says underneath: JDRF's mission is to find a cure for diabetes.  Since its inception, JDRF has funded more than $1 billion to diabetes-specific research worldwide.  To learn more about JDRF or the Walk to Cure Diabetes visit http://www.jdrf.org/



Back of package





Day 155 - Pound for Pound

Wow.  That was easy.  I pledged to lose 5 lbs and Harvesters earned 11 cents per pound to feed the hungry.  It's part of the Harvesters' Pound for Pound Challenge which has an association with The Biggest Loser Club.  They've all joined forces and have pledged to feed America with the help of 200 food banks across America.  If you pledge to lose that spare tire or muffin top by May 31, 2011, Feeding America will do its job for domestic hunger relief.

Day 154 - Fresh Apple Pie

That's what I call an all American donation.  The fresh apple pie was shared with others, including an elderly woman (my mom) and a pregnant daughter (my own) and their significant others.  HyVee grocery store in Kansas City made it delicious and easy to donate to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. 

 

Day 153 - Fed The Needy

I cooked a turkey roast for a soup kitchen.  It was as simple as this:

1. picked up a frozen turkey roast at Congregation Beth Shalom for their Lechem (food) project
2. thawed it
3. removed plastic casing
4. inserted meat thermometer
5. put it in a Reynolds turkey roasting bag
6. baked it uncovered at 275 for 25-30 minutes per pound
7. removed it from the oven when internal temperature was from 165 to 170 degrees
8. cooled it briefly then removed netting
9. when almost totally cooled, wrapped it in foil
10. froze it
11. returned it to Beth Shalom

Day 152 - Bridging the Gap

For 19 years, the city of Kansas City has funded Bridging the Gap, a movement that connects environment, economy and community.  Besides curbside recycling and Ripple Glass bins in some parts of the Kansas City area, there are 3 large recycling centers and one more proposed one for the midtown area.  I spent a couple of the most interesting hours working as a volunteer at one of the sites. Mark, the master environmentalist there educated me about the history of recycling in Kansas City and what's being done today in and around town.  When I wasn't helping customers unload their cars and putting cardboard and paper in the right bins, I learned that sometimes our recyclables end up overseas, in China for instance.  We're not as environmentally conscious as the west coast where deposits on glass bottles are de rigueur, but we do have rain barrels for sale for $65 or you can take a class to make your own.  It was amazing to see how far people would drive with a car or truck full of individual bags of recyclables.  I will never complain about walking to the curb with my green bin. 



Rain barrels for sale

A decorative rain barrel
catching water from a down spout

Day 151 - Hole in the Wall

There's nothing that the late Paul Newman did for humanity that I can't support.  It being springtime with summer around the corner, I think camp.  Over 135,000 kids from 45 countries around the world have attended Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Camps.  He founded them for children with life-threatening conditions.  The camps are presently in 7 countries and there are more camps in the works.  Worldwide, there are 12,000 volunteers involved in making the camps happen.  I hope that my donation will help children - all who attend for free -  play and swim and romp with joy this summer.



Day 150 - Passover Project

What would Passover be without gefilte fish, horseradish, and matzos?  My donation and that of many others will help serve about 140 families in the Kansas City area through a project of Jewish Family Services, a non-profit, non-sectarian social service agency.  The annual Passover Holiday Project involves dozens of staff and volunteers in conducting food drives and then packaging the food for delivery.  No one should go hungry any time of the year, especially on a holiday.

Day 149 - Viva Glam

My Glam lipstick

MAC Cosmetics makes no profit at all, that is, if you buy one of their MAC Glam Lipsticks.  The Viva Glam line, whose spokesperson is the one and only Lady Gaga, has helped the MAC AIDS Fund raise over 202,000,000 million dollars since its founding in 1994.  Lady Gaga, once a student at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, inspired the newest Glam lipstick color, a rich and trendy shade of nude.  Buying just one of the lipsticks will help provide 8 nutritious meals for people with AIDS or fuel for trucks for 37 deliveries of the meals or personal nutrition counseling for AIDS patients.  No Poker Face for you if you go Glam!

