From Gimundo.com - It's nice to see that despite what the mainstream news would like you to believe, people, for the most part, still do the right thing. Case in point, 70-year old Ludwig Geier was coming out of a bank and stumbled and dropped an envelope he was carrying that contained several thousand dollars. About 200 bills went flying around a parking lot. Instead of grabbing some and bolting, everyone in the parking lot started picking up the dollars and returning them to Ludwig.
Geier was extremely grateful and said, "I can only say I'm going to put a prayer out for them," he said. "If I could get them together, I'd buy them dinner and drinks."
Make it a great day!
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Showing posts with label Positive Role Models. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Positive Role Models. Show all posts
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Getting To Know The Real John McCain
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Labels: 2008 Presidential Race, Col. Bud Day, Food For Thought, Inspiring, Inspiring People, John McCain, Positive Role Models, Presidential Candidates
Labels: 2008 Presidential Race, Col. Bud Day, Food For Thought, Inspiring, Inspiring People, John McCain, Positive Role Models, Presidential Candidates
The other day, a friend emailed me an article from the WSJ.com entitled, Getting To Know John McCain. I found it to be a very interesting and enlightening article. Until I read this article, I really didn't know that much about Senator McCain other than he was a prisoner-of-war, and he's definitely more liberal than the average Republican. But, here are some of the interesting things I learned about him from this article:
Col. Bud Day, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, fighter pilot, Vietnam POW and roommate of John McCain at the Hanoi Hilton relayed this story about John McCain to the author:
Mr. Day relayed to me one of the stories Americans should hear. It involves what happened to him after escaping from a North Vietnamese prison during the war. When he was recaptured, a Vietnamese captor broke his arm and said, "I told you I would make you a cripple."
The break was designed to shatter Mr. Day's will. He had survived in prison on the hope that one day he would return to the United States and be able to fly again. To kill that hope, the Vietnamese left part of a bone sticking out of his arm, and put him in a misshapen cast. This was done so that the arm would heal at "a goofy angle," as Mr. Day explained. Had it done so, he never would have flown again.
But it didn't heal that way because of John McCain. Risking severe punishment, Messrs. McCain and Day collected pieces of bamboo in the prison courtyard to use as a splint. Mr. McCain put Mr. Day on the floor of their cell and, using his foot, jerked the broken bone into place. Then, using strips from the bandage on his own wounded leg and the bamboo, he put Mr. Day's splint in place.
Years later, Air Force surgeons examined Mr. Day and complimented the treatment he'd gotten from his captors. Mr. Day corrected them. It was Dr. McCain who deserved the credit. Mr. Day went on to fly again.
Later in the story:
Another McCain story, somewhat better known, is about the Vietnamese practice of torturing him by tying his head between his ankles with his arms behind him, and then leaving him for hours. The torture so badly busted up his shoulders that to this day Mr. McCain can't raise his arms over his head.
One night, a Vietnamese guard loosened his bonds, returning at the end of his watch to tighten them again so no one would notice. Shortly after, on Christmas Day, the same guard stood beside Mr. McCain in the prison yard and drew a cross in the sand before erasing it. Mr. McCain later said that when he returned to Vietnam for the first time after the war, the only person he really wanted to meet was that guard.
And, one other story:
For example, in 1991 Cindy McCain was visiting Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh when a dying infant was thrust into her hands. The orphanage could not provide the medical care needed to save her life, so Mrs. McCain brought the child home to America with her. She was met at the airport by her husband, who asked what all this was about.
Mrs. McCain replied that the child desperately needed surgery and years of rehabilitation. "I hope she can stay with us," she told her husband. Mr. McCain agreed. Today that child is their teenage daughter Bridget.
I was aware of this story. What I did not know, and what I learned from Doris, is that there was a second infant Mrs. McCain brought back. She ended up being adopted by a young McCain aide and his wife.
"We were called at midnight by Cindy," Wes Gullett remembers, and "five days later we met our new daughter Nicki at the L.A. airport wearing the only clothing Cindy could find on the trip back, a 7-Up T-shirt she bought in the Bangkok airport." Today, Nicki is a high school sophomore. Mr. Gullett told me, "I never saw a hospital bill" for her care.
To read this story in it's entirety, please visit this page on WSJ.com.
Also, if you'd like to read another story written by a P.O.W. who was in the same prison as John McCain, visit this page on WSJ.com. It's definitely worth the read.
I'm posting this article today not necessarily to influence you to vote for John McCain for President, but rather to give you some insight into his character and resolve. It appears that the election will be between McCain and Senator Obama. Both men have a lot of strengths and weaknesses. And, as in most Presidential elections, the deciding factor many times comes down to character. Who has the stronger character? I'll let you decide.
Make it a great day!
Col. Bud Day, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, fighter pilot, Vietnam POW and roommate of John McCain at the Hanoi Hilton relayed this story about John McCain to the author:
Mr. Day relayed to me one of the stories Americans should hear. It involves what happened to him after escaping from a North Vietnamese prison during the war. When he was recaptured, a Vietnamese captor broke his arm and said, "I told you I would make you a cripple."
The break was designed to shatter Mr. Day's will. He had survived in prison on the hope that one day he would return to the United States and be able to fly again. To kill that hope, the Vietnamese left part of a bone sticking out of his arm, and put him in a misshapen cast. This was done so that the arm would heal at "a goofy angle," as Mr. Day explained. Had it done so, he never would have flown again.
But it didn't heal that way because of John McCain. Risking severe punishment, Messrs. McCain and Day collected pieces of bamboo in the prison courtyard to use as a splint. Mr. McCain put Mr. Day on the floor of their cell and, using his foot, jerked the broken bone into place. Then, using strips from the bandage on his own wounded leg and the bamboo, he put Mr. Day's splint in place.
Years later, Air Force surgeons examined Mr. Day and complimented the treatment he'd gotten from his captors. Mr. Day corrected them. It was Dr. McCain who deserved the credit. Mr. Day went on to fly again.
