A very inspiring girl

Hello friends,

I'm sitting here enjoying myself on this beautiful August day and listening to a much loved podcast from a few weeks past. As I listen to the preacher at Forefront Church NYC talk about generosity, I begin to ponder about my own gift giving and the blessings I have in my own life. Donating is important to me and I continue to give gifts to charities and organizations I feel strongly about or whose funding is being cut. It is while listening, that the preacher begins to talk about a young girl, Rachel Beckwith age 9, who truly sets the mark for generosity. I was so truly inspired by the story of this young girl that I have decided to dedicate this blog post to her and her tremendous story.

Rachel Beckwith decided for her ninth birthday that she wanted to for go gifts and ask instead that family and friends donate to a cause that was very dear to her. Rachel had seen a special on children in underdeveloped areas of the world. These children were dying of diseases caused by unclean drinking water. With the help of her parents Rachel set-up a page through CHARITY WATER organization,(CHARITY WATER is an amazing origination that creates water projects in impoverished areas of the world, creating clean water for communities and villages where water is either scarce or undrinkable). On her page Rachel asked that friends and family help her to reach her goal of 300.00 before her ninth birthday. Below I have included the letter Rachel posted on her CHARITY WATER page:


"On June 12th 2011, I'm turning 9. I found out that millions of people don't live to see their 5th birthday. And why? Because they didn't have access to clean, safe water so I'm celebrating my birthday like never before. I'm asking from everyone I know to donate to my campaign instead of gifts for my birthday. Every penny of the money raised will go directly to fund freshwater projects in developing nations. Even better, every dollar is "proved" when the projects are complete, and photos and GPS coordinates are posted using Google Earth. My goal is to raise $300 by my birthday, June 12, 2011. Please consider helping me".


By June 12th 2011 Rachel had received donations amounting to 220.00, $80 shy of her goal. Shortly after Rachel's ninth birthday her and her family were in a horrific car accident after a semi-trailer had jack knifed. Everyone in the accident survived, except Rachel. After realizing that their little girl would never regain consciousness, Rachel's parents had to make the decision to pull life support. After mourning the tragic loss of their little girl, Rachel's parents asked CHARITY WATER if they would reopen Rachel's page so that they may continue to help her reach her goal. As of today Rachel has received $1,213,652 and has helped 60,682 people receive and benefit from clean water.

Although the tragedy of what happened to Rachel will never be forgotten, her legacy and generosity will be remembered by all. May our generation learn from the love and compassion of Rachel's.

My hope by writing this article is that we may take the example set by a small child and reevaluate our own lives and what truly is important. It's not what we receive, but what we give that is the most important. Wether it be time, money, a smile, or hug...giving should be what we strive to do each day.


I have included the link to Rachel's page and articles with more information about her story.

http://mycharitywater.org/rachels9thbirthday

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/opinion/rachels-last-fund-raiser.html



Happy Saving...and giving!!!

Laura


"Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go". Mother Teresa

Now's the time for dreams

As I sit in a coffee shop in Milwaukee, I begin to daydream about dreams that I've had on the back burner and why I haven't allowed for those dreams to come to the front of the stove. Usually the excuses come creeping up fast and clear...no time, too expensive, not realistic, etc. But when I place these excuses on paper I begin to ask myself, " Did atomic energy seem that realistic when Niels Bohr first dreamt it up?". What does it take for us to make our dreams a reality?

The dreams of my youth are not the same dreams of my adulthood, but they are also no less important and achievable. One dream I have is to start an environmental yoga movement within public schools, but why do I continue to stall out on this very important dream? I've decided to get inspired from other big dreamers.

Everyday I'm inspired by the dreamers that took their vision to the next level. One dreamer that is inspiring the world and me is Blake Mycoskie. In 2006, Mycoskie took a vacation to Argentina. While there he noticed that children were without shoes (making them more susceptible to disease). After much brainstorming he created TOMS shoes (toms.com) which to date has supplied the worlds impoverished children with over a million pairs of shoes. For each pair of shoes bought TOMS gives away a pair to impoverished kids. In his new book, START SOMETHING THAT MATTERS, Mycoskie gives advice on starting your own projects that make a major positive impact on the earth and its communities. True to his fashion, every book sold TOMS gives a book to a child. Now that's what I call dream power!!!!

This is just one example of dreams and one exceptional great dreamer. There are hundreds and hundreds of great dreamers throughout history. And like people, dreams come in all shapes and sizes. As the weather begins to change and the fall season approaches, I encourage you to dust off some old dreams and see what changes you can make, wether they be in your life or in the life of this planet and its inhabitants.

Happy Saving...(and dreaming :)
Laura


Who inspires you? Try making list of all the great dreamers that you admire and see how they made their dreams a reality.

"I have dreams and I have nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams". - Jonas Salk