Happy New Year everyone!

A colleague just forwarded this NY Times Op-Ed piece by Nicholas Kristof to me - here's a snipet:

Here’s a question for the holiday season: If a businessman rakes in a hefty profit while doing good works, is that charity or greed? Do we applaud or hiss?

A new book, “Uncharitable,” seethes with indignation at public expectations that charities be prudent, nonprofit and saintly. The author, Dan Pallotta, argues that those expectations make them less effective, and he has a point.

(you can read the full article here)

It's a controversial and difficult topic, but I find a ton of wisdom in Dan Pallotta's point of view and would love to hear what you all think.

TAGS: nonprofit, opinion, Kristof, Pallotta

EMAIL IT PERMALINK0 COMMENTSADD A COMMENT

Hey Everyone! You may remember First Book from a challenge a few months ago where you were invited to share stories about your favorite book from childhood as well as vote for which state you believe deserved a donation of 50,000 books. Well, I am pleased to announce that over 250,000 votes were cast and Kentucky was the winning state. Thanks to everyone who voted!


I have some FANTASTIC news from about a new challenge where First Book has teamed up with Disney in preparation of the release of their new holiday film Bedtime Stories. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of my parents reading me bedtime stories, and by sharing my memories I can help a child receive his or her first book. Your memories can help needy children receive books too! For every memory shared, Disney is donating a brand new book (up to 250,000) for First Book to distribute. Just go to Your First Book’s Blog and leave a comment about a memory. It’s just that simple!


Bedtime Stories opens in theatres on December 25th and stars Adam Sandler and Keri Russell. I am very pleased that First Book is involved in the promotion of this heartfelt comedy. You still have a few days to share the care, so please remember those in need this holiday season and allow Disney to donate to First Book in your honor. This is a free way to impact a child’s life.

Happy holidays everyone! Hope to read your memories soon! Maybe I’ll see you at the theatre.

TAGS: First Book, Disney, Bedtime Stories, Adam Sandler, New Books, Kentucky

EMAIL IT PERMALINK0 COMMENTSADD A COMMENT

Hey Readers! I wanted to let you all know about an awesome contest that Care2 is conducting to help animal shelters win a donation of $10,000. All you have to do is vote for your favorite animal shelter, and once the votes are tallied the shelter receiving the most votes will receive the donation. Voting ends December 30th, so please spread the word!

The contest is called "A New Year of Hope for Animals" and your vote can help spread the word about the need for pet adoption. Please cast your vote, and help 2009 bring hope to homeless pets.

After you have cast your vote you are given an opportunity to send e-mail notifications to your friends about this awesome contest. If you live in Utah, please help me and other animal advocates vote for Utah's No More Homeless Pets.

Thanks!


ps. that picture up top is my cute dog Cartman

TAGS: No More Homless Pets, Care2, donation, animal advocates

EMAIL IT PERMALINK1 COMMENTADD A COMMENT

Hey Readers! Hope everyone is doing well as we make our way into the holiday season. Like many of you, I am having a bit of a difficult time finding the perfect holiday gifts for many of my loved ones. I am a huge reader and a proud advocate for a green economy, and love to share my passion with others. This year I decided it would be fantastic if I could share my passion with friends and family in the form of gifts.

Many of you may remember one of my favorite green companies, Eco-Libris. Eco-Libris makes it easy for gift-givers to find affordable green-themed books by visiting their website and reading The Green Collar Holiday Gift Guide for Book Lovers .This gift guide is a five part holiday series where readers are introduced to 50 different book titles that feature green-themes.

Not only does Eco-Libris give an awesome introduction on each book, but they share with readers why people who are involved in a green economy recommend these books to others. I found an awesome vegetarian cook book (I want! Friends, this is your hint) that would be an awesome addition to anyone’s library who doesn’t eat meat.

