Gold Canyon to Hold the Largest Candle Fundraiser Ever for Children of Haiti

A leader in scented candles, body and home products, Gold Canyon is urging customers to aid the children affected by Haiti’s earthquake disaster by purchasing a fundraising candle between February 12, 2010 and March 31, 2010. For every fundraising candle sold online during this time, an average of $10.08 will be donated to Save the Children Haiti relief efforts. Gold Canyon’s goal is to raise at least $100,000 to help alleviate suffering and support the recovery and protection of Haitian children and families. Since the major disaster one month ago, Save the Children has provided lifesaving assistance, such as food, water, shelter and child-friendly spaces to over 300,000 children and families.

“We at Gold Canyon feel it’s essential to assist the children and families of such a horrible disaster,” said Gold Canyon Co-Founder Karen Waisath. “We are proud to support Save the Children – an organization that has such a rich history of ensuring the well-being and protection of children throughout the world.”

Gold Canyon, the makers of one of Arizona’s most beloved consumer brands and the most authentic scented products, has been creating “The World’s Finest”® candles, body and home products for over 12 years. The company offers a business opportunity for an independent sales force of over 26,000 Demonstrators. Gold Canyon’s fundraising program, which is utilized by thousands of schools, parent teacher associations and sports teams, is also well-known for its high profitability. Gold Canyon’s fundraising candles are available in 15 quality fragrances including Clean Sheets, Cinnamon Vanilla and Fresh Orange.

To purchase a fundraising candle, please visit http://goldcanyon.com/ or contact a local Gold Canyon Demonstrator.

For more information about Save the Children’s Haiti relief efforts, please visit http://www.savethechildren.org/.

The Walmart Foundation and CARE Launch Agricultural Economic Development Initiative in Peru

The Walmart Foundation and CARE today launched the Peru Agricultural Economic Development Initiative, which seeks to help 2,300 small-scale farmers in Peru. The program is expected to increase participants’ incomes by 30 percent and create more than 300 new jobs in the region.

Through this initiative, women in Peru will become more involved in their family’s farming operations. In addition, farmers will improve their agricultural operations, expand production, and gain better access to both local and export markets.

The project will focus on developing more productive artichoke, white corn, avocado, and other fresh vegetable value chains. Technical assistance providers will work closely with the growers to implement strong agricultural, environmental, and water resource management practices, strengthen business and negotiating skills, promote access to credit, and develop relationships with local buyers and exporting companies. The project will take place in the Huaylas, Yungay, Carhuaz, Huaraz and Ancash provinces in the north-central highlands of Peru.

$1 million grant to CARE for projects focusing on empowering impoverished women in Peru, Bangladesh and India through education, job-training and entrepreneurial support programs. This project is part of a series of initiatives to elevate women from poverty worldwide. Globally, women make up 70 percent of the one billion people living on less than a dollar a day and work two-thirds of the working hours, produce half of the world’s food, yet earn only 10 percent of the world’s income and own less than 1 percent of the world’s property.

For additional information visit www.walmartfoundation.org

Michael Baisden Launches One Million Mentors Campaign To Save Kids

Nationally acclaimed radio personality Michael Baisden has created a campaign to encourage one million Americans to sign up as mentors for children in need through a national outreach effort. The One Million Mentors Campaign to Save Our Kids will launch with its first event in Dallas on Feb. 17 and hit the road to visit 72 cities in a campaign-themed bus. At each tour stop along the way, Baisden will host mentoring forums in partnership with local mentoring organizations and affiliates of Big Brothers Big Sisters, National CARES Mentoring Movement and 100 Black Men.

With more than 14 million young people in need of a mentor (source: mentoring.org), the tour will visit a total of 72 markets including New Orleans, Nashville, Miami, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Saint Louis, Chicago and Washington, DC. At each event, participants will have the opportunity to hear firsthand accounts as local mentors share their personal success stories of working with children in their community. Representatives from local mentoring programs will be available to register qualified adults for training and ultimately match them with area children on waiting lists for mentors.

In addition to driving registration for new mentors, Baisden will also be raising funding for mentoring programs across the tour markets by matching contributions from participants up to $350,000. The Michael Baisden Foundation, which is dedicated to providing educational support in communities, will then direct the funds toward local mentoring programs.

The Michael Baisden Show is a four-hour afternoon radio program airing Monday – Friday from 3-7 p.m. ET. Hosted by New York Times best-selling author Michael Baisden, the entertaining show combines the best in music, comedy and social commentary to inspire real change across America. It is heard in 22 of the top 25 Urban radio markets, reaches more than 4.6 million listeners each week, airs on more than 70 affiliates and is syndicated by Citadel Media.

For more information please visit http://www.onemillionmentors.com or text MENTORS to 90101.

Geneva Scouts Raise $4000 for American Diabetes Association

It was an adventure that took 12 days over 750 miles and counted one broken collarbone as the only causality. 14 Geneva Boy Scouts from Troop 37 arrived home at the Geneva Metra station after departing on bicycles at 5:30 a.m. July 24 from Geneva’s Mill Race Cyclery for Niagara Falls. The boys, who ranged in age from 14 to 18, arrived at the Falls on Aug. 6 and took a train back to Chicago.

During the course of their trip Troop 37 raised about $4,000 for the American Diabetes Association through pledges and donations. The Troop was inspired to take up the cause because fellow Scout Jacob Haas, 14, has Type 1 diabetes.

The boys, along with a crew of seven troop leaders and volunteer parents, rode between 20 to 80 miles a day. The good times were smoothly rolling until Aug. 2 when dad Chris Adler attempted to jump a manhole cover with his bike, fell and broke his collarbone in two places.