Day 148 - World Water Day

The theme of World Water Day 2011 stemmed around the growth of urban populations and their needs for clean drinking water.  The growing slums in urban areas require more infrastructure at higher prices.  Thru the P & G's Children's Safe Drinking Water Program and their PUR packets, a water purifying technology that turns dirty and deadly water into safe drinking water, millions of children's lives will be saved.  In honor of P & G's work for World Water Day, I bought P & G's Olay Regenerist Micro-Scuplting Cream, named "Best Facial Moisturizer" by Allure in 2010. 

Day 147 - Groaning Table Project

Placed, thrown or piled upon a large dining room table at the downtown Kansas City's Paragraph Gallery were hundreds of pieces of clothing, pairs of shoes and bedding items.  One might think this display was odd, especially when it could be seen through the windows of the gallery.  I threw my gently used clothes on the top, on the sides, and under the table.  It looked like a work of art - and it temporarily was - until its delivery to the Salvation Army.  The other art pieces in the gallery, all food themed, were part of The Dining Room Project, A Potluck Smorgasbord.  "Menus" going along with the installation were offered as "side dishes."  The ones I was sorry to be missing were the edible LaMar's donuts and coffee installation as well as the Farm Tour at Green Dirt Farm where I could have walked a bucolic pasture walk, toured a milking parlor and tasted sheep's milk cheese.

This table was not just for dining. . .



Cardboard Kitchen















Day 146 - Dining Room Project

It was called The Dining Room Project - Art, Food, & The Ritual of Eating.  At the Epsten Gallery in Leawood, KS and The Paragraph Gallery in downtown Kansas City, MO, there were art shows with food themes on display.  Along with these visual art shows there were various food oriented interactive events going on during the month such as turkey carving, Spanish Tapas tasting, Ukrainian "egg laying", and learning about and tasting generational family-style meals.  Admission was free though anyone could bring food for Harvesters, the local food pantry.  I enjoyed the show, dropped my canned goods in the barrel, and got some great ideas as to what to make for dinner.

One of the works of food art





The familiar Harvesters barrel





Day 145 - Hooked on Books

   

The volunteers of all ages met in shifts at the Kansas City Star building, working for the Reach out and Read Hooked on Books program.  These donated books, from schools, libraries, and book drives were collected over the year from drop boxes located throughout the city.  Last year, 26,000 books were collected and distributed.  After sorting the books into categories of preschool, elementary, teenage, high school, adult, religious, seasonal, and foreign language, we stickered and stacked and boxed them up.  Next, they will be distributed to health clinics, to the Kansas City, Kansas summer reading programs, and to charter schools in Kansas City, Missouri. 

  

  

Day 144 - Swimsuit and Baby Clothes

If you bought something at The Gap, Banana Republic, or Old Navy between March 17-20, you got 30% off of your purchase.  It was part of their Spring Give and Get Coupon promotion.  Not only that, a percentage of your purchase went to a charity of your choice from among their list of charities.  I chose Teach for America after purchasing a toddler swimsuit and some baby clothes at The Gap. 

 

   He picked this out himself

She needed some help. . .

Day 143 - Clean Birthing Kit

As part of the Be the Change, Save a Life, an ABC News Initiative, the the United Nations Population Fund focuses on reproductive health, gender equality and population studies.   One of the basic supplies, a Clean Birthing Kit, provides a bar of soap, clear plastic sheet, razor blade, an umbilical cord tie, cloth and latex gloves to help deliver safe babies in crisis situations.  A small amount of money ($11) will provide 3 of these kits in countries such as Darfur, in refugee camps and during natural disasters.  I took advantage of Bonus Day during which all donations were matched by Global Giving.

