We invite you to join us and explore this exciting new initiative for 2017: Donations by the Dozen. The Grace Initiative Foundation Tree, LLC (a 501(c)3) wants to put some #GraceInIt by donating $12 per day to a different nonprofit for each day of 2017. We hope to see this unfold into a wonderful conversation, new friends and partners, and potential inspiration for all as we take this journey.
I don't know which team you're cheering on tomorrow or if you're even a football fan. I do know regardless of which team you want to win, you might want to cheer on Chris Hogan who has pledged $15 for every catch this season to the HEADstrong Foundation "To improve the quality of life for cancer patients and their families through providing essential services." (https://headstrong.org/about-hf/our-mission/) Nick Colleluori founded HEADstrong during his 14 month long battle with cancer when he 'recognized a lack of resources for cancer patients and their families." (https://headstrong.org/about-hf/meetnick/) His mission and vision, as you can see from the picture, led to extraordinary results, like supporting 13.172 patients and their families, you can find here: https://headstrong.org/about-hf/our-mission/.
Thank you, HEADstrong Foundation and go, Chris Hogan!
You can find the Donations by the Dozen posts here on google,
My cousin, Anne, told me she was so excited to go to her daughter's school the other night to hear the founder of Girls With Sole. Liz Ferro as in the above video, speak. Girls with Sole empowers at-risk and previously abused girls with free fitness and wellness programs. Many of us know various reasons about how important exercise is, but it is also a large part of proactive self-care for survivors of trauma and abuse. Girls with Sole has locations near Cleveland, Ohio and Charleston, South Carolina. "Girls With Sole is free of charge for the girls. Programming includes a comprehensive curriculum, as well as, running shoes, sports bra, water bottle, race entries, and a copy of our book, Finish Line Feeling. Our curriculum is generally 6, 12, or 24 weeks in length, and provides the tools needed to Lace Up for A Lifetime of Achievement!" (http://www.girlswithsole.org) If you want to know more about what they do, the above video provides some great insight, and if you want to know more about why, this link has more about why and some important facts: http://www.girlswithsole.org/about/why/. Thank you, Liz for creating an amazing program.
You can find the Donations by the Dozen posts here on google,
It might be Groundhog Day, but it's also World Wetland Day. Wetlands conservation and restoration have resulted in some beautiful new areas here in Ohio over the years. Not too far away are several Great Blue Heron Nesting grounds in various wetlands and watching them can be relaxingly addictive. So, today Donations by the Dozen honors The Wetlands Initiative, focused on wetlands in the Midwest, was "Founded in 1994, the Wetlands Initiative is dedicated to restoring the wetland resources of the Midwest to improve water quality, increase wildlife habitat and biodiversity, and reduce flood damage." (http://www.wetlands-initiative.org/mission-and-vision/) Also, from their mission and vision page, the importance of wetland restoration and preservation becomes even clearer the more we understand it:
Today, the value of wetlands needs to be understood in both environmental and economic terms. Wetlands remove pollutants and control sediment to provide cleaner water. They offer food and shelter to a vast array of plants and animals. They store floodwaters to reduce the cost and misery from flooding. They moderate climate change by sequestering carbon. And importantly—but often overlooked—these vital ecosystem services are essential for healthy economies. http://www.wetlands-initiative.org/mission-and-vision/
Thank you, Wetlands Initiative.
