Reece's Rainbow

Photo Credit: Reece's Rainbow Logo

What do you do on payday? If you're anything like me, you already have things picked out, and a lot of the money "spent" before you even get your check! The American lifestyle puts many of us into the "must consume, all the time" mentality. Also, if you are anything like me, there isn't much left over for fun stuff. I have taken a hard look at my money, and have realized that the stuff (aside from bills) that I am spending the most on isn't truly making me happy! Then WHY am I spending money on that? Hmmm....

But lately instead of looking forward to the new thing I want to buy, I have found a different and much more worthwhile way to spend my money. And it does truly make me happy and feel satisfied, so I had to share! I have been picking a face "out of the crowd" each time I get paid, and donating to their adoption grant! How do I do that?

Well...each time I get paid, I go to Reece's Rainbow to read through the profiles, and I donate to the adoption grant of a special needs child waiting to be adopted.

Reece's Rainbow was started by a woman whose son has the diagnosis of Down Syndrome (aka Trisomy 21). She wanted to help the orphans with Down Syndrome of Eastern Europe, but she ended up also including children with various other types of special needs, and expanded the ministry to include Asia, Africa and South and Central America as well.

Unfortunately, in some developing countries, children with special needs do not receive the same level of care as they would in the United States. In some countries in Eastern Europe special needs children who are not adopted before their fourth birthday are transferred to institutions for those with special needs. What makes this even worse is that those institutions often receive very little funding, are unequipped to give the children the care and therapies needed to improve their condition, and there is often a shortage of food. Worse still, these children are sometimes restrained (tied to the bed so that they cannot fall on the floor or move freely about the room), and starved because of inadequate food supplies and/or under equipped caregivers. With these types of conditions, it is no surprise that these children do not survive long in these institutions.

Reece's Rainbow is not an adoption agency, but instead a site where special needs children are profiled, and individuals can contribute money towards their adoption grants. When a qualified family comes forward to adopt a specific child, the grant for that child can be applied to the cost of the adoption. As I am sure most people know, international adoption can be quite costly, and for some families cost prohibitive.

These special children need special families who will love and care for them and help them reach their greatest potential! By contributing towards an adoption grant of a child featured on Reece's Rainbow, you can help a family bring one of these precious children home.

So, next time you get your paycheck, please consider giving to the adoption of one of these deserving children. Even if it's $5 or $10 dollars that you can spare, that might be enough to get the ball rolling for a child!

So far, I have helped three kiddos get closer to finding a forever family. That's better than anything else I could have bought myself, and it has become something I look forward to on payday.

Take a minute to check out the "Homecomings" page to see so many happy endings!

Feed the Hungry by Playing a Game?

Too good to be true it seemed! But, after playing the vocabulary game on FreeRice.com I have already donated 1,000 grains of rice to the hungry! Then I added the button to the side of the blog to make it easy for you to go play!

They also have other subjects like math, science, geography, art history, and even foreign languages. More material will be added to each of these subjects shortly. This game gave my brain a little work out! The site starts you off on a basic level, and then adjusts the difficulty of the questions depending on your answers, so it will be a challenge for people of all ages.

For every correct answer you 20 grains of rice are donated to a hungry person somewhere in the world through the UN World Food Program. The sponsor companies pay for the rice according to how many questions you answer correctly.

My question was- why don’t they just donate the rice without anyone having to play the game? People are hungry now, not after I am done playing the fun little games! But the FAQ sheet on the FreeRice website was ahead of me on that one, and here is what they had to say: “FreeRice is not sitting on a pile of rice―you are earning it 20 grains at a time. Here is how it works. When you play the game, sponsor banners appear on the bottom of your screen. The money generated by these banners is then used to buy the rice. So by playing, you generate the money that pays for the rice donated to hungry people.”

See? Playing a game is necessary to donate to saving others from hunger on this site! Best justification I have ever heard. So take a break from whatever you are doing, go play a game, and give back!

*The FreeRice.com button is on the right side bar

NATIONAL ADOPTION AWARENESS MONTH!

November is National Adoption Awareness Month! I do not consider adoption to be volunteering in any way, shape, or form; and it is certainly not for everyone. However, adopting is a fantastic way to give back and change a life forever.