Later in the story:
Another McCain story, somewhat better known, is about the Vietnamese practice of torturing him by tying his head between his ankles with his arms behind him, and then leaving him for hours. The torture so badly busted up his shoulders that to this day Mr. McCain can't raise his arms over his head.
One night, a Vietnamese guard loosened his bonds, returning at the end of his watch to tighten them again so no one would notice. Shortly after, on Christmas Day, the same guard stood beside Mr. McCain in the prison yard and drew a cross in the sand before erasing it. Mr. McCain later said that when he returned to Vietnam for the first time after the war, the only person he really wanted to meet was that guard.
And, one other story:
For example, in 1991 Cindy McCain was visiting Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh when a dying infant was thrust into her hands. The orphanage could not provide the medical care needed to save her life, so Mrs. McCain brought the child home to America with her. She was met at the airport by her husband, who asked what all this was about.
Mrs. McCain replied that the child desperately needed surgery and years of rehabilitation. "I hope she can stay with us," she told her husband. Mr. McCain agreed. Today that child is their teenage daughter Bridget.
I was aware of this story. What I did not know, and what I learned from Doris, is that there was a second infant Mrs. McCain brought back. She ended up being adopted by a young McCain aide and his wife.
"We were called at midnight by Cindy," Wes Gullett remembers, and "five days later we met our new daughter Nicki at the L.A. airport wearing the only clothing Cindy could find on the trip back, a 7-Up T-shirt she bought in the Bangkok airport." Today, Nicki is a high school sophomore. Mr. Gullett told me, "I never saw a hospital bill" for her care.
To read this story in it's entirety, please visit this page on WSJ.com.
Also, if you'd like to read another story written by a P.O.W. who was in the same prison as John McCain, visit this page on WSJ.com. It's definitely worth the read.
I'm posting this article today not necessarily to influence you to vote for John McCain for President, but rather to give you some insight into his character and resolve. It appears that the election will be between McCain and Senator Obama. Both men have a lot of strengths and weaknesses. And, as in most Presidential elections, the deciding factor many times comes down to character. Who has the stronger character? I'll let you decide.
Make it a great day!
Thursday, May 08, 2008
An Update On The Lilli Grace Memorial Foundation Golf Tournament
I received the following email today from a friend who I featured a short while back. He was trying to raise money for the Lilli Grace Memorial Foundation:
Thank you again for posting the information about our golf tournament for the Lilli Grace Memorial Foundation. I just wanted to give you an update on how it went. The tournament was a blast and on top of a beautiful day for golf, we raised over $30,000 for the foundation!!!! 5 of us are headed to Fletcher, NC on May 18th to ride in a Century (100 mile) bicycle ride with Team in Training. The Lilli Grace Memorial Foundation will be making a $5,000 donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society that weekend!
It just goes to show what you can accomplish when people come together for a great cause. Thank you for your support and for always reporting the good news, seems the media is afraid of it! You can view pictures of the tournament on www.lilligrace.com . We will be posting pics and updates throughout the year.
Eddie, I'm glad I was able to help spread the news about the event, and thank you to all the Positive Pelham readers for your support! This is what it's all about. Sharing good news while helping those in need.
Make it a great day!
Thank you again for posting the information about our golf tournament for the Lilli Grace Memorial Foundation. I just wanted to give you an update on how it went. The tournament was a blast and on top of a beautiful day for golf, we raised over $30,000 for the foundation!!!! 5 of us are headed to Fletcher, NC on May 18th to ride in a Century (100 mile) bicycle ride with Team in Training. The Lilli Grace Memorial Foundation will be making a $5,000 donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society that weekend!
It just goes to show what you can accomplish when people come together for a great cause. Thank you for your support and for always reporting the good news, seems the media is afraid of it! You can view pictures of the tournament on www.lilligrace.com . We will be posting pics and updates throughout the year.
Eddie, I'm glad I was able to help spread the news about the event, and thank you to all the Positive Pelham readers for your support! This is what it's all about. Sharing good news while helping those in need.
Make it a great day!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Ideas For Random Acts of Kindness
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Labels: Extraordinary Acts of Kindness, Helpful Tips, Inspiring, Positive Role Models, Random Act of Kindness, Tips For Better Living
Labels: Extraordinary Acts of Kindness, Helpful Tips, Inspiring, Positive Role Models, Random Act of Kindness, Tips For Better Living
Nothing will make you feel better than committing a random act of kindness, and your act will make someone else feel the same way. Pay it forward - it's the only way to live. If you're stuck trying to think of ideas, here are some I came up with to help you get started:
I hope I've given you some ideas. Now, let's all go out and help someone have a great day!
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- Tip someone who is not expecting it – Toll Booth Operator, Fast Food Drive-thru Clerk, Garbage Handlers – You get the idea – It’ll make their day and yours
- Say “Good Morning” to someone at work you normally don’t talk to
- Call a relative or friend you haven’t spoken to in a long time just to say "Hi"
- If you see some trash on the sidewalk or in front of your office or favorite restaurant, pick it up and throw it away – If we all did this on a regular basis, litter would be a thing of the past
- Hand-write a note or thank you letter to someone who has helped you get where you are today – Don’t email or type the letter – Take out a pen and write
- Donating clothes is always a great idea – A twist to this act – If you see the same homeless person near your home or work, stop and give them one of your jackets, shirts, blanket, etc.
- If you’re searching for the perfect gift to give your parents, grandparents or friends, why not sponsor an eye surgery for a blind person in a third-world country in your friends honor – Think out of the box – Who can you help in your friends honor...
- Send your favorite elementary school teacher a “thank you” card for helping you become who you are today
- Open the door for someone at a public place
- Tip a great waiter/waitress 40% every now and then or write something nice to them on the back of the bill complimenting them
- Slip the busboy at your favorite restaurant a $20 bill (or whatever you can afford)
- If you know your neighbor is going through hard times (health problems, death in family, etc.), offer to cut their grass, sweep their drive or go to the grocery store for them for free
- Write a personal note to the boss/manager of an employee who went out of their way to help you
- Utilize the telephone – Have a big family? Organize a conference call with everyone
- If possible, adopt a dog or cat from a shelter
- Offer to walk an elderly couples dog
I hope I've given you some ideas. Now, let's all go out and help someone have a great day!
