Think Bigg

Anyone interested in a trip to Ethiopia this summer?

If the answer to that question is “yes,” then perhaps you might also be interested in not only touring Ethiopia, but also in giving something back at the same time.  Heart + Passion puts it all together — a “heart for giving and a passion for travel” — and is organizing a trip this June for 10 like-minded folks.

According to Heart + Passion,

This is a very special Heart+Passion trip, bringing our travelers into direct, participatory contact with three NGOs—Turtle Will, which sponsors medical missions to the Omo Region; charity:water, which funds the excavation of wells throughout Ethiopia; and Medical Missions for Children, which will conduct its first mission to Ethiopia during our visit—to Gondar—where it will perform surgeries on children with cleft palettes.

A portion of the cost for the Heart+Passion trip will be distributed among the three charities; and our group will have direct involvement with each—-spending time as volunteers with Turtle Will, observing surgeries in Gondar with MMFC, and celebrating the opening of newly dug wells by charity:water.

Oh, if only Ellis were a bit older!

Before I sign off, I also wanted to give a quick shout out to our friend, Scott Laughlin, who pointed me to this post through his own blog, Vicinoti.com.  Scott is now the CEO of a very cool new biofuel company called Zymetis, which just announced  that it was named to the 2009 GoingGreen East 50 Top Company List.  Congratulations, Scott!

As the recession continues on, unemployment is at a 25-year high and as many as 1 in 10 Americans are now on food stamps.  Maybe the silver lining this time is that more people than ever before are also looking for a way to get involved and, thanks to Share Our Strength, if you can bake a cookie, you can help feed a kid!

From March 1st through July 31st, Share Our Strength is promoting the Great American Bake Sale!

It works just like the bake sales you remember from elementary school, but this time 100% of the proceeds go to end childhood hunger and Share Our Strength has provided all kinds of resources to help get you started.  Since 2003, more than 1.3 million people have hosted bake sales, raising nearly $5 million.

Why should you host a bake sale?  According to Share Our Strength, here a just some of the reasons:

1. 100% of the funds you raise help feed kids.
2. Funds you raise from your local bake sale stay local, supporting after-school and summer feeding programs in your community — food programs that hundreds and thousands of kids depend on.
3. It’s a fun solution with a large impact. You can host bake sale based on your schedule and in your community.
4. You don’t have to train for six months to run a marathon or make a large donation to make a huge difference!

Sign up now and do your part to feed the kids in your neighborhood!

It’s April already and, as you’re probably aware, Earth Day is upon us again (not to mention my birthday as well!).  Wikipedia describes Earth Day as a “day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment.”  (My birthday, sadly, has yet to make it into Wikipedia.)   In keeping with the spirit of the day, be sure to check out speesees‘ new “respeesees” program!

Here’s the deal according to speesees:

the scoop: when your baby outgrows his/her speesees, if you return the clothing to us, we will donate it on your behalf to one of several organizations in the area, to be used by the children of disadvantaged women. please contribute items that are in wearable condition!

what you get in return: in exchange for recycling your outgrown speesees, you will not only get warm fuzzies from helping children in need, but you’ll also receive generous discounts towards future purchases of speesees. The more you recycle, the more you save!

Depending on the number of items you recycle, you’ll get between 10% and 20% off your next order.  Help someone, shop at the same time…  my favorite kind of birthday present!

Following in the footsteps of the fabulous First Lady, who just planted her own kitchen garden about a week ago, I just thought I’d share some of photos of the garden we planted this weekend — tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, corn, pole beans, melons and herbs, to name just a few!  I’m hoping it gives a nice home to all of my beautiful compost…  stay tuned for the (hopefully) bountiful results!

In a major initiative to reduce the illness and death caused by malaria, World Vision has declared April 25th to be World Malaria Day.

World Vision is aiming to contribute to a 75 percent reduction in malaria cases, with the end goal of nearly zero preventable malaria deaths by 2015.

Why bother?  According to World Vision,

Malaria is one of the leading causes of death for children under 5 in the developing world, resulting in approximately 800,000 child deaths per year. Hitting Africa the hardest, malaria kills more than 1 million people each year — approximately 80 percent of whom are children (1) — and infects between 350 million and 500 million individuals. (2) Pregnant mothers and babies are particularly vulnerable. Every year, malaria is responsible for as many as 10,000 maternal deaths (3) and results in maternal anemia, spontaneous abortions, neonatal deaths, and low birth-weight babies.

Here’s how you can help:  Spend just $20 to give bed nets to children in infected areas.  Or sign the petition to ask Congress to increase our contribution to the fight to end malaria.  Even easier, just watch the video and tell all your friends on Facebook.  You may save a life from behind your laptop screen!