Day 53 ❦ Give in a way that multiplies

Day 53 ❦ Give in a way that multiplies

The Gift: 4 Sumner School Cookbooks

I am currently active on my children’s Parent Teacher Council...something that would make people who knew me pre-kids laugh. Me, on the PTC or PTA! One thing I learned when I moved from Boulder to rural Minnesota was that one passionate, committed person could really make a difference. In a larger community like Boulder or Baltimore - it is still possible to have an impact, but it is far more difficult. I learned this because when we moved to Austin, we moved into a school district with a high level of poverty and the elementary school continues to have a high percentage of free and reduced lunch participants (65% in 2011).

Arriving in town the day before my oldest was going to start kindergarten I was astonished to see that her elementary school was surrounded by asphalt and had no playground equipment...well...that needed to change, and the sooner the better.

So I got active in the major fund-raising arm of the elementary school and shortly after I set my mind on putting in a playground, we had raised the $34,000 to make it so. Today, almost 18 years later it is so much fun to drive by and see children playing on the fruits of our labor.
During the playground focused years, the PTC developed a strong fund-raising mechanism and began using those funds to support significant programs for the school.

When my younger daughter arrived at the elementary school 11 years later, there was still a lot to be done and the PTC decided to expand the playground equipment - requiring an additional $25,000...so I dug in and we raised the funds.

One of the most fun and effective fund-raisers we conducted was for families to submit recipes and to put together a cookbook. I submitted some of our family favorites and when the books were published, I did what most other contributing cooks did and purchased a case of the cookbooks which I am now enjoying giving away as gifts. I love it when a gift can give several times over - this one gives a minimum of 4 times and that is just so satisfying, even if I can only count is as one gift for this exercise.

❦ Give in a way that multiplies

Day 52 ❦ Sometimes a gift is a mystery even when you know what it is

Day 52 ❦ Sometimes a gift is a mystery even when you know what it is

The Gift: An infusor

Have you ever had one of those days? Well apparently, I was having just one of those kind of days today. When I was in the middle of the 100 Days of Giving exercise, I would often give the gift that became apparent during the day and would write down what the gift was, with some notes just like in the giving journal which I have posted. Well, today I did nothing of the sort. I simply wrote that I gave Alison an infusor.

Not only do I not remember that gift, I don’t even know what an infusor is! I am pretty good about making up words and then being able to use them in context - but there is no context here. Oh well, sure hope she enjoyed it and I do hope I figure out what it is at some point and I especially hope that I can figure out why it was important to give my daughter an infusor.

❦ Sometimes a gift is a mystery even when you know what it is

Day 51 ❦ Think outside the box today when you give

Day 51 ❦ Think outside the box today when you give

The Gift: A light-weight plate

I love the alliteration of this gift...a light-weight plate! I had a mother-in-law who was like my own. When my husband brought me into my in-laws lives, they accepted me as if I had been raised by them and I always looked to them as my own parents. I realize how lucky this makes me - not only was I embraced by my in-laws, but because I do not have a relationship with either of my own biological parents - I was able to have wonderful role models of caring, loving, accepting parents in my life - even if it was for a short 20 years. I still treasure that time with them and miss them both terribly.

My father-in-law was the first to go, which was a surprise to all of us - we had all assumed that because he was filled with life that he would be the last to go, but instead was struck down suddenly by a fast-growing brain tumor which left him incapacitated in a nursing home until finally his body gave up after a long 6 month hospitalization. His passing was very difficult for my mother-in-law who was practically crippled with osteoarthritis. During the 6 months that my father-in-law was in the nursing home, my mother-in-law had to rise to the challenge and begin to care for herself more so than in the past, and in fact, I have often wondered if my father-in-law held on that long to give her time to prepare to care for herself.

Alice, my mother-in-law, lost weight, gained competence in caring for herself and began to rise to the incredible challenge of moving forward as a single person and by the time Les, my father-in-law died - she was as ready as she could be. It was a difficult time in our family but my husband had a very close family and the siblings and grandchildren rallied to support Alice (who ended up living an additional 10 years...almost to the day). Sometime the support needed to be subtle because it was important not to point out her vulnerability, but instead to figure out how to bolster it. So the other day I found some really cute serving dishes that are made from plastic, but look like glass and are one-fourth of the weight - perfect for an active senior who still likes to entertain but who cannot carry heavy glass dishes. While I am at her house today, I replace some of those unused heavy glass serving platters with these nice light-weight plates and sneak away...giggling. I can’t wait for her to find them!

❦ Think outside the box today when you give

Authors note: While Alice did not find the platters while we were visiting that time, the next time we arrived at her house for the weekend, there were cookies laid out on the platters! FUN!

Consider Street Girls

During this weekend interlude, I am asking you to consider supporting an organization which works with some of the 51,000 children who live, work and sleep on the streets of Accra, Ghana. In two weeks I will be traveling to work with the organization Street Girls Aid - they work with girls and their babies who live, work and sleep on the street of Ghana in a variety of ways. You could support them by ordering some beautiful merchandise that the girls will work on in their sewing trade school while we are there and I will send you your order when I return at the beginning of December, just in time for the holidays.

By ordering something from the girls, you help to drive a market for their work, they will be paid for the work and you will have a beautiful gift to give to someone...with a great story.

To place an order - follow this link to the order form and send it to me right away - All orders need to be in to me by November 5th.

http://onehundreddaysofgiving.blogspot.com/p/street-girls-aid-handmade-goods-order.html

To learn more about Street Girls Aid follow this link:

http://www.said-ghana.com/

And then after you have ordered something from Street Aid follow this link and download a blank giving journal and write about the experience. Hint: You could include your thoughts you write in the journal in a card when you give the gift.

http://onehundreddaysofgiving.blogspot.com/p/giving-journala-gift-for-you.html

Interlude - Just Give Today

Today marks the half-way point in 100 days of giving and I am going to break from tradition and instead of telling you stories about the impact or the history of a gift I would like to challenge you to just do something today to help someone else. Give of yourself, give friendship, give time - please!

So many people I know are going through very difficult and challenging times, cancer, illness, job loss, tragedy, grief and I am sure you do too. Let's take some time today to help someone you know who just needs a friend, a meal, a surprise token of your friendship. Make someone's day.

Day 50 ❦ Give just because

Day 50 ❦ Give just because

The Gift: A $20 bill

I don’t know about you, but it seems to me as if my kids are AWAYS asking for money...and I am always in a situation where I am asking, “How much do you need?, or What do you need money for?” Those regular interactions don’t feel very life-affirming and so today I thought I would attempt a pre-emptive strike and walked up to my youngest daughter and handed her a $20 dollar bill...just because... It was a fun thing to do!

❦ Give just because

Day 49 ❦ Give to yourself the company of others

Day 49 ❦ Give to yourself the company of others

The Gift: A Lunch Date

Sometimes we all get so busy, that it is easy to forget to sit down and enjoy a leisurely meal with a friend or family member. In this case, I am fortunate that my sister-in-law...actually all of my sisters in law, are good fiends of mine. My brother’s wife was my friend before they met and my husband’s sisters have always welcomed me into the family, but his youngest sister, has always been especially close. We are close in age and graduated from high school the same year - so we have that in common. We both care deeply for her brother, my husband - but we are alike in so many other ways too. I always enjoy spending time with her and realized today that we hadn’t sat down for a meal with each other - just the two of - for al long as I could remember. So, I called her up and asked her to go on a lunch date, just her and me...my treat. We laughed, ate and said “schmackidy” at least four times. What a gift.

 ❦ Give to yourself the company of others