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Friday, March 28, 2008
Golf Tournament To Support The Lilli Grace Memorial Foundation
Won’t you help me honor Lilli’s legacy?
Lilli Grace Register was born through the miracle of research and technology. This miracle allowed her father, who fought two previous episodes with cancer (Hodgkins Disease Lymphoma), to actually conceive a child with his wife. Lilli Grace, who truly lived up to her name, was filled with great joy and had a smile that would light up a room. After only a short 18 months, this special child was tragically killed in an accident and I am asking for your help in continuing her legacy.
On April 21st, I will be participating in a significant and meaningful golf tournament as part of The Lilli Grace Memorial Foundation fund raising efforts. The Foundation provides support to many organizations leading the way in cancer awareness and child safety in the home. It is a proud supporter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (through Team in Training), the The Two-Day Breast Cancer Walk and www.kidsandcars.org ..
My request is simple and straightforward. Would you consider sponsoring me to help these wonderful organizations continue in their much needed work? The easiest way is to simply visit www.lilligrace.com , click on the Donate button and make a SECURE donation using a major credit card through PayPal. When people come together in Grace, great things can be accomplished….. let’s help find ways to support and help those in need.
Thank you for making a difference!
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Friday, February 29, 2008
Two-Time Iraq War Veteran Wins $1 Million Dollars
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Other Amazing Videos: Funny Videos - Tennis Videos - Country Music Videos
One other useful site I recommend: Free Offers Online
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Thursday, February 07, 2008
Mysterious Man Gives Couple $100,000 Check In Restaurant
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Labels: Amazing Video, Charity, Positive Role Models, Random Act of Kindness, Unbelievable, Viral Videos
Labels: Amazing Video, Charity, Positive Role Models, Random Act of Kindness, Unbelievable, Viral Videos
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Other Amazing Videos: Funny Videos - Tennis Videos - Country Music Videos
One other useful site I recommend: Free Offers Online
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Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Denzel Washington - A True AMERICAN Actor
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Labels: Denzel Washington, Inspiring, Inspiring Celebrities, Inspiring People, Positive Role Models
Labels: Denzel Washington, Inspiring, Inspiring Celebrities, Inspiring People, Positive Role Models
I received an email today regarding Denzel Washington. As with all emails, I first checked it's validity on Snopes.com, and it appears this story is mostly true. Here is the email in it's entirety, and below it are some clarifications about the some statements in the email:Don't know whether you heard about this but Denzel Washington and his family visited the troups at Brook Army Medical Center, in San Antonio,Texas (BAMC) the other day. This is where soldiers that have been evacuated from Germany come to be hospitalized in the States, especially burn victims. They have buildings there called Fisher Houses. The Fisher House is a hotel where soldiers' families can stay, for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the hospital. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base but as you can imagine, they are almost completely filled most of the time.
While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked how much one of them would cost to build. He took his check book out and wrote a check for the full amount right there on the spot. The soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word out to the American public, because it warmed their hearts to hear it.
The question I have is why does Alec Baldwin, Madonna, Sean Penn and other Hollywood types make front page news with their anti-everything America crap and this doesn't even make page 3 in the Metro section of any newspaper except the base newspaper in San Antonio.
As I mentioned earlier, the basics of this email are true. Denzel did make a substantial contribution, but he didn't take out his checkbook and write a check on the spot. He actually made a contribution a few months later. But, for the most part, the story is accurate. His visit was back in 2004.
It is funny to me how news like this doesn't get picked up by the mainstream media, but at least there are sites like this one that are trying to spread the good news.
Good luck and make it a great day!
P.S. If you'd like to help out the soldiers at Fort Sam Houston, you can make a contribution on their website at www.fortsamhoustonmwr.com.
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Sunday, January 06, 2008
At Least One "Hilton" Family Member Is Doing Something For The Good Of Man-Kind
While Paris Hilton seems intent on spending every dime of the Hilton fortune, her grandfather, Barron Hilton is intent on giving it all away...to charity that is...
Barron has more than $2.3 billion to his name, thanks to a large inheritance from his father, Hilton Hotel founder, Conrad Hilton. And, he's pledged to donate almost all of his fortune to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, which is a charity created by his father that provides funding for education, clean water, housing, and other causes.
To read the complete article about Barron's incredible good deed, please go to this page on BusinessWire.com.
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Barron has more than $2.3 billion to his name, thanks to a large inheritance from his father, Hilton Hotel founder, Conrad Hilton. And, he's pledged to donate almost all of his fortune to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, which is a charity created by his father that provides funding for education, clean water, housing, and other causes.
To read the complete article about Barron's incredible good deed, please go to this page on BusinessWire.com.
Make it a great day!
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Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Country Music Superstar Rodney Atkins To Perform A Very Special Concert
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Labels: Country Music, Country Singers, Inspiring, Inspiring Celebrities, News, Positive Role Models, Rodney Atkins
Labels: Country Music, Country Singers, Inspiring, Inspiring Celebrities, News, Positive Role Models, Rodney Atkins
Rodney is going to be performing a very special concert to benefit the Make-A-Wish foundation in honor of a little girl named Maddie. Maddie recently lost her battle with bone cancer at age 7. But, before she died, Rodney got to spend some time with her. How he came to do that is pretty special. Rodney read an article in the Detroit Free Press about Maddie, and in the article, Maddie mentioned that Rodney's song, If You're Going Through Hell, was her favorite song. Rodney was so moved that he booked a flight the next day to Detroit to see the little girl. He spent over five hours with her. Here's an excerpt from the article:
Rodney visited Maddie at the hospital and sat on her bed and colored with her. They watched television, and when she got tired, he sang to her, strumming his guitar.