The Scouts riding with Adler quickly responded by stopping traffic on the road and calling 911. Adler was treated at a hospital, released and rode out the rest of the trip in one of the two supply vans following the troop.

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Source: The Daily Herald

Thanks to @missbee10 for giving us this story

‘No More Homeless Pets” Courtesy of Best Friends Animal Society

Honoring “Homeless Pets Day”, I wanted to highlight the best friends society.  Through their nationwide movement “No More Homeless Pets” they bring about a time when homeless, unwanted animals are no longer being destroyed in shelters, and when every healthy dog or cat can be guaranteed a good life in a caring home.

Best Friends’ No More Homeless Pets campaign created a new vision: A grassroots effort to place dogs and cats who were considered “unadoptable” into good homes, and to reduce the number of unwanted pets through effective spay and neuter programs.  Since then, the number of dogs and cats being destroyed in shelters has fallen to approximately 5 million a year.  There has been much progress,but there is still much more to do.
Best Friends provides information, assistance, and training to people and grassroots groups who are looking to create no-kill communities.

For more information visit www.bestfriends.org.

 

NCAA Encourages Pre-Game Handshakes

Coast to coast, players and coaches from each pair of opposing teams in the NCAA are being urged to walk onto the field for a pre-kickoff handshake. See folks? We can all play nice. Officials hope it sets a tone for sportsmanlike behavior on the field and in the stands. “It is symbolic,” says former Baylor coach Grant Teaff, who heads the Texas-based American Football Coaches Association. “But it is, we think, a very important initiative.” The onetime, opening-day gesture expands on a clause in the AFCA’s ethics code that calls for coaches to exchange a handshake before games. Teams will spread across the middle of the field, shake or fist-bump or whatever, and be back off in an estimated four minutes.

Source: USA Today

2 yr. Old Survives After 18 Minutes Under Water

This may have happened almost a year ago, but this story is still remarkable.  September 2008 the then 2 year old Oluchi Nwaubani fell into a swimming pool in London. At that time of year the water was freezing cold.

7th Grader Saves Man From Drowning

NBCPhiladelphia.com

Neal Simon has a black belt in karate, can now add “saving lives” to his list of “What I Did on Summer Vacation” when he enters the seventh grade this year.

Neal was riding his bike along the lake at Two Log Campground in Honey Brook, Pa., Aug. 1 when he saw a man flailing in the water. Without hesitation, Neal jumped into the water and pulled 53-year-old Howard Anderson to safety.

Anderson’s canoe had capsized and his feet became tangled in some branches. “I was scared…me and God were talking,” said Anderson, who admitted he isn’t a good swimmer.

“I got into the water and told him to calm down and I got my hand into his and just brought him back up,” Neal described. The 70 lb. kid just finished taking a water rescue course at his local YMCA.

Anderson said that no one else was in the area, and if it wasn’t for Neal, he could have drowned.

A manager at the campgrounds told The Daily Local News that she was surprised to hear what Neal had done, saying that he’s usually “a little troublemaker.”

“I felt, like, really happy that I saved someone from drowning, cause, like, no other 12-year old kid would do that,” Neal said.

Neil’s age didn’t seem to matter to Anderson who simply said: “That’s my hero.”

Chicago Historian Preserves City One Building At A Time

A large, metal panel the color of molasses sits on a ledge — alongside pieces of the Wrigley Building and Navy Pier discarded during restorations — in a hallway leading to the office of Tim Samuelson, Chicago’s cultural historian.

It was once light tan, once part of the ceiling at the 708 Club on 47th Street, where Muddy Waters served up his brand of the blues in the ’50s. Decades of cigarette smoke have added a dark, syrupy layer.

“I wouldn’t wash that piece for anything,” says Samuelson, who rescued it several years ago while showing the club to a German journalist. “I liked the idea that this was part of this club and this environment and that it once vibrated to the sounds of the early electrified blues.”

That piece embodies — if a sheet of metal can possess such powers — Samuelson’s passion for preserving Chicago’s architectural and cultural history, its glamor and its grit. A Louis Sullivan-designed baluster, removed after a 1968 fire, from Carson Pirie Scott & Co. A chunk of Frank Lloyd Wright‘s long-gone Francis Apartments on 43rd Street. Eliot Ness’ handcuffs. A back-flush toilet. Veg-O-Matics and Pocket Fishermans.

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Singer Ashanti Joins the Boys & Girls Club Child Advocacy Campaign

BE GREAT is a nationwide initiative by Boys & Girls Clubs of America to highlight the major issues affecting today’s young people, and the key role community-based organizations like Boys & Girls Clubs play in helping kids graduate from high school, achieve a healthy lifestyle and develop good character traits. The integrated campaign, created pro bono by McCann Worldgroup in San Francisco, focuses on successful alumni who serve as living proof that Club programs work. It includes a new Web site (www.BeGreatAmerica.org) where the general public can find useful resources and compelling stories about the diverse lives touched by Boys & Girls Clubs. The site also includes a Club locator to help visitors find a nearby Boys & Girls Club where every child is welcome and volunteer support is appreciated.

The billboard featuring Ashanti is the latest in a series of ads depicting the childhood photos of Club alumni, the BE GREAT message and Web address. Thanks to a partnership with the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA), the lead trade association representing the outdoor advertising industry, thousands of billboard ads will be donated by local companies across the country. In New York, Clear Channel Spectacolor will debut the Ashanti BE AMAZING message on an electronic billboard in Times Square at Broadway and 47th Street.

Additional campaign components include: TV/radio PSAs, print ads, outreach to teens via BGCA’s My Club My Life Web site (www.myclubmylife.com) and a YouTube channel, an op-ed series addressing key issues facing young people, and issue-based forums and media templates to help local Clubs advocate on behalf of youth.