So I was thinking about how I wanted 2011 to be different. One of the things I wanted to do was give back more.
I decided to make a small donation once a week and I asked my friends to suggest charities that I could highlight and make a donation to.
I am apparently blessed with very generous and giving friends who quickly supplied me with enough charities to fill my year.
My hope is that some of the featured charities will inspire you to make a small donation as well or possibly encourage you to become involved and/or donate to something you are passionate about.
Perhaps you are thinking that my small donation may not help very much but it certainly helps more than sending no donation at all. I am sending in $5. Most of these charities will accept as little as $1 - won't you consider donating a dollar today?
My wish for all of you is to live this year with an attitude of gratitude. <3
It is not the attitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters. ~~Mother Teresa
Today's Thankful Thursday is featuring Patrons for Patriots.
This was recommended from my friend Carol. She said, "When I was first asked, when this first started back in October, I was hesitant. The rest of the group, which there are 12 of us, is younger than me. But I thought why not me. We all have the same ideas. We all have the same pride for our country. We all want to help others. Age shouldn't be an issue. I was at the first 5 minutes of the first meeting and realized this was exactly where I belonged. The passion to help was amazing. It's such an inspirational group of fine young people! It's all about giving! The last couple of days have really been a whirlwind! Watching people support us by giving so much in a short amount of time! It brought us all to tears! "
The chairperson for this event is Scarlett Maria Meyer and she likes to throw a big birthday party with bands. Basically it is a great way for her friends to get together and raise awareness for local music. She added a major twist this year and wanted to turn her birthday bash into a fundraiser for The Patriot Guard Riders. This organization is the group of volunteers that escort our fallen soldiers and their families to their resting places. They protect them peacefully from protesters while honoring the families privacy. The funds will be used for flags, scholarships for the children of fallen soldiers and the upkeep of the memorial wall. So my friend Carol thought what they did was important and wanted to be a part of it.
What I like about Carol is when I asked her about why she was involved she said that it was in her heart and she absolutely LOVED what she was doing. She considers it an honor and a privilege to be involved. The words that impacted me the most was her closing statement, "I am so blessed to be able to say, YES I made a difference!"
Isn't that something?
To donate to The Illinois Patriot Guard just click HERE. It's that simple. Maybe you can just donate a dollar or maybe $5 like me. Whatever you can give I'm sure it'll be appreciated.
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I am touched by this, this all seems like a dream to us. I mentioned some time ago that the IPGR is a group that isn't in this for anything other than to our Heroes and their families and let them know how Thankful we are for what they have done. When Scarlett came to us with this it was like..we are focused on our Mission and someone tapping you on the shoulder going here use this, this is for you, your going to need this and we aren't use to that we do it because that family needs us and we want to be the ones helping, so to have someone want to help us is un-natural. The IPGR has some great things in the works...we have built a moving Honor Garden that has a picture of each of the 350 plus Illinois Soldiers that have been KIA this will be taken around the state free of charge...and it will be our Gold Star families that will be the ones to do it...So thank you again from all of us in the IPGR.
ReplyDeleteDan "Dozer" Hough IPGR Asst. State Capt.