Day 142 - Global Giving Day

One day only.  On March 16th, Global Giving had $75,000 available in matching funds which could be used for any of hundreds of organizations.  The limit was $1000 per individual or project and the choices were varied, from local to international.  I chose Synergy Services, a youth resiliency program and bought them a personal hygiene kit with products for homeless youth in Kansas City.  Mostly living below the poverty level and uninsured, these kids have hope and nurturing if they're lucky enough to be part of a network of educators, social workers, and case managers who help get them back on track.

Day 141 - Read and Recycle

It may not have felt like spring outside, but nonetheless, it was time to spring clean out some used paperbacks.  Whole Foods is not only a grocery store, it is a place where you can recycle your yogurt containers to make them into toothbrushes, dump your corks so they they can have new lives as flooring, or donate books for the whole planet to read.  One stop shopping - and recycling.

Day 140 - Jeff Hanson Bag

Who is Jeff Hanson and why has he made a Better Reusable Bag for Whole Foods Market?  He's a kid who made $15,000 selling lemonade and notecards at his lemonade stand when he was 12 years old.  And now he's a world famous artist - who wouldn't be if they personally knew Elton John and other stars because of their art - and their philanthropy?  But he also is 17 and visually impaired, having dealt with neurofibromatosis for the last 5 years.  He paints because he loves it and so that he can donate part of his proceeds for charities that have touched him, including the Children's Tumor Foundation and Make-A-Wish.  I bought my bag at the Overland Park Whole Foods Market, Overland Park, KS - the hometown of Jeff Hanson, local hero.



$1.50 from the purchase of my
Jeff Hanson bag went to the
Make-A-Wish Foundation



Day 139 - Share the Bread

Once Panera Bread Bakery-Cafe comes to a community, the community gets its share of the bread.  With cash - the coins and dollars like the kind I slipped into the slot of the Share the Bread container at the cash register - dreams and causes are fulfilled.  Whether it be for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, for literacy programs, in support of warm clothing drives or holiday gifts for kids, Panera Bread shares its profits.  The bakery-cafe is not just breads and soups and salads and sandwiches and sweet rolls and cookies and catering and more.  Panera Bread is like a well behaved kindergartener.  They've learned to share.

Day 138 - Happy Hearts Fund

Petra Nemcova is a supermodel and the founder and chair of the Happy Hearts Fund.  After surviving the 2004 Indonesian tsunami with a broken pelvis - and losing her partner in the tragedy - Petra helped create a non-profit foundation for children, helping them get back to normalcy after disasters.  Rebuilding schools, 47 to date and more in the process, and giving life and happy hearts back to the kids are the goals of the organization. Petra stresses that immediate help during disasters is wonderful but a sustained response months later is just as important.   Get this - "All Happy Hearts Fund administrative expenses are underwritten by its board allowing 100% of all public donations to go directly toward building a future for children affected by natural disasters."  That's their exact mission statement.  I donated to their Japan Rebuilding Campaign.

Day 137 - Microcredit

For a month at Whole Foods Market, all foods bought carrying the Whole Trade Guarantee meant a percentage of sales was donated to the Whole Planet Foundation.  The purpose is to help alleviate poverty throughout the world. The Whole Planet foundation provides microcredit to people in 29 developing countries around the world.  With these loans, more than 70,000 workers in poor communities can start businesses that will support their families.   Whether they use the loans to buy a goat, a sewing machine, or for tools to plant and harvest fruits and vegetables, they are bettering their lives. For those like me who ran into Whole Foods for something specific and not part of the Whole Trade Guarantee product lines, a donation in the Change for Big Change can at the registry checkout supported the same cause at 100%.

Day 136 - Diana, A Celebration

The Diana, a Celebration exhibit was on display at Union Station in Kansas City.  It was a  bittersweet walk down memory lane, seeing her wedding dress with the 25' train and many other outfits that she had worn during her reign as Princess of Wales.  There were diaries and home movies, ballet shoes and trinkets, all part of her personal collection which the public could now see.  Most moving were the travelogues of her charitable trips in which she personally greeted and touched so many lives.  It seemed fitting to support an organization that was of interest to her, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Co-Laureate.  The month of March 2011, marks the 12th anniversary of the beginning of the Mine Ban Treaty, supported by 60 countries around the world, the U.S. not among them.

