Fires in Alberta

I made another donation to the Canadian Red Cross for the Fires in Alberta.
The fires are growing.
I'm also working on getting other Canadians Abroad folks to donate with me.

https://donate.redcross.ca/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1951&ea.campaign.id=50610

Feeding refugees.

Made a donation to

PHILOXENIA  

today.  They are feeding refugees.

The name Philoxenia derives from an ancient Greek term referring to the duty of kindness and hospitality shown to guests, foreigners or strangers, and embodies the true generosity of human spirit. We are team Philoxenia, and our mission is to embrace and share this spirit among the growing population of asylum seekers in Europe. We provide hot meals, comfortable spaces and open arms in

stressful environments. We work to provide positive support and inspire a sense of humanity and solidarity that people can carry with them throughout their onward journey.

In 2015, vast numbers of ordinary people have been forced to flee their homes in fear of persecution, violence or death and in search of freedom, justice and dignity. Despite the harsh winter conditions and increased risk of drowning at sea, thousands continue to make the treacherous journey into the EU each day. Government and international aid agencies, though equipped with large scale funding and facilities, are unable to address every need in this volatile environment. We are here to fill the gaps that are left behind. This initiative emerges from the desire to support incoming refugees in some of their daily challenges. We feel that at the end of the day, a simple but warm meal can go a long way. 

Our goal is to provide a warm meal to 1000 people a day. That means, during our first year of operation, we will provide around 356,000 warm meals to asylum seekers throughout the EU. 

Thank you for being kind, the world is so much better because of it.

Fort McMurry Fire

I made a donation today to the Red Cross of Canada to help the people of Fort McMurry, Alberta.  Fire just got most of the town and everyone was evacuated.


Donation link here - Canadian Red Cross - Alberta Fires.   You don't have to be Canadian to donate.

Kiva loan to Madagascar

Made a Kiva loan to Ruffine. My first loan to Madagascar,

Ruffine is a widow, 58 years old, and she had only one son, who is already married. She lives in a busy neighborhood. For a dozen years, she has been selling kitchen utensils at the market: with this business, she has succeeded in meeting family needs. It is also a passion of hers. 

She has been a partner with VAHATRA for nine years. With her previous loan, she had profits she preferred to reinvest as capital. She still wants to take out another loan to purchase kitchen utensils to sell, such as cups, buckets, pots, and tureens. 

Ruffine is thinking about her financial independence. Her goal is to build a house.

Southern Poverty Law Center

I've been donating to the Southern Poverty Law Center for over a decade. They do wonderful work against hate.
 We need less hate in the world.

They also teach tolerance.

We need more of that too.

Sustaining Space

I helped out James in Oregon today with part of a Kiva Zip loan. These loans are for Americans (I think mostly) for their small businesses.  We all need capital.

Pasadena Humane Society

I made a donation to the Pasadena Humane Society today. It's being matched

Political Revolution

Helping get Bernie Sanders elected president.

Feel the burn.

Post Card to Attawapiskat.

I sent a post card today to Attawapiskat.

"The Canadian First Nations community of Attawapiskat declared a state of emergency this month after 11 people tried to kill themselves in a single night, bringing the total number of suicide attempts since September to more than 100."

So sad.  I'm having a day that is hard for me too, But it's never been so hard that I wanted to die.  Just need to look harder for the good in the world


Read the story here

Helping Syrian Refuges with cats

I made a donation to help a few Syrian refuges who have 3 cats.  So brave.

https://www.generosity.com/emergencies-fundraising/syrian-refugee-family-and-three-cats-need-a-home/x/36927

Kiva loans

I made 9 Kiva loans today. Two were for 'dentistry', the last 'activity' I had left to fund. The others were for microlenders I haven't loaned to yet.
 I really should set kiva up to automatically fund loans. I always seem to have a balance. So much to do in life.

Friend of Saxonhouse

I helped fund new thatching for the Saxon House.

Friends of Saxonhouse

Bring Hope to the Table

Donated to 'Bring Hope to the Table' when I bought some groceries at Ralphs.  The money goes to help feed people in need. http://www.bringinghopetothetable.com/

Team Rubicon Support squad

Just signed up to be a monthly donor to Team Rubicon. Member of the Support Squad.
Team Rubicon is a veterans organization that helps out after natural disasters.

"I support Team Rubicon not only for the important job they are fulfilling by getting experienced first responders on the ground to disaster areas, but what they provide in allowing our veterans to use the leadership, operational, and technical skills"


http://www.teamrubiconusa.org/?mc_cid=ec9310b54f&mc_eid=8b0386dcf6

kiva

Made a few kiva loans today.  love the new picture that shows where they went

Kiva loans

I was asked by a group on facebook to make a kiva loan to a widow from El Salvador with a grocery store.  I made 2 other loans to microlenders I hadn't lent to yet.

Respect and Dignity

I had a conversation with a homeless man today.  He was sitting outside a book store and said hi to me so I stopped and chatted with him when I came out. Just about what I was doing and small talk stuff. Nothing about him being homeless or wanting food or money.  Just treated him like he was a person. Which of course he is. But when you're homeless that gets taken away from you.

I've sat with homeless people on a few occasion (sometimes I'll buy food and eat with them). As soon as you are with them, people stop noticing you.  They walk by and advert their eyes. Everyone just happens to be looking the other way. They clutch bags and act afraid.   I can tell they don't see me, I am just getting judged by the company i'm with. I don't get that reaction when I sit alone, lots of people make eye contact.

So today I gave a homeless person some respect and dignity.

Kiva loans

I just made 9 Kiva loans of $25 each, to use up my Kiva credit.

I need to blog more.  I do things but don't have time to write about them.

Musical Instruments

Whoot, finally got a loan filling one of the last 3 'activities' on KIVA (out of 149). Kiva tallies several lending statistics. Obsessive people like me try to get at least one in each category/group. This one fulfilled 'Musical Instruments'.

Helped Bail out Greece

Made a small donation to help bail out Greece.  It's a fundraiser and they are trying to raise all 1.6 billion.  Hope it goes through. I really like the idea of the people raising so much money to help people.
 http://time.com/3942118/british-man-indiegogo-greece/