Written by David Anderson of Finding Your Soul

 
A man named Donald Patterson of Dayton, Ohio, tells an embarrassing story about the big cranberry scare. It happened some years ago, just at Thanksgiving time. Some pesticide had tainted a portion of the nation’s cranberry crop. This thing is, [...]]]>

 
Written by David Anderson of Finding Your Soul

 
A man named Donald Patterson of Dayton, Ohio, tells an embarrassing story about the big cranberry scare. It happened some years ago, just at Thanksgiving time. Some pesticide had tainted a portion of the nation’s cranberry crop. This thing is, people never found out about it until they had already bought their cranberry sauce for the Big Dinner. So a lot of people had a lot of cranberry sauce they didn’t know what to do with.

That part of the story Mr. Patterson knew. The embarrassing part he found out years later—from a young woman who was just a little girl back in the year of the big cranberry scare. Back then she was a tot from a poor family who had been adopted by a church in town. The people from church would see to it that her family had a little something extra at holiday time. So at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, they’d collect clothes and food and present it to her family. And that year at Thanksgiving time, she remembers, they received the usual offering: a big turkey with all the fixings, and groceries to last them for weeks. And one more thing. They received cranberry sauce. Lots of it. Fifty-seven cans.

You wince when you hear a story like that. It’s the shudder of recognition. Yes, we are like that. Yes, I’ve given gifts like that. Gifts that didn’t cost me anything. Gifts that demean the recipient, and the giver too.

With the advent of Thanksgiving the “holidays” begin. These are days that epitomize grace, abundance and love—even if our hopes for the holidays never quite match their reality. We know we’re blessed, and we feel an impulse to give. The simple fact is, it’s nice to receive gifts, but deep joy and satisfaction come only when we give something costly—more than we really could “afford.”

If you want to enjoy the best holiday season ever, it’s easy. Just give the best you have to offer. Let’s give the holiday food we’d love to feast on, not just the stuff left over in our own pantries with expired date stamps. Let’s splurge. Be extravagant.

When we give what’s left over, what we can do without, it’s not a gift. A gift has to cost us something; there has to be a sacrifice. And when we do, something transforms the giver.

All the rest is bad cranberries.

As we enter this holiday season, think about calling your local food bank. Find out what they need most this time of year and what you can do to help. If you feel so inclined, share what you learned and what you donated with your readers, it might just inspire someone else to give generously too.

Bloggers without Borders invites YOU to join us for a Holiday Cookie Swap!
(Proceeds* go to Cookies for Kids Cancer)

 
Date & Time: Sunday, December 4, 2011 from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Where: Hill Country Barbecue, 30 West 26th, [...]]]>
 
 

Bloggers without Borders invites YOU to join us for a Holiday Cookie Swap!
(Proceeds* go to Cookies for Kids Cancer)

 
Date & Time: Sunday, December 4, 2011 from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Where: Hill Country Barbecue, 30 West 26th, New York, NY
Who Can Come: Anyone! But everyone who comes must have a ticket.
Ticket Price: $40 which gets you a delicious barbecue buffet lunch, a box of homemade cookies and a donation to Cookies for Kids Cancer! (Note: there will be a cash bar.)
Where to buy tickets: You can use the form below this post to purchase your tickets, or visit the NYC Holiday Cookie Swap Eventbrite page to get your tickets and see who else will be there!

What to Bring (this is important!):
1. 1 dozen homemade cookies
2. Something to serve your cookies in or on (the smaller the better)
3. A label for your cookies that includes type of cookie, your name, your Twitter handle, your blog (if applicable)
4. No need to bring a container for the cookies you’re bringing home: GLAD is providing potluck-size Gladware to all attendees!

Note: There will be separate areas for sweet cookies, savory cookies (yes, savory!) and gluten-free cookies.

And for all your Twitter lovers out there:

We’re using the hashtag #NYCookieSwap to talk about the event.
Bloggers without Borders handle: @bloggerswob
Cookies for Kids Cancer Handle: @Cookies4kids

Questions? E-mail Maggy Keet

Special thanks to Gail Dosik, Jackie Gordon and Ken Leung for their help in organizing this event!

