21 May
We are joining the thousands of people across the country and around the world, who are praying for the victims in Oklahoma, Texas and other areas, who recently felt the wrath of violent tornados that ripped through their areas this week and last week.
We pray for courage, strength and hope that everyone affected by this natural disaster will soon rise in victory and stand mightier than they did before. God Bless!
7 May
Since the beginning of time, teachers have been the pipeline to learning, inspiration, aspirations, discipline and development. Remembering my teachers when I was in grade and high school were game changers for me. They knew my name, my parent’s name, all of my brothers, my sister who was the Valedictorian of her senior class and I do believe that they also knew my blood type and great-great-grandparents, since we’re on the subject here!
6 May
What are you and your family planning this week in order to kick off and commemorate National Family Reading Week? We are completely taken back by the alarming illiteracy statistics in this country. All too often, families do not have that quality time together to sit down and eat, get involved with recreational activities or to empower the family by reading together.
If you and your family have not engaged in spending quality time to read together, then this week is the ideal time to begin a regular schedule to do so. Make it fun and engaging for the whole family. This will encourage parents and children to pick up a good recommended book that the whole family can read, enjoy and participate in family discussions about the book once everyone has finished.
Reading has always been a fundamental requirement of the learning process because it affects every facet of our lives. Let’s work together to help bring those alarming illiteracy statistics down and starting with National Family Reading Week, this is a good start off point to begin.
28 Apr
An Inspiration
By Ella Wheeler Wilcox
However the battle is ended,
Though proudly the victor comes
With fluttering flags and prancing nags
And echoing roll of drums,
Still truth proclaims this motto
In letters of living light, -
No question is ever settled
Until it is settled right.
Though the heel of the strong oppressor
May grind the weak in the dust;
And the voices of fame with one acclaim
May call him great and just,
Let those who applaud take warning.
And keep this motto in sight, -
No question is ever settled
Until it is settled right.
Let those who have failed take courage;
Though the enemy seems to have won,
Though his ranks are strong, if he be in the wrong
The battle is not yet done;
For, sure as the morning follows
The darkest hour of the night,
No question is ever settled
Until it is settled right.
O man bowed down with labour!
O woman young, yet old!
O heart oppressed in the toiler’s breast
And crushed by the power of gold
Keep on with your weary battle
Against triumphant might;
No question is ever settled
Until it is settled right.
* This poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox is found in public domain.
18 Apr
It is not uncommon to hear about bogus charities popping up after some tragic event has hit a community, city, state or in national proportions. Why do people do this? Quite obviously to take advantage of people’s generosity and to prey on the vulnerable.
We try to understand how and why individuals could do such heinous things to quite honestly, steal from those who need it the most. Pretending to be an organization working in the best interest of the victims, yet having evil intentions to fool donors, is about as lowdown as you can get.
Such is the case with the tragedy that occurred in Boston this week during the Boston Marathon festivities. It not only breaks our hearts, but infuriates us that during a celebration where parents brought their children and runners from around the country embarked in downtown Boston to enjoy a day of fun and for runners, personal achievement, a calculated evil act destroyed all of that.
Of course, like everyone else, we hope that those who are responsible for terrorizing, endangering, harming and murdering innocent people in Boston and everywhere else, will be brought to justice. Sooner or later, they will face the consequences of their actions.
In the meantime, we ask that you be cautious and wise in your contributions to those victims who suffered in Boston this week, as well as any other charitable collections, wherever they may be. It’s sad that we have to scrutinize and watch to whom we are giving to, all because of the charity-seeking rogues dressed in sheep’s clothing.
7 Apr
Enhancing literacy is something that is near and dear to our hearts. Favorite Things for a CAUSE is ecstatic about these organizations working to promote literacy. We applaud their efforts and want to encourage everyone to get involved by supporting one of these causes in case you are not supporting one in your local or state areas.
Reading Tree: A non-profit organization whose mission is to provide books to disadvantaged families in markets they serve. This organization distributed several million books to Title 1 schools and partnering charities since 2007. Reading Tree supports local libraries and literacy programs.
Literacy Inc.: A non-profit organization on a mission to fight illiteracy across America. The reach out to high school students in the continental United States.
Literacy for Incarcerated Teens (LIT): The only non-profit organization of its kind, LIT is working to end illiteracy among New York’s incarcerated young people by inspiring them to read. Through reading and literacy, young people can begin to focus their identities and outlooks more positively.
Reach Out And Read: Doctors, nurse practitioners, and other medical professionals incorporate Reach Out and Read’s evidence-based model into regular pediatric checkups, by advising parents about the importance of reading aloud and giving developmentally-appropriate books to children. Families served by Reach Out and Read, are reading together more often, and their children enter kindergarten with larger vocabularies and stronger language skills.
Book Aid International: This global organization increases access to books and supports literacy, education and development in sub-Saharan Africa. Book Aid International provided 507,787 new books to over 2,000 libraries and sent more than 30 million books to partner libraries since 1954.
United Through Reading: The mission of United Through Reading is to unite families facing physical separation by facilitating the bonding experience of reading aloud together. This is the nation’s first nonprofit organization to promote the read aloud experience for separated families and offers deployed parents the opportunity to be video-recorded reading storybooks to their children, which creates positive emotional connections and cultivates a love of reading.
We thank these organizations and the many others that we did not happen upon, who are reaching out to foster the ability to read better and combat the “ills” in illiteracy in our nation and around the world!
22 Mar
It's hard to imagine that there are millions of people around the world who lack access to clean drinking water. Would you believe that in places like Africa, people spend about 40 billion hours every year walking to get water, which is so polluted and contaminated, that it is the primary reason why 3 children die every minute from it? It is even more alarming to believe that with such devastating statistics, there are many people who do not believe that the global water crisis even exists.