"I'm thankful I got to meet her," he said. "She had such a spark in her eye. She was hurting really bad. It was shocking, sitting with Maddie. She was asking for the drugs by name. A 7-year-old should not know what morphine is. It was horrific."
Rodney visited on one condition: He didn't want any media attention. He wanted all of his energy to be devoted to Maddie.
"He spent, like, five hours with her," Paul said. "He told me his plan was to come and stay with her until she was absolutely out of energy. He was staying until she tuckered out. I was really impressed with the man. He had a big heart."
When Maddie went home to die, an autographed picture of Rodney was stuck to the wall, above her pillow.
"Maddie blessed me," Rodney said. "I can't imagine what Paul is dealing with. This [concert] is his way of keeping Maddie alive, trying to make something good out of something horrible. This little girl, Maddie, is living forever."
The world needs more musicians, celebrities and normal people like Rodney. If we were all more concerned with others than ourselves, the world would be a much better place to live, don't you think?
If you haven't heard Rodney's song, If You're Going Through Hell, here's the music video. Make it a great day!
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Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Remembering My Grandmother Two Years Later
My grandmother passed away two years ago today. It's hard to believe she's been gone that long. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting on one of the old bar stools in her kitchen watching her make a huge dinner for everyone.
I was reading a post I made about her over a year ago and thought I'd share it with you again since there are so many new readers to the blog. She was a special woman and someone I miss tremendously: (This is an excerpt from a post made on Saturday, December 31, 2005)
--
Person of the Year -- My grandmother -- My grandmother passed away a few months ago. She was a wonderful person and a true friend to everyone she met. She lived in a small town in Alabama called Geneva. During her life, she had many obstacles to overcome, but she always overcame them, and became a better person because of them. To mention a few:
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I was reading a post I made about her over a year ago and thought I'd share it with you again since there are so many new readers to the blog. She was a special woman and someone I miss tremendously: (This is an excerpt from a post made on Saturday, December 31, 2005)
--
Person of the Year -- My grandmother -- My grandmother passed away a few months ago. She was a wonderful person and a true friend to everyone she met. She lived in a small town in Alabama called Geneva. During her life, she had many obstacles to overcome, but she always overcame them, and became a better person because of them. To mention a few:
- When she was in the prime of her life, she was hit by a train when her car became stuck on a railroad track. Her entire lower body was crushed and broken. It took her a long time, but she eventually walked again even though the doctors told everyone she would probably never walk again.
- Her husband (my grandfather and one of the greatest men I've ever known) died of Parkinson's disease after a long and grueling 7-8 years of suffering. During this time, my grandmother stood right by his side and took care of his every needs. She put his needs ahead of her own. When he was in the hospital on his deathbed, he didn't die until he heard my grandmother say, "It's okay for you to go. I'll be okay." He then relaxed and passed away knowing she was going to be okay. She took care of him and he left this world knowing she was going to be okay.
- After my grandfather's passing, she mourned for a short time, but then she surprised us all by becoming extremely active with her senior citizens club. She traveled around the country with them seeing sights and places she had never been to. She really made the best of the rest of her life. I was so impressed, because many people like her who had been so dependent and attached to a loved one usually withdraw into depression and have a really hard time adjusting to life without their spouse. She lived life to it's fullest and was fond of saying to me, "I'm just happy to have another day to live. I'm going to enjoy it." Something we all should say every morning!
- But, during this time of her life, the unthinkable happened. One of her two sons, my uncle Troyce, was killed in a freak accident in his early 50's. He was barbecuing on his back porch when the propane tank exploded and he was killed. This was horrible for us all. Uncle Troyce was so fun to be around. He had a joy for life like no other. This was devastating to my grandmother, but she managed to move on knowing Troyce was now in heaven with his father.
- Life certainly dealt her some bad breaks, but it was how she bounced back from the bad times that defined her life and legacy. She was truly an inspiring woman whom I deeply miss.
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Jimmy V's Speech At The 1993 ESPY Awards
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Labels: ESPY Awards, Inspiring, Inspiring People, Inspiring Video, Jimmy V, Motivational, Motivational Video, Positive Role Models, Tips For Better Living, Viral Videos, YouTube Videos
Labels: ESPY Awards, Inspiring, Inspiring People, Inspiring Video, Jimmy V, Motivational, Motivational Video, Positive Role Models, Tips For Better Living, Viral Videos, YouTube Videos
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Thursday, August 30, 2007
Man Walks Again After Being Sliced In Half
Gimundo.com has an inspirational story today about Peng Sholin, a Chinese man who was chopped in half in an auto accident. After twelve years, he can now walk again thanks to the artificial legs he's been given. Check out the story and picture on this page on Gimundo.com.
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Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Kindness Is Coming - Melissa Peterman (Barbara Jean from Reba)
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Labels: Celebrities, Extraordinary Acts of Kindness, Gimundo.com, Inspiring Celebrities, Inspiring Video, Melissa Peterman, Motivational, Positive Role Models, Random Act of Kindness, Viral Videos
Labels: Celebrities, Extraordinary Acts of Kindness, Gimundo.com, Inspiring Celebrities, Inspiring Video, Melissa Peterman, Motivational, Positive Role Models, Random Act of Kindness, Viral Videos
Funny Video of the Day - Today's Best Country Music Videos
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Wednesday, July 11, 2007
MSNBC Reporter, Mika Brzezinski Refuses to Report on Paris Hilton
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Labels: Funny Videos, Inspiring Video, Mika Brzezinski, Need a Laugh, News, Paris Hilton, Positive Role Models
Labels: Funny Videos, Inspiring Video, Mika Brzezinski, Need a Laugh, News, Paris Hilton, Positive Role Models
Funny Video of the Day - Today's Best Country Music Videos
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Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Rachel Ray Cooks Up a Prom For Enterprise High School Tornado Victims
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Labels: Celebrities, Charity, Inspiring, Motivational, Positive Role Models, Rachel Ray, Tornado Relief
Labels: Celebrities, Charity, Inspiring, Motivational, Positive Role Models, Rachel Ray, Tornado Relief
Remember back in the spring when the tornadoes ripped through the Enterprise High School in Enterprise, Alabama. Well, here is a little follow-up to that tragedy from Showbuzz.CBSnews.com -- "Celebrity chef Rachael Ray served up a prom for some Alabama teenagers who lost eight classmates and their school in a tornado, her publicist confirmed Thursday.