Day 135 - Pop-Tab Program

It was as easy as buying a can of soda, flipping the pop-tab, and throwing it in a cup.  At Happy Gillis Cafe & Hangout in the Columbus Park area of Kansas City - known for their delicious soups, sandwiches and breakfasts -  they were collecting pop-tabs for Ronald McDonald House Charities.  The tabs are recycled and the charities get paid.  In 2010, over $14,000 was raised by local schools, youth groups, businesses, and soda drinkers.  By the way, you're not going to find a better sandwich in town than the one I had here.

Day 134 - Missouri Irish Brigade

Early one morning, on the lower level of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, there was a delightful quartet of young musicians performing called the Stonecreek Serenaders. They were dressed in Civil War era costumes and played music that was indicative of what would have been played during that time.  Behind them was a meeting room where each month the Missouri Irish Brigade, a group of Civil War reenactors, plan ways to keep the history and lives of the original Civil War units alive.  They are always looking for memorabilia of significance to Civil War battles as this is the 150th anniversary of remembering the past.  I put $ in a banjo case for the cause.

Day 133 - Share Your Breakfast

By taking a picture of my breakfast one morning, I bought breakfast for a hungry child somewhere in America.  All that Kellogg's Share Your Breakfast program asks is that you take a picture of of your breakfast and upload it to their website.  As you "share" your breakfast,  they in turn will share a free breakfast to 1 of 4 American children who may not have enough to eat.  You can see your meal  displayed with a motley menu of other people's breakfast selections.  Kellogg's is partnering with Action for Healthy Kids on this and hopes to reach its goal of sharing one million breakfasts by the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year.

My breakfast

Day 132 - Three Dog Parade

Three Dog Bakery held a Mardi Gras pooch parade on this freezing cold March morning around the Park Place shopping area in Leawood, KS.  With a dixieland band and various breeds of costumed dogs, the parade entrants and supporters, like me, raised funds for the Three Dog Bakery Foundation which helps out homeless and neglected dogs.  Roasterie coffee was on hand for the humans and I spotted some scrumptious looking Three Dog Bakery cookies - for the pups.

           

             



Day 131 - Minddrive

                

How about a car that get's 300 miles per gallon?  Fortunately, it's been made and driven - and crashed at the Indy 500.  Unfortunately it's not for sale.  The car, named Minddrive, is the brainchild of local Kansas City architect and visionary Steve Rees. With his guidance, team of mentors, leadership and students of DeLaSalle High School, the former race car was transformed into a transparent body electric car that has been featured in AutoWeek. Minddrive was invited to be part of Emerging Tech Day at the Indy 500 and went to the Texas Proving Ground track, thanks to Bridgestone Tires.  The car is amazing but so are its builders.  The students live in the urban core and may have been bounced around from school to school.  Some are at risk and others are trying to find a niche, graduate, and then get a decent job.  Thank you to Steve Rees, Linda Buchner, and Tom Strongman for creating the inspiring Minddrive non-profit organization that gives students a chance to succeed. 



Steve Rees, me, and Linda Buchner with 2 Minddrive master builders
I bought a Minddrive t-shirt like the ones worn above, supporting their
educational program

 

Day 130 - Children's Place Backpacks

Thanks to the generosity of the community, The Children's Place is able to send home around 40 backpacks filled with food supplies for children and their families every week. The infants, toddlers, and preschoolers who come to learn and play at The Children's Place have had some rough and tough times.  They are taken in for breakfast, activities, lunch and therapy, all in a nurturing environment of professionals and volunteers.  I joined women from NCJW who came to stuff backpacks with chili, saltines, fruit cups, pudding, juices, Spaghetti-Os, granola bars, and apples or other fresh fruit or pastry.

                                                            

             

Stuffed backpacks