Even if you do not feel called to adopt, there are many ways you can help adopting families and the children left behind without a family. This is important throughout the year, but especially at the holiday times when family traditions are such a special part of the season.

So, although November might not be exclusively about adoption related issues, that will be a main focus throughout the month. Check back regularly as I have been saving up some posts on this topic!

To get you started, here are Eight Ways to Celebrate National Adoption Awareness Month by Michele S. Martin from iparenting.

Edited to add: Speaking of adoption, Cupcake, our foster puppy was recently adopted by an awesome family and she is reportedly very happy in her new home :) We'll see who our next foster doggy is!

Cupcake Update and a Question

Remember Cupcake? Well.... My fiance and I are fostering her short-term starting on Saturday! I am really looking forward to taking care of her this weekend, and I am hopeful that she is now one step closer to finding a great family to love her.

I also hope that she likes Happy Ta*ls Mini Hot Dogs because she has a pack with her name on them waiting for her!

Now for the Question: Even if you have not made extreme changes in your life because of the financial situation in our country (if you live in the US), what are some things that you have done to cut back? And, what are some things that you like to do for free/inexpensive entertainment?

What we have done to cut back: Turned off the A/C in the end of August and have not turned on the heat, turn off lights we are not using, un-plug appliances when they are not in use, and the big one...we don't have cable or internet right now. We use internet at (law) school, work, or cafes. We can pick up a few channels of TV, but we aren't really big "TV people," anyways. I think we are probably saving about $100.00 a month, possibly more.

That savings helps in several ways: We can work the same amount and have more money left over, which translates into less stress. And we have more time and energy (that we aren't using stressing over finances) to spend doing volunteer work or doing other fun things.

For free or inexpensive entertainment we plan to go to the park and play soccer and tennis this weekend. We may also (weather permitting) go on a great Fall bike ride, and have been going out to eat less. We also try to go to Costco on Sundays for sample day. That might sound cheap, but we really are buying things anyways while we are there, it's just always more fun on sample day :)

Someone Out There Needs You

I'm sure we have all heard the news, our country is going through a financial crisis. The politicians are talking about this crisis hitting "Main Street" and what this means to middle class Americans. Thankfully, even though times are tough and we have cut back on certain spending, my fiance and I are blessed enough to have a nice home, food on the table, and warm clothes to wear.

Unfortunately, not everyone has that luxury. With more and more foreclosures, where are all of these people going? I have seen news reports of families living out of their vans, or living in a tent at a campsite. And those aren't the worst of the stories. I'm not pointing fingers on whose fault that is, and each case is different, but it is definitely not the children's fault when their family is homeless.

The children, who need stability and security, can be traumatized when their family becomes homeless, and schooling often becomes an afterthought. When the parents have enough trouble just figuring out where they will live that night and what they will feed their children, you can't blame them if education is not their top priority. Or maybe it is, and the ends just aren't meeting. Whatever the situation, sometimes these homeless children need extra assistance with their education.

There are some great programs out there that facilitate volunteers spending an hour or more a week, helping children in homeless shelters or YMCA's with homework, tutoring, or general school support.

Here is more information homeless youth:

http://www.bisd.us/State_compensatory_UIL/homeless.htm

Here is a list of many organizations that help homeless youth:

http://www.zoominfo.com/Industries/foundation/charitable-organizations-foundations/tutoring.htm

Helping with schoolwork is obviously only one of the ways that you can help homeless youth. It is a growing problem in our country, especially now as economic times are especially tough.

Education is a window of opportunity for the youth of America. It is so very important in breaking the cycle of poverty. When a child is constantly being shifted from shelter to shelter, couch to couch, or place to place, gaps in education are highly likely. Without extra outside help, many of these gaps will never be filled, and educational progress is difficult when you don't understand the underlying concepts. How can you learn multiplication and division if you never correctly learned how to add and subtract?

Maybe you could help be a tutor, mentor, or friend to a child or teenager during a time of crisis in their life? If this appeals to you, please find an organization in your area and get involved.

Joyful?

It is so totally refreshing to find someone who is cheerful and joyful despite the goings on of life. No one can control what happens every second of their life, but people do have the amazing ability to choose joy in their hearts.

