Cash for a Better Life

Did my subject draw you into this post? I'm hoping it did, but it might have given you the wrong idea - purposefully I admit. :)

Many of you have read previous posts of mine about how I help with The Ugly Christmas Sweater Party that benefits Operation Breakthrough. In this post, I simply want to tell you about that organization and how even a $10 donation can help them.

Put most simply and in their own words:

The mission of Operation Breakthrough is to help children who are living in poverty develop to their fullest potential by providing them a safe, loving and educational environment.

Operation Breakthrough cares each weekday for more than 600 children, ages 6 weeks to 18 years. More than 98% of the enrolled families live below the federal poverty guidelines, most far below them.

About 25% of the children are homeless or near homeless, living in battered women's or homeless shelters or transitional living programs. Often they sleep on the sofas of friends or relatives, sometimes even living in cars, rundown hotels or abandoned buildings. About 25% of our children are in foster care or other placements due to abuse, neglect or other family crises. The average income of our families is $9,400.

You can read more on their website. It truly is a wonderful KANSAS CITY organization that helps KANSAS CITY children who are dealing with a situation that is NOT their fault.

Our Gifts Make a Difference! $10 will buy a book for their library. $20 will buy new shoes for a child. $50 will buy groceries for a family of 4. $85 will cover a complete physical for an uninsured child. $100 will buy a pair of eyeglasses. $150 will cover care for an infant for a week. $500 will cover a field trip for 50 children to a museum or theater performance. $1,000 will cover 80 hours of individual therapy for a child suffering from abuse or neglect.

Personally, my "Skipping Starbucks" savings will be going to Operation Breakthrough again this year. My donation will probably be around $100. That simple donation could provide a child with the eyeglasses needed to do better in school. Or it could give 5 children new shoes for winter when they may otherwise not have correct apparel.

YOU, too, can skip eating out a few times this month or skip the expensive coffee or just skip a date night. Will spending money on any of those items make as big an impact in your life as these items will make in theirs?

If ten of us could each give $100 that combined donation could provide a child with the therapy needed to overcome a tragic event in their life. The thought that we could help a child so profoundly with such a simple gift truly moves me to tears and I hope it affects you too.

Please consider making a donation to them this season or at any time during the year. It does a heart good! :)

Conversations with Kids

RETIREMENT PLAN FROM THOMAS
A recent car conversation went like this...

• Travis: Do artists make a lot of money?
• Mom: Sometimes. Depends on what they paint or make.
• Thomas: Really? That could be good. I like art.
• Mom: It's a lot of work. And sometimes you don't become famous and people don't buy the art until after you die.
• (long pause where you could hear the wheels turning in their heads)
• Thomas: ok, I have it. I'll do a regular job and then when I'm 99 I'll become an artist really fast, get famous cuz I'll die soon and then my grandkids will have lots of money! Everyone should do this!

---

ACRONYMS WITH TRAVIS
Travis wanted to figure out the meanings to some acronyms that he's heard recently. Here's some of the best 8-year-old answers he gave before we told him the real meanings:

• SWAT = Sweet Weapons and Tactics (he knows it's Special, but he prefers Sweet)
• CSI = Criminal Science Animals (yeah, he can't spell very well yet...)
• NCIS = National Crime In Science
• CIA = Crimes In America
• NASA = No Air in Space Association
• USPS = Daddy's Work!
• KSU = K-State University (but he couldn't tell us what the K was for...)

Once we explained the K in KSU was for Kansas, we of course asked, "If K is for Kansas, what is KU for?" And this garnered our absolute favorite answer...

KU is for Suckers!

I kid you not, no prep or coercion. He just KNOWS! :)

Skipping Starbucks Challenge 2010

I hereby offer up the Skipping Starbucks challenge again (read this: 2008 Skipping Starbucks post). I think Skipping Starbucks and donating the cash will do more good than drinking there this month.

You say, "I don't drink Starbucks or any coffee!"? You can still participate! Pick ANY where you go regularly (at least 1x per week) and skip it this month. Then, select a charity and donate what you would have spent there.

Two years ago, my coffee consumption made for a $50 donation to Operation Breakthrough. That's approximately 10 times I skipped the expensive coffee and gave to someone less fortunate than myself.

Can you do the same this year? Consider the gauntlet thrown at your feet...