Ray planned the menu and helped prepare dinner at Enterprise High School's prom, according to a statement from Ray's publicist, Georgianna Dente. The star of her own syndicated talk show, "The Rachel Ray Show," paid for the dance and filmed it for an episode..." To continue reading this story, please go to this page on Showbuzz.CBSNews.com.
I always thought she was a cool chef, but I like and respect Rachel even more now.
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Ray planned the menu and helped prepare dinner at Enterprise High School's prom, according to a statement from Ray's publicist, Georgianna Dente. The star of her own syndicated talk show, "The Rachel Ray Show," paid for the dance and filmed it for an episode..." To continue reading this story, please go to this page on Showbuzz.CBSNews.com.
I always thought she was a cool chef, but I like and respect Rachel even more now.
Make it a great day!
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Monday, June 11, 2007
Lauren's 5th Letter From Honduras
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Labels: HIV/Aids, Honduras, Inspiring, Lauren's Updates, Motivational, Peace Corps, Positive Role Models, Positive Thinking, Positive Values
Labels: HIV/Aids, Honduras, Inspiring, Lauren's Updates, Motivational, Peace Corps, Positive Role Models, Positive Thinking, Positive Values
For those of you who are new to Positive Pelham, a friend of mine named Lauren has joined the Peace Corps and is going to be blogging about her experience in Honduras over the coming months. To find out more about Lauren, you can read all of her posts by clicking here. She's a special person doing a very good thing. Here is her fifth post. If you'd like to send her a message, you can use this comment form. Make it a great day!
Disclaimer -- "The following article does not reflect the opinions of the Peace Corps or the US government"
Well I have now been in my new home for almost a month. Things so far have been really great! I really love it here.....everything...the people, the town, my work. I have been spending the last few weeks meeting all my counterparts, learning Spanish, and getting to know my way around the community.
Another volunteer who is in the Protected Areas Management project, Molly, got a site change to my city last week. She has been here for almost a year now. She is great and we have become really good friends! We are going to live together in a month when I move out of my host family's house. She is going to work in promoting ecotourism with Celeque National Park, but she wants to go to Med School when she gets home so we are excited to do some health projects together.
Last week Kate (married, business volunteer living here) and I did our first AIDS workshop together at a colegio (highschool) with 38 students. It went really great! The thing with charlas here are they have to be super dynamic to keep the students attention and keep it interesting. Powerpoint presentations just don't fly here. So I spent a few days making poster boards and a bunch of activities for the kids to do during the workshop. We did skits, condom demonstrations (using a plantain, because I forgot my wooden penis), games to resist peer-pressure to have sex etc. It went over really well and they really learned alot!
This week I helped my counterpart from World Vision run a two-day workshop educating religious leaders from Gracias about HIV/AIDS so they can educate the members of their church....pastors, fathers, nuns, etc. Also, we are fighting to overcome the discrimination and stigmatization people living with HIV/AIDS here often face. It was such a cool workshop. We took 26 of these leaders to San Pedro Sula on Tuesday where we went to visit AIDS patients at a major hospital there. Also, we had a conference with this well-known family here who all are HIV positive (the husband, wife, and 12 year-old daughter).
The father had unprotected sex once when he was 18 and a few years later got married and infected his wife without knowing he had HIV. They later had a daughter and only found out about the disease when the daughter was 6 months old, after it had already been transmited to her. But this family started a foundation called Llaves where they travel around Honduras, the States, and Latin America providing HIV education and fighting for the rights of HIV infected people. Also, we went to a home for orphaned kids who are all HIV positive. That just broke my heart... but they were all so beautiful and sweet and it was so cool to see how happy and hopeful they are. I spent time with a 14 year-old who had just gotten back from the hospital with Tuberculosis, who I could tell was depressed and struggling, but she let me into her heart and it was great getting to see her smile. Wednesday we were able to participate in an AIDS support group and then go to a Maquila (factory) started by a group of people living with HIV. So overall it was a really great experience and I feel really lucky that I was a part of it!
So that's all for now. I am just doing a lot of work with HIV/AIDS right now. I have a meeting tomorrow with the director of the nursing school here to plan what my work will be with them so I am looking forward to that!
Hugs,
Lauren
--
P.S. If you haven't signed up for the Positive Pelham newsletter yet, please send a blank email to PositivePelham@gmail.com with the words "Subscribe to the PositivePelham newsletter" in the subject line. I send out an email once a week with a recap of the week's posts. And, I take your privacy very seriously. I only use your email to send you the newsletter. No spam. I promise.
Thanks! - J. Anthony.
Forward Lauren's Letter to a Friend
--Lauren's 5th Letter from Honduras--
Hi everyone! Well I have now been in my new home for almost a month. Things so far have been really great! I really love it here.....everything...the people, the town, my work. I have been spending the last few weeks meeting all my counterparts, learning Spanish, and getting to know my way around the community.
Another volunteer who is in the Protected Areas Management project, Molly, got a site change to my city last week. She has been here for almost a year now. She is great and we have become really good friends! We are going to live together in a month when I move out of my host family's house. She is going to work in promoting ecotourism with Celeque National Park, but she wants to go to Med School when she gets home so we are excited to do some health projects together.
Last week Kate (married, business volunteer living here) and I did our first AIDS workshop together at a colegio (highschool) with 38 students. It went really great! The thing with charlas here are they have to be super dynamic to keep the students attention and keep it interesting. Powerpoint presentations just don't fly here. So I spent a few days making poster boards and a bunch of activities for the kids to do during the workshop. We did skits, condom demonstrations (using a plantain, because I forgot my wooden penis), games to resist peer-pressure to have sex etc. It went over really well and they really learned alot!