Want to hear another plus? These books are all affordable and won’t break your budget. Don’t forget, once you’ve purchased your books you are invited to visit Eco-Libris and balance your books by planting some trees. So what are you waiting for? Eco-Libris has 50 gift ideas for you to sift through.

I am so excited for the New Year, and all the possibilities 2009 will bring. Happy holidays everyone!

TAGS: Green, Holidays, Loved Ones, Eco-Libris, Gifts, Passion

EMAIL IT PERMALINK0 COMMENTSADD A COMMENT

Check this out. Am I the worst mother in the world or what? Why in the world was my kid sent to school in her PJs? Am I totally asleep at the switch or what?

Well, I'm proud to say, I'm the kind of mother who wants her child to know how lucky she is to go to bed every night in her own home in her own pair of pajamas.

On this day, her school was helping out the Pajama Program, an organization that provides new, warm pajamas and books to children in need in the US and around the world, many of whom are looking to be adopted. The founders started the program when they found that many underprivileged kids, especially those in foster care, go to sleep in their street clothes or wearing nothing at all. Childhood memories of safe warm bedtimes inspired them to look out for these kids and see that they too could find comfort in the nighttime hours.

Girl's school held a pajama drive last month and collected collected over 500 pairs of pajamas that will be distributed to needy children and families all throughout Westchester County. They also got to wear their PJs to school that day, to add in the fun. The Pajama bus showed up at school and they got to stuff the bus with all their donations. A great way to support a wonderful cause, and have fun too.

It was wonderful seeing all the excited kids at the bus stop, wearing their nighttime wear. I'm not going give up my guesses for who simply went to school in the same clothes they slept in. No sir, not giving up any of them.



For more information on how to support the Pajama Program or to sponsor a drive at your school, visit their web site.

The Today Show also had a feature on Pajama Project. See what happened when the bus came to a school in Rye Brook, NY.

TAGS: pajama program, cool kids, today show

EMAIL IT PERMALINK0 COMMENTSADD A COMMENT

Hi everyone! Hope you've all been well. Sorry it's been a while but I just found out about this and was wondering if anyone participated.

I know gay rights are a touchy subject right now, but I thought this was interesting.

Apparently, Day Without a Gay encouraged those in the gay community to not call into work, but to call in "gay" and volunteer! Today is International Human Rights Day so it seems appropriate. Even those who aren't gay were encouraged to join in on the fun. If you participated I'd love to hear about it! I've been off the radar these days but am back in action.

Expect to hear from me again soon! :)

Happy Holidays,
Tiana

TAGS: Day Without a Gay, International Human Rights Day, Volunteer

EMAIL IT PERMALINK0 COMMENTSADD A COMMENT

I am the king of procrastination when it comes to gift buying for the holidays. I find it appropriate because I always end up being the "favored" Uncle who gives the BEST gifts ever (direct quote from my niece)! So it is true, those who wait...

This year I actually made up my mind early and decided that all my gift giving this year would be done with a new twist; they would all be based on social good. The idea was to teach my nephews and niece about empowering others through ourselves. And what's the best way to do that? Well...duh, to buy socially conscious gifts that empower, sustain, and invest in others.

I am a person of little time and full of thought, and I'm currently on my sabbatical so I am being extremely selfish of that said time. Fortunately for me, my gift giving idea was fully solved/executed by MicroPlace. For as little as $20 you could invest in honor of someone and that "someone" can receive an artisan Chilean piggy bank as a gift. Best part...you keep the investment, they get the pig, and someone in Ecuador (my investment location choice) is getting a much needed micro loan.

So what do "Pigs In Zen" have to do with this blog post? Well first off, its a great song by Jane's Addiction. Secondly, when we think of money and investments, we think of the old piggy bank, right? And Zen, that emphasizes "experimental wisdom"...and this was definitely an experiment in gift buying, that could potentially blow up in my face and I could be referred to as "that Uncle" who gave "unwise gifts".

