★ Make A Difference ★
This Saturday, October 26th is Make A Difference Day! Make A Difference was started with the goal of uniting people to come together and make a positive impact. I love this day because I believe the notion that doing small deeds will make a difference for many people across the world all at once, which will create more goodness in this world. Good Karma for all! 😊
Reading about Make A Difference Day made me realize that there are some great examples of people and organizations who make a difference around me:
Maria’s Field of Hope is a sunflower field that was first planted in 2013 to gracefully draw attention to the lack of funding for childhood cancer. The field was inspired by the memory and spirit of Maria McNamara as a way to love and honor the courageous children who are battling cancer and those we have lost. The field also generates funds to support cancer research. Childhood brain cancer research is grossly underfunded, and Prayers from Maria is one of the only organizations in the world that helps fund cutting edge research for children battling glioma brain tumors. To date, they have awarded over a million dollars in important research grants, and continue to look for funding opportunities that will result in a direct impact on children battling these deadly brain tumors.This past summer was the 7th year that Maria’s parents organized the field. It was pretty cool that the field was in full bloom for September’s Childhood Cancer Awareness Month! Over 780,000 seeds were planted in the field near our house, and they also planted another big field at Cedar Point. The sunflowers are a symbol of hope that we will conquer children’s cancer someday soon. Maria’s family is making a huge difference.
Random Acts of Kindness Everywhere, aka RAKE, has a simple mission: to support the community in a positive way. They encourage kindness and promote the act of ‘paying it forward’. From giving random umbrellas on a rainy day to offering prime time sporting tickets to absolute strangers, founder Ricky wanted to create experiences for people while giving back. RAKE spreads kindness around the world and is making a difference!
Glennon Doyle founded her Together Rising organization because in a world where crises abound and heartbreak is in every community, people who want to help often don’t know where to turn. Together Rising is where to turn. Whether it’s pulling children out of the sea outside the refugee camps in Greece, helping abandoned kids on the streets in Indianapolis, establishing the first opioid recovery home for pregnant teens in New Hampshire, building a maternal health wing in Port-au-Prince, providing a single mother access to breast cancer treatment, or keeping a foster family’s heat on in Texas — Together Rising identifies what is breaking the hearts of our givers as they look around their world and their community, and then we connect our givers’ generosity with the people and organizations who are effectively addressing that critical need. I love that they only accept small donations and that 100% of what Together Rising receives from every personal donation goes directly to an individual, family, or cause in need. Glennon and her Together Rising team are making a difference and enabling many of us who donate to make a difference, too.
All of these people have inspired me to think about how I can make a difference, and maybe you are thinking the same. Volunteering my time is my favorite way to help because it gets me literally “in touch” with other humans. Donating my resources is another way that I try to make a difference. The vet near us collects blankets and towels for the animals who are brought in from the streets, so that their lives are a little cozier. Giving financially is another way I like to support organizations and individuals trying to make a difference. On this Make A Difference Day, I’d love to hear who has inspired you by making a difference in your part of the world.
#MakeADifferenceDay #BeTheLove #GoodKarma