Day 13: Passing on the Gift

It's almost a surreal feeling that I actually made it to the end of my 13 Days to Thanksgiving journey. This is my 13th and last post of this blog series. It has been, by far, the longest writing project in my life outside of school! After this, I think I have to take a hiatus and slip back into my usual anonymity self. Because, after all, that's who I am. I prefer to just do my work and go about helping making this world a better place ... quietly.

On this day that we are surrounded with loving family, friends and reflect about what we are thankful for, I would like each of us to move a step forward and start thinking about 'Passing on the Gift' ... to others.

This brings me to the last organization that's doing amazing work currently throughout the world. Heifer International is a non-profit organization working to bring an end to World Hunger through sustainable and long-term solutions. One of their programs is called 'Passing on the Gift' which is wonderfully illustrated from a short video by Alton Brown below.

'Sustainable' is the key word and a common theme here throughout my blogs and it is intentional. The act of giving is good but an act of sustainable giving through teaching, reusable and repeatable methods & behaviors will have the biggest impact to create a healthier, more peaceful and beautiful world for generations to come.

~ Thank you ~

Day 12: Operation Homefront

In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.

 ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

It's virtually impossible to responsibly completing my 13 Days to Thanksgiving without referencing at least one organization working to support our troops who sacrifice so much defending and allowing us the freedom we are enjoying each and everyday.

The mission of  Operation Homefront (OH) is to provide emergency financial and other assistance to the families of our service members and wounded warriors. I researched them through Charity Navigator and found out that they are rated Four Stars Charity with more than 90% of the money raised going toward the programs they currently support.

Some of the programs and services are as follow:

• Food Assistance
• Auto Repair
• Financial Assistance
• Holiday Programs
• Wounded Warrior Wives

Aside from directly donating the your money to support or to volunteer your time to help, you may choose to join the 'Freedom Walk' being held annually in 22 chapters around the country.

No fancy videos or heart wrenching pictures this time. Freedom is not free but rather hard earned. Everybody knows someone who's connected or related to our service men and women in some way. At the very least, give them one second of your time each day to reflect and be thankful for what they afford us. Thank you.

Day 11: 80%

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... It is ... estimated that 1 billion people in the world right now do not have access to clean water. 80% is the number representing the deceases causing by unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation....

... To reference the most current event, the New York Times reported 917 death in Haiti as of November 14, 2010 from the start of the Cholera outbreak on October 21, 2010. That's only about a month ago....

... Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by ingestion of contaminated food or water with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. However, it is only one of many deceases that comes directly as a result of consuming unsafe water.

Charity: Water is one of many organizations working toward providing clean and safe water to people in lesser fortunate areas.

100%

...of your donation will go toward a water project. 'How do they do that?', you might wonder, as they are a non-profit organization with administrative expenses like all others. You can learn about how they do it here. That's what makes them standout among the crowd and it's the reason why I chose to write about them as my eleventh 13 Days to Thanksgiving blog.

Day 10: The Art of Elysium

Switching gears, I want to write about something a little lighter and happier. This is the tenth day of my 13 Days to Thanksgiving and the pressure is mounting to select my last four organizations to talk about.

So, I am taking all of us back to our childhood and think about how we were moved by art and music. I remembered those days when it was almost a ritual for my dad and I to go to a bookstore and/or a music store every weekend. Both places, we would go in and spend hours there. I think my interest in photography came from spending hours upon hours looking through the photography books and magazines. When we would go to the music stores, we would listen to totally different type musics and I would choose what I liked and he would, within reasons, purchase them for me. I remembered how happy I was and how much I looked forward to going there every weekend. Those days instilled the love of art and music in me to the present day...

The Art of Elysium is a non-profit organization aiming to help kids battling serious medical conditions through arts, music, comedy, fashion, radio, songwriting and creative writing workshops. Mainly, they encourage artists, musicians and actors to volunteer their time to spend with these children.

I just thought it's such a creative and happy way to brighten up the days for these children. If you are an artist, great but you don't have to be one to help. Please visit their website to see how you can support this wonderful program.

Three to goooo!!!!!

Day 9: "When I get to heaven, will I feel full?"

That was the question asked to her father by the then 7 years old girl. I have no idea there exists such a syndrome. I stumbled upon this while going through my research on Charity Navigator website. But when I did, it intrigued me so much that I spent hours researching it. This is, in essense, a reverse to my earlier post of obesity epidemic in our country and the world. We generally approach it from a standpoint that obesity is a self inflicted medical condition.

Every 1 in 15,000 newborn is affected with Prader-Willi syndrome. It's caused by the deleted or unexpressed chromosome 15. Behaviorally, it's associated with an extreme and insatiable appetite which often resulting in morbid obesity (source: Wikipedia).

Unfortunately, there's no cure for this currently. Prader-Willi Syndrome Association USA is an organization aiming to:

• Promote & fund research
• Provide education
• Support to enhance the quality of life of those affected by PWS

PWSA is a small but well run organization worthy of your support. Nothing much I can add here as there's so much to be learned and discovered about this condition. This concludes the 9th installment of my 13 Days to Thanksgiving.

Day 8: Coffee Me Home

I am spoiled, I admit. I currently have three bicycles at home. They all do different things but not one of them is used as much as a tool to live.

As I struggle to balance and justify my current way of life, I find it a humbling experience for me to sit down and write my 13 Days to Thanksgiving blogs. I have to keep reminding myself that we are born to be different, to do different things and to accomplish different goals. Collectively, because we are different, we create this 'World'. So, again, to all my readers, strangers or friends, please continue to do the great things that you do and enjoy the benefits of your hard work. Shall you have time left from your responsibilities, then let's go out there and make a difference for deserving others.

Project Rwanda is one the smaller bicycle related projects aiming at helping the Rwandan people through the utilitarian of a Coffee Bike. The project was created by Tom Ritchey after his visit to the country in 2005. I chose to write about this because there are stories within stories that could easily be made into a few movies. Some people in this project found redemption through it and many discovered it a life changing experience. I can ... write on and on about Tom and how he incorporated experiences of this project into how he runs his successful company but I won't. I will just leave you with this short documentary that touched me deeply after I watched it. It's created by Jacob Seigel-Boettner. You are more than welcome to contact me and we can talk about this at length. Until next time ...

Pascal's Bike from Jacob SB on Vimeo.

Day 7: The Next Joe

"The United States consumes one-fifth of all the world's coffee, making it the largest consumer in the world. But few Americans realize that agriculture workers in the coffee industry often toil in what can be described as "sweatshops in the fields." Many small coffee farmers receive prices for their coffee that are less than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt." - Global Exchange

Since the seems-to-be-simple start of my 13 Days to Thanksgiving project, the task itself is starting to weigh on me. There are so many organizations out there worthy of our support. The task of sifting through and picking the '13' is a bit harder than I thought. But, I am trying my best to look for causes that take the least amount of effort to make the biggest difference possible.

I drink coffee. I enjoy coffee ... in its varieties and uniqueness of beans from each origin. More often than not, these delicious beans are farmed and harvested in lesser developed areas. One of the ways we coffee drinkers can make an impact and create a more loving and less conflicting world is by supporting 'Fair Trade Coffee'. I really believe that a more balanced, less oppressed world will lead to a more peaceful world.

Last night, I stopped by Folklore Coffee & Company and bought two 12oz bags of coffee from them.  By doing so, I successfully supported 'Fair Trade Coffee' (spot the logo on the bag) and two local small businesses at the same time because these are roasted locally by Square One Coffee! This is so easy to do. Will you join me?