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Making A Difference In Our Own Ways

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

Volunteerism. The word inspires some people to take action and makes others run and hide. These days, it seems, it’s doing more of the former. One year after President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, Yahoo! uncovered some pretty amazing stats about the increase in online searches for volunteering. In fact, from May 2008 to April 2009, searches for “volunteer work” had a 653% spike on Yahoo! Search. Perhaps it’s an online Obama effect, unemployment freeing up people’s time or even the Web and social media making volunteer opportunities more accessible. Whatever the case, it’s good news.

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We asked the Yahoo! Mother Board to share their experiences with volunteerism and got a lot of great perspectives. It’s All About Balance shared her heartwarming story of how people stepped up to help her when she reached rock bottom. And now she’s paying it forward and teaching her children wonderful life lessons. Hormone Colored Days’ husband made the most of a tough situation as well by volunteering while he was out of work.

Some moms jump at the chance to be involved in every opportunity that comes to them. Bonngamom is one of the many Yahoo! Mother Board members who loves to volunteer at her kids’ school to connect with her children—and get a peek into their world beyond home. I love the approach Coast 2 Coast Mom has taken with her family who has moved frequently. They explore and connect with their community by participating in various charity walks and races in the greater NYC area.

As for me, I couldn’t help but relate to JavaMom who said that she falls into both categories: super-volunteers and slacker moms. Just like her, if you ask people in my various worlds, I’m one extreme or the other. While I would love to be an active part of my neighborhood (which has a bizarre, but wonderful number of ways to be involved), my son’s preschool, local charities and friends’ various walks, races, etc., I can only do so much well.

I’m trying to learn to say yes and no—at the right times. I was inspired by Chefdruck Musings who said, “Now when I say yes, I never do it in the heat of the moment, regardless of the pleading eyes directed at me. I take the time to consider the good my contribution will do and how much time it will take away from my family.” The bottom line for me is that I want to enjoy the volunteering I do, dive in and do a great job and inspire my kids to be do-gooders in the process.

Happy volunteering…however you choose to do it!

*For more posts on Volunteerism read the blogs of the Yahoo! Mother Board!*

Posted in Family time, Giving back, Parenthood, Tips and tricks | No Comments »

A Pay-It-Forward Movement That Moved Me…and Hundreds of Others

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

How do you turn $93 into over 165,000 meals for hungry families? Well, my friend, Carolee Hazard, has done just that. And totally inspired me in the process.

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Here’s how it happened. One day, back in August, Carolee was in line at Trader Joe’s. The woman in front of her had lost her wallet and was a bit panicked. Carolee generously—though not without wondering if she’d made the right move—paid the $207 tab and gave the woman her address so she could repay her. Later, on Facebook, Carolee posted that she was “vacillating between feeling really good and very, very stupid”. Friends reassured her that she had done the right thing and good karma was sure to follow. They were right. (more…)

Posted in Family time, Food and dining, Giving back, Parenthood, Place: Sunnyvale | No Comments »

Giving Back

Monday, October 19th, 2009

One of my extracurricular activities involves the American Heart Walk put on by the American Heart Association. Once a year my whole family raises money and does the heart walk on a Sunday in September.

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We do it to honor my father who had a heart transplant 12 years ago and the donor family who unselfishly donated the heart of their loved one. This year’s walk was this past weekend. Although we didn’t raise as much as we have in past years (I think the economy really had an effect), we did raise over $1000 dollars! We figure it’s the least we can do as a “thank you” for our good fortune. My Dad’s good fortune at getting a new heart and living with it, healthfully, for the last 12 years is something to be thankful for!

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Posted in Family time, Giving back | 1 Comment »

Go forth and pay it forward, mamas

Monday, August 10th, 2009

I am a firm believer in the “pay it forward” mantra. My family and I practice it regularly in many forms: donating time and money to charities, giving blood, participating in the America Heart Walk, loaning money through Kiva, and helping folks in need (we’ve been there for people in motorcycle crashes, kayakers who have broken their paddles and needed a tow across a lake, and regularly rescuing lost dogs).

But last week I had an experience that made me think of a new way to pay it forward… ”pay it forward, mamas.” Here is the story.

Earlier this year I worked with the Yahoo! Employee Foundation to secure a $32k grant for Parents Helping Parents (PHP). PHP is a tremendous organization that assists parents who have kids with special needs, including autism, Down syndrome, learning disabilities, etc. I have had the good fortune of utilizing PHP in my journey to understand and treat my daughter’s dyslexia. I was so thankful for their assistance and the good fortune that we have as a family to have the resources to most effectively deal with dyslexia. My daughter and I decided we needed to find a way to show our gratitude. The grant was what we did.

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