Pass It On - The Gift of Used Books

Donate your used books to your local library!  If you are finished enjoying your book there are others in your community that will benefit from the gift of your books. 


If your library doesn't need your used books. search at Donation Town (donationtown.org) for charities that do.  Donation Town is a national network of charities that provide free pickup service.  

Share a Bedtime Story

Injured service members who are separated from their children can read them a bedtime story via video.  United Through Reading volunteers help wounded service members at Naval Medical Center San Diego select books, and make a video of the parent reading aloud.  The DVD is sent to the children, who can listen to Mom or Dad again and again.

This program lifts everyone's spirits! "As parents read to their children, you can see the joy and love in their faces - they light up,"says volunteer Cindy Maurer.  "It gets them out of military mode, which has them constantly on high alert, and turns on the daddy or mommy switch.  It's a kind of healing."

To start one yourself, visit unitedthroughreading.org.  You and your students can help set up a new program for a service member's unit or check to find an active one near where a soldier is stationed.

Gifts that keep Giving

Make your birthday count!  

As your students think about their birthday, encourage them to think of how they can impact the world around them on their special day.  

For example, on their 12th birthday, they could spend the day doing 12 acts of kindness!  Some ideas would be to pass our water bottles to joggers, after using a gift card at a restaurant leave the remaining balance for the person behind you, feed parking meters for shoppers, take doughnuts to a crew fixing power lines, take balloons to the hospital, or buy a gift card at the grocery store and give it to the person behind them in line.  There are dozens of little things that can be given to those around you! You will be overwhelmed by the reaction of those that receive your act of kindness.  

thebdayproject.com

From Lisa's heart...

Baby blankets...it seems so simple.  Each of us, as parents,have several for our children.  We didn't worry about what we would wrap our precious children in to keep them warm and protected.  In  southern Africa, moms worry every day about how they will protect their children.  

Wouldn't it be an amazing gift to them if your class could adopt a village and outfit them with blankets for babies?  My heart breaks as I think about how difficult it would be to be unable to meet such a simple need for my child.  New blankets can be collected and sent to missionaries serving in South Africa or money can be raised and then sent for the purchase of blankets.  My friends, Steve and Pam Hill are currently serving with One Heart International Mission in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal.  

Blankets can be mailed to Steve and Pam and they will distribute them to moms and babies in need.

24 Gordon Rd.

Hatton Estates

Pinetown, KZN   3610

Join me in praying for safety for these precious lives!

From my heart,

Lisa 

Acts2HelpOthers

As I walked through a local farmer's market last weekend, I was presented with an amazing opportunity to show compassion and kindness to others in need.  (This particular organization is local to Central Florida, therefore, direct involvement is only available for local students.  If you are part of a school that is not in the Central Florida area, there may be a similar local ministry that you can participate with. )

Acts2HelpOthers is a humanitarian relief organization that partners with 

local food pantries and agencies to provide them with nourishing Kids Against Hunger meals and other vital supplies.  

They partner with other organizations to maximize global impact.  In doing so, everyone gains from each others strengths.  

How can you involve your students?  

Acts2HelpOthers is in need of funding.Your students can organize a carwash or bake sale and send the profits to Acts2HelpOthers.  They can raise awareness for local and global needs that can be met.  

Volunteer!  Volunteering has a meaningful, positive impact on your students.  They will not only feel like a part of their community, but they will develop a new skill, meet a diverse range of people, create leadership skills and engage in a new experience.  Contact Acts2HelpOthers directly, for volunteer opportunities.  

www.acts2helpothers.org

1701 Kennedy Pointe, Suite 1009
Oviedo, Florida   32765
866.722.3773

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From Lisa's Heart...

We all have passions...those deep seated desires that drive us and keep us focused on what God has placed in our hearts.  Mine is missions.  


My family had the distinct privilege of serving overseas with Mission Aviation Fellowship.  We were called, as a family.  What a joy it was to watch God work in and through us.  When we lost my husband, David, in  fatal airplane accident our lives took an immediate shift back to the United States.  I know that God is using us in His perfect plan in the States, and I know that this is His desire for us...but He continues to burden my heart for overseas missions.  He keeps me on my knees for the lost of this world.  


