No Small Feat

CHOOSE TO CARE is all revved up, ready to prepare for MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY, which takes place on 10/22/2011. It is the day when millions of Americans will volunteer in their communities doing good. This year we will once again work with the youth in the Vineyard International Christian Ministries Church,located in the Bronx. Choose To Care has provided shoes for the children of newly arrived immigrant families or other members of the Church who find it difficult to fully provide for their children. Sometimes within families there are 3-4 children in need and only 1 child may receive so that other families can also benefit. The Coordinator weighs the needs and at times boys will receive while girls have to wait their turn or vice versa. On MAKE A DIFFERENCE Day, we would like to make a difference in the lives of the children who were passed over because prior donations could only stretch so far, by giving them a brand new pair of shoes. We hope this small gesture will produce happy feet and place a smile on their faces.

In addition, on this day we will add fun-filled health and nutrition activities to foster good health and positive development. To learn more about this special day, you can log on to:makeadifferenceday.com.

Thanks to all who have participated in Macy's Shop For A Cause Project,the funds will help us to continue our essential work of helping those in need. Happy shopping at Macy's on 8/27/2011 and do not forget to enter your ticket so that you can get a chance at winning the $500 gift certificate.

More to come!

SHARE THE LOVE OF SHOPPING FOR A GREAT CAUSE

CHOOSE TO CARE has joined Macy's Shop for A Cause. The good news is that all the money collected from the sale of the tickets will go to the organization. Our mission is to continue to provide a brand new pair of shoes for a child or young adult in need. That desire drives us to work hard at raising funds to carry on this essential work. So grab a few friends, entice them to buy a ticket, give a ticket to your best pal, someone in your life has a birthday or a special day coming up? Then give them this small but meaningful gift; a ticket to shop all day on Saturday, August 27,2011 at any Macy's nation-wide or online @ Macy's.com. Not only will you recive 25% discount off most things you purchase but you will also get a chance to win a $500 MACY'S GIFT CARD.

We hope you will support our cause. Send us an E-mail to let us know how many tickets you would like.

NAME: CHOOSE TO CARE

EIN: 35-2309289

WEB: Choosetocaresite.org

E-MAIL: Info@choosetocaresite.org

CHOOSE TO CARE gets 100% of the money raised.

With much love and gratitude!

A CLASS ACT INDEED

By chance I came across an advertisement put out by Macy's called, "Macy's Shop for a Cause" They were calling all charities who wanted to raise funds for their nonprofit organizations to participate. So I applied and when word came that CHOOSE TO CARE was accepted, we were full of gratitude. It is an opportunity to gain some much needed funds so that we can continue to give a brand new pair of shoes for those children and young adult in need.

CHOOSE TO CARE will sell tickets to the Macy's Shop For A Cause event which will take place on August 27, 2011. The tickets will sell for $5 and the ticket buyers will receive special discounts at all Macy's and on macy's.com on August 27,2011. The good news is that the organization keeps 100% of the proceeds. We will keep you posted on how to purchase tickets.

The Active Compassion Transforms(ACT) organization is at it again! They are getting ready to bring mentees who are currently in Grade 12 to New York, from July 5 to July 16, 2011. Erica Lee, the founder of this awesome mentoring organization has done a phenomenal job with the youth from the School of Hope, Cape Town, South Africa.They also need our help to accommodate 5 students and a teacher while they are in NY. The CHOOSE TO CARE organization will make it their business to purchase comfortable walking shoes that will take them around the city with ease. You can visit www.activecompassiontransforms.org for more details.

We had a winner! Sandra Williams from Public Health Solutions was the winner of Heidi Lange Screen Print-Swahili Girl. My gratitude to all who have and continue to help our organization and others in need. Those two little big words, "thank you" are sent your way.

"People are always blaming their circumstances

for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances.

The people who get on in this world are the people

who get up and look for the circumstances they want

and if they can't find them, make them."

George Bernard Shaw

GIRLS' NIGHT OUT

"No one can make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little"

Edmund Burke

When I announced at our last get together in February that our next outing would be in Brooklyn, there were moans and groans. I was was sure that the sun would linger much longer in May and I was betting too that it would be a warm night with a brightly lit sky. So feeling confident, I put the plan in motion. "Get your bearings together and let's go!" was my message.

With a hop and a skip we found our way to the SEA THAI restaurant. This was the choice of one of our women's club member, a Brooklyn resident and it came highly recommended. It is a very large and wide-open place,decked out with comfortable wooden tables and chairs. We made our choices from the expansive menu and then we played catch-up. Shuffling from seat to seat we greeted our fellow diners, stopped long enough for conversations, laughed, and made ourselves comfortable, while planning our next escapade. We shared our dishes, taking a little from each person, just enough to whet our appetite. Looking around our space, you got the feeling that everyone really wanted to be here.

As is our custom, our conversation turned to those who are less fortunate than us and a beautiful batik art work from Kenya, of a swahili girl fetched a dollar a chance, helping us in our endeavor to give to those in need worldwide. The CHOOSE TO CARE organization continues to fulfill it's mission to provide a brand new pair of shoes for the underprivileged youth, here at home and abroad. We recently linked with the Book Bank Foundation that celebrated the women at a women's shelter in the Bronx on mother's day. CHOOSE TO CARE did our small part by providing shoes for their children. We are preparing to purchase shoes for orphan girls in Mudzini Kwetu, Kenya, through the Boston based One Home Many Hopes organization. We continue to prove that even with small means we can do wonders.