No matter your religious beliefs, this is really a lifelong lesson that everyone would benefit from learning. How to choose joy, despite the doom and gloom and the naysayers that may surround us. It is a hard, hard thing to learn, even for those of us who are generally the "glass half-full" type. But, as I am personally on this path, I have found it necessary to surround myself with teachers who have found that inner joy and can express or explain this journey to others. When I find an article or a person who I believe is really on that path, I think it is important to share with everyone.

Here is a great website, it is written by a Christian, but you don't have to be at all religious or Christian to identify with what this woman has to say.

http://liveinjoy.blogspot.com/

Check it out, and check back more often to get your "daily dose" of joyfulness. It's contagious!

It can't be coicidence that many faiths and old Eastern principles profess that finding joy is the PURPOSE Of life. Why should one go through life without giving the whole purpose a fighting chance?

It doesn't mean that you have to be blind to things going on around you. But if you can accept things as they are, be joyful, and go about making the necessary changes, all of these "enlightened" authors say things will undoubtly be better, that things will start coming to you. And, I don't know about you, but I could use some of that!!! So I am on this journey. Want to discuss? Leave a comment!

Here are some other great reads on the subject:

The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, by Dan Millman. Website: http://www.danmillman.com/

A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle. Website: http://eckharttolle.com/a_new_earth

Okkkkk!!! Sorry for the hiatus! I am back!

I have had a very busy summer but that is no reason to just give up and not continue this very worthy cause.

Sometimes its hard to decide exactly who I should talk about on here, and sometimes it is sooo easy! I try to only profile those organizations that I have either worked with, or have done extensive research on. I can't make any guarantees about how good or corrupt any group may be, but I do my best to only talk about the "above board" groups.

This is one of those easy times where I just KNEW who I had to talk about on here!

I love animals and lately have been bitten with the "I need a dog" bug. But, let's get real. I am in law school, live between two houses and like to be able to go on trips. That is not to say that I won't be ready for a dog in a few weeks or months, but I am not ready today.

So, when I saw Cupcake, my heart broke for her. She is only 6-9 months old and was scheduled to be put to sleep TODAY!!! But she is just a baby! How could someone do this to a baby? She has so much time ahead of her and if you look at her eyes you can tell she is a great girl.

Yep, thats Cupcake, up at the top!

Right? Isn't she just adorable? Exactly! So, with the aforementioned knowledge that my life is not perfect for making a lifetime commitement to an animal (their lifetime that is), I ventured out to try to help. I talked to my fiance and we agreed that we could foster her and look for another home. But we never finalized anything and my heart was breaking when I woke up this morning knowing it might well be her last day. I realize thousands of dogs are put to sleep every day, so you don't have to tell me I can't save them all. BUT I thought... I can save this one. She made me think of the "Starfish Story."

There was just something about her and I had to help. So I got up, got on the internet, and started googling shar pei and chow chow rescues. Those are her identified breed mixes, but I'm not sure she looks a ton like either one. But, they were an option where I could advocate for her. So as I pushed "send" on each one of the "Can you help Cupcake?" e-mails, I said a little prayer. Actually, a big prayer because I knew she was running out of time.

Not an hour later I got an email from Carol. I won't use her last name here for her privacy, but she is truly an angel and she made some calls and found a plan to work with me to save Cupcake!!!

We SAVED Cupcake!!! Talk about instant gratification! This woman deserves an award for the work she does. She is going to help find Cupcake a new family AND my fiance and I might still get to foster her for a little while. I have no problem pampering that adorable little face until her "forever" family finds her.

So here is the organization of the week:

U.S.A. Shar Pei Rescue Network
http://www.sharpeirescuenetwork.org/
Look for your state!

Please! Remember to be a responsible pet owner and spay/neuter your animal, do not buy your pet from a puppy mill, and don't forget about the breed rescues when you see a dog in a shelter that can be identified as a specific breed.

There are breed rescues for almost every major breed, and all you have to do is google the breed + rescue. You too can advocate for animals. They don't have to die in vien. If you can't find a rescue, you could always start one too!! There is information on how to start a rescue on e-how and many other sites.