With this in mind, I will share with you each month from my heart.  I will share ministries that you may choose to participate with and share opportunities to engage your students in global missions.  It may spark some ideas for you to use as you minister to missionaries that you are already involved with.  I'm excited to see what He wants to do with this.


Thanks for allowing me to share my heart!


Lisa 

One World, One Passion, One Sight

 

How can you help the world see?

Your used eyewear represents a whole new world of opportunity for someone in need.  OneSight volunteers will recycle and hand-deliver your glasses through their Global Clinic.

As your students and families replace their eyewear their used eyewear can easily be donated. 

Create a collection bin at your school.  Once you have collected several pair, they may be donated at the following locations:

LensCrafters

Pearle Vision

Sears Optical

Target Optical

$1.00 helps recycle donated eyewear for a Global Clinic

$5.00 supports an eye exam for a North American student struggling with poor vision

$10.00 helps provide eyewear to a person in need

Hold a fundraiser and donate online at www.onesight.org

"Immediately upon receiving glasses, an 80-year old recipient sat down and began reading a stack of letters she brought with her to the Clinic.  The translator explained to me that the recipient had been receiving letters from her family for years, but was never able to read them.  She began to cry because she could finally read the letters and I began to cry because I realized just how much we were able to touch her life."

 -Shawn, OneSight Volunteer

Active Water

Active Water Website

In order to win the battle against infectious diseases that plague the developing world, we inform individuals and groups of the greatest challenge our world faces, the need for safe drinking water. We cultivate a greater understanding of how lacking accessible clean water threatens the very core of individuals, leading not only to the demise of their health, but also exhausting their time, energy, and financial potential. We fulfill our mission by creating a vocal platform built from athletic quests that attract overwhelming interest and media exposure. We then convert that attention into inspiring and equipping others to give of their resources, commitment, and voice to bring clean water projects to where ever needed.

Grassroots Campaigns...

ActiveWater is about mobilizing people who want to make a difference. The following list comprises several grassroots campaigns that we've found to be highly effective in raising awareness, recruiting volunteers, and drumming up financial support for our clean water projects.  Although these ideas are here to get you started, we would love to see what creative ideas that you can come up with as well.  

So if you would like to pursue something unique to you and your interests, simply click on the "Create Your Own Campaign" link at the bottom of the page and we will do our best to help you succeed!

Two Weeks of Sacrifice (Beverage Fast) 

Water Walk 

Car Wash For Clean Water

Stomp Out Thirst 

Community Sale For Clean Water 

Bells for Wells (Holiday Campaign) 

Tree of Life (Holiday Campaign) 

Create Your Own Campaign 

Hope International

Hope International has partnered with School of Communications to create Lyceum Challenge.  We will be forever grateful for the support that Peter Greet and Hope International have given to launch our first Lyceum Challenge:  Poverty and the Christian Response.


Please check out the link below and see how your students can make a difference in the life of someone trying to become self-sufficient.

Hope International Website

Examples:

$50 Woodworking Tools

While carpentry can be a profitable business in the Dominican Republic, many entrepreneurs cannot afford the tools necessary to keep up with the demand. A loan to buy power tools can exponentially increase a carpenter’s efficiency.

$25 Hair Dryer

It starts with a simple hair dryer. Beauty salon owners in the Dominican Republic begin by styling hair but often use their profits to expand their business and offer a variety of services to the women of their community, from manicures to clothing sales.

$50 Ice Chest

Nothing feels better on a hot day than a refreshing, ice-cold beverage, but in many Haitian communities, electricity is nonexistent and refrigerators are too expensive. An ice chest can help a vendor expand her selection and improve her business by keeping drinks cold in Haiti’s hot climate.

Buy a Cow!

Raising money through bake sales, car washes, babysitting, or doing chores for a neighbor is a great way to instill service before self.  Using the raised funds to meet the needs of families in third world nations helps students understand that God can use them to reach people around the world.

• Giving ducks to a hungry family will help them benefit from hundreds of large, protein-rich eggs all year long.
• Goats and cows nourish families with milk, cheese, and yogurt.
• Chickens will provide families with eggs and they require a very small area of land.
• Animals can be purchased for as little as $16.00 

Some Organizations that participate:  (Request a catalog from the organization and/or donate directly on the website.)

Click to go directly to the following sites:

          World Vision   

          Heifer

          Plan              

          Mercy Corps