Southern California Wildfires | How You Can Help

Indeed, this is a dark hour for Southern California. Wild fires spurred by erratic Santa Ana winds and near drought conditions have engulfed more than 384 square miles, from the border of California and Mexico, to Santa Barbara. The estimates are constantly changing, and its hard to know exactly how many homes and businesses have been destroyed, but its easy to comprehend exactly how terrifying and traumatic this experience has been for those affected. One recent report stated that more than 1,000 homes and businesses in San Diego alone have been claimed by wildfires. 300,000 people have been displaced due to evacuations.

Please do not sit idly by.

The following is the link to the Greater Los Angeles Red Cross website, where you may find information on the aid efforts taking place at several locations in Southern California. While you have to be a registered Red Cross volunteer to physically help out, there is information if you would like to donate to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund which enables the volunteers to shelter, feed and counsel the evacuated victims.

Los Angeles Red Cross Aids Thousands of Wildfire Evacuees.

To get up-to-date info on all the fires, check out ABC 7 Eyewitness News website.

For those affected by these devastating fires, I know I may speak for everyone at Mothers Fighting For Others when I offer our love, support, and prayers for a safe and swift ending to this terrible ordeal.

Above is a photo from NASA’s website of the California’s Fire. Click on it to get full details.

Fashion Gives Back | Glamour and Malaria No More Partner To Save Lives

Every woman loves to shop, at least a little bit. I know I do. And when I read that Glamour Magazine has partnered with five designers to produce t-shirts benefiting Malaria No More, I thought cha-ching! What better way to spend my money, than that of saving lives and looking good at the same time?

These shirts are simple, yet adorable, and they serve an amazing purpose as well.

Each year, more than 1,000,000 children in Africa die from malaria; from a simple mosquito bite. ONE MILLION! Think of how many bug bites your children received this past summer. Now imagine just ONE of those bites had the potential to kill them. Its terrifying and absolutely horrific.

Buying one of these designer t-shirts ensures that Glamour and Malaria No More will donate three insecticide-treated bed nets to three seperate families in areas with the most need.

Just one net WILL protect a mother and her children while they sleep at night.

Just one net WILL save a mother an immense amount of worry.

Just one net WILL save a child’s life.

You do the math. One t-shirt + One cause = Three families protected.

This feels like a no-brain-er to me.

Thank you, and Bon Voyage!

I am a 23 year old mother in her 2nd year of parenting. I’m tired, I’m grouchy, my hair is unforgiving, and I can’t remember the last time I did something for myself, let alone anyone else. You say “Save the world!” and I’m thinking “Save my nap!”. And nine months ago, I simply groaned at the idea of social change, hid behind my fear and pretended I couldn’t hear you.

I had made my choice.

You see, there IS a moment of choice. A moment when we look inside ourselves and dig for concern, for inspiration, for the drive it takes to launch inspiration into action. This moment may only last a split second but it makes the difference between standing up and taking part in change, or retreating back within our comfort zone, back within our fear.

I met Rocky, aka HeadMutha this past January. I had only just joined CafeMom when I discovered her witty, often hilarious, sometimes serious, but always interesting posts. I made the assertion, almost immediately, that she must be crazy. Six kiddos! I had only one and I felt pretty batty as a result. As time passed I was surprised to find that she was not only eloquent, funny, and down to earth, but she had motherhood figured out! She had motherhood figured out AND she was an activist for children in Africa! I remember thinking, “Wow, this is someone I want to know!”

Somewhere in my heart of hearts, I have always dreamt of making a similar impact on the world, but I really had no idea how to begin. So I kept reading. I read everything she wrote for several months, leaving messages and genuinely feeling very inspired, but unmotivated. I was convinced that any effort must be BIG effort, with BIG results and BIG changes. Who am I to tackle such things?

One afternoon in February, Rocky posted a journal called Inspired to do More and I was floored. I was astounded. Even this unique woman, who seemed to have such a clear vision, had at one point felt lost and overwhelmed. Suddenly it was so simple; everyone must begin somewhere. It finally clicked within my mind that I was not alone.

It’s been nine months since I last evaluated my decision. I feel my call for choice again. I feel the tug of responsibility, and as a more aware citizen of this globe, I can not back down. The opportunity is at my fingertips. I know that this path is daunting, that I may not make much of a difference, but I’m willing to try.

I have made my choice.

Rocky, I would like to say on this the eve of your trip to Kenya, that you have opened the doors to a journey I never imagined I had the strength to pursue, and helped me discover a choice I never had the courage to make before meeting you. I am consistently inspired by your passion and thankful for your guidance. I have many things to learn, and still often feel incapable, but I always remember that “We’re taking it day by day.” We’re all in this together. And while we may not be in Africa by your side, we are in spirit.

I believe I may speak for the folks here at Mother’s Fighting For Others, as well as everyone who supports our collective causes when I wish you an amazing journey in Africa and a very safe and enlightened return.

Darfur | Solar Cooker Project | Jewish World Watch

Providing a meal to our young is instinctual. As mothers, we all have to do it. You may hate to cook, you may love to cook, you may be the take-out queen, but no matter what, we have to feed our children. But what if this task is literally life-threatening? For a moment, please imagine the following story is yours.

Imagine you are a citizen, a woman, of Darfur, Sudan. Imagine the mad militiamen have killed most of your family. They have taken your boys and turned them into child soldiers, they have killed your brothers, your husband. They have raped your daughters. You have been chased you out of your homeland. You now live in a refugee camp with thousands of your townsmen, and many, many orphaned children.

