Small U.S. businesses thrive with Ethiopian woman’s help. Read the story on CNN here.

Also, Obama recognizes Hero - Follow up story

Pixar grants girl’s dying wish to see ‘Up’

“A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed.” Henrik Ibsen

Image source

Let not Kindness and fidelity leave you. Bind them around your neck. Then will you win favor and good esteem before God and man! Proverbs:Chapter 3 verses 3&4 New American Bible

Check out this awesome video, Turn up your volume. This video is very true and very powerful. Please view it until the end.

Old friendships are like old songs.
They can either fit in with our
changing lifestyle and thoughts,
or be placed upon a shelf…
save for a few meaningful lyrics.

Lorraine Jara 1989

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. ~Doug Larson

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

from “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” - Robert Frost (1875 - 1963)

Below is a small article written by our friend Tiffany Wright:

My husband and I like to try out different places to live. In the past five years we have been promoting random acts of kindness in three different states, Illinois, Arizona and California. We have seen the difference of living in a city to the extreme of living in the desert. What we have learned is, across America, one thing is the same - We need to make this land the best it can be by acknowledging your neighbor and speaking kind words. By promoting peace in our communities, by doing little things like holding the door open for the person behind you. By saying please and thank you, by letting someone go in front of you, by putting others first.

One major issue that America struggles with all over is homelessness. Lend a hand out to the homeless people in your city. You can literally go on the streets and hand out food, make eye contact, they are humans and need to know humankind does care. If you’re more comfortable, go to a homeless shelter and speak to the director that can give you recommendations on how you can help.

In your day to day life at work, try extra hard to smile every chance you get. Remember the names of the people you see if you work in customer service. Create a peaceful environment around you to promote kind acts in your community. We all have the power within us to unite as humankind and create a peaceful world to live amongst each other and for our children to grow old in…

We’re not perfect, and we’ll never have a perfect day. But, we can try!

When I was 27, my life as I knew it was stripped away from me. I went from being a totally healthy, active, vivacious young woman to being completely bedridden all in one day. Doctor after doctor were puzzled by my strange symptoms, which were numerous and debilitating.

It took eight months for me to be diagnosed with Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. It took a year for me to be able to work again, and then it was only a part time, sit-down job. A ridiculously high heart rate and bottoming out blood pressure left me out of breath and seeing-stars-dizzy whenever I stood up for any length of time. I was lucky though; some people with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome are wheel chair bound and can’t stand up at all.

It has now been eight years since I was originally diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, an often unheard of disorder characterized by dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, the part of the body that is involved in the control of automatic functions such as breathing, temperature, heart rate and blood pressure. I have healed greatly in the last eight years, and I know that I am blessed to be able to go for walks or just stand up to hug my husband and son when they come in the door. I feel as if I’ve been given a second lease on life, and I’ve spent the last four years running a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping others who have been diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

Because the disorder is not well known, funding is in short supply. If there is anyone out there who can help me, I’d greatly appreciate it. [See donation information below]

Thank you,
Michelle Sawicki

• Donations are tax deductible and can be made:
• Online at www.dinet.org
• Mailed to:
  DINET
  PO Box 55
  Brooklyn, MI 49230

Meijer Department Store on Jackson Road in Scio Township, Michigan, was gracious and generous enough to award “Be Kind to Humankind Week” a $250.00 Gift Certificate to be spent for items needed at the Robert J. Delonis Center for the Homeless, Washtenaw County!!! Debbie Locke-Daniel, Executive Director of the Ypsilanti Area Convention and Visitors Bureau went on a fabulous shopping spree with the gift certificate in hand and purchased a wide variety of wonderfully warm and cozy outer wear for the homeless.

It was a great day and a very rewarding one too! Debbie spent $250.09, almost to the penny of the gift certificate!! What a terrific job Debbie! There certainly are going to be a lot of very warm folks out there this winter thanks to your help!!!

Click here to view more pictures!

With Kindest Regards,
Lorraine Jara/Promoter

What a Merry Christmas it will be for all of the children at “The Foote Care Center” in Jackson, Michigan. This hospital administers its services to the care of both adults and children in all aspects of healthcare, and the pediatric unit was thrilled to hear the news that they would be receiving home-made Christmas cards from children as far away as Los Angeles California, Louisiana, and Hawaii!!! BK2HK also included a box of chocolates for the nurses!

These wonderful cards put a BIG smile on my face, and I know they will do the same for these hospitalized children! A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to all who participated in this “KIND ACTS IN ACTION“…they are as follows: Girl Scout Troop 748 in Los Angeles, California. Misty Broussard from Columbia, Louisiana. And our friends @ Pahio Resort in Princeville Kauai, Hawaii!!! Also, a BIG thank you to doonenicething.com and Debbie Tenzer for her thoughtfulness!! Happy Holidays to you all!!

View photos of the cards

The Dexter Senior Center in Dexter, MI was kind enough to offer to collect “Wish List Items” for the Homeless Shelter in Ann Arbor. There are plenty of items that are needed. We want to thank all of those involved at the Senior Center for their generous contributions to the shelter!!!