And honestly, I thought it was a great title for a blog post ;-)

It's not too late to buy a piggybank for someone for this holiday season, and if they're young (like my nephews), they will have no idea you're actually benefitting from the gift as well. No one said there was anything wrong with being a "socially good scrooge" in this economy :)

TAGS: microplace, investment, Chile, piggy bank

EMAIL IT PERMALINK0 COMMENTSADD A COMMENT

Being from New York, we get to watch the media take down our sports stars as a sport in itself. And when he came to the Giants, Eli Manning was certainly not spared that treatment. Newspapers would point to the record of his brother Peyton and ask why he wasn't our QB. Bloggers would gripe about whether we expected too much too soon. But all through it, Eli proved to be a class act, keeping his head down and focusing on the game. It all came together this past January at Super Bowl XLII when they beat my husband's beloved New England Patriots 17-14. Eli got the monkey off his back and matched his brother's record, really in record time when you think about it, which got all of us wondering how scary good this guy could turn out to be.

Well, now we know how "good" he really is. He's got an auction up on eBay for a once in a lifetime experience with him. You can meet him at Giants Stadium for a tour, lunch and photo opp. Really, what better gift could you find for the Giants fan in your life (cough, cough, hi honey!) Proceeds from the auction will benefit St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers, a wonderful healthcare resource for the entire NY area and are earmarked to support uninsured pediatric patients. I've certainly been proud to have him as our QB, even more so now, knowing what a big heart he has.

As for me, the closest I'll probably get to Eli was when I toured Gillette Stadium's visitor locker room and got to commune with his jersey and helmet. Ah, can't wait to see who wins this one!


See y'all in Tampa, ya hear?!?

View Auction

TAGS: eli manning, new york giants, football, nfl

EMAIL IT PERMALINK0 COMMENTSADD A COMMENT

We are in the thick of the holiday season now--can't you just smell the chestnuts roasting and taste the eggnog? This is undoubtedly my favorite time of the year, but if there's one thing that strikes fear deep in my heart, it's the thought of what presents I'll get for my loved ones!

Yes, I confess, I'm one of those people who agonizes over what to get someone. I want my gifts to be thoughtful, unique, and something that shows that I actually took the time to think about exactly what they'd want—and didn't just run out to buy any old thing. I'm hoping that my decisions will be vastly easier to make this year, though, because eBay Giving Works, WorldofGood.com, and MicroPlace have teamed up to highlight all kinds of different products that would not only meet all the things on my checklist, but they go even a step further: all of these potential gifts would make a difference in someone's life.

You can find things like jewelry, Fair Trade chocolate (my personal favorite :)), apparel, candles--and you can even make an investment in honor of someone you love. Getting to do good while doing one of my favorite things (shopping, natch!)?? Doesn’t get any better than that :)

TAGS: holidays, shopping

EMAIL IT PERMALINK0 COMMENTSADD A COMMENT

Meet my friend Cassie. She's 9 years old.

Truth be told, she's not strictly my friend. She's my daughter's best friend. But no matter. She's one of my heroes.

Cassie decided to help someone. Someone she's never met and isn't likely to meet. She decided to particpate in Pantene's Beautiful Lengths campaign. By giving up 8 inches of her hair, she's helping to create a wig for a woman fighting cancer. To allow her to boost her self esteem and feel better while fighting this dreaded disease.

When I asked Cassie why she did it, she replied non-chalantly that many of her friends did it, so it sounded like something good to do. As you can see here, her hair was pretty long.



You can imagine that cutting your hair that much wouldn't go unnoticed. She was a bit shocked at first, but hearing so many of her friends tell her how great her hair looked at shoulder length, and getting well deserved props for her good deed made her feel great. Just as great as she made someone else feel. And that's why I wanted to tell the world about her today.

TAGS: pantene, beautiful lengths, hair donation, wigs, cool kids

EMAIL IT PERMALINK0 COMMENTSADD A COMMENT