Positive Thoughts | Positive Actions | Positive Results
“After all, if I can not change when the circumstances demand it, how can I expect others to?”
~ President Nelson Mandela, Invictus
And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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Source: TV Quotes.com
If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it. ~Thomas Fuller
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!
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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.
And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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TEN YEAR OLD MARYMARGARET’S MUSIC FOR LIFE WILL PROVIDE LOADED MP3 PLAYERS TO KIDS TO HELP ENDURE STAYS IN HOSPITAL
Ten year old MaryMargaret O’Neill has raised $3,114.44 over the last year, through her Music for Life effort. The money she has collected will go to buy as many MP3 players (with adapters) as possible to give the gift of music to kids who are in treatment at the Children’s Medical Center in Washington DC. She and her family spent 10 rocky days there four years ago, and the experience has had a profound impact on her since she suffered through many invasive and painful tests.
Now MaryMargaret needs our help. She is looking for matching funds from a corporate sponsor to make the money she has raised over the last year go farther so she can give the gift of music to as many kids as possible enduring medical tests and procedures during their stays in hospital.
Based on her experience, MaryMargaret came up with the Music for Life project. She wants the kids to be able to enjoy the therapeutic qualities of the music. She knows that it will help them through the uncomfortable and painful tests and procedures they must endure during this difficult time in their lives.
The MP3 players will be prepopulated with music from Nicholas Giordano and Cowbell Digital Music. Nicholas is a 13-year-old hero who plays classical guitar and Cowbell Digital Music (@CowbellMusic on Twitter is an Australian company providing digital streaming music. They have offered as many free downloads as they need to populate all the players. As soon as the MP3 players have been purchased and preloaded the music, MaryMargaret will deliver them to Children’s Hospital.
MaryMargaret is looking for corporate sponsors to match the amount she has raised. While you are out and about this weekend visiting family and friends, please let them know of MaryMargaret’s efforts. You never know how far reaching these discussions will go. Let’s see if by spreading the word we can help MaryMargaret find a corporate sponsor. Let’s also think about our contacts at Sony, Apple, San Disk, Best Buy or CicuitCity.com that might possibly provide a meaningful discount on the players so MaryMargaret can purchase more of them and help more kids.
MaryMargaret, and her family, can tell you that a child’s stay in a hospital, especially while trying to figure out what is ailing them, is a very trying time for both the child and the parents — and they are hoping that they can make other kids’ stays just a little bit more comfortable. If you think you can help with this effort, please contact MaryMargaret, and her family, directly here. Thank you.
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And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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HERE’S A GUIDE TO HELP YOU, YOUR FAMILY, AND/OR YOUR COMMUNITY RECONNECT WITH NATURE…THE CHILDREN & NATURE NETWORK MAKE IT AS EASY AS…WELL…A WALK IN THE PARK
In the United States and internationally, a vibrant children-and-nature movement is helping parents, grandparents and caregivers reconnect children with nature. The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) was created to encourage and support this movement.
One way your family can get directly involved and reconnect children with nature is to create a family nature club. C&NN created a resource to make it incredibly easy for anyone to do so….the C&NN Nature Clubs for Families Tool Kit. Do It Yourself! Do It Now!
The purpose of the Tool Kit is to provide inspiration, information, tips and resources for those who are—or who might be—interested in creating a Nature Club for Families. In creating the Tool Kit, C&NN has drawn on what many other families have done and learned.
The Tool Kit contains a Quick Start Guide which lists five steps to start your own club and it provides templates for each step. The five steps to get started are: (a) Create a plan; (b) Check it out; (c) Invite as many people as you like; (d) Make it Easy; and (e) Ready, set, go! It doesn’t get much easier than that. And…if you have your own ideas all the better. C&NN encourages you to think outside the box.
A few key benefits from creating your own Nature Club are listed in the Tool Kit. Here is a summary. Nature Clubs for Families can be created in any neighborhood and in any economic setting. They can be joined or created by any family. The Nature Clubs for Families approach can break down key barriers, including fear of strangers, since there is safety in numbers. There is the group motivation factor within Nature Clubs for Families. Nature Clubs for Families shared knowledge. And, importantly, there is no need to wait for funding.
The Tool Kit includes a list of testimonials from people who have started their own Nature Clubs for Families and you can view them starting on page 6 of the Tool Kit. It may be that you find inspiration to start your own Nature Club for Families there.
And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog, so your good dog always wins!
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