 
 
* 5% of the funds raised will be retained by Bloggers without Borders for administrative costs.

I’m writing to you with regards to “A Fund for Jennie.” It has come to our attention that some people feel Jennie’s financial situation was misrepresented. I would like to address that concern by unequivocally saying that there was no misrepresentation from Bloggers without Borders about the uncertainty of Jennie’s financial [...]]]> Dear Bloggers & Readers,

I’m writing to you with regards to “A Fund for Jennie.” It has come to our attention that some people feel Jennie’s financial situation was misrepresented. I would like to address that concern by unequivocally saying that there was no misrepresentation from Bloggers without Borders about the uncertainty of Jennie’s financial situation as it was shared with us. What we published was based soley on information provided to us at the time. After her husband’s death, Jennie’s life was forever changed, her financial security was up in the air and we, the community, wanted to help. Literally hundreds of e-mails poured in from people in the community asking, “What can we do?” In the following days we organized local food delivery and an extensive care package program. Then Jennie asked us to make pie, and thousands did. But still people said, “I want to do more.” We officially launched Bloggers without Borders ahead of schedule to create a way for people to do just that.

In the discussions prior to the campaign, a college fund for her daughters was mentioned by many. But so were more immediate expenses. At a time when her need was uncertain, launching a campaign specifically for the college fund, disallowing Jennie from using the money in an emergency, did not seem wise. Hence the phrase “to provide financial support for Jennie and her daughters,” which we believed was all-encompassing enough, giving her liberty to use the funds as needed.

We intended to provide a way for the blogging community to help Jennie in a coordinated way. And we stand by those intentions. We did our level best, though we are (at this point) a small group of people with families and full-time jobs who are working for Bloggers without Borders on a volunteer basis. Perhaps our greatest error was acting too quickly, launching without a board of directors in place, without a set protocol or process. Perhaps we should have waited a bit longer until Jennie’s financial situation became clearer to her. But I think that speaks to the nature of the people who participated and the people who donated. An awful thing happened to one of our own and we responded with our gut instinct––to quickly help someone in need.

We also had no idea just how much money you would give or just how many people would create auctions. In the end, we were turning people away. And as the weeks went on, we were all gobsmacked by the mounting total of funds raised. Know that we would not and could not have embarked on a nearly month-long fundraising campaign without the knowledge and support of the beneficiary. She was regularly kept abreast of developments throughout “A Fund for Jennie” and was overwhelmed by the love and support from the online community; publicly and privately she told us that it lifted her spirits through the darkest days of her life.

Fortunately, in the weeks and months after her great loss, Jennie came to learn that Mikey had planned and provided for her and the girls. For this we were glad and relieved. But life is (hopefully) long and the road of being a self-employed, single mother of two is hard. We believed that her friends and supporters would be happy to see this money go towards ensuring the girls’ educational future.

Most of you have applauded the decision to put the money into the girls’ 529 accounts. But we have come to understand that some of you may not agree that this is an appropriate use of the funds considering the needs expressed at the outset of the campaign. And that’s okay; we understand. If you gave a straight donation to “A Fund for Jennie” and would like your money back, we’d be happy to refund your donation. If you donated by way of purchasing an auction item, things are are little trickier. Whether or not we can give you a refund (and how much of your donation can be refunded) depends on whether the service has been rendered or goods have been shipped. But we’d still be happy to work on that with you. Email refunds @ bloggerswoborders.org if you’d like to request a refund.

Despite whatever questions or concerns have surfaced with regards to this particular campaign, we remain proud of this community and are inspired by its limitless power to do good. “A Fund for Jennie” was not our first campaign and it certainly will not be our last.

Bloggers without Borders will continue to carry out its mission: strengthening community by bringing together bloggers and their readers for good through fundraising and awareness-raising campaigns. But have we learned from this experience? Absolutely. We are already working with our newly-formed board of directors to put guidelines in place that will govern any future fundraising efforts (especially any involving individual beneficiaries). We look forward to sharing all these details with you as we move forward.