We applaud your kindness Valerie, Director Senior Center. Thank You!

At an inner city soup kitchen, a young woman was serving meals to guests. It was her very first day and she was nervous and unsure of how to behave around the poor, the indigent, the homeless people she had never seen before. As one man was moving past her, she noticed that he had missed his bread portion. She reached out and touched his arm. When he turned, the young woman saw that he was crying. Concerned, she asked if she had hurt him. The man replied, “No, you are the first person who has touched me in more than two years.” - Valerie

“Every time I deliver a meal to her, I give her a hug. I know sometimes it’s the only human touch she’ll get that day.” - Meals on Wheels Volunteer, Dexter MI

• View the Wish List
• Download the Wish List Word Document.

• Please send all donations to:
• Robert J. Delonis Center
  312 W. Huron St.
  Ann Arbor, MI
  48103

• Links:
• Ann Arbor Shelter.

Listen to “Reach Out I’ll Be There” by The Four Tops.

This Kind Act is a project in which the clientele at the Senior Center in Dexter Michigan put together packets of much needed mini-sewing supplies for Ann Arbors local homeless shelter! I was pleasantly surprised to see what they had done for the shelter. While volunteering at the homeless shelter, I noticed that sewing kits were one of many much sought after items. I mentioned this by chance to the Senior Centers Director Valerie, and lo and behold she led a project with the seniors to put together these great sewing kits!

Thank You Valerie and all of those at the center for your thoughtfulness!

• View pictures of the sewing kits:
• One
• Two

Our tribute and praise goes out to Faye Dietiker of California. She is the founder of Breast Cancer Angels. Below you can read Faye’s own story of her awesome organization, and I have to say that Faye is truly an Earth Angel! Thank you so much for making this world a better place to live in with your selfless kindness and compassion!!!

I live in Cypress, California with my wonderful husband Don. I am a mom with an extended family of five adult children. I have a beautiful baby granddaughter, Carianne who is 2 years old. I am also an 8 year survivor of stage 4 breast cancer and the founder and director of Breast Cancer Angels. Breast Cancer Angels is an organization that I began in 2000 to financially and emotionally assist women in treatment for breast cancer. When I was going through very aggressive experimental treatment I sat next to several young women who had to decide whether to buy their anti-nausea medications ($270.00 for 9 pills) or buy groceries to feed their children. Of course the children came first and the mom’s were sick for days. I decided that if I survived I would find a way to help these women feed their children and buy their medications.

My concept was that for $20 a month anyone could become an “Angel” and help support women going through breast cancer treatment. We started with 6 “Angels” putting in $20 a month and we now have over 250 “Angels” who send in from $20 to several hundred dollars a month. Our motto is “We can all be Angels here on earth”. In the past six years we have given out over $650,000 in financial aid. We are currently assisting over 70 women a month, with 56 children in these households. We assist with food, housing, utilities, medical co-pays, prescription costs and much more. We get referrals from ten Breast Centers in Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego Counties and from other agencies. Breast Cancer Angels is run out of my home office and 100% of all donations go back out in financial assistance. A corporate sponsor meets our overhead.

I feel blessed every day that I am still here and able to make the breast cancer journey a little easier for the women we assist.

For more information about Faye and the Breast Cancer Angels go to breastcancerangels.org

Listen to “Time of the Season” by The Zombies

Above is just one of the photographs of the children from Bates Elementary School in Dexter, Michigan. The second graders at Bates poured out their hearts and souls to make absolutely BEAUTIFUL Mother’s Day Cards for our local seniors!

• Click on the teacher’s names below to view their class photos:
• Carlock
• Cecchini
• Fisher
• Nichols
• Steadman

What a wonderful job they did. Go here to view the awesome cards. I delivered 51 Cards to The Northfield Place Nursing Home in Whitmore Lake on May 12th the Friday prior to Mother’s Day. The director there said the staff would give them out on Sunday, Mother’s Day! The residents were so excited to receive them!!! One resident said, “Are we allowed to keep them”? I said of course, the children made them just for you! The following photos were taken of 3 residents at Northfield Place who received their cards early so that we could post them on our web for the event. See photos of the residents receiving their cards.

I delivered the remainder of the cards to the Dexter Senior Center. The director there said that they would place them along with their Meals-On-Wheels program so the homebound folks would receive them for Mother’s Day! They were thrilled to receive the cards from the children. Here are some photos taken of folks from the Dexter Senior Center receiving the cards.

I would like to give a BIG THANK YOU to the children and teachers who made this possible, and to the entire staff at Bates Elementary who assisted in making this event possible!!! THANK YOU AGAIN for your Kind Acts in Action!

The American Cancer Society held a “Relay For Life” on April 29, 2006 at the Chelsea Fairgrounds in Chelsea Michigan! They had a wonderful turnout and many “THANKS” goes out to all who participated! This was a “KIND ACT IN ACTION” if we ever saw one! Above we have posted just one of the many photo’s taken that day. We were unable to include all participants photo’s, however we did manage to get quite a few nice pictures of the event. To view them, please click on the link below and take a look at what an awesome event this was.

Look at more pictures !

Many thanks again!