I love Kiva.org. I do! It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Over a year ago, for Episode 38, I loaned $25 through Kiva to help a group of women in Uganda who wanted to start a used clothing business. They paid me back in a matter of months. Then I loaned to a young woman in Lebanon who owned a farm and wanted to improve her crops. She took a bit longer but paid me back none the less. Now I have passed the loan on to a woman in Ghana who wants to sell used cloths. The cycle continues!... [Read more]
Here is a simple way to help Japan for shop owners across the US. Whether you sell services (like a spa) or goods (like a bakery or a toy store) you can donate a service or item for raffle, charge your patrons $1 to enter, set up a box at checkout in which to collect all the tickets (tickets can be purchased at office supply stores), donate earned raffle cash to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund or The Salvation Army “Japan Earthquake Relief.” Both groups are on the ground in Japan... [Read more]
Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay. I can admit when things don’t go according to plan. I organized a Food Drive in Beverly Hills. We did get donations, don’t get me wrong, but for Beverly Hills… the turnout was lackluster. Here’s what went right and wrong. Location, Location, Uggg Cliched Location Throwing the Food Drive in Beverly Hills seemed to be a stroke of genius. I partnered with a prestigious family owned spa named Verabella located right in the center of the Golden Triangle... [Read more]
Somaly Mam The following conversation actually occurred. It happened because I told a friend that approximately 27 million people live in slavery today – more than during the entire history of the transatlantic slave trade. Friend: So you’re saying the African slave trade was not as bad as slave trade today. Me: I actually wasn’t comparing the two they’re both horrendous. Friend: But you said that there are more slaves today, so it’s worse. Me: I don’t think we should compare bad.... [Read more]
I love that number 60 was in my wheelhouse. Teaching a writing workshop. That’s it. Pretty simple. Class – 6 High school kids. Who should be worried about going to college and picking up classmates. Unfortunately these kids, as KIDSAVE ambassadors, had to worry about finding families and convincing others to look beyond blood and do the same. How to convince aka seduce someone with the written word? In two words – “Yes, and…” “Yes, and…” is my writing motto. It keeps... [Read more]
No Kid Hungry I got the call from Share Our Strength on Friday requesting volunteer help on Sunday for the LA Times Celebration of Food and Wine benefit at Paramount. Regardless of the late notice, I got butterflies. Maybe even a bit lightheaded. Some people go weak over movie stars – I lose my mind over gourmet-handcrafted food. To prep for the large amount of yum I would inhale (for charity yada yada yada) I ate nothing but fruit and veggies for two days, lived at the gym, and fasted the last... [Read more]
I lived in a loft above Skid Row when I first moved to LA. I always say it was a green loft because the building housed an electric company before me; the heater didn’t work so it was very energy efficient, and I was so poor I couldn’t buy anything new. But I was comfortable compared to my homeless neighbors who I watched mill about on the street below… One night the temperature dropped to freezing, a rare occurrence in LA, and I saw paramedics pull a frozen homeless man from a phone booth. ... [Read more]
