Squee for the Cause » The Squee Spot

Archive for the Category »Squee for the Cause «

Be a Real Life Hero

29 Jul 2010 | By Justine

Waiting for Superman, filmed by David Guggenheim, reminds us all that we can’t do enough for the next generation – that education is not a privilege, it’s a RIGHT in this country. Too many children in the US are not receiving the basic education anyone should have, much less the sort of education that goes well beyond test scores, and focuses, instead, on inspiring students (of all ages – we’re never too old to learn something new – don’t let that old dog’s inability to learn a new trick or two deter you.)
This groundbreaking film hits theatres on September 24, 2010, but if you go to the site RIGHT NOW and pledge to see the film when it comes out, you’ll be part of the move towards a solution. Every person who commits to see the film will be giving students five books. Seriously. All you have to do is hit the link, take the pledge and do something for the next generation that MEANS SOMETHING. It’s not often that it’s literally that easy to move from observer to public hero.

To sweeten this amazing opportunity, Donors Choose has committed to donate when the tally of pledges hits 30,000.

When 30,000 people pledge to see WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN,” thanks to the generosity of its funders, DonorsChoose.org will donate $5 gift cards to every person who pledges to see the film by September 15th. The gift cards can be used to fulfill requests made by public school teachers from every corner of America who post classroom project needs on DonorsChoose.org. The mission of DonorsChoose.org is to improve public education by empowering every teacher to be a change-maker and enabling any citizen to be a philanthropist.

Office Max has also stepped up, promising to add 40 more deserving teachers to their annual “A Day Made Better” program.

The efforts to reach a milestone of 40,000 people pledging to see this important documentary film will get an additional boost with OfficeMax(R) aligning their “A Day Made Better” program with the movie campaign. Now in it’s 4th year, the OfficeMax(R) program helps defray the out-of-pocket expenditures on school supplies by dedicated teachers by awarding 1,000 outstanding teachers with $1,000 in school supplies. To help build awareness of the new film, the retail giant will now boost the annual award to include 40 additional deserving U.S. teachers when the pledge level reaches 40,000.

You can follow their progress on Twitter and Facebook, too. And I challenge you to do one thing more…share this article with your friends and associates. Do something good, then PASS IT ON……Thanks.

Support Better Nutrition for Our Mini Geeks: Better Food in Schools!

31 Mar 2010 | By Justine

Jamie Oliver – one of my favorite chefs because of his simple, elegant, timeless recipes and personable attitude, is throwing down the kitchen gauntlet to the United States. He’s got practice in, because he’s been flinging gauntlets in his own neck of the woods, in England, for years. Now, he is challenging Americans to actively participate in the renovation and re-energizing of kids’ menus in schools. This brings better nutrition to the kids on a daily basis. it educates kids about how to make good choices for the rest of their lives. And it helps us insure that the next generation of geeks will live long, healthy, happy and geektastic lives.

Watch Jamie’s 6 episode series on ABC; check out Jamie’s website; sign the petition supporting real change in the kitchens and cafeterias in schools around the country; follow Jamie on Twitter to keep up to date on his efforts; and start something in your own neighborhood. Sometimes it doesn’t take a village; it just takes a healthy follow list on your internet social sites and a willingness to click through to the end and send it on.

Category: Muses & Musings, Squee for the Cause, Squee the Cook! Tags: Children's menus, Cooking, Diet, England, Food, Health, Home, Jamie Oliver, Kids, Make a Difference, Nutrition, Obesity, Petition, School Food, Twitter, United States Leave a Comment

Yasmine Galenorn’s Donation to the Annual Brenda Novak Diabetes Auction

13 Mar 2010 | By Justine

For the last five years, author Brenda Novak has organized and hosted an online auction to raise money for Diabetes Research. The sixth auction opens online on May 1st and will run through May 31, 2010. Last year they successfully raised $269,111 for research and they’ve raised over three quarters of a million dollars over the last five years. Each year they’ve raised more and more for the cause. In the course of the auction, they have one day only auctions, $1 specials, contests and more. There’s something cool, at each price level, for any fans of romance, fiction, fantasy, or those that just want to help a worthy cause and maybe have some amazingly unique gifts for the fans in their lives. The donations come from authors and a variety of others, and cover everything from autographed books; to professional critiques of your own work; to cruises; to large screen televisions and all sorts of other wonderful things.

From the beginning, Yasmine Galenorn has contributed to the auction. Each year, her donations have gotten bigger, along with the value of the items and the size of the bids winning them. As a New York Times bestselling author with one highly successful urban fantasy series (Otherworld) already on book shelves and the Indigo Court series making its debut with the release ofNight Myst this June, the popularity of her baskets will surely continue to climb. Yasmine has a significant interest in the cause, as her husband, Samwise, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 27, so they live with the realities of this disease every day. Yasmine, along with other popular authors, like Sherrilyn Kenyon, JR Ward, Heather Graham, Christine Feehan, Diana Gabaldon, Stephenie Meyer, and more, are using their popularity for this cause, so in the end, everyone wins.

This year, Yasmine is again donating two baskets; one themed around the Otherworld series and the other themed around the new Indigo Court series. See the pictures and follow the link to get all the details. Of particular interest to long time Yasmine Galenorn fans (known as Moon Stalkers) will be the custom, one of a kind Maggie the Gargoyle doll Yasmine commissioned from artist JL Anderson, and the matted prints featuring cover art from several of Yasmine’s books, all signed by artist Tony Mauro.

To stay up to date on the auctions, you can follow the Brenda Novak Auction on Twitter and/or search on the hashtag hot link – #BNDA – on Twitter. You can also follow me; among other things, I’m Yasmine Galenorn’s assistant but I’ll be updating people about the auction information as it relates to Yasmine via both of my Twitter identities – as Yasmine’s assistant and as Geek Gyrl Friday.