After a sumptuous meal we spilled out into the street, that was now packed with people of all ages and from all walks of life,who were waiting to enter the restaurant. We left knowing that this was definitely a repeater and confirmed it when someone went back to the restaurant to retrieve a card with the restaurant's name to share with others. The price was right, the food great tasting and the waitstaff was pleasant. What else could we ask for? And yes the weather was what we had wished for. We hope you will join us on our next outing, the sun should be out in full blast and the days will be longer, a surefire way to awaken our spirits and warm our souls.

Peace and Love!

TAKE A CHANCE WITH US

Choose To Care is now offering a special raffle and the funds gained will go toward purchasing a brand new pair of shoes for children and young adults in need. We will raffle off a Heidi Lange Screen Print---Swahili Girl. Raffle tickets are $1.00 per entry and the winner will be chosen on May 27, 2011.

Thanks for your support.

KEEP CLIMBING SIMONE

Simone E-mailed, wanting to shadow me. She had pinpointed a specific day that was already filled with activities of my own, from sunup to sundown."I do not have the time." I replied. Simone persisted and then sent me three options, adding that she was staying near my place of work; with a plan laid out like this, how could I resist?

Simone and fellow students came to New York in February 2011 for a visit which lasted for ten wonderful days through the kindness and hard work of Erica Lee, the founder of Active Compassion Transforms(ACT), a non-profit organization which uses technology to establish mentoring relationships between South African youths and New York City professionals. This trip helped to broaden their horizons and gave them a different perspective on life. Simone was chosen to remain for two more months to spread the word about the School of Hope, Cape Town, South Africa, where the students attend school. She has spent time in various educational facilities here in New York and a few other States. I have dubbed her the Ambassador, whose role is to sell the wonders of the School of Hope and the ACT organization to others.

On our train ride we talked about her amazing experiences. At the Ridgewood Women, Infant,Children center(WIC), a program that provides nutrition education and nutritious food for low income families; the staff greeted us with open arms. In the previous year, they had also welcomed two students from the School of Hope. Right away Simone was drawn to the toddlers who had accompanied their moms for service. She gave tender loving care to them while their moms were engaged with the staff and when I gazed over at her I knew this was her calling, she was at ease and later she talked to us about her desire to teach young children, a career she plans to pursue.

When we departed we stopped at the neighborhood bakery, where the woman behind the counter gave Simone a mouth-watering pastry. I bought a loaf of bread and we went our merry way. As we shared the pastry and ate with gusto, I thought about the kind ways we had been received, everywhere we went good spirit was in the air.

We talked about everything at rapid speed, we knew the time was short. A ride back into the city was all the time we had to tell our stories. We both tried to get as many words in, eager to share the goodness of living well. Our steps were light as we bounced from train to train, skipping up those steep steps with alacrity. Our belly laughs were peppered with words of joy. The sun shone brightly, the streets were crowded and we were lost in our own merry-making. It was indeed a fun day, short and sweet.

You have what it takes to achieve beyond. I am sure you will flourish and be the change agent we talked about.Keep climbing my friend and remember:

"No act of kindness

No matter how small

is ever wasted."

AESOP--The Lion and The Mouse

Much Love!

{Visit ACT:www.activecompassiontransforms.org}

Living In Balance Come Rain or Shine

The rain god was angry. Water poured down from the skies, the streets were flooded, about to be washed away,it seemed.Some pedestrians hopped to find a safe spot to land their feet, others walked through deep puddles. As we peered through the window, I jokingly said "this is a tsunami and we may have to swim through this one."

So where were we going? What was so important that we had to be out instead of heading home? It was the girls' night out, planned three (3) months ago and nothing was going to stop the women's club warriors. We were on our way to the Evangeline's Restaurant for authentic Philippine cuisine. The turnout was good! After hugs and kisses, we settled down to a menu of exotic sounding dishes written in Tagalog, the official language of the Philippines. The English version led us to pork, beef, chicken and seafood dishes bathed in their unique and delicious spices. Dishes from the grill hit the spot and you could hear the delight in the diners voices as they savored this special cuisine.

We binged on a communal plate of cassava cake and drank halo halo to wash it down. We screamed with delight when we noticed two waiters with a roasted pig hoisted on a tray for the diners next to us, celebrating an impending birth. The little piggy sat intact, in all its splendor, no fear at all shown on its face,roasted to perfection, waiting for the diners to get their teeth in its well-done meat. Some people just love their LECHON(roasted pork).

Kudos to Margo Vinson who received an award of appreciation from the Choose To Care Organization. Her assistance has been very valuable. The Choose To Care Organization continues to protect the feet of children and young adults in need by providing them with a brand new pair of shoes.

We ate, we talked and played catch-up and when we were ready to call it a night, we grabbed our doggie bags and take home orders, as we scattered into the street. By now the skies were clear and we stayed put for a while taking in the fresh air. My thoughts turned to the severe downpour a few hours earlier. We did not retreat, we did not allow the rain god to rain on our parade. This women's club is a group to reckon with indeed! So brave souls, see you next time,come rain or shine.

"That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet."

Emily Dickinson

Keep Living!