This week I helped my counterpart from World Vision run a two-day workshop educating religious leaders from Gracias about HIV/AIDS so they can educate the members of their church....pastors, fathers, nuns, etc. Also, we are fighting to overcome the discrimination and stigmatization people living with HIV/AIDS here often face. It was such a cool workshop. We took 26 of these leaders to San Pedro Sula on Tuesday where we went to visit AIDS patients at a major hospital there. Also, we had a conference with this well-known family here who all are HIV positive (the husband, wife, and 12 year-old daughter).
The father had unprotected sex once when he was 18 and a few years later got married and infected his wife without knowing he had HIV. They later had a daughter and only found out about the disease when the daughter was 6 months old, after it had already been transmited to her. But this family started a foundation called Llaves where they travel around Honduras, the States, and Latin America providing HIV education and fighting for the rights of HIV infected people. Also, we went to a home for orphaned kids who are all HIV positive. That just broke my heart... but they were all so beautiful and sweet and it was so cool to see how happy and hopeful they are. I spent time with a 14 year-old who had just gotten back from the hospital with Tuberculosis, who I could tell was depressed and struggling, but she let me into her heart and it was great getting to see her smile. Wednesday we were able to participate in an AIDS support group and then go to a Maquila (factory) started by a group of people living with HIV. So overall it was a really great experience and I feel really lucky that I was a part of it!
So that's all for now. I am just doing a lot of work with HIV/AIDS right now. I have a meeting tomorrow with the director of the nursing school here to plan what my work will be with them so I am looking forward to that!
Hugs,
Lauren
--
P.S. If you haven't signed up for the Positive Pelham newsletter yet, please send a blank email to PositivePelham@gmail.com with the words "Subscribe to the PositivePelham newsletter" in the subject line. I send out an email once a week with a recap of the week's posts. And, I take your privacy very seriously. I only use your email to send you the newsletter. No spam. I promise.
Thanks! - J. Anthony.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Lauren's 4th Letter from Honduras
For those of you who are new to Positive Pelham, a friend of mine named Lauren has joined the Peace Corps and is going to be blogging about her experience in Honduras over the coming months. To find out more about Lauren, you can read all of her posts by clicking here. She's a special person doing a very good thing. Here is her fourth post. If you'd like to send her a message, you can use this comment form. Make it a great day!
Disclaimer -- "The following article does not reflect the opinions of the Peace Corps or the US government"
I know it has been awhile now since I have written...things have been really busy. BUT I am now officially a Peace Corps Volunteer! We went back to our first training site last week for 4 days to get a little more training, get our residency cards etc and then on Thursday was our swearing in ceremony at the US embassy. After the ceremony we all went to the Ambassador's house to swim, play tennis, and celebrate! Well now here come the good part...where I am going to live for 2 years and what I will be doing.....
So my site placement is in the west! It is actually a site that I have wanted from the beginning. It is a moderately sized city with about 15,000 people. It is located in a valley at the foot of Mount Celaque (the highest point in Honduras....some of the best hiking here!) Also there are supposed to be really beautiful Agua Thermales here...which are natural pools flowing from the mountains so I am excited to go there! The temperature here is pretty nice...it gets pretty hot here during the day but the mornings and nights are cool. It is known as a colonial town (colonial churches etc) so it gets a good amount of backpackers and tourists. There are two biliguel schools here so I met some people my age from Spain and the States living here teaching at the school so that is really cool! There is also a married couple from my PC group that is living here with me. Kate is working in the business project and Brody is working in water and sanitation.
I have four counterparts here (people from the community who I am going to work with)....
-World Vision, an NGO working in both HIV prevention and women & child health.
-An adolescent health clinic, which is really rare here..my city has one of the only 2 in Honduras so thats really cool. Teen pregnancy and STDs are a BIG problem here. It is common here for a girl to get pregnant ages (14-16) and you here on the news fairly often of a 10 or 11 year old getting pregnant in the aldeas.
-A nursing school, which is very cool because I have heard here that patients here feel like some of the nurses are not very compassionate and caring in the hospital and that confidentiality can be a problem (which really effects people wanting to come get HIV testing) so I hope to incorporate these things when I teach them about HIV/AIDS and mother/child health.
-CAE, is goverment hospital that is focused only on providing care for people living with HIV or AIDS. I think I am going to run support groups here but we'll see.
So there is a ton of work to be done here and I am going to be kept very busy but I am really excited about what I can potentially do here! I am now a member of La Red, which is a group of the leaders in the city promoting AIDS awareness and prevention and promoting human rights for people living with HIV....so I have already met the people in the city who are going into the schools, nursing schools, jails, and hospitals fighting against HIV/AIDS so that is really cool.
I am living with a family here for the next 2 months and then I get to find my own apartment or house to live in so that will be nice. I am excited to be here and start working but I am stressed about my ability to teach in Spanish and am also going to really miss my friends. I am giving myself the first 2 months to really learn Spanish and get confident with it and to get to know the community and my counterparts....
Hugs!
Lauren
--
P.S. If you haven't signed up for the Positive Pelham newsletter yet, please send a blank email to PositivePelham@gmail.com with the words "Subscribe to the PositivePelham newsletter" in the subject line. I send out an email once a week with a recap of the week's posts. And, I take your privacy very seriously. I only use your email to send you the newsletter. No spam. I promise.
Thanks! - J. Anthony.
Forward Lauren's Letter to a Friend
--Lauren's Fourth Letter from Honduras--
Hey all!I know it has been awhile now since I have written...things have been really busy. BUT I am now officially a Peace Corps Volunteer! We went back to our first training site last week for 4 days to get a little more training, get our residency cards etc and then on Thursday was our swearing in ceremony at the US embassy. After the ceremony we all went to the Ambassador's house to swim, play tennis, and celebrate! Well now here come the good part...where I am going to live for 2 years and what I will be doing.....
So my site placement is in the west! It is actually a site that I have wanted from the beginning. It is a moderately sized city with about 15,000 people. It is located in a valley at the foot of Mount Celaque (the highest point in Honduras....some of the best hiking here!) Also there are supposed to be really beautiful Agua Thermales here...which are natural pools flowing from the mountains so I am excited to go there! The temperature here is pretty nice...it gets pretty hot here during the day but the mornings and nights are cool. It is known as a colonial town (colonial churches etc) so it gets a good amount of backpackers and tourists. There are two biliguel schools here so I met some people my age from Spain and the States living here teaching at the school so that is really cool! There is also a married couple from my PC group that is living here with me. Kate is working in the business project and Brody is working in water and sanitation.
I have four counterparts here (people from the community who I am going to work with)....
-World Vision, an NGO working in both HIV prevention and women & child health.
-An adolescent health clinic, which is really rare here..my city has one of the only 2 in Honduras so thats really cool. Teen pregnancy and STDs are a BIG problem here. It is common here for a girl to get pregnant ages (14-16) and you here on the news fairly often of a 10 or 11 year old getting pregnant in the aldeas.
-A nursing school, which is very cool because I have heard here that patients here feel like some of the nurses are not very compassionate and caring in the hospital and that confidentiality can be a problem (which really effects people wanting to come get HIV testing) so I hope to incorporate these things when I teach them about HIV/AIDS and mother/child health.
-CAE, is goverment hospital that is focused only on providing care for people living with HIV or AIDS. I think I am going to run support groups here but we'll see.
So there is a ton of work to be done here and I am going to be kept very busy but I am really excited about what I can potentially do here! I am now a member of La Red, which is a group of the leaders in the city promoting AIDS awareness and prevention and promoting human rights for people living with HIV....so I have already met the people in the city who are going into the schools, nursing schools, jails, and hospitals fighting against HIV/AIDS so that is really cool.
I am living with a family here for the next 2 months and then I get to find my own apartment or house to live in so that will be nice. I am excited to be here and start working but I am stressed about my ability to teach in Spanish and am also going to really miss my friends. I am giving myself the first 2 months to really learn Spanish and get confident with it and to get to know the community and my counterparts....
Hugs!
Lauren
--
P.S. If you haven't signed up for the Positive Pelham newsletter yet, please send a blank email to PositivePelham@gmail.com with the words "Subscribe to the PositivePelham newsletter" in the subject line. I send out an email once a week with a recap of the week's posts. And, I take your privacy very seriously. I only use your email to send you the newsletter. No spam. I promise.
Thanks! - J. Anthony.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
AMillionThanks.org - Sending Thank You Letters to our Troops
1 comments
Labels: AMillionThanks.org, Charity, Inspiring, Military News, PGA Tour, Positive Role Models, Shauna Fleming
Labels: AMillionThanks.org, Charity, Inspiring, Military News, PGA Tour, Positive Role Models, Shauna Fleming
Click here to learn how you can submit a thank you letter to be sent to our troops. And, from not until Memorial Day, you can drop off your thank you card at a Buick, Pontiac or GMC dealership. The following video will give you a little more insight into Shauna's organization.
Forward this post to a friend
Friday, April 13, 2007
Lauren's Third Letter From Honduras
For those of you who are new to Positive Pelham, a friend of mine named Lauren has joined the Peace Corps and is going to be blogging about her experience in Honduras over the coming months. To find out more about Lauren, you can read all of her posts by clicking here. She's a special person doing a very good thing. Here is her third post. If you'd like to send her a message, you can use this comment form. Make it a great day!
Disclaimer -- "The following article does not reflect the opinions of the Peace Corps or the US government"
So earlier I didn't get a chance to send my email with my pictures. This last week in Honduras was Semana Santa. It is the one week during the year where everyone takes vacation from work and relaxes. We had classes up until Wednesday afternoon and then we had the rest of the week off. We weren't allowed to travel outside our site but just having the time to relax was much needed. Being in training and classes 8 hours a day really wears us out... so Semana Santa came at the perfect time during training!
My friend Raphael lives with an amazing family (its the house I had Spanish classes in the first 3 weeks, the mom who gives me eggplant, and I am good friends with the four sons)....well this family has an uncle who lives 10 minutes outside our site...he owns 80% of the land that the US military base is on here so he is doing pretty well..he has a beautiful house with a pool that he invited all of us volunteers to on Wednesday and we went again Sunday for swimming and a barbecue...it was so fun to just lay in hammocks, talk and relax! Thursday I went with my family to a big park a little outside of Tegucigalpa, called Parque Aurora. We brought hammocks and food and just relaxed again. They had a zoo, pool, lake, and playgrounds there for kids. I met my host mom's niece and nephew, Daniela (15) and Alfredo (19) who live in Tegucigalpa.
We became really good friends this week and I am excited because now I have a place to stay when I need to travel to Tegucigalpa..especially considering my $2.00 a day salary won't be able to pay for a hotel! They both speak English so it was good practice for me to be able to learn new words I don't know. On Good Friday in our site and in Comayagua they do this amazing thing called Alfombras (rugs in english)...they make these beautiful paintings of Jesus in the streets using sand, salt, and dyed sawdust...they start making them at 10pm and work all night until Friday morning...they are absolutely beautiful. Then on Friday there is a procession, where people carry Maryand Jesus and reenact the stages of carrying the cross and a crowd follows the procession...in the end they walk over the rugs and ruin them. In Comayagua, people from all over Honduras come, because there are dozens of rugs made all the way down the streets and the procession is bigger...you should definitely look at my pictures of this because it is really amazing! Overa ll, it was a very tranquila (relaxing) week!
The week before we had a lot of activities...including learning how to make mud stoves/ovens and gardens. One of the leading causes of death for children in Honduras is pneumonia and resp. illnesses...primarily caused by people having really bad stoves in their houses with no/poor ventilation...the smoke builds up in the house and the children breath it in all day...so alot of volunteers write grants at their sites to get funding to make stoves for the people in their villages. So we learned how to do that which was really interesting!
