Giving with Cause

Hi Everyone! I'm Heather from This Little Light of Mine.   

Relay for Life 2010

I saw Laura was looking for some guest bloggers, and being semi new to the blogging community, I jumped on the opportunity as I've never guest blogged before. I am super excited about this opportunity and want to give a big THANK YOU to Laura for giving me a chance!

First and foremost with today being Memorial Day, I'd like to thank all of our service men (including Laura's husband Jarrod) and women, past and present, for all that they've done, and continue to do for our great country. I hope that at some point today you take the time yourself to stop and remember the true meaning of today. All gave some, but some gave all.

Of course, after I was chosen to guest blog, I immediately started debating on what to write about. I pondered over it for a day or two (hey, this was a last minute decision to guest blog) otherwise I probably would have pondered for longer - I can be a bit extremely indecisive. Anyways, I've decided to blog about my biggest passions in life. This decision was solidified this morning in my young adults Sunday school class, as one of the questions we had to answer and discuss was: If you could have ANY job, what would it be? My answer? I'd love to have a huge (hundreds of acres) no kill shelter, that like Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, here in Florida. I'd love to be involved in that, possibly being a transporter, the person that goes to local shelters and takes the animals that are set to be euthanized that day, and takes then to the no kill shelter where they'd be guaranteed a fur-ever home there, or if they were adopted out to a new family, even better.

As a fellow Christian blogger, I often blog about things that make my heart swell, and opportunities for serving others, in the smallest ways you'd never imagine. I don't think I can categorize my blog into any specific category beyond just a personal blog. I blog about my every day adventures, or lack thereof, depending on the day. Throughout my blog you will find many a topic on different causes that I find a way to be involved with. Two links at the top, 4Paws4Love and Kidney for Kristy are extremely close to my heart, so I'll tell you a bit about them.

4Paws4Love is an organization that me and some girlfriends founded in 2005. It started as group that aided in fundraising for our local SPCA. To date, we have raised over $10,000 for our SPCA, along with spreading awareness throughout our community. Currently, I have a pet blog (that is still in the developing stages) that I plan to grow over the coming year. I've also dubbed my pet blog 4Paws4Love. I plan to use that name on various projects that I am in the process of working.

Kidney for Kristy is something I literally just started within this past week. I've created an online giving page on Give Forward as well as a facebook page (both called Kidney for Kristy) to help my cousin raise the $5000 she needs out of pocket by October 31st just to be CONSIDERED to be put on the national organ transplant list. You see, she is in end stage renal failure, and needs a new kidney as soon as possible. I've created these online pages to help spread the word nationally as it's so easy to do nowadays with social networking, and I also plan to create quite a few events locally such as car washes, yard sales and bake sales to help raise that money.

You see, there are just SO many ways one can get involved in their community. It's the little things that count. It truly truly is. I know many say (and at times, I've been guilty myself) I don't have the time or I am struggling myself, how could I possibly help?The answer is easy, the more you help, the more things will turn around for YOU. This isn't saying that by helping, all your troubles will be washed away, because they won't. It is saying that by doing something small for someone else, you in turn will feel better. Those small changes in your life, small positive changes, will help you in turn as you begin to see all the positives in your own life. Yeah, you may not have the newest gadget on the market, BUT, be grateful for what you DO have. Here are some small ways that I've found I can help locally, and I'm sure you can to in your own community:

1. Clean out your closet. We all have those old clothes we hold on to for some day. Well, guess what, that day is TODAY, go ahead and donate them to a local homeless shelter, or an organization that aids in helping the less fortunate get back on their own two feet.
2. Clean out the kids toy room. Are there toys that haven't been touched in months? Donate them to a local children's shelter. We have the Florida Baptist Children's Home here in Florida. 
3. Do you see a local organization doing a car wash somewhere? Go ahead and swing by. You can get your car washed for whatever you decide to donate, OR, if you don't have time for a wash, maybe make a small donation. Hey, even a dollar helps. There's always a need that can be met. Next weekend I'm hosting a car wash locally to help raise money for a youth missions trip to Nicaragua that my church is taking in July.
4. Check local organizations to see if they collect anything they can benefit from. For example, my local SPCA collects old cell phones, empty pill bottles and used ink cartridges that they can in turn recycle or use and profit on. I'd normally just throw away an ink cartridge or pill bottle when it's empty, now I am able to make a difference with it.
5. Awareness. Spread the word. This is something you can do for COMPLETELY FREE. You don't even have to be involved with the cause or event. An example, let's say you see an event or need on a friends page on facebook, you may not know the person it came from originally BUT, you can still share that event. Imagine, if you click that simple SHARE button you spread that cause to however many friends YOU have on your page, and you never know, you may not be able to help that cause, BUT two of your friends may be able to. That's two people that might not have been able to help if they didn't know.

My list could go on and on but I will stop with five and leave you with two of my favorite quotes:

Live simply so that others may simply live. - Mother Teresa
Be the change that you wish to see in the world. - Mahatma Ghandi