We hope that this answers all of your questions. We thank you again for supporting Bloggers without Borders and we hope you will continue to do so in the future. Without you, we’re just “without Borders.”

We wish Jennifer Perillo and her girls all the very best.

 
Yours for Good,

Maggy Keet
CEO, Bloggers without Borders

 
The children in this photo look so happy, so carefree. It’s hard to imagine that they are sitting in the middle of a refugee camp in Kenya, waiting for food. They are part of a group of about 13 million people [...]]]>

Photo: WFP/Rose Ogola

 
Written by Jackie of La Casa de Sweets

 
The children in this photo look so happy, so carefree. It’s hard to imagine that they are sitting in the middle of a refugee camp in Kenya, waiting for food. They are part of a group of about 13 million people in East Africa who are slowly starving to death. They are hungry, and waiting. Waiting for the world to remember that they are there, and to act.

What started as a drought has become one of the worst humanitarian crises in history. A lack of rain, failed harvests and lost livestock, and high food prices are all to blame for the famine. Families are traveling for days, without food and little water, just to reach refugee camps, where they hope to find some kind of relief. Something that will help them survive. If something isn’t done, a lot of them won’t.

I could show you photos of the children starving to death. Images that are so utterly heart wrenching, you’ll wish you’d never seen them. Children who barely look alive, who are barely breathing, barely hoping for a future that they know might never come.

Instead of showing you these photos, I’ll give you the facts:

- Over 13 million people are at risk of starvation in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Uganda
- 4 million people are at risk of starvation in Somalia, 2 million of these are children
- Over 500,000 people are displaced in refugee camps
- An estimated 750,000 people will die from starvation this year alone

And, if that isn’t enough to convince you something needs to be done, maybe this will:

In Somalia, one child is dying from starvation every 6 minutes.

This means that in the time it will take you to read this, one child will have starved to death. And that is simply unacceptable.

I know it’s so hard to think about a famine happening thousands of miles away from us when there are so many problems in our own lives and our own countries. The easiest thing would be to not think about the famine and starvation, and go on with our lives, sometimes glancing at a news story about the famine and shaking our heads at the pity of it all. It would be easy, but it wouldn’t be right.

I remember when I first saw the images from Somalia and the refugee camps in Kenya. It was over the summer, when the news agencies were actually focusing on this tragedy, that I first saw one of the starving children. My youngest daughter, who was 9 months old at the time, had a virus. I remember worrying about the fact that she wasn’t eating or drinking enough. I was holding her while I turned on the news for a few minutes. And that’s when I saw her: a young mother holding her sick baby girl. The little girl looked like she could barely breathe, she was so weak and famished. For days, I couldn’t get that image out of my mind. Two little babies, one who would recover quickly with medication, the other whose fate was hanging in the balance.

I needed to do something, anything that would help. After a week of sleepless nights, a lot of research, and communicating with on-the-ground journalists and international aid groups, I organized a project. I called it Bloggers Unite for Africa, a campaign to help fight the famine.

Fellow bloggers, I need your help! We have come together before for a good cause, and I know we can do it again. Please help Bloggers Unite for Africa raise money for Africa. I am asking you to join me in the fight against famine. Let us make a difference. If we don’t, the cries of hungry children will echo in our minds long after the famine has ended.

Thank you so much for your time, your help, and your compassion!

Sincerely,
Jackie
La Casa de Sweets

 
Here’s how you can help:

Starting Monday, October 17, Bloggers Unite for Africa will begin a fundraiser, a donation-based giveaway to raise money for our Global Giving projects in the famine areas of Africa. They need help spreading the word about their fundraiser through blogs, Twitter, and Facebook so that readers can consider making a donation. The more readers reached, the more money can be raised to help the victims of the famine. If you would like to donate a prize for their giveaway fundraiser, please email Jackie at lacasadesweets@gmail.com.

I wanted to wait until all the money came in from all the auctions before making a final announcement about the total funds raised and how they have helped Jennie. The last check from the last auction arrived a few days ago and I can now report a final total to you.

