I typically don’t wear my religion on my sleeve. I am a Mormon, or better yet, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Although, you may have suspected as much from my recent post. The cause I’m about to talk about though spans religions, and really focuses on families in need. Particularly families where there is only one parent in the home. I’m not sure if this is a song that little children sing everywhere, but it’s a song the children in our church sing…
Give, said the little stream
Give oh Give, Give oh Give
Give, said the little stream
as it hurried down the hill
“I’m small, I know,
but wherever I go the grass grows greener still”
Singing, singing all the way
give away oh give away
singing singing all the way,
give oh give away.
I love that it says “I’m small, I know” I have always been so against those “chain letter” Facebook status updates. You know, the ones that say “If you support the troops post this as your status for 10 minutes”. Yeah, cause THAT’s going to make a difference. When that “bra color” status update went around, it got me angry. It went so viral, and EVERYONE was doing it for “Breast Cancer Awareness”. I did some calculations that if EVERYONE that posted that as their status update, instead just donated $5 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, there would have been so much money raised! Just $5.00 from everyone that decided to put that as their status. It’s such a small amount, but when thousands of people get involved it can grow to an amazing amount.
I am blessed. I can make enough money on my own if something were to ever happen to my husband. I have technical knowledge and skills I have built through a long career in Information Technology. Some women out there are not so lucky. Maybe they got married right out of high school? Maybe they couldn’t afford college before they had children? I don’t pretend to know what they could have gone through or are currently going through. All I know is that I can help.
Last week, I was invited by LDS Philanthropies (an organization under direct authority of my church) to learn about a November initiative they are running. The LDS Business College has a scholarship program for single mothers or fathers. Qualified recipients receive full tuition and books to attend this 2 year college, with tremendous job placement and opportunities upon graduation. Learn more about the college and the program.
At the meeting the organizers informed us that their goal for this November push is to raise $7,200 (which is the amount for ONE single mother to attend the full 2 years of school with tuition and books completely taken care of). Most of us in the room giggled. We know the power of social media. We know the power of bloggers… $7,200 would be SIMPLE. Someone even told them they truly don’t know who they are dealing with, if THAT is the goal. As a group we “one upped” them… or maybe 45 upped them, and told them OUR goal would be 45 scholarships!
I’m so excited to report that before the initiative even started we have already raised almost $5,000!! My challenge to you is to put the widget up on your blog. Even if it’s a personal blog. I added an easy to use “add to blogger” button at the bottom of the widget (found on the right side of this post). If you have a blog on blogger you can easily push that button to add it to your own blog. It’s simple. It’s small, I know. You can make a difference. If you can, please donate. I have. My sister has. All I know is that I can help, even in a small way.
The grass can grow greener in the life of a single mother, wherever they go. I’m only challenging you to give $5.00. If you feel you can give more, please do. Even if you aren’t a member of my church. This is a cause that spans religion. Give the gift of an education to a mother badly in need of one.
Sorry for the personal post. It’s an amazing cause, and I’m so excited to be in a position to help.
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