This week we are focusing on HIV/AIDS support groups and midwives. We have been learning how to lead support groups in our communities for people living with HIV/AIDS and then on Thursday and Friday we are going to be teaching a group of midwives from local aldeas (usually villages in the mountains that are hard to access and far away from hospitals) on how to deal with emergencies during births....we will be focusing on teaching them how to stop hemorrhaging, which is the leading cause of death here related to births. Saturday they are teaching us how to resuscitate newborns....
Tomorrow or Thursday I have my last interview about my site placement. They had us fill out a form with our preferences..whether we want another volunteer at our site, what we need at our site (internet, elect, etc etc), if we would prefer to work with the ministry of health or an NGO....so our last interview is about what kind of things we want in our site...but to be honest with you, we find out our site in a week and half so I'm pretty sure they pretty much already have our sites picked out for us.
Helmith, our site placement director, pretty much already told me that I will be a first generation health volunteer at my site...which means their may be other volunteers there now (water & sanitation, business, muncipal dev., or youth dev.) but I will be the first health volunteer ever in this community....he wants me to represent Peace Corps well and make a good impression. So we are really anxious to find out our sites....but mostly I am excited...I am ready for training to be over but at the same time I have some of the best friends here I have ever had so I am going to really miss them. Well thats all for now...I'll let you know where I am going to live for 2 years when I find out!
I have posted many pictures on my website so you can look at them there!
laurengreenwald.spaces.live.com
Pura Vida
Lauren
--
P.S. If you haven't signed up for the Positive Pelham newsletter yet, please send a blank email to PositivePelham@gmail.com with the words "Subscribe to the PositivePelham newsletter" in the subject line. I send out an email once a week with a recap of the week's posts. And, I take your privacy very seriously. I only use your email to send you the newsletter. No spam. I promise.
Thanks! - J. Anthony.
Forward Lauren's Letter to a Friend
--Lauren's Third Letter from Honduras--
Hey all,So earlier I didn't get a chance to send my email with my pictures. This last week in Honduras was Semana Santa. It is the one week during the year where everyone takes vacation from work and relaxes. We had classes up until Wednesday afternoon and then we had the rest of the week off. We weren't allowed to travel outside our site but just having the time to relax was much needed. Being in training and classes 8 hours a day really wears us out... so Semana Santa came at the perfect time during training!
My friend Raphael lives with an amazing family (its the house I had Spanish classes in the first 3 weeks, the mom who gives me eggplant, and I am good friends with the four sons)....well this family has an uncle who lives 10 minutes outside our site...he owns 80% of the land that the US military base is on here so he is doing pretty well..he has a beautiful house with a pool that he invited all of us volunteers to on Wednesday and we went again Sunday for swimming and a barbecue...it was so fun to just lay in hammocks, talk and relax! Thursday I went with my family to a big park a little outside of Tegucigalpa, called Parque Aurora. We brought hammocks and food and just relaxed again. They had a zoo, pool, lake, and playgrounds there for kids. I met my host mom's niece and nephew, Daniela (15) and Alfredo (19) who live in Tegucigalpa.
We became really good friends this week and I am excited because now I have a place to stay when I need to travel to Tegucigalpa..especially considering my $2.00 a day salary won't be able to pay for a hotel! They both speak English so it was good practice for me to be able to learn new words I don't know. On Good Friday in our site and in Comayagua they do this amazing thing called Alfombras (rugs in english)...they make these beautiful paintings of Jesus in the streets using sand, salt, and dyed sawdust...they start making them at 10pm and work all night until Friday morning...they are absolutely beautiful. Then on Friday there is a procession, where people carry Maryand Jesus and reenact the stages of carrying the cross and a crowd follows the procession...in the end they walk over the rugs and ruin them. In Comayagua, people from all over Honduras come, because there are dozens of rugs made all the way down the streets and the procession is bigger...you should definitely look at my pictures of this because it is really amazing! Overa ll, it was a very tranquila (relaxing) week!
The week before we had a lot of activities...including learning how to make mud stoves/ovens and gardens. One of the leading causes of death for children in Honduras is pneumonia and resp. illnesses...primarily caused by people having really bad stoves in their houses with no/poor ventilation...the smoke builds up in the house and the children breath it in all day...so alot of volunteers write grants at their sites to get funding to make stoves for the people in their villages. So we learned how to do that which was really interesting!
This week we are focusing on HIV/AIDS support groups and midwives. We have been learning how to lead support groups in our communities for people living with HIV/AIDS and then on Thursday and Friday we are going to be teaching a group of midwives from local aldeas (usually villages in the mountains that are hard to access and far away from hospitals) on how to deal with emergencies during births....we will be focusing on teaching them how to stop hemorrhaging, which is the leading cause of death here related to births. Saturday they are teaching us how to resuscitate newborns....
Tomorrow or Thursday I have my last interview about my site placement. They had us fill out a form with our preferences..whether we want another volunteer at our site, what we need at our site (internet, elect, etc etc), if we would prefer to work with the ministry of health or an NGO....so our last interview is about what kind of things we want in our site...but to be honest with you, we find out our site in a week and half so I'm pretty sure they pretty much already have our sites picked out for us.
Helmith, our site placement director, pretty much already told me that I will be a first generation health volunteer at my site...which means their may be other volunteers there now (water & sanitation, business, muncipal dev., or youth dev.) but I will be the first health volunteer ever in this community....he wants me to represent Peace Corps well and make a good impression. So we are really anxious to find out our sites....but mostly I am excited...I am ready for training to be over but at the same time I have some of the best friends here I have ever had so I am going to really miss them. Well thats all for now...I'll let you know where I am going to live for 2 years when I find out!
I have posted many pictures on my website so you can look at them there!
laurengreenwald.spaces.live.com
Pura Vida
Lauren
--
P.S. If you haven't signed up for the Positive Pelham newsletter yet, please send a blank email to PositivePelham@gmail.com with the words "Subscribe to the PositivePelham newsletter" in the subject line. I send out an email once a week with a recap of the week's posts. And, I take your privacy very seriously. I only use your email to send you the newsletter. No spam. I promise.
Thanks! - J. Anthony.
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