I was privileged to be able to attend Night at The Village at The Women's Conference in Long Beach in October. I attended many great events and met wonderful people including
First Lady Maria Shriver spoke about her project called "A Woman’s Nation" which will take a new, empirical look at the status of American women, who, for the first time, will make up half of the nation's workforce. Jane Fonda, Actor, Author, Fitness Advocate, Activist Giada De Laurentiis, Celebrity Chef, #1 New York Times Best-Selling Cookbook Author who spoke about how she broke from family tradition to follow her passion. Jessica Simpson, Singer, Actress, Entrepreneur spoke about her VH-1 docu-series,“Jessica Simpson’s: The Price of Beauty.” Jessica traveled to Japan, Thailand, France, Brazil, Uganda, Morocco, and India then back home to Los Angeles to meet every day women and pop culture icons and reveal what is beautiful in the differing cultures.
I also learned about many new organizations including
- CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty, improve basic education, prevent the spread of HIV, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity, protect natural resources and deliver emergency aid. CARE places special focus on women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty.
- Six Billion Paths to Peace represents the idea that it is possible to inspire new reverberations of peace if we each step up and investigate our daily actions and make a commitment to offer our unique contributions to the world.
- First 5 LA strengthening families and communities in L.A. count through public policy change.
- Ndebele Art Project celebrates the magnificent artisans of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and addresses the urgent need to fight AIDs and malaria.
- We Include employs Californians with developmental disabilities.
Upcoming Events
- Counterpoint Dinner Party Tuesday, November 16 6:30 PM. See link for details Counterpoint Dinner Format . Topics will include:
- Gift Ideas: Get your Christmas Shopping done while supporting good causes.
- Womens Conference in Long Beach last month.
- Shopping trip to Ten Thousand Villages and dinner in Pasadena Saturday Nov 6. Meet at Mona's at 2:00. Get some Christmas shopping done, enjoy dinner with friends and support a good cause.
- Shoebox Packing Party for Operation Christmas Child Friday, November 12 at 12:30-2:00 PM in El Segundo. Spend lucnh with friends while helping spread the joy to needy children throughout the world.
Things You Can Do
- Save your shoe boxes for us to use for Operation Christmas Child.
- Help pack and wrap at our shoe box packing party.
- Vote in November. Pay close attention to local initiatives.
- Shop for gifts that help support others.
October Dinner Party Topics
- The Gift of Water: Drilling Wells, Saving Lives Read a truly moving story of a Maryland businessman turning his work into a life-changing for himself and thousands of villagers in Ghana.
- Wesnet Health Solutions is dedicated creative uses of current technology to help bring medical care to those in need around the world. Cell phones, digital media and the internet can help bring low cost health care in hard to reach places.
- A Day Made Better See how OfficeMax is working to erase teacher-funded classrooms by $1,000 in supplies and find out how you can help. If you know of any entertainers or celebraties who would like this publicity, please pass this on.
- Heifer International Study Tours Travel to exotic parts of the world at very resonable prices while learning more about a good cause.
- Save the Children USA Did you know 1 out of 5 children in the U.S. lives in poverty? See what Save the Children is doing to protect, educate and care for children in our own backyard.
CalEarth’s Eco-Dome See how houses and communities can be built out of nothing more than dirt, barbed wire, and bags that meet California building codes.- The Ghetto Film School is a group of educators and students who share a love for storytelling and filmmaking. Their mission is to educate, develop and celebrate the next generation of great American storytellers.
Upcoming
Events
- Counterpoint Dinner Party Tuesday, October 19 6:30 PM.
- Saturday shopping trip to Ten Thousand Villages and dinner in Pasadena Saturday Nov 6. Meet at Mona's at 2:00.
- Shoe box packing party for Operation Christmas Child (date TBD). Must be delivered between Nov 16 and 26th.
Topics
- Sewnet will tell us about her current project with Wesnet Health Solutions aimed at proving healthcare to the needy in Ethiopia.
- Ideas about volunteering at your local animal shelter and stories from those who have done it (it doesn't have to be that bad!)
- I had a great time at the Power of Women event! It was so inspiring to be in a room full of so much hope and passion. I learned many things about different organizations and can't wait to share them with you.
Things You Can Do
- Save your shoe boxes for us to use for Operation Christmas Child.
- Join us at our shoe box packing party (to be scheduled)
- Vote in November. Pay close attention to local initiatives.
- Join us for a shopping day at Ten Thousand Villages (to be scheduled). Get some Christmas shopping done, enjoy dinner with friends and support a good cause. http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/
September Dinner Party Topics
- South Bay Parkland Conservancy is dedicated to the restoration, preservation and public use of coastal land resources in the South Bay region. The current focus is the restoration of open space on the AES power plant property located on the Redondo Beach King Harbor waterfront, and possibly some adjacent parcels. http://www.southbayparks.org/ Dave has been an active member since its inception in 2004. Thank you for sharing this with us, Dave.
- Wesnet Health Solutions is a new organization dedicated to bringing medical care to those in need around the world. The current focus is Ethiopia. They do not have a website yet. More to come soon. Sewnet is the founder and is very passionate about healthcare. Thank you for sharing this with us, Sewnet.
- Power of Women is an event presented by the Lifetime channel and Variety magazine to honor the impact that various women have made by their charitible work. Sandi will to attend this star-studded and very inspiring event at the Crystal Ballroom in the Beverly Hills Hotel. Get the scoop at the October Dinner. http://www2.variety.com/Power-of-Women/pow.html?query=power+of+women Thank you for sharing this with us, Sandi.
- Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations worldwide through simple, gift-filled shoe boxes and evagelistic materials that tell the good news of God's love. It is an effort of Samaritan's Purse, a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. http://www.samaritanspurse.org/ Mona has been packing shoe boxes with her family for many years. Thank you for sharing this with us, Mona.
- Charity Watchdogs - according to various articles in the Wall Street Journal, charity watchdogs provide little value and usually fall short in measuring how well they succeed in their mission. Rating charitible organizations is complex and results can be misleading. Thank you for sharing this with us, Michelle.
