The United States Institute of Peace—an independent, nonpartisan, national institution established by the U.S. Congress – is constructing a headquarters building at the northwest corner of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The new building will be a working headquarters for the Institute and a national center for advancing the study and practice of peacebuilding. The site—steps away from the Lincoln, World War II, Korean, and Vietnam Veterans memorials—will house a Public Education Center, a research library and archives, classrooms, and a world-class conference center. It will be a powerful and lasting affirmation of the American people’s commitment to peace More

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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THE TWILIGHT WISH FOUNDATION BRINGS SMILES TO DESERVING SENIORS THROUGH INDIVIDUAL WISH GRANTING CONNECTING GENERATIONS.

Mother Teresa was once asked what is the loneliest place in the world. Her answer was “nursing homes in America.” The Twilight Wish Foundation is changing the way America views the aging process and redefining what is acceptable in our attitudes about aging.

It’s Mission: To honor and enrich the lives of deserving seniors through wish granting celebrations that connect generations; and it’s Vision: To make America a nicer place to age.

The Twilight Foundation believes it’s time to say “thank you” by bringing smiles and joy into quiet, humble lives. They celebrate the life of someone special by giving them an unexpected “thank you” in the form of a wish come true.

Twilight Wish also has an Intergenerational Caring Program that “connects generations” by getting many students and schools, clubs, organizations and companies involved by fund raising and directly granting wishes through our wish management.

Since their founding, the Twilight Wish Foundation has granted more than 1,275 wishes. Learn more about the Twilight Wish Foundation in the following Good Deeds On Demand video.

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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Congratulatons to 11-Year-Old, MaryMargaret, Who Surpassed Original Goal and Donates 250 MP3 Players to Area Hospitals

On November 20, 2009, the Feed Your Good Dog Council, posted a story about the efforts of then 10-year old MaryMargaret O’Neill who continued to work tirelessly to raise enough money to eventually buy 150 MP3 players for kids in the hospital. Her hope is that the therapeutic quality of the music provided by the MP3 players will help kids endure the many and sometimes painful test they go through during their stay in the hospital. “When they are bored or scared, they can listen to their favorite music and feel better” she said.

MaryMargaret calls her project “Music for Life”. She ran multiple fund raisers at local malls and other venues. She reached out through social media outlets to collect funds. She braved the freezing cold weather in January at an outdoor fundraiser at night. Even though there were few people there, one frigid man walked up and handed her a $50.00 bill. “I came here specifically to give you this,” he said. He had seen the notice in the paper that she would be there.

Recently, MaryMargaret surpassed her goal of 150 MP3 players and purchased 250. She preloaded them with music donated by her Facebook and Twitter friends. They are all ready to use. They come in a gift bag with a Kids Are Heroes flyer and a personal letter written by MaryMargaret. She plans on donating half of them to Children’s Medical Center in Washington D.C. and the other half to Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

Stay tuned for more to come about the good MaryMargaret is sure to accomplish!

Sources:

KidsAreHeroes.com

and

Next Phase Music for Life

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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BIKES FOR THE WORLD REACHES NEW MILESTONE AND DONATES ITS 40,000TH BICYCLE TO HELP OTHERS OVERSEAS HELP THEMSELVES

On December 5, 2009, Bikes for the World, a DC area-based non-profit, shipped its 40,000th bike for donation to programs overseas that help people who need affordable transportation help themselves. The shipment containing this milestone bike went to the Panamanian Association of Goodwill Industries, a long-time Bikes for the World charity partner.

On the left, Bikes for the World Director, Keith Oberg, places the 40,000th donated bike in the container bound for Panama. The following weekend Bikes for the World loaded another container sent to Uganda which brought the total bikes donated in 2009 to over 9,000!

The bikes donated by Bikes for the World are sold by local partners, such as PAGI at low prices. These bikes not only provide local workers, tradesmen, and students with affordable transport but enable the receiving organization to train and employ people with disabilities, building job skills and providing employment to a population often marginalized in the job market.

In a short time span of five years, the mid-Atlantic network of Bikes for the World has quietly become the largest program of its type in the United States. During that period, the organization has mobilized more than 150 faith communities, schools, scout troops, civic clubs, and businesses and has collected and donated nearly 40,000 bikes valued at more than $1.5 million. It has also developed a reputation for shipping high-quality used bicycles to reputable non-profit partners in Africa and the Caribbean Basin.

