change.org

I don't know how I came across the website change.org, but I'm sure glad I did. Ok, I lied, well not on purpose. I didn't remember how I came across the website but I was looking around it more than I usually do to write this post and I came across all the petitions that I have signed and found the very first one: Hershey: Raise the Bar! I had watched a documentary on the chocolate industry and slavery and there was a link for me to sign a petition for Hershey to start purchasing fair-trade chocolate. No More Slavery Chocolate! After that, it was downhill. I would get daily emails asking me to sign different petitions and how could I not? It's real people with real issues, problems and concerns.


I have two reasons for writing this post. One, when people rally together and speak out against injustice, change happens. And two, look how the internet has transformed our world and made it a tiny place!


Okay, my first point. The causes on Change.org range from animals to criminal justice to human rights to education. And daily people are winning. In one day these campaigns won!

• After hearing from more than 82,000 people, Chase Bank called off foreclosing on 78-year-old grandmother and civil rights activist Helen Bailey. "I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders," says Ms. Bailey. "I am so thankful for the support of my neighbors and the nation."
• Last week Apple customers visited stores on four continents to deliver 250,000 petition signatures demanding better working conditions at factories making iPads and iPhones. (The delivery made news on CNN, the BBC, Al Jazeera, and NPR).  Yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced immediate factory inspections, showing that the pressure is working! But experts doubt how reliable the monitoring group’s findings will be and there are still no worker-protection plans for new product releases (when workers are forced to work so hard to meet deadlines that some die of exhaustion -- and others commit suicide). Click here to keep up the pressure on Apple by sharing Mark's petition on Facebook.
  
• McDonald's finally responded to the 100,000 people  (and groups like the Humane Society of the United States) who told the fast food giant to stop sourcing pork from factory farms using inhumane "gestation crates," (cages so small that pigs can’t move or turn around).McDonald's told all of its suppliers yesterday to start phasing out the cages -- an earthquake for the food industry.
• And some big news from last week! More than 141,000 banded together to save the life of Jesus Navarro, a father who was reportedly denied a life-saving kidney transplant, despite having insurance to pay for surgery, a volunteer donor, and a benefactor to help pay for his follow-up care. But an ABC News headline gives the good news: "Dying Dad, Jesus Navarro, to Get Kidney Transplant."

And my second point. A couple decades ago it wasn't easy to know what was happening across the ocean in Europe, Africa and Asia. Or even injustices happening in the USA but now with the internet at everyone's fingertips, those injustices aren't hidden. They are out in the open for everyone to know and act, if they choose to do so. I don't always get excited about ALL the NEW technology, sometimes I just want peace and quiet but when we have the internet to use as a tool to make change in this world, that makes me pretty happy. 

I encourage EVERYONE to check out change.org and see if there is something you're passionate about and maybe you could make a difference in other's lives just by showing support and signing a petition. 

$35 to change a Life

Everyday I am amazed at how much God has blessed me. I have a good life and a great family and a fabulous husband and so much more. I don't want {well I should say I don't NEED for anything-want is totally different} for anything. I'm able to help those when needed and I'm able to bless the way I've been blessed.

{Side note: I don't live in luxury. I have a two-bedroom duplex with hammy down furniture, an old laptop, hardly any decorations and one car. But I have everything I NEED.}

I'm not striving to be rich to buy stuff but to bless others. To GIVE it away. There are soooo many amazing organizations doing awesome things in this world and I so wish I could support them ALL! One organization I'm currently supporting is World Vision. I can't speak highly enough of them. I sponsor two children. A boy from Malawi and a girl from Armenia. For only $35/month {for each child} I am helping to provide them with an education, food, a roof over their head, community development, clean water access, health training and services and so much more. Not only are the children being helped but so are their families and community. Some organizations only focus on the children, which is their choice, but I love that WV looks at everyone around the child as well.

Right now there are 29,300 children sponsored in Malawi! That is amazing, however there are still 1,826 still waiting for someone to show them love and compassion and kindness. Malawi's income per person, per year is $313-USA $41,400. I make more than that in a week! The average life expectancy is 54 years compared to the US of 78 years. We have 100% access to clean water, they have 80%. Infant mortality is 7/1000 here-Malawi not so good, 110/1000.

I believe in child sponsorship with all my <3. It makes such a huge impact in a child's life and can change the world not only for one but for many. $35 is one missed dinner out for the family or not buying a pair of shoes or one less coffee a week. It really, truly does not take much to show you care.

World Vision has a fabulous way to see each individual country and their stats. You can also compare their stats, like I did with Malawi to the USA. It's called My World Vision and it will also let you know what they are doing in the country and specific communities. Check it out!

It belongs to Who...

I was talking to a friend last night and she was telling me about an occurance that happened the other night. Ang is a bartender and had a customer that was being rude and making inappropriate comments. The customer originally had a $20 bill on the bar to give Ang for her tip but for whatever reason he took it back. That night she was training a new bartender and the girl {I really don't know her name so I'll make one up-Sue} had just got behind the bar and at some point went over to talk to the gentleman that had given Ang a hard time. The guy had wanted to slip her the $20 that was suppose to be Ang's even though this girl hadn't done anything for him and had just started her shift. I don't remember if Sue took it and then gave it to Ang or she told the guy no but the point of Ang's story was that Sue was honest with Ang and didn't try to take her tip. This made Ang trust her.

Ang had also said that not everyone she works with would be this honest. She said she knew I would have done the same thing as Sue and she, herself would have as well. When it comes to money people can become very selfish and untrustworthy. So I'm glad that Ang trusts me enough to know that when it comes to money and especially her money, I would never do the wrong thing. And I want everyone to think this way about me. It is a part of my character.