You are currently browsing the monthly archive for June 2009.
It’s time to get off your butt. It’s time to do something. And I don’t mean go to the mall and buy a new pair of shoes (unless you’re about to donate those shoes to someone who really needs them.).
It’s time to do something. For someone else.
President Obama has announced his plans for a summer service initiative, with a focus on economic recovery. That might sound too hard to tackle for many people. In fact, it might be so nebulous as to scare people away.
But let me tell you what service means to me, and how every little second we do something for someone else is a step in the right direction. A step toward recovery in every sense of the word. A way to step up and take part in a meaningful way.
I got together with a few friends of mine a couple years ago to start a new Kiwanis club that focused on serving our community in a different way. Ours is a family club, and we take that very seriously. We look for projects that not only give us a chance to do something great for our community, hopefully with a focus on children, but also something we can get our kids involved in-to teach them the importance of giving back. To teach them that life isn’t always so wonderful. That some people are not as fortunate. That sometimes people live in their cars. Some children don’t have even one book in their room to read at night. Some people don’t eat.
And a lot of these people are children.
I read a startling statistic the other day, and another one today.
There are approximately 100 million CHILDREN living in the streets in the world today. 100 MILLION.
Approximately one in every 50 children in the United States will face homelessness at one point in their life.
And here in Indianapolis where I live, it was reported today that there are 78% more homeless families in the city now than one year ago.
It’s frightening. And in this time of not knowing if there’s going to be a job tomorrow, or how you’re going to feed your kids, it’s something that has many in a horrified state.
So today, in honor of President Obama stepping up to the plate to call on ALL OF US to do something, I tell you: There’s something you can do. Go out and make a difference. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Call the Ronald McDonald House and set up a time to serve a dinner or make a donation. Donate food to a food pantry.
Just do something.
And if you want to join me and my awesome friends and all our (multiplying) children at one of our Kiwanis club projects, just drop me a note. We’d love to have you next time around!
Bubby painting a bowl to benefit a Habitat for Humanity hunger project, 2007.
Oldest son is playing Monopoly on Wii with hubby right now and he just landed on hubby’s space with three houses.
He now owes his daddy $10 MILLION in rent.
He’s flipping out. He does NOT LOSE WELL. He’s always been our competitive little guy.
And he just said to his dad: “Will you allow me to say a cuss word right now? Just this once??”
He’s 8.
At least he asked first.
Funny.
This photo of our oldest was taken several years ago … probably about 4 or 5 years now.
We’re at the beach, and he had gotten some of that nasty aerosol cheese whiz stuff on his finger. He was showing it to us and asking us to get it off his finger.
Of course, we were laughing and he didn’t know why. I grabbed the camera.
The best part is the look on his grandma’s face in the background as we took a photo of him and his sweet gesture. She was wondering why the heck we were making such a big deal about him flipping us the cheese bird. BECAUSE IT WAS FUNNY. Hee hee.
I have to admit I was a bit surprised today when I read in my local newspaper something that sounded, well, VERY familiar.
To be honest, the story isn’t something most people even care about. But when I noticed the headline on the homepage of the newspaper’s site, I clicked on it, interested to see how the story was reported, if there were photos of my “friend of a friend,” and if there was anything new.
I was surprised and a bit saddened to find, well, nothing I hadn’t already read.
In fact, I’d already read the story almost word-for-word. In a press release. Written by said “friend of a friend.” Sent to me days earlier in an e-mail.
Yes. That’s right. The story in said newspaper is almost exactly what I already read.
Hmm.
But where this gets interesting is the fact that there at the top of the page is a photo and byline from a certain reporter. A certain reporter I KNOW clearly did NO REPORTING to get this story.
Can you say copy/paste?
I can.
I’d like to see some harder hitting stories. I’d like to read stories that genuinely were reported. Written from the heart.
If our paid reporters at the state’s largest newspaper are COPYING and PASTING from press releases, then putting their byline on the story, what does that say to the state of journalism? How is this helping the industry’s current situation? Newspapers are dying. It sucks. But if this is the type of reporting we are going to get … well, I say … DIE, DIE, DIE. And I don’t want that to happen. I really, really, REALLY don’t.
But we expect more. We demand more.
When I was making a fuss about this earlier, my oldest was asking me what the deal was. Why I was so mad. Why dad and I were combing over both stories and making comments about the similarities (READ: LIFTED COPY). I had to explain it to him. Told him it wasn’t right. His reaction: “Yeah, that’s dumb. Why would you want to read the same thing two times?”
Ha. Yeah. Even he gets it.