As [...]]]> Dear Friends,

I wanted to wait until all the money came in from all the auctions before making a final announcement about the total funds raised and how they have helped Jennie. The last check from the last auction arrived a few days ago and I can now report a final total to you.

As I said in our last ‘A Fund for Jennie’ post, we could never have predicted how much money we would raise. The final total raised was $76,430.50. We hoped for $10,000 and as the campaign started to pick up momentum our highest hope was that we would raise $25,000. You more than tripled that! The money just kept pouring in from across the United States and even around the world. I’ve said it time and again, but your generosity blew us (and onlookers) away.

When we first started planning the campaign, Shauna and I talked about how best this community could help Jennie and the girls. Our first thought was of a college fund. And Jennie’s closest friends agreed. Education for his girls was of the utmost importance to Mikey. What better way to honor him and his memory than to ensure that future for them?

But in the days and weeks after Mikey’s death, when Jennie’s financial future was uncertain, we thought it best to raise money “to give them financial support during this difficult time.” It didn’t seem wise to limit how the funds could be used when everything was still so unsure. And the reality is, “this difficult time” will last a lifetime for Jennie, Isabella, and Virginia. Without her husband, without their dad, life will always be difficult.

Because the assistance from friends has helped address immediate concerns, 100% of the funds raised by Bloggers without Borders during ‘A Fund for Jennie’ is being split equally to be transferred into 529 accounts for Jennie’s daughters, Isabella (8) and Virginia (3). A 529 account is an education savings plan opened by parents to save money for their children’s education.

It’s hard to believe that this blogging community has played such a large role in securing a bright future for the girls. In doing so, you have made it easier for the Perillos to focus on healing and their day-to-day lives, confident that whatever new challenges they may face in the months and years to come, at least Isabella and Virginia’s education will always be secure. It’s what every parent would want.

Again, we want to thank you for your generosity and for spreading the word during the campaign. We owe a debt to gratitude to all of you: to the bloggers who donated their time, talents, and services; to those who bid on their amazing auctions; and to those who simply gave out of the goodness of their heart. We are so grateful.

We look forward to doing so much more with you.

Yours for Good,

 
Maggy Keet
CEO, Bloggers without Borders

 
(as relayed by Kathy Browning of The Cheap Gourmet)

 
The Cheap Gourmet founder, Kathy Browning, is hosting “Cooking for Colebear” to raise funds and awareness for Out of the Darkness Community Walks hosted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

 

”Cooking for Colebear” is a [...]]]>

 
(as relayed by Kathy Browning of The Cheap Gourmet)

 
The Cheap Gourmet founder, Kathy Browning, is hosting “Cooking for Colebear” to raise funds and awareness for Out of the Darkness Community Walks hosted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

 

”Cooking for Colebear” is a digital recipe booklet provided as a thank you gift to individuals making a donation in any amount to “Team Nicole” through the Out of the Darkness Community Walks website.

 
Recipes range from stuffed Cornish Game Hens to Green Pepper Steak and Caramel Apple Salad to Brownie Bites with Strawberries and Chocolate Ganache. Each recipe celebrates the life of Nicole “Colebear” Lundy, a young woman who tragically died by suicide on July 5, 2010.

 
Team Nicole aims to raise $3,000 to help AFSP continue their work to better understand suicide and ways to prevent it. Thus far, Team Nicole has raised $1,787.00 and is now seeking help from food bloggers and organizations to help spread the word so they can reach their fundraising goal.

 
“Nicole was my daughter’s best friend and like a daughter to our family,” states Browning. “I have many fond memories of cooking for her and as a food blogger it seemed natural to share her favorite recipes with those who support the cause.”

 
Suicide claims over 36,000 lives each year or one person every 15 minutes. Suicide doesn’t discriminate and can affect anyone of any age, gender, or economic stature. It is the second leading cause of death among teens and young adults and people over the age of 65.

 
Suicide has impacted Browning’s life three times. In addition to losing Nicole, she also lost her father and best friend to this tragedy. “I understand the pain that suicide inflicts on loved ones left behind and want to do my part to help others attain the help they need to realize how valuable their life is.”

