VOLUNTEERING FOR THE HOLIDAYS - CHRISTMAS EVE and NEW YEARS EVE ARE ON FRIDAYS...

Friends of this blog know that I recommend some Secret Santa giving or playing it forward through volunteering as a soul affirming remedy for that seasonal depression that can happen to the even nicest, sweetest people on this planet, even those who we all depend on to be of good cheer.

Such work also can become a way of realizing how blessed we are - even if we are not rich - to have the ability to get there, to do the work. I will be volunteering on both these days and you can too, usually without a lot of fuss, if you do food distribution for a food bank or serve meals, for instance. 

And don't you want to meet your kind of people - the loving and giving kind?

ANGEL FLIGHT WEST : VOLUNTEER PILOTS FLY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS TO RELOCATION DESTINATION FREE

ANGEL FLIGHT WEST  Volunteer pilots and their support network arrange free relocation flights for domestic violence survivors across the3 twelve Western States. (They also fly medical transport missions, assist military personnel, work to move blood, organ, and tissue donations to the right spots, and fly transplant recipients...

A phone number is 888 426-2643

PLAYING SECRET BENEFACTOR IS JUST THE THING TO DO WITH YOUR EXTRA MONEY

There are so many places seeking unpaid workers (volunteers) and there are so many worthy non-profits to send (potentially tax-deductible) monetary donations to. 

Sometimes I think the best way to give is when you get no credit or recognition other than perhaps a personal sense of satisfaction that you helped someone. Since we still have cash, may I suggest that you play secret benefactor to a friend or relative or stranger with it?

The first time I did this I was visiting a distant relative. She had just enough to pay her bills but I knew things were a bit tight for her during the holidays when she could not afford to give her grandchildren more than token gifts. The family wasn't materialistic. They were devout Christians who felt there was no reason for Christmas without a belief in Christ. Still, children are children and love getting something unexpected. So I went to visit during a small get together, used the bathroom, and tucked cash money behind some items in her medicine cabinet. She mentioned the discovery of this money to me a few months later on the phone. I didn't confess.

A friend sent fifty cash dollars in an envelope to her friend who was going through a divorce in a Christmas card.  Her friend said "someone" had done this and "forgotten" to sign the card.

Another friend owed $250 to a man who had been a platonic friend when he went and paid her storage unit at a time when she was ill.  It took her a while to earn the money she owed him and during that time he had met and moved in with a woman and their platonic friendship had ended due to his interest in this new love.  After some time she learned where he lived.  So she hired a delivery man to go there and ask for him.  When this man who had been generous and helpful came to the door.  The delivery man handed over a small Christmas box with $500 in cash in it to him. 

You don't have to be rich to play Secret Benefactor. If you have many young nephews and nieces, sending them a handmade Christmas card with even a dollar or two, can be a big deal for them, some money of their own to spend as they please or save - in that gumball machine.

I had an elderly friend some years ago who himself had not a lot of money. His daughter would give him $20 once in a while, expecting he would go to a coffee house and sit a while, using the money for coffee. He never failed to buy a coffee for someone else - usually someone he saw hanging out without spending. He remembered being a "country bumpkin" who had gotten stranded in a big city overnight in his youth and having to ask strangers for money so that he could have something to eat while he waited for his dad to come get him. I'm sure he has been blessed for his kindness to others.

Playing it Forward can also be rewarding. I volunteered recently at a bake sale where there were lots of goodies for children.  A man came in and handed me $10 and said to give the next ten children a free goodie on him.

I know you won't have to think too hard about being a Secret Benefactor... it's FUN!

Missy

(Try to research organizations that ask for contributions so that you know a bit more what you are supporting with your money.  A Non Profit porthole type site for your state may be on the Internet.)

Missy

LAST MINUTE HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES VANQUISH THE BLUES and MAKE OTHERS HAPPY TOO

 

Some of you have busy social lives and others choose to have just one or two close personal friends. Some of you actually prefer to be alone but the holidays alone can lead to a feeling of loneliness and emptiness that can hit you suddenly. 

Do not despair.  Get up and out and involved.

I've learned that many organizations love last minute volunteers to help them with Holiday programs for adults. Serving food to the homeless at a mission dinner is one of the best ways to give of yourself. You'll be surrounded by other people who give of themselves too and those are the kind of people you want to meet.

Another place to offer yourself in service is Assisted Living and Nursing Homes. Get a few people together and go caroling to these places. Just call ahead and talk to an administrator ahead of your visit.  You might just want to go sit in the lobby and talk to people.

Think of your friends who you haven't been in touch with for a while, those who are long distance, those who have lost loved ones in the past year, especially the elderly.  Do some phone calling and catching up. Or go to visit and bring a little something to eat.

If you desire alone time but notice you're feeling blue, get outside.  Take a long walk in nature.  Bring a sketch book along and do some sketching. Go to a choir recital or sit in the back of a church and listen to the service.  Go to see a film that you want to see or to a restaurant you want to try that none of your friends would be into. It's perfectly acceptable to dine alone, even during Holidays.

