Given the devastation of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit China on Monday, China’s Ministries of Health have issued an appeal for blood donations to help victims who were injured in the earthquake.

My husband has a lot of friends and co-workers in China that he has met over the years through work. I’ve met some of them too. He just got back from his last trip at the end of January, and I’m so glad he isn’t there now. They are awaiting news to hear how everyone is, but a lot of communication is down and right now it’s nighttime in China. Even while food, medical aid and supplies are being rationed out and are in short supply, there is no rioting, fighting, stealing or looting happening there. The Chinese have an old adage that translates in English to “Eat Bitterness”. Simply put, deal with the cards you are holding.

So, if your healthy… and not pregnant, I encourage you to make an appointment to donate blood today. There will probably be a long time need for it as rescuers locate injured survivors. There are 26,000 people missing in addition to the 15,000 that have already been confirmed dead. Many of them were school aged children and their teachers who were attending school when the quake hit at about 2:20 in the afternoon. In an event like an earthquake, injured victims can survive for great lengths of time trapped under the concrete and debris that fell around them. The need for blood will be great in the days and even weeks to come as they care for the already 64,000 people who have sustained trauma and injuries, and rescue more survivors.

That’s all. Give Blood. Save a life. Spread the word.

For me, I am going to do something a little different this year. 

This year, I am going to be sending a special ecard. Women for Women International is doing something amazing. When you go to their Mother’s Day homepage, you can read about Elizabeth and her story of triumph, and you can also send a special ecard to your favorite Mom that can help change the life of a Mother who is a survivor of war. On the website they explain it best…

 “Your Mother’s Day Donation Makes 3 Women Happy.

You get the gratification of knowing you’re helping a woman survivor of war, the woman you honor feels the special joy of being loved and a woman who lives half a world away gets the tools she needs to build a better life.”

I’m not sure if it can get better than that. So grab your credit card, head on over to Women For Women International’s Mother’s Day page and make three women happy with a click of a button.  This challenge, you can’t pass up!

Happy Mother’s Day to all!

On Sunday, we grabbed the kids and a neighborhood friend and we took a walk around the neighborhood. It was amazing to see the amount a trash we picked up in our “clean suburban” neighborhood.I knew we were doing the right thing when Z Man (the 5 year old) said,”We are doing something that is good for the earth.”

I was filled with pride and all I could say was, “You bet, buddy!”

~ Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man

There are over half a million children in the foster care system in the United States today and I am partially to blame.  As a board member of SCAN (Stop Child Abuse Now) I know that our organization, through the DSS and courts, is responsible for making recommendations that sometimes call for removing endangered children from their family members.

I can’t imagine anything more frightening to a child than being taken from their family and placed in a home with total strangers.  Despite the abuse, most children desperately want to stay with their natural family.  However, over 40% of children in foster care are with non-family members.

A very close friend of mine has been a foster child his whole life.  Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, he lived with a couple he still calls his parents after 46 years yet they never adopted him because he was their source of income.  Some of his stories would make you cry; not just because they are tough to hear, but because you realize that even the little morsels of care he received made him grateful.  He defends them to this day despite it all.

Thankfully, most foster parents provide a loving safe haven for children.  According to the non-profit organization FosterClub, abuse is the number one social concern among teens in the U.S.  Clearly a foster home offers a sense of protection.  But, beyond the fear of abuse, how do foster children cope with the typical struggles that go along with growing up? 

Thanks to organizations like FosterClub, there are wonderful resources available for foster children.   FosterClub is a non-profit organization created to “provide encouragement, motivation, information, education, and benefits for foster youth.”  Their 3 websites:  FosterClub.com, FosterClub.org and Fyi3.com were created for a place for kids to got to ask questions, learn about other successful foster youth, share opinions about their own foster experiences, get recognition and support for overcoming obstacles, enter contests and more according to their website.

They also provide publications to help the youth,  events especially for the youth, and even an outreach program where foster kids can work with child welfare professionals to develop effective ways to communicate wtih foster children.

FosterClub.com servers as their primary communication tool with youth and is a “hub of information related to foster care, including articles written by young people..message boards, contests and even biographies of famous people who grew up in foster care.  It’s youth-friendly, interactive, and available 24/7″.

FYI3.com is a website designed for youth preparing to transition out of foster care.  It offers an incredible array of resources to help the youth become independent.

FosterClub.org  is their website designed for adults; particularly those who support and care for young people in foster care.

In a world where foster youth may feel different, alone or isolated, it is so important for them to know there are such great resources available just for them. 

Want to learn more about how foster care works:

How Does the Child Welfare System Work?
http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/factsheets/cpswork.cfm

A Child’s Journey Through the Child Welfare System
http://pewfostercare.org/docs/index.php?DocID=24

How it Works: The Foster Care System
http://people.howstuffworks.com/foster-care.htm

A Family’s Guide to the Child Welfare System
http://www.cwla.org/childwelfare/familyguide.htm

Foster Care Glossary of Terms
http://www.fosterclub.com/fostercareFacts/glossary.cfm

Foster Care Questions & Answers for Youth
http://www.fosterclub.com/fostercareFacts/QA.cfm

Here Goes:

A: Awareness and Change of Attitude

B: Bringing Reusable Bags shopping with me

C: CFL’s - changing regular bulbs to Compact Fluorescent Bulbs in my house

D: Dryer Softener - no longer using softeners, but tennis balls in the dryer help to soften clothes

E: Educating myself about Global Warming, Climate Change and Living Green by reading books, watching documentaries and web research

F: Full Loads only in Dishwasher and Clothes Washer

G: Garden, growing vegetables in raised boxes over the lawn in the backyard

H: Helping my children learn about saving energy/water, recycling, not littering and working in our garden

I: Inform people through my blog at Mothers Fighting for Others

J: Jet Dry - no longer use in dishwasher

K: Keeping the car in good working order, tires inflated properly to get best gas mileage

L: Laundry, using plant-based laundry soap

M: Mail - receiving bills by email, canceling unwanted catalogs, recycling leftover junk mail

N: Napkins - using cloth napkins instead of paper

O: Organic Vegetables, Organic Cotton - purchasing local organic food and organic cotton clothing if possible

P: Purchasing products made from Recycled Content

Q: Quit waiting for others to make changes, I’m the change I want to see in the world

R: Reusing items, recycling items

S: Sunshine - use sunlight as much as possible instead of lights

T: Trash - everytime I visited the beach last year, I made a deal with myself that I would pick up all trash wherever I walked that day (I had to pick up gross diapers left in the sand and all sorts of trash, but it felt really good)

U: Unplug small appliances like toaster and all chargers when finished, unplug computer at night

V: No V, but we installed a Whole House Fan and use it to cool the house instead of the AC

W: Water - conserving water by shorter showers, not running the faucet while doing dishes, sprinkler timers

X: No X, but I clean up all spills (spilled milk is daily with my 2yr old!) with rags instead of paper towels

Y: No Y, but I bought a worm bin recently and am excited to get it started and have worm compost for the garden

Z: No Z, but we avoid waste generating things like drive-thru coffee or food, the kids and I eat breakfast and lunch at home and I cook dinner 6 nights a week (usually I get one night off and we eat out)

Have a great weekend!

(I wrote this last night before bed.  At first, the list didn’t look long enough to me, but after thinking for a moment, I realized that I have done one new “green” thing a month for the last 2 years (when I first saw “Too Hot Not To Handle”), and I remembered my vow back then - One New Thing a Month.)