Feed Your Good Dog nutritionally this weekend with a yummy pureed soup made with fresh vegetables. This Squash and Ginger Soup from the Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates with Linda Schatz is easy to make. It tastes great and has a wonderful “creamy” consistency. You’ll feel just as good making it yourself as you do eating it!

1-2 Tbsp organic butter or unrefined coconut oil
1 acorn squash, skinned and chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
Large piece of ginger root (3-4 inches long), grated
Water to cover
Sea Salt or Herbamare to taste
Minced parsley as a garnish

1. Saute carrots, onions, celery and garlic in butter or unrefined coconut oil.
2. Add squash and ginger.
3. Cover with water.
4. Simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Puree and add water to desired creaminess.
6. Add sea salt or Herbamare, and simmer at least 10 minutes more.
7. Serve garnished with parsley.

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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Young volunteers boost Haiti’s earthquake response
Source: Plan International January 25, 2010

Young students who have lost their homes, friends and loved ones in the earthquake are helping Plan Haiti staff get much-needed aid to 20,000 people across the ravaged Croix-des-Bouquets district.

Plan International has a three star rating from Charity Navigator. Charity Navigator is one of the leading Charity watchdog and assessment organizations.

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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“The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation.” ~ Corrie Ten Boom

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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HANDS TOGETHER HAS WORKED OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS TO HELP IMPROVE THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIVING IN THE POOREST OF POOR CONDITIONS IN HAITI, AND, AFTER THE RECENT EARTHQUAKE, THEIR WORK IS NEEDED THERE NOW MORE THAN EVER

“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” ~Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King’s words are inspiration for the work being done by Hands Together, a non-profit organization that works to improve the lives of Haiti’s poor so they may live with dignity. Hands Together volunteers are, and have been, “boots on the ground” in Haiti in one form or another for the past 25 years. You will find a first hand account of what happened in Haiti on the day of the earthquake, Hands Together’s response to it and their recovery plan on the Hands Together website.

Hands Together was born of a single service trip to Haiti in 1985, when Father Tom Hagan, O.S.F.S., who was serving as chaplain to Lafayette and Moravian Colleges in Pennsylvania, led a group of students on a visit to Haiti. The history of Hands Together is rich and its accomplishments many despite the years of violence and natural disasters that have threatened to shut them down.

Its vision is the hope that not only will the people of Haiti benefit from the tireless efforts of its volunteers who work to help the poor become free and live dignified lives through education, clean water, and health care, but that the volunteers return to their own community with the ability to identify its needs with a renewed sense of compassion and desire to fulfill those needs.

One can not help but be inspired and feel moved to serve after reading the following Hands Together vision message:

We hope that members of Hands Together work passionately to build a more compassionate and human world; that Hands Together’s workers will be known for their tenderness and mercy, especially toward the poor; that people will visit our projects and experience the beauty and goodness of the people they encounter; that our volunteers will assess the needs of their own communities with a renewed sense of compassion, and search for ways to respond respectfully to help others; that the families who live in Haiti’s desert villages will be healthy, that the people in the slums of Port-au-Prince will drink clean water; that everyone in Haiti will have access to education; that in the poorest communities, Hands Together helps people use their resources so that they become free and live dignified lives; and we hope that the people of Haiti will be able to build a strong community with their friends from Hands Together and exchange ideas in order to improve their quality of life.

Following are concrete goals set by Hands Together to give you an idea of the work being done to carry out its vision:

Education
• 15 school campuses with 11,000 students

Emergency Intervention
• Spontaneous charity to poorest of the poor
• Response to disasters

Nutrition – Health
• Daily meals to 11,000 students, staff and elderly
• Canteens for children ages 2-7
• Medical outreach through 2 clinics

Sustainable Development
• Water well and irrigation drilling
• Agricultural promotion through Bassen Center & Clarke Farm & Environment Protection
• Employment for 500 people

If you find some time to peruse the Hands Together website over the weekend, please do and think about donating what you can to this worthwhile effort. Hands Together has received a four star rating from Charity Navigator for the past four years. Charity Navigator is one of the leading Charity watchdog and assessment organizations.

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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“THERE IS STRENGTH IN UNITY”

Hundreds gathered united at the Washington National Cathedral to show their support through prayer and monetary donations for the Haitian community. Additionally thousands came from Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia to the Haitian Embassy, literally causing traffic jams, to drop off donated goods gathered from family, friends and neighbors. All of these folks mobilized in less time than it takes to do a days work, but the goodwill generated from their efforts will reverberate a lifetime, and certainly through the rebuilding of Haiti.

Fox 5 does a nice job in the following videos to show us the depth of human compassion and the immediate impact it has on those in the Washington DC area who have loved ones surrounded by the devastation in Haiti.

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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To honor the life and work of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” ~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Read entire speech here or listen to it on the player below.

I Have A Dream speech audio from Internet Archives

Not only did the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver one of the most powerful speeches of all time, in 1964, he became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means.

His biography on Nobelprize.org gives good insight into Dr. King’s ideals and level of commitment. It also gives us a good idea of the stamina he must of had to keep up with the incredible amount of work he did as he set out to make this world a better place.

In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, “l Have a Dream”, he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.

By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and opposing the Vietnam War, both from a religious perspective. Dr. King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.

Source: Wikipedia

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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It Won’t Happen To Me presents DRIVE FOR LIFE – a program designed to educate Teens and Parents of the serious matter that is teen driving. Throughout the program, stories will be shared of teens who have lost their lives in teen driving related CAR CRASHES. There will also be discussion regarding the decisions and choices that cost them their lives and how the accidents could have been prevented. It is said to be a very powerful program and parents are encouraged to attend with their teens.

