Kind Acts In Action : Try To Do Something For Someone Else On Your Birthday

My husband and I have been trying something new for a couple of years now. On our birthdays, we make a point to do something for someone else. We have tried to break the tradition of celebrating this day as our own. Instead we try to recognize the world around us and give back as a celebration of life. There are little things we do from making a small donation to the causes we believe in to being extra nice to strangers on the street this day. As new parents to be we will be starting this tradition in our new family and wanted to pass it on to others that may also agree its a good idea.

Peace and Love from Los Angeles, California!

Tiffiny and Brian’s new baby son Jack was born!! Welcome to the World! See some pictures on our Flickr page.

Give The Gift Of Life And Give Blood

The American Red Cross is in crucial need of blood. By giving one pint of blood you literally save many lives. I recently gave blood, and am now signing up to be a regular donor. I have Universal Blood, which is RH-Negative blood. It is in very high demand as we can give our blood to everyone, yet we must receive only our type of blood should we ever need it.

Regardless of whether or not you are RH-Negative or any other blood type, The American Red Cross in your area would greatly appreciate your donation. In giving blood we help others. So simple, yet so very important! Also, did you know that 1 pint of blood equals loosing 1 pound? When the nurse told me that, I asked her if she could take out 9 more pints! They laughed and told me there is actually 1 pint of blood per every 10 lbs. of body weight per person. Interesting.

So please take the time, an hour at the most to give blood. Just go to givelife.org to find out where and when they are sponsoring a drive in your town. Thanks so much for giving the gift of life!

Links:
Red Cross
Give Life
Donor Eligibility Guidelines

Update On Faye Dietiker’s Breast Cancer Angels Foundation

Remember my first post about Faye and the Breast Cancer Angels? According to an article from a recent Breast Cancer Angel’s newsletter called “Wings”, the BCA’s “Angel House” is now open. Below is an article from BCA’s first newsletter.

Taken from “Wings”, the BCA newsletter:

This is so exciting! We have been truly blessed by Anthony and Holli Lienau’s donation of the funds to pay for this house. They have always been incredibly generous to our organization, and this is truly an amazing gift. Our most SPECIAL THANKS go to them!

This 5 bedroom, 2-bath, 1800 sq. ft. West Grove house is in a quiet, nicely maintained neighborhood. Just perfect as a safe haven for our most desperate “women in treatment.” As with most older homes, there were many repairs and upgrades needed. Over and over, companies and individuals helped us accomplish our goals by donating their time and/or providing supplies, furnishings and money. Our realtor, Bill Waddle, was awesome! Not only did he discount his commission, he kept our construction crews organized, and donated his labor as needed to get the work finished!

On April 26, seven employees of Diversified Thermal Services donated their Saturday to install air conditioning at our new home. The owner, Craig Steinmetz, donated all of the equipment and also worked alongside his crew. Thanks to everyone’s help, we received everything needed to make this house a beautiful home! Now Angel House will be a comfortable and supportive environment for women while they face the challenges of breast cancer treatment. Thanks also to the Angels who came by our Open House on May 2 and 3. Our ladies moved in on Sunday, May 4. Two had lost their housing due to breast cancer, and we were paying for them to stay at a motel so that they could continue their chemotherapy. Since our women in treatment will live here rent free, we are setting up a fund to cover ongoing housing expenses such as property taxes, utilities, maintenance, ect. If you would like to contribute to this fund, please mark your donation as “Angel House.”

Donations can be mailed to:

Breast Cancer Angels
5142 Bolsa Avenue, Suite 103
Huntington Beach, CA 92649

For more information go to www.breastcancerangels.org

Also be sure to check out my original post on Faye and her work with the Breast Cancer Angels.

People Come Together During Small Natural Disasters Too

People come together during natural disasters, whether big or small. This story is one which happened just recently in our quiet town in Michigan.

The other day while waiting for my husband and son to return home from work, I noticed the skies darkening to a very deep grayish black. Apparently, there was a huge storm approaching. I battened down the hatches at the house, and prayed that both my husband and son would be safe coming home that night. The rain began to fall in sheets with whipping wind of which I had never seen before. Our many large and small trees were doing the limbo under the stress of the strong relentless winds, and I thought for certain that one or more would fall over. This torrent of rain, wind, and flying branches continued while our lights flickered on and off. I have to admit it was fun to watch. I kind of felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. But still, my worry deepened about the safety of my family.

I received a telephone call from my husband. He and our son were stuck in traffic due to a huge tree which fell across one of our country roads. They back tracked and tried to go down another route through town, only to become stuck in traffic again due to another fallen tree as well as the power lines that it got tangled in. My husband called to let me know that he had decided to try the final alternate route home. I was relieved to know that they were safe, and would hopefully be home within ten minutes or so. I waited and waited, ten minutes passed, then twenty minutes, then forty minutes.

Frustrated, I sat and waited, not knowing what was taking them so long. An hour had past before they walked through the door. It turned out that on the last possible road leading to our home, yet another huge tree fell across the highway blocking traffic! This time however, a man came out of his house with a chainsaw and my husband, son and quite a few other men exited their vehicles to lend a hand with the piece by piece removal of parts of the tree. It was heavy work and hard work but everyone helped out and after almost an hour they had secured a pathway for all of the vehicles to flow through!

Now that is what I call people in action willing to lend a hand! So never hesitate to help out in any small or large way possible, it’s so rewarding!