Is There Anybody Out There?

Me and my super-handsome nephew, Adam

So, did everybody have a nice spring break? I sure did! We took the kiddos and headed up north for Easter with family. Everybody had a blast seeing cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. We ate too much and I got to take Bryanna shopping for her prom dress. A good time was had by all :-)

I'm not officially back online here (in fact, tomorrow is my last day of the Techno-Free Challenge) but two items came to my attention today that I wanted to share with you.

First and foremost, is Crunchy Chicken's brainchild of a charity, Good 4 Girls. Good 4 Girls is a non-profit organization that was created by a fellow eco-blogger just this year and it is helping to supply girls in Africa with eco-friendly period protection, thus allowing these young women to continue with their education, rather than having to stay home from school when they are menstruating.

Crunchy recently asked fellow bloggers to help her spread the word about her charity. In a recent post she wrote "the demand for services from Goods 4 Girls is far outweighing the supply. This should come as really no surprise to anyone who has been following along on the journey to helping girls in Africa gain access to menstrual products. In the last few days I've been contacted by several other aid organizations asking to partner with Goods 4 Girls because of the great need of the girls they support in areas of Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Sudan, Tanzania and others. Since the demand is far outstripping the supply, I really hate to turn people away."

"There are a number of different ways for people to donate, either by making the pads themselves, buying them from other manufacturers or donating money for those who want to help and just want to click a button to do it."

So please check out the Good 4 Girls website and donate if you can. And be sure to tell everyone about it too!

The second item I wanted to mention was the creation of 350.0rg, another non-profit organization that is planning an international campaign to unite the world around the number 350, and we need your help. We need to make sure that the solutions the world proposes to climate change are to scale with the level of crisis that this number represents. Everyone on earth, from the smallest village to the cushiest corner office, needs to know what 350 means. The movement to spread that number needs to be beautiful, creative, and unstoppable.

The organization is headed by environmental activist Bill McKibben, who has authored a number of books on global warming, including The End of Nature, Wandering Home, and Deep Economy. He's been in numerous documentaries, speaks around the country and is featured in the Spring 2008 edition of yes! magazine. He's a very level-headed activist who believes it is not too late to save the world and that individuals have the power to make the changes necessary to do so. I heartily endorse any organization this man puts his weight behind.

They don't have much online yet, but I urge you to sign up for their mailing list and, again, if you are in a position to do so, please make a contribution.

Thanks, enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you on Monday!