 
The “Cooking for Colebear” fundraising event will continue until December 31, 2011. Anyone that makes a donation via “Team Nicole” will receive a complimentary copy of the recipes. Tax-deductible donations are being accepted at Out of the Darkness Community Walks. Additional details of the event are available at The Cheap Gourmet.

 
Project Creator: GrowNYC

Main Contact Person: Jeanne Hodesh of Greenmarket and GrowNYC

Hashtag: #DineInIrene

Project Dates: September 26, 2011 to October 2, 2011

How It Works:

1. During the week of September 26 to October 2, join us by hosting a potluck or supper club in [...]]]>

 
Project Creator: GrowNYC

Main Contact Person: Jeanne Hodesh of Greenmarket and GrowNYC

Hashtag: #DineInIrene

Project Dates: September 26, 2011 to October 2, 2011

How It Works:

1. During the week of September 26 to October 2, join us by hosting a potluck or supper club in your home, sourcing ingredients from your neighborhood Greenmarket. (Visit GrowNYC for a list of Greenmarkets around the city.)

2. Funds will be raised by dinner hosts who either collect donations from their potluck guests or charge per seat for a served meal. (Dish and donate: suggested donation $25 per guest.)

3. Bloggers without Borders will maintain a #DineInIrene gallery of “Dine Ins” where hosts are encouraged to share what they made, which local farmers’ market and farmers they’ve sourced their ingredients from, and share pictures of who came to eat.

4. Once you’ve hosted your dinner (or even if you can’t host a dinner but want to help anyway), you can make a donation in the amount that you’ve raised directly to the GrowNYC Hurricane Fund. 100% of donations marked Hurricane Irene Relief under “Program Designation” will go to farmers affected by Hurricane Irene.

Alternatively, Dine In Irene checks can be sent to:

GrowNYC
Attn: Chelsea Whittaker
51 Chambers Street, Suite 1231
New York, NY 10007
 
Checks should be made out to GrowNYC, memo: Irene Relief Fund.

Visit the GrowNYC site for a list of those severely affected by the storm, as well as a list of Greenmarkets located throughout the five boroughs of NYC.

Thank you in advance for your generous support. Happy dining!

 
While New York City was largely spared from Hurricane Irene, many of the small family farms that fill GrowNYC’s Greenmarkets with their incredible bounty this time of year took a devastating hit. In the wake of the storm’s [...]]]>

R&G Produce, Orange County, New York

 
Written by Jeanne Hodesh of GrowNYC’s Greenmarket

 
While New York City was largely spared from Hurricane Irene, many of the small family farms that fill GrowNYC’s Greenmarkets with their incredible bounty this time of year took a devastating hit. In the wake of the storm’s wrath, the Black Dirt region of Orange County is still flooded, Sullivan County and Ulster County have seen significant damage, and there are parts of Greene County that no longer exist. Several farmers in New Jersey and Vermont were also drastically impacted. We estimate that 80% of Greenmarket farmers have been impacted, with about 10% reporting severe loss—70-100% of their products.

This couldn’t have happened at a worse time of year, as September is when our farmers make the money they need to sustain their family farm businesses through the long winter ahead and carry them into the next season. It is too close to the frost to re-plant, and in addition to the great summer harvest that typically arrives in September, these farmers have lost their winter storage crops as well—beets, potatoes, onions and squash—the products that sustain year-round sales. Some farmers lost their entire tomato harvest, others watched whole fields of pumpkins and onions float away in waters eight feet deep—thousands of dollars worth of investment washed downstream, and many watched an entire season of work and hope drown. More than one farmer has reported saving his chickens from the rising waters by canoe, and the stories keep coming. A gallery of flooded fields has been posted on Flickr.

Through the storm and days following, the farmers have kept working—harvesting what they could before the rain, coming to market with what they have left. They are an intensely tough group and are taking the recovery one step at a time, with a dose of humor and optimism thrown in. What they need now is the wind of the community at their back. Greenmarket and Bloggers without Borders are proposing a collective Dine In. Whether you’re a New York City Greenmarket regular, an enthusiastic locavore, or a food lover anywhere, help a farmer, cook a meal, feed your friends—and ask for donations. It is, after all, harvest season, a plum time to throw a dinner party.