Please check out Bikes for the World online, and if the spirit moves you, help them help improve the lives of others by donating your old bicycle, sponsoring a collection of good used bikes in your community to help their cause, or donate dollars.

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Whether you celebrate Passover, Easter, or Life’s renewals this time of year, take a day this weekend to “power down” and “stop and smell the roses”.

Reboot, a non-profit group of Jewish artists in search of a modern way to observe a weekly day of rest, provide us with a guide to do so. The guide is inherent in Reboot’s creative project The Sabbath Manifesto , which is designed to slow down lives in an increasingly hectic world.

Following are some of the core prinicples from the Sabbath Manifesto’s Provisional Guide for Observing a Weekly Day of Rest.

Reboot also, this year, initiated a National Day of Unplugging. Thousands unplugged from cell phones, ipods, computers, etc. from Sundown, Friday, March 19 to Sundown, Saturday, March 20. The people in this YouTube video tell us how and why they unplug, or. . . not.

Source: Sabbath Manifesto: Slowing Down Lives Since 2010.

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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National Women’s History Week was first celebrated in March, 1980. This was made possible by The National Women’s History Project (NWHP). NWHP lead the efforts of thousands of individuals and hundreds of educational and women’s organizations to make sure it happened then and for each and every year thereafter. In 1987, after national recognition, multi-state declarations of National Women’s History Month, and further NWHP lobbying efforts, Congress declared March as National Women’s History Month in perpetuity. A special Presidential Proclamation is issued every year which honors the extraordinary achievements of American women.

This year to mark their 30th year, NWHP’s theme is Writing Women Back into History. To honor this theme, NWHP has highlighted pivotal themes from previous years. Each of these past themes recognizes a different aspect of women’s achievements, from ecology to art, and from sports to politics.

Take a few minutes this weekend to remember and honor the contribution of the women in your life in general. You may also be inspired by the list of more than 230 NWHP’s honorees which you can access here.

Additionally, the NWHP is holding an on-line auction through March 31 to raise money for its cause. If you are a history buff, or if you would like to support NWHP continue its educational mission to ensure a place for women in our history, you can check out the auction here.

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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A FANTASTIC IDEA THAT ALLOWS ONE TO ACTUALLY SEE HOW A GOOD DEED “RIPPLES THROUGH LIFE’S POND”

SeedaNeed.com is a good deed organization that has been launched to do good deeds Nation wide, and eventually worldwide. The non-profit organization is a web based program that helps people first recognize how easy it is to change a life by doing good things, and secondly helps users track the good deeds by supplying SeedaNeed Good Deed cards at no cost. The SeedaNeed Good Deed cards have an ID number on the card, the ID is entered to the site seedaneed.com, and the user leaves a comment about the good deed, and then passes the card along. This allows an ongoing string of good deeds that can be watched and tracked for the life of the card.

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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Share our Strength is a national organization dedicated to ensuring that no child in America grows up hungry. Share our Strength’s Operation Frontline program is nationally sponsored by the ConAgra Foods Foundation and is celebrating 15 years of groundbreaking nutrition education. This cooking-based program provides a strong foundation in nutrition, cooking, and household budgeting through specialized courses for adults, kids, and teens. Professional chefs and nutritionists volunteer their time and expertise to lead hands-on courses that teach adults, teens and children how to get the most nutrition out of a limited budget. Operation Frontline has reached more than 51,500 families across the country since 1993.

Volunteer to teach others how to eat healthfully and how to make good nutrition decisions … get involved with Operation Frontline.

Other Sources: Vicki Steine and Georgia Spice Company.

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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Martha “Mac” Long could be overheard saying the following to her children whenever they would ask her what she’d like for her birthday, Mother’s Day, Christmas, or whatever:

“A kind word…all I want is a kind word.”

One year for Christmas, motivated by her mother’s words, one of Mac’s daughters, Marti, gave her a beautifully decorated box full of little cut outs…of the word “Kind”!

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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Kindness: How Good Deeds Can Be Good for You!
Source: Random Acts of Kindness Foundation
Entire article here

People who perform Random Acts of Kindness generally agree that doing a kind deed for someone else makes them “feel good.” But apart from sheer niceness, why should people be encouraged to commit Acts of Kindness? Are there any other concrete benefits that would motivate more people to become kinder?

Selye’s findings on stress are cited by Luks because many of his study volunteers had stress-related health problems that improved after performing kind acts.

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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