Food for the Soul

You wouldn't know it from the fact that I have a blog, or the fact that I work in a very service oriented field, but I am an introvert. I can talk and be loud with the best of them, but if I don't get my me time, I'm sort of a wreck. It also takes huge amounts of courage for me to go to any social event.

Due to that and some less than perfect timing (weeknights are hard) I didn't sign up immediately for the great blogger meetup/charity event that Missy organized awhile back. However, when the earthquake(s) in Haiti hit, and a last minute cancellation meant an opening, I felt like I had to participate.

I couldn't make it to the mixer earlier (which means I didn't meet as many people and didn't come home with a giant tomato can), but I did make it to the main event at Feed My Starving Children (FMSC).

You may have heard about them, they've been in the news a lot lately because their mission is to package nutritious meals to feed over a billion starving people around the world. One of the places they focus on is Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere. In Haiti, 80 percent live in abject poverty. As in, not a little poor, but impoverished and barely living. It is a country with a complex past and a variety of issues. Issues compounded to the Nth degree by the multiple earthquakes lately.

So, FMSC is a Christian faith based organization that raises money to buy the raw supplies, locations, and shipping, and gets volunteers to do the work, and feeds millions of people around the world. I always struggle with the faith thing since that is not the path I have chosen, but while it is clearly a huge part of why they do what they do, it wasn't presented in a way that I had any issues with. Hunger knows no faith, so when it comes to helping those that it effects, I can easily set aside my issues with how some people represent their faith.

It was a great experience. I got to meet some new bloggers, I got to finally hug in person some of my favorite local bloggers. I even got to see that my shredding has inspired some others. Now I'm wishing I had been able to make it for the mixer portion. Maybe next time.

Photo credit Darcie Gust.

For other views on the evening, see Missy's post as well as the links to everyone else.

'Tis the Season

For as long as I have wanted to be a parent, I have wanted to pass on to my child the enjoyment I have for doing things for others.

When I moved back Minnesota, I began really participating in community giving for the first time as an adult. I am sure that people are generous in NYC, but I never worked at the companies or hung out with the people who did that kind of stuff. When I moved back I didn't have the money, but I had time and organizational skills. Fortunately that was what the first company I worked for needed. Ever since then, I can't imagine not participating in adopting a family at the holidays. As of last year, it is now two families. I organize the family adoption at work, as well as adopting a family at home. This year will be the first year that I will be able to get M involved, and I am really looking forward to it.

I've already started planting a few seeds as we get ready for the season. We've talked about how we need to go through her toys to clean out her room and to give them to boys and girls who don't have toys. It will help clean things up before we add more at Christmas, help with next years taxes, and start teaching her to give. I was also able to ask for a family this year that has a kid closer to her age, to let her help me pick out gifts. The little girl in the family we adopted is 5 and loves Dora, so that shouldn't be a problem at all.

As she gets older, I have more ideas of how we can help teach her lessons about the importance of looking beyond your own needs. As someone who calls herself an atheist (though it is more complicated than that one word) it is something that I'm especially sensitive to. For the sake of starting a discussion, what do you do to help teach those lessons to your children? When did you introduce it?

I've listed a few of my favorites organizations, both local and national, along with some ways to get kids involved.

Toys For Tots - Without question, one of the coolest things that Marines do. If this year is like past, their largest need is for toys for teens, and the very small. Even picking out your baby's favorite toy and giving a new one to the organization is a way even the smallest can get involved.

St. Anne's Place - This is where we adopt a family from. Both St. Anne's and Ascension place serve homeless women and their families. They are looking for everything from small personal care items, to people to adopt entire families. Other local organizations are Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army. Both are national organizations that run similar programs around the country.

Feeding America (Used to be Second Harvest) - In a nation with an excess of calories, it amazes me that so many, especially children, go hungry. If you donate food, make sure that it is as healthy as possible. Don't donate anything you wouldn't feed your own family. In the Twin Cities, Second Harvest has people working at the farmer's markets to encourage people to donate fresh produce to local food shelves.

PS. For some cool ways bloggers are giving back, see this recent post by Mom-101.