Now imagine, despite your plight, you have found the courage and strength to take in several children orphaned by the violence in Darfur. They give you hope and a reason to see each new day. They may not be yours, but you feel obligated to love them, and care for them as if they were. Unfortunately, you have next to nothing, and provisions from relief agencies are scarce. The food you do receive is raw, and must be cooked. To cook anything, you need wood. And to find wood, you must leave the relative safety of the refugee camp. You must walk far to find what wood is left, as thousands of other refugees have picked the landscape clean.

You must do this, or the children you have devoted your existence to will suffer. You can not bare to hear their little voices cry out in pain. You know they could die of starvation. Every instinct in your body needs to find wood; needs to feed these innocent babies. But you are scared to start this search.

Why, you ask? Because searching for wood puts your life in danger. Bandits, Janjaweed Militiamen, are waiting for you or your fellow sisters to leave the safety of camp. You will be raped, tortured, beaten or branded if you are caught. You cannot fight back, you will be outnumbered. Who knows how long you will be gone, or if you will survive the walk back to camp.

This scenario sounds extreme, but I promise you it is not. Everyday, woman and young girls are raped, mutilated and beaten while searching for wood to cook food for their families. It is heartbreaking that such a necessary task can be interrupted by these brutal and senseless acts of violence.

Jewish World Watch, a member of the Save Darfur Coalition, has had enough. To answer the call for improved safety in several refugee camps in the neighboring country of Chad, they have developed The Solar Cooker Project. Their aim is to “empower and protect the woman of Darfur.” Imagine a contraption that is inexpensive to make, easy to carry, provides woman with job skills, and allows them to safely cook and provide for their families, all by using solar power? No wood necessary. The Solar Cooker Project and their partners KoZon, have linked arms to do just this. I urge you to click HERE to read more about these amazing devices and how they are empowering the woman of Darfur every day.

A $30.00 Solar Cooker Donation provides a family in Darfur with:

• 2 solar cookers.
• 2 pots
• 2 pot holders
• A years supply of plastic bags
• Skills training for refugee woman and girls

$30.00 is all it takes to help one family protect it’s woman! Thats all! My family will be going without movie rentals this month, and thats okay with us. Because as we eat our dinner each night, we will know that one more Darfurian woman is safe, and able to cook her family dinner as well.

Jewish World Watch has had enough.

And you know what? So have I. Have you?

L.A. Works | Engaging Volunteers in the Los Angeles Area

I moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 2004.

Soon after, I discovered that living here is intimidating. Its huge! As of January 2007, it’s estimated that there are more then 10 million people living in L.A. County. As with any large population there is high levels of poverty, homelessness, and pollution. And that means there are more reasons and possibilities to make a difference in the life of another.

10 million people is 10 million opportunities to volunteer.

We live in a busy, fast paced city and there are times when it is hard to set aside time to give back to our community. Luckily there is an organization called L.A. Works whose aim is to make your volunteering experience as easy and enjoyable as possible! Registration is simple and painless, and once you are in the system, you have access to roughly 400 different organizations. These range from the Gibbon Conservation Center, where you can volunteer with a highly endangered species of apes, to Angel’s Flight, a center that uplifts runaway and at-risk teens. The following is an excerpt from their website.

“Our Calendar Program offers up to 150 team-oriented volunteer projects each month that impact the most pressing social issues in L.A.. Projects include repairing wheelchairs, serving meals to the hungry, helping children with special needs, reading to kids, mentoring at-risk teens, providing companionship to seniors, landscaping parks and planting trees.”

Let me illustrate how easy this process is. Click on the above link. Review the calender events or use the Search Projects option to narrow your search to location or specific interest. Time commitment can vary anywhere from a couple hours, a whole day, ongoing or long term projects. Its entirely up to you. There will almost always be a Project Leader on site and by clicking HERE you can view information on how to become a Project Leader yourself.

As a mother, I firmly believe in leading by example.

The example I hope to provide my son is that of compassion, community and a sense of humanity for those around him. Thankfully I know that L.A. Works will aid me in this mission; many of their partnerships allow for involvement of children 4 years of age and up. It’s not an exaggation to say that I wait in anticipation for my son’s fourth birthday for this very reason.

In the coming weeks, I will commit to the Midnight Mission Family Housing program, which “attempts to break the cycle of homelessness for families by combining transitional housing with a supportive environment.” From 6:15-8:15 on Tuesday nights, I will be playing games, laughing and getting to know a group of children ages 3-12 while their parents attend counseling sessions. I don’t know exactly what to expect, but I do know this; I am so excited my heart feels it may burst.

Would you care to join me?

These Five Things

As a Human, a Woman, and an American, I am grateful for these five things.

1. My ability to publicly, expressively and proudly question the world around me.
2. My right to then seek those answers.
3. The ability to wear my sun-dresses as short as I’d like, drive a car wherever I choose, and live under the same roof as my boyfriend, who I am not married to.
4. My son’s right to a good, free education and when the time comes, access to college loans and financial aid.
5. And last, I am grateful for relative safety when I sleep at night.

I am grateful because I know in many other countries around the globe, these five things are not a woman’s right; they are not even a luxury. Sleeping in your own home can be deadly, education rare, and free speech unheard of. And for this I am lucky and grateful to live in America.

So tell me, what are you grateful for?