Humor will not be tolerated!! -Portia

Awww, seriously guys, if I lived anywhere near Provo, I would so be there.

If you have a few bucks to spare, you could always do micro-loans, too. $25 will help someone on Kiva, for example. And they pay the money back. It's not a charity where you just hand over some money and never see it again, but you give some money, they pay it back, then you give it again to someone else. Or you can always get it back in cash. It's a great way to help people over and over and over again for just a little bit. And they just started student loans, which I'm stoked about. Next time I have $25 in Kiva credit, it's totally going to help someone pay for college. I think that's a great way to help someone learn to fish without having to do all of the teaching yourself. Pay for fishing lessons. (And then have them work to pay you back.)

Dragon Lady, that is an awesome idea that I've never thought about before.

And if TheAnswerIs42, thebigcheese, Marduk, or anyone else is interested in helping the House of Hope out in any way, I would so love to hear from you. I will bake you one billion delicious cookies or something.

For another service idea, I head up the infant and toddler program, and today we got a three-year-old who is just learning to mimic speech sounds and who does not yet respond to his own name. I could use your prayers/positive thoughts, and I'm sure he could too.

I would be down for some service. I love me some charity.

Black Sheep, would any homemade stuffed animals be useful? I would love to knit and/or crochet some things for the kids you work with!

Absolutely! We always need new stuffed animals. We use them in group, and we like to give one to each kid when they leave when we have them.

So, my parents went on a mission. (Or rather, they're leaving soon, but their "farewell" was yesterday.) So this weekend I spent a bunch of time going through my stuff. Trashing and DI'ing a bunch of it, and bringing a bunch of it home. Including 4 large garbage bags of stuffed animals. (Yes, I loved stuffed animals as a child.) Well, that's way too many for our tiny 2-bedroom condo. And too many for one child. (Don't tell my 7-year old self that.) So I've been sorting them into ones I love and ones I can give away. (And the Toy Story believing part in me feels REALLY guilty about this!) So I was thinking that I could give them to your work, Black Sheep.

Just promise me that this won't be Toy Story 3. Promise? I feel guilty enough as is.

Hahaha, I promise. I'm the lead in the toddler room, and I can hereby swear that I let them destroy zero toys. Pseudoname loves stuffed animals like no one I've ever known, so because of her I have a connection to them and I don't let the kids abuse them. And when stuff like our board books finally wear out, we either repair them (thanks for the book repairing skills, mom!) or recycle them (I just turned one Sesame Street board book into a series of three- to six-piece puzzles). We take really good care of our toys.

Alright. I believe you. [weight off my chest] Now I just have to get them washed up and stitched up. So, uh, forgive me if I take a few decades to get them to you.

Way back on the subject of Ben and Jerry, I think a lot of people don't realize that giving money to charity creates jobs just as any kind of business operation would. Even if you give to a cause that's purely "give a man a fish" — say, $100,000 for building clean wells in a far-off village so the people can drink for free — where is that money being spent? Materials, certainly (which are manufactured—thus creating jobs), transportation of materials (the truck drivers, the company that makes trucks, and the gas station all do work and receive income from this), and possibly the labor of actually assembling the well. To name a few.

Here's a simplified economic principle: any time you spend money, you are purchasing labor. The beneficiary of that labor can be yourself (if you keep what you bought) or somebody else (if you give it away). But whether Ben and Jerry build an ice cream factory or give away first aid kits, they're creating jobs.

Sauron's post reminds me of a time at a restaurant in Utah when we overheard a girl at another table say, "How can they complain about taxes when they put so much money in their temples? They should put that money back into the economy."

I guess she thinks we use dollar bills for wallpaper?

P.S. I want to thank everybody for their insights on this thread. It's nice to have your perspectives, and to see things in a fresh light. No, Emiliana, business is definitely not my strong point - I just make the things we sell and then hope for best - but if I can use it for good (and I am, I guess, in that I'm using it to support my family) then I certainly will. And I'm a little jealous of this group service project. Has it happened yet?

No it hasn't, as I got busy moving and sort of haven't done anything about it yet.

Anyone who is interested in doing some sort of group service project (be it for the House of Hope or not), email me at byublacksheep at gmