Burn and Rave

I am a big fan of charities, but I choose them carefully.  I don’t like spreading myself out too thin, but when I find one I like, I stick with it.

Here’s a new one.  BetterWorld.  They sell mostly used books, some new ones, too.  The books are shipped FREE through eco-friendlier methods, ie less fuel.  Okay, there’s a few cents in there.  I just bought three books and paid $0.09 for shipping.  And then their profits go to help a variety of literary programs.  The listing in each book specifically mentions the linked charity, so I like the transparency of the website’s system as well.

Others:

Children International - Can you give up buying a CD per month or three Starbucks each month?  The money you save can make a difference in the life of a child you can sponsor.  Actually, they spread the money out evenly to help many kids, but give you updates on the child you pick so you can feel good about yourself and form a personal connection with someone the donation is being spent on.  I’m hooked.  

Locks of Love - Love changing up your hair style and free haircuts?  How about getting all that AND contributing to a wig for a child who doesn’t have any hair?  This organization arranges free wigs for kids with autoimmune diseases or chemotherapy treatments.  They either sell the donated hair to fund the operations or actually use it in a wig.  Contact your favorite salon to see if they participate.  I get an $80 haircut for free every two years!

I have always dreamed about going back to Philadelphia, but my wonderful memories of running through West Philadelphia have been interrupted by recent news of violence in the Philadelphia public schools.  I really hope the mayor is strong enough to do something about it.  I am not a huge fan of Mayor John Street, but I dearly hope he proves me wrong about him.  Of course shifted funding from police departments and education to the war factors into the change in violence as well.  Still, I would go back to Philadelphia.  I have faith that things will get better for the city of brotherly love.  I have faith that after all these shooting deaths, people will band together to make progress in street peace.   I also have faith that the politicians will make some drastic changes to improve education and safety in the schools because at this point, with so much publicity surrounding this issue, it would be political suicide to ignore the increase in violence.

Also, Philadelphia and its suburbs seem to have increased incidents of students attacking their teachers and school administrators, so the violence is not just in the streets at night.  They are happening in the classrooms over iPods.  Where are the parents?  The funds for education may have fallen short due to the war, but that certainly has not affected a parent’s resources to instill some manners, respect, and polite behavioral instruction into their children.  In a four-bedroom house with large lawn or in a public housing facility, teaching kids good manners costs nothing and produces priceless results that benefit the kids and the public.  The school system can improve with more money for hiring more teachers and buy more learning tools, but it can also improve immensely with good parents.

I was in DC last weekend for a conference.  I can’t decide if I like DC or not.  As soon as I start to appreciate the historic buildings and cozy homes, I get lost and start muttering under my breath about how awful the streets are.  The city is organized in horizontal and vertical streets.  That’s pretty straightforward.  But nothing can be that simple of course, so the city also has a series of diagonal streets and circles!  You would think that once you get to a circle, if you keep walking straight, that you can just continue along the road you were on before.  Of course not.  I try to walk straight across, but by the time I get to the other side, I find myself in between streets and then I turn around to see which corner I came from to map out the street that would line up with it.  Suddenly it gets worse and everything looks familiar.  I can’t tell which direction I came from and where I’m headed.  The fountain at the center is beautiful, but too bad I’m too distracted from trying to un-confuse myself to appreciate the artwork. 

I’m going back next weekend for another conference.   My hotel this time, however, is not around a circle, so hopefully I’ll be less confused as I wander the US capitol.