Walmart is doing good!

Walmart has committed to donating $2 billion dollars through 2015 in the help to fight hunger in America.

Recently there was a Facebook campaign to help Walmart decide where to send their help. According to their website they are sending $1.5 million dollars in aid to Salt Lake City, UT; Fresno, CA; Columbia, SC; Ogden and Clearfield, UT; Charleston, N. Charleston and Summerville, SC;  and Bakersfield, CA. The work that Walmart is doing to combat this terrible national challenge is amazing. We need to follow Walmart's example and help in our local areas, because every little bit helps.

http://fightinghunger.walmart.com/
https://www.utahfoodbank.org/fighting-hunger-together

Natty's Wish Continued

Here is a link to a video from the Standard Examiner.

http://bit.ly/fEXwQR

Natty's Wish

This NPO was brought to my attention by a friend of mine.

"One of Natalie's greatest wishes was to form a non-profit organization to help other young adults diagnosed between the ages of 18-25 to have a trip with their families. As many of you know, when you receive devastating news such as cancer or death, you just want to run away and forget about real life for a minute and have the chance to make some memories. Make A Wish had to draw a line and that line is 18 years old. Natalie wanted to give the same experience to other young adults, and so "Natty's Wish" was born. 

My son, Scott, has spent hours and hours and hours getting through all the legal stuff to get "Natty's Wish" up and running. We are so excited to announce our very first fund raising effort.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Make a Wish Foundation, they grant wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions but their age limit is 18. However, Natty's Wish would like to grant wishes to adolescents from ages 18-25. So they have teamed up with the Chili's in Utah in order to raise funds.

On MARCH 7, we have a give back day at all the CHILI'S in UTAH. That means if you take one of the coupons to a Chili's on that day, they will attach it to your bill and then 10% of whatever you spend will come to "Natty's Wish". I think you will be able to print them off. Please print some and pass them out to everyone you know. This will be a great way to start growing "Natty's Wish" so we can help other young adults and their families!"

 I hope all of us in Utah can support this wonderful cause and raise money for "Natty's Wish".

Practicum Project

I’ve always wanted to get involved professionally in a non-profit organization. As I’m about to finish my Bachelor's degree in Communications and my last child is about to enter part-time school, I’m again looking forward to pursuing this interest in a professional manner. Of course, the world has changed much in the last decade and a half and my interests have expanded to include social media. So, in considering my Practicum project, I am proposing to create a blog to help connect non-profit organizations with volunteers through communicating with an ever-growing audience regarding my research through social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook. I hope this will become an ongoing project throughout the many years to come in which I will come to understand non-profit organizations across the US and even the world, how they function and where they most need help. Of course, I hope to become more familiar with the ins and outs of the social media world.  Sincerely, as I consider going back to work in the professional world, finding a job that mixes non-profit and social media would be ideal. I’d love to be the person one or more companies would utilize to establish connections with the community through the many technological tools that now encompass our lives.

This is of personal interest because I was born to a teenage mom. Additionally, my family has had a variety of struggles around alcoholism and other addictions. I know what it is like to need the help food banks offer and other forms of community service that are often facilitated through non-profit organizations. Through this kind of profession, I feel like I can pay forward the gifts and blessings I’ve received from the many giving souls that devote their time to such wonderful causes. I am hopeful I can highlight an organization that will “speak” to those who read my blog and that the spirit of service will influence them to serve their community.