During the week of September 26 – October 2, join us by hosting a potluck or supper club in your home, source ingredients from your neighborhood Greenmarket, then donate the proceeds from your tip jar to those producers who need our help to recover from the flooding. Share photos of your gathering for all to see at the Bloggers Without Borders #DineInIrene gallery. Good will and good food go a long way.

For more information on how you can participate, check out the Dine In Irene project summary page.

 
 
Texas is burning.

After the driest, hottest summer in almost a century, high winds sparked fires across the state on Sunday. One wildfire alone has burned over 34,000 acres, destroyed 600 homes and caused the complete evacuation [...]]]> Written by Missy Stevens (@Missy_Stevens) of Wonder, Friend

Photograph by Deanna Roy

 
 
Texas is burning.

After the driest, hottest summer in almost a century, high winds sparked fires across the state on Sunday. One wildfire alone has burned over 34,000 acres, destroyed 600 homes and caused the complete evacuation of 20 neighborhoods. Steiner Ranch, an Austin subdivision of nearly 5,000 homes, was completely evacuated for 48 hours. During that time, 24 homes burned to the ground, and approximately 30 more were severely damaged.

That’s just two of the fires. There are so many wildfires burning that at one point Monday, a leading source for fire-related news was unable to keep count. Thousands of Texans are without homes today. Countless more are facing major clean-up efforts in homes that may have been spared destruction but are still damaged. Two deaths have been confirmed.

As of this writing, the fires are still burning. The largest is only 15 percent contained. Others have been contained, or extinguished, but still have potential for flare-ups. We cannot yet know the extent of the damage our state will suffer. But we can know this: the clean-up and rebuilding effort will not be a one-week, one-month or even one-year event.

It’s a tough time for Texas, the state facing a lengthy rebuilding and recovery process. And Austin-area bloggers had a choice: watch, in horror, from the safety of our homes, feeling helpless; or be one of the voices calling for action.

We chose the latter.

Austin—and all of Texas, for that matter—is an amazing community of people looking out for each other. Within hours of the fires breaking out, charitable and religious groups across the city launched relief efforts. There are so many groups doing so many incredible things, it’s difficult to quantify.

And yet, many of us heard people say, “I want to help, but I don’t know where to start.”

With something of this magnitude, it is often difficult to figure out what the immediate needs are, and how to meet those needs. Austin-area bloggers decided that we could help raise and maintain awareness of ongoing relief efforts.

We have started a collective endeavor under the hash tag #TXBlogFireRelief. Together, we are gathering information about relief activities, and sharing what we learn with our social networks. We are writing, tweeting, and posting Facebook messages about relief efforts as we learn of them.

This week’s most immediate needs include food, water, and hygiene items for firefighters and evacuees. As the weeks go on, we expect that needs will change and there will be more focus on rebuilding and recovery. Our goal is to post updates throughout this week, and then follow up over the coming months (and years?) with new relief information.

Austin bloggers are also coming together to host a benefit and donation drive this weekend. The women of LiveMom.com, Free Fun in Austin, A Family Village and Mama on the Verge are hosting an Austin Family Brunch at Joe’s Place; other area bloggers are helping to promote (and planning to attend!). Everyone is invited for an affordable brunch and entertainment.

As bloggers, we have a unique voice in our communities, and we’ve embraced this opportunity to raise awareness for Texas wildfire relief efforts. We thank you, Bloggers Without Borders, for helping us spread the word.

Current needs include:

• Hygiene and household items, such as soap, shampoo, deodorant, bedding, and cleaning supplies, for evacuees.
• New (packaged) socks and underwear of all sizes for men, women, children.
• Individually-packaged snacks and energy bars, water, hand wipes, eye drops, and saline solution for the firefighters.
• Monetary donations.

For more information about the organizations that are meeting these needs and how you can get involved or make donations, please take a look at the Texas bloggers link-up for fire relief efforts. You can also follow the hashtag #TXBlogFireRelief on Twitter for up-to-date links and information.