If you can’t see the video above, click here.

What an amazing girl…this is an excerpt from wikipedia:

Cullis-Suzuki was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada.  Her father is a second-generation Japanese Canadian. While attending Lord Tennyson Elementary School in French Immersion, at the age of nine, she founded the Environmental Children’s Organization (ECO), a group of children dedicated to learning and teaching other youngsters about environmental issues. In 1992, at the age of 12, Cullis-Suzuki raised money with members of ECO, to attend the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Along with group members Michelle Quigg, Vanessa Suttie, and Morgan Geisler, Cullis-Suzuki presented environmental issues from a youth perspective at the summit, where she was applauded for a speech to the delegates. The video has since become a viral hit, popularly known as “The Girl Who Silenced the World for 5 Minutes”. In 1993, she was honored in the United Nations Environment Program’s Global 500 Roll of Honor. In 1993, Doubleday published her book Tell the World (ISBN 0-385-25422-9), a 32-page book of environmental steps for families.

To read the full wiki-article, click here.

The older I get the more skeptical I have become with donating to charities. The sad truth of it is many of us have been at the brunt of some person or scam artist appealing to our better nature.  From that experience somewhere we decided “not ever again will I be fooled”.

I still give to charities, but now I research where my money is going. A site I love is Charity Navigator to find out how efficiently a charity is using the donated funds. However, Child Fund International is a charity I have been supporting for about 5 years now regularly. The way they work is you sponsor a child. This means, you give $24 a month through Child Fund to that child and his or her family. This covers food, medical supplies, water, clothes, books, school, as well as programs that help the community become self sufficient. You also write letters with your sponsored child, or if they are too young, then with their family. Child Fund has people to translate the letter, and you are sent both the original handwritten note as well as the translation. In this way you can stay in communication with the child and really see the effects your donations are doing. Also, they have a great score on Charity navigator.   In the 5 years I have been with them I feel like I really am helping someone, someone I am building a relationship with through letters.

So, after all of that – I recommend you check them out at https://www.childfund.org/

Who knows, it might be good fit. And, even in you cannot afford to regularly sponsor a child, you can make one-time donations here and they will use that money where it is the most needed.

Support however you can! If you ain’t walking, maybe you can encourage someone else to! Click on the image below to be taken to the most recent newsletter.

myMeditation iPhone Application

BLT & Associates has put out an iPhone application:
“We’re pleased to announce a new iPhone application brought to you by BLT Helps. myMeditation is designed to demystify meditation, a pursuit once considered esoteric, and bring the benefits of a daily practice to skeptics and seasoned practitioners alike. myMeditation will explain the benefits of adding Pranayama (guided breath work) to your practice. If you are already familiar with meditation, myMeditation will enhance and deepen your practice. The program is fully customizable, and provides a gentle sound pattern to guide your breath, as well as a timer for silent meditation.

Your purchase of this application will help other charities! BLT Helps will use 100% of the proceeds to fund design projects benefiting charitable organizations and design training to meet this goal.

Purchase myMeditation today – and tell your friends!”

Website: http://www.treesftf.org/
This charity is rated very high by Charity Navigator, (which means they are efficient and effective with their money) and their mission is working. Help out if you can!

For those of you who remember, awesome. Those who haven’t seen this yet, check it out! http://www.girleffect.org/

I….nearly…..passed out from the cute overload.
Please, enjoy.

The World Wildlife Fund has some wonderful programs, and this being one of them. Check it out by clicking here!

The WWF Polar Bear Gift Set