Many organizations that gift children will take gifts to the last minute though you  might have to take them to a central location rather than a service center. They may need volunteers to sort or gift wrap presents when Santa's elves have too much already to do.

Thinking of you!

Missy

THE AMERICAN RED CROSS TODAY - KNOWN FOR BLOOD DRIVES BUT SO MUCH MORE

AMERICAN RED CROSS OFFICAL SITE


Would you like to volunteer?


Recently I learned that one of the services the Red Cross offers is locating long lost family members...

POLARIS PROJECT - WORKING TO ELIMINATE MODERN SLAVERY - ASHLEY JUDD AMBASSADOR

Readers, you know that I stand for choice, and choice made with knowledge and understanding. 

Those who have little to no choice in life are of great concern to me.  In these Blog Posts, you read about so many people who had little to no choice because of the times they lived in as women, or their class or status or poverty.  Well, today there are very many people who are SLAVES in this world, and in particular people who are SEX TRAFFICKED, often young teenage girls, some runaways, some snatched.

In choosing charities that I think you should know about, perhaps donate or volunteer for, POLARIS PROJECT seems to be well regarded and INTERNATIONAL. 

POLARIS PROJECT - STOP HUMAN TRAFFICKING


National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline 1 (888) 373-7888  (United States)

FROM THEIR SITE:

Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery -- a multi-billion dollar criminal industry that denies freedom to 20.9 million people around the world. And no matter where you live, chances are it's happening nearby. From the girl forced into prostitution at a truck stop, to the man discovered in a restaurant kitchen, stripped of his passport and held against his will. All trafficking victims share one essential experience: the loss of freedom.

Sex traffickers use violence, threats, lies, debt bondage, and other forms of coercion to compel adults and children to engage in commercial sex acts against their will. Under U.S. federal law, any minor under the age of 18 years induced into commercial sex is a victim of sex trafficking—regardless of whether or not the trafficker used force, fraud, or coercion.
The situations that sex trafficking victims face vary dramatically. Many victims become romantically involved with someone who then forces or manipulates them into prostitution. Others are lured in with false promises of a job, such as modeling or dancing. Some are forced to sell sex by their parents or other family members. They may be involved in a trafficking situation for a few days or weeks, or may remain in the same trafficking situation for years.

Victims of sex trafficking can be U.S. citizens, foreign nationals, women, men, children, and LGBTQ individuals. Vulnerable populations are frequently targeted by traffickers, including runaway and homeless youth, as well as victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, war, or social discrimination.

Sex trafficking occurs in a range of venues including fake massage businesses, via online ads or escort services, in residential brothels, on the street or at truck stops, or at hotels and motels...

MODELING'S DARK SIDE - NIGHTCLUB PROMOTERS - RICH MEN AND GIRLS TOO YOUNG : MISSY SPEAKS

A PEEK AT THE DARK SIDE OF MODELING by NIKKI BATTISTE, DAN LIEBERMAN and DAN HARRIS  full article link

"Lonely and low on cash, many models fall prey to a tempting but dubious lifeline: party promoters, perhaps the biggest and best-kept secret of the modeling world.

"It's almost like a secret society, so if you're not in it you don't understand it," said a promoter named Isaiah.

 

It appears to work like this: Party promoters befriend young models. Nightclub owners pay promoters to bring models as young as 15 to their clubs to attract rich men. Rich men go to the nightclub because young models go there, then spend lots of money partying with them. The club owners pay promoters a cut of the nightclub's profit.

 

Some might liken party promoters, many of whom are college-educated, to pimps."

***

MISSY SPEAKS!

As we mature we become better at knowing (because we are taught, observe, and have experiences) at what we will or won't do.  We should check in with ourselves about where we stand on things from time to time because over the years we change.  There are all sorts of things I said I would never do or that other people should or shouldn't do when I was a teenager that I've become more liberal or conservative about.  Most of us want to own our own lives while allowing other people theirs, until it comes to something like child molestation - then almost everyone thinks WRONG!

It concerns me that many teenagers and youthful women who are just maturing and don't know themselves so well, are lured into the party drug and booze lifestyle and then exploited like this. 

However beautiful you are in youth, you really should be thinking about finding a vocation or avocation that will hold your interest and that you can invest yourself in by working, volunteering, or educating.

If you're a bored and lonely model, there are plenty of things you can do while you work towards modeling success.  First, there are many volunteer opportunities that do not require consistency or long term commitments, just for you to show up.  When you approach a non-profit simply tell them that this is the case.   You may not get the choice assignment but you'll be there to learn.  Actors also have to be free to audition or work around dance classes, you're not the only one.  So decide what it is  you enjoy or have interests in and attempt to find that kind of volunteer experiential.  You'll be building a second resume.  One of the best places to do this kind of volunteering is the public library.  There is almost always something that can be done that will be appreciated.  What about horses?  You may be able to muck out the stall in exchange for exercising the horse.

You get the idea!