 

WHAT IT IS…The Drive for Life Programs raise awareness that car accidents are the No. 1 cause of teen deaths in the country; and gives purpose to the loss experienced by families who have lost a teen because of a car accident. These families know that perhaps by raising awareness and through education this way other families may not have to go through what they are.

HOW IT GOT STARTED…These programs are put on by It Won’t Happen To Me, which was founded by Bill Richardson and Lauren Winborne, based on their experience and reserach regarding teen driving fatalities. Bill and Lauren formed It Won’t Happen to Me as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation with the specific goal to reduce teen driving fatalities. This goal has expanded to changing the mind set of teens and their parents that tragedies like this can happen to anyone. So to meet these goals, and because these deaths are usually caused by inexperience and unsafe driving habits of our young drivers, IWHTM seeks to educate teens and their parents. In addition to these programs, It Won’t Happen to Me also puts on an annual “In Memory Of” walk-a-thon for the same purpose.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE…All teens, parents of teens (especially those whose teens are preparing to start driving) are encouraged to participate in the program for a whole new perspective on the responsibility and the serious nature of teen driving.

POSSIBLE COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS…If you are a teen check with your school to see if they will give you community service credit for attending the program!

If you need further information please email Bill.

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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13 year-old Emily Kirsche heard of the great work being done by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to help children with cancer. She also heard that the hospital relies on donations to keep the work going. So soon after becoming aware of this, she started a fundraising effort. Half way through last October Emily started raising money for St. Jude by asking friends and family for spare change. In no time, she had collected $200.

Emily decided to step it up and reach out to her surrounding community. In a fundraising letter to a potential donor she wrote: I would like to start an organization called ‘Give A Dollar, Save A Life’. I was wondering if you would be able to help me with this by encouraging students to bring in just a dollar (or more if they wish) to help raise money to save the lives of children battling cancer? St. Jude Hospital is a nonprofit organization that treats children with cancer who can’t afford operations. They also have a research program that is trying to find a cure for cancer. It takes a great deal of money for the hospital to do these things. They rely entirely on donations to operate and I would like to be a part of that with your help. Even if only 50 dollars was raised, that would be tremendous.

Due to policies in place, the donor was unable to help. Emily understood and quickly came up with another plan. With the help of her family, she decided to throw a holiday party. By December’s end she had raised over $600. 100% of which will go to help children battling life threatening cancer now, and for research to help those in the future.

Emily sent the money she raised to St Jude’s, and ended her letter to them with this: This has been an amazing experience for me and I have learned so much from it. I will definitely continue to raise more and more money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital each year. I thank you for taking time to read this letter and I hope I have helped.

We think Emily’s effort will help indeed! Congratulations, Emily, on a job well done! You recognized a need and took action to help find a way to fill it. And, as evidenced by your letters, did it with grace and humility! Feed Your Good Dog looks forward to hearing of your future service efforts.

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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THINK, AND CELEBRATE, WHAT IS GOOD

Nowadays with the news bombarding us with reasons for why we should not be happy, it is easy to let those winds of bad news blow out our light. But as we sit poised on the dawn of a new decade, I propose that we all join together in celebration of the uniqueness of each and every one of us, that we celebrate our incredible resiliency and ability to survive and thrive in spite of or maybe because of external circumstances and we celebrate all the magic and wonder that is yet to be. ~Mary McManus

Source: Celebration, December 31, 2009, DarynKagan.com

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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TEN WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE AND FEED YOUR OWN SPIRIT AT THE SAME TIME (continued from TGIFYGDF dated November 6, November 27, December 4, and December 18, 2009).

Acts of kindness and altruism can reduce stress in our lives according to a recent WebMD Feature article entitled The Science of Good Deeds, The ‘helper’s high’ could help you live a longer, healthier life., written by Jeanie Lerche Davis and reviewed by Louise Chang, MD.

Following are good deed ideas (41 through 50) that make performing acts of kindness and “feeding your good dog” in the new year easy as pie. Check out number 49…an easy and fun way to raise money for your favorite non-profit. Source: 50 good deeds for 50 days, By Daniela Payne

41. A few days before a family member’s birthday, head over to your parents’ or grandparents’ home to wrap their gifts for them. They’ll appreciate your help and the company.

42. On a random weekend, surprise your unsuspecting spouse with breakfast in bed. It will make their day.

43. When you come across a two for one deal (which are popular at book and movie stores), donate your free product to a local shelter or youth group.

44. Allot yourself a set amount of compliments to dole out a day. Your co-workers will love hearing something good about what they are doing.

45. Getting out and about isn’t so easy for some. Volunteer to do your grandparents’ grocery shopping for them every two weeks.

46. Next time you’re at your favourite local pub or breakfast diner, leave your server a very generous tip.

47. Everyone knows how annoying it is to rush back to your car only to find a parking ticket sitting on your windshield. To make sure someone else doesn’t suffer the same fate, feed parking metres that you notice are about to expire.

48. Next time you do your grocery shopping, pick up a large bag of cat or dog food to donate to a local animal shelter.

49. Host a movie night for 10 of your closet friends. Charge $10 admission, provide the popcorn, candy and drinks, and donate the $100 to a charity you all decide on. It’s a perfect way to feel good about having fun.

50. After you complete your 49 days worth of good deeds, treat yourself to a mani-pedi, dinner at your favorite restaurant or those fabulous shoes you’ve been eyeing.  After all your selfless acts, you deserve a little treat.

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