You can find the Donations by the Dozen posts here on google,
Today is National Freedom Day, which is about the observance "in the United States that honors the signing of a resolution that proposed the 13th amendment of the nation's constitution on February 1, 1865. Abraham Lincoln, who was the president at the time, signed the resolution to outlaw slavery. This anniversary is annually observed on February 1." (https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/national-freedom-day) I chose today to donate to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). I love school, learning, knowledge, and all things educational. I want everyone to love learning too. People think I am weird sometimes for loving school so much, but to each his own. I do love scholarships for a variety of reasons. Getting a reward for you excellence by earning a scholarship is wonderful and exciting. Having some or all of the financial burdens removed while going to school reduced more than just financial stress. The UNCF Scholarship program is "the nation’s largest private scholarship provider to minority group members. Each year, we award more than $100 million in scholarships to more than 10,000 students at more than 1,100 schools across the country, including our prestigious network of 37 HBCUs./We also manage a variety of scholarship programs, such as the Gates Millennium Scholars Program, the Walton-UNCF K-12 Education Fellowship and the UNCF/Koch Scholars Program." (https://uncf.org/scholarships) The UNCF does provide scholarships, but UNCF also has programs to invest in our nations' K-12 students: https://uncf.org/k12advocacy. Here is link to the UNCF Fact Sheet for more information: http://9b83e3ef165f4724a2ca-84b95a0dfce3f3b3606804544b049bc7.r27.cf5.rackcdn.com/production/PDFs/2015_UNCF-Fact_Sheet.pdf. Because truly
January 31 is Inspire Your Heart with Art Day, and the Open Hearts Art Center is an inspiration every day. Empowering people and doing it with art therapy, "A Lil' About Us: Open Hearts Art Center is dedicated to serving adults with a variety of challenges including developmental, mental, physical and emotional disabilities… and we have a boat-load of fun doing it." (http://openheartsartcenter.org) Art, fun, and hoping differently-abled people - I definitely see that as inspiring the heart with art. Open Hearts offers therapeutic art programs and "provides the unique opportunity for differently abled adults to express themselves using a variety of creative avenues. Through innovative and stimulating forms of expression, we have witnessed firsthand, how individuals begin to define themselves using words like “skilled”, “talented”, “gifted”. Our everyday goal is to redirect the focus from what our students are unable to accomplish, and instead emphasize their many, and vast abilities." (http://openheartsartcenter.org/programs/) Open Heart Studio Day Program offers classes in visual and performing arts, with many different styles of art being explored such as dance, painting, writing, sculpture and more. With the Open Hearts Artist Exhibition Program, the artists can exhibit and sell their art throughout the community. The Boundless Art Program support students in various ways outside the center. Whether it is field trips, museum tours, satellite course or more, Open Hearts opens the boundaries to inspire artists and provides an excellent education foundation to empower the art and artists they serve. Here is the gallery page that shows both events and studio art to inspire your heart today http://openheartsartcenter.org/gallery/. If you're in western North Carolina, there are many opportunities for you to get involved whether you're artistic or not, and you can see those here: http://openheartsartcenter.org/get-involved/.
Have a great day and I hope you find art to inspire your heart as much as Open Hearts inspires mine.
You can find the Donations by the Dozen posts here on google,
The month wouldn't be complete without at least one pet related nonprofit and a picture from my pets. Animal Friends has so much to offer when it comes to comprehensive animal welfare. For more than 70 years, Animal Friends has been "thinking outside the cage." An extensive list of programs covers not only the shelter animals, but also addresses pet owner areas and stray animal issues with Behavior Training, Chow Wagon Pet Food Bank, Dog Park Rental, Enrichment, Human Education, Humane Investigations, Low-Cost (and sometimes No Cost) Spay/Neuter, Low-Cost Vaccine Clinics, Parties at Animal Friends and Therapeutic Services. The mobile unit from Animal Friends takes spaying and neutering and also vaccines the road to increase the spay/neuter program area for those who do not have access to the center. Their Reading with Rover program helps children who may not be comfortable reading aloud in class by pairing students with animals for practice. Really, Animal Friends has so much to offer, I just want to visit and see it all.
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How is Animal Friends different from other shelters?Animal Friends serves pets and people through pet-focused programming. In addition to rescuing animals in need and placing over 2,400 dogs, cats and rabbits into loving homes each year, we also serve tens of thousands of people through our therapeutic and educational outreach programming. Animal Friends is a full-service animal welfare organization dedicated to building comprehensive, compassionate solutions for the pet overpopulation crisis. We never euthanize animals to make cage space. Instead, we work hard to place homeless animals into loving homes; keep owned pets in their homes through behavior training; reduce pet overpopulation through spay and neuter programming; and educate the community about proper care and respect for all living beings. http://www.thinkingoutsidethecage.org/site/c.elKWIeOUIhJ6H/b.8580189/k.B9AF/Directions_and_FAQ.htm
Animal Friends University offers a variety of classes (AFU Course Catalog): Classes for Young Pet Lovers and Adult Pet Lovers, Therapeutic Services, Dog raining Classes, Dog Socials, Rabbit Wrangler's Corner, Camps for Your Pet Lovers and Children's Presentations and Shelter Tours. There are pet loss support groups and a beautiful memorial area, A thousand Winds Memorial Garden. The video below gives you a virtual tour of the extensive facilities, services and opportunities available at Animal Friends, and the website has even more. Thank you, Animal Friends for pretty much thinking of everything a cat, dog, or rabbit could need.
You can find the Donations by the Dozen posts here on google,
I recently got a new follower on Twitter from Team Red, White & Blue (@RWBSandhills in this case) whose mission "is to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their community through physical and social activity." (https://www.teamrwb.org/our-approach/mission) Two core programs help Team RWB achieve its goals: the Chapter and Community Program and the Leadership Development Program. The approach Team RGB feels so honest and direct, with each aspect of what they do creating a community of mutual reciprocity amongst its members. I really like the feel of this, because I feel, even if this one is targeted toward veterans, all communities should have this approach and leave members feeling as valued Team RWB does.
Enrichment is defined as creating quality relationships and experiences that contribute to life satisfaction and overall wellbeing. The concept of enrichment consists of three core components—health, people, and purpose—that define a rich life.Enrichment Equation: Enrichment = Health + People + PurposePeople: Creating authentic connections (defined as genuine, quality, supportive relationships that generate mutual trust and accountability), reflected in an increased number of close relationships and improvements in teammates’ sense of belonging, purpose, and community engagement.Health: Creating frequent opportunities for team members to connect through fitness, sports, and recreation to improve physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Purpose: Engaging members in meaningful team and community-based experiences such as leadership and service that, beyond physical and social activities, renew self-identity and purpose in life. (https://www.teamrwb.org/our-approach/mission)
If you're an interest veteran, one of the most fun things you can do later this year is join the
"62 TEAMS WILL BE CHARGED WITH MOVING A SINGLE AMERICAN FLAG 4,216 MILES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, FROM REDMOND, WA TO TAMPA, FL."
I might check with a chapter near me to see if I can tag along or at least get some pictures to share with you all. Also of great importance, please read this page of organization statistics even if you don't click on any other links? https://www.teamrwb.org/our-impact/statistics Our veterans need us to be as informed and supportive as possible, and knowing some of this information helps.
This link https://www.teamrwb.org/our-impact/real-stories takes you to some stories from various people in different capacities, including a call for the Veterans Ambassador Program to help spread the word. Part of the support for Team RWB programs comes from sales of pretty darn cool products like Nike shoes and apparel. You can shop here: http://trwb.myshopify.com/?_ga=1.206799760.2001129666.1485659247.
You can find the Donations by the Dozen posts here on google,
I don't know which team you're cheering on tomorrow or if you're even a football fan. I do know regardless of which team you want to win, you might want to cheer on Chris Hogan who has pledged $15 for every catch this season to the HEADstrong Foundation "To improve the quality of life for cancer patients and their families through providing essential services." (https://headstrong.org/about-hf/our-mission/) Nick Colleluori founded HEADstrong during his 14 month long battle with cancer when he 'recognized a lack of resources for cancer patients and their families." (https://headstrong.org/about-hf/meetnick/) His mission and vision, as you can see from the picture, led to extraordinary results, like supporting 13.172 patients and their families, you can find here: https://headstrong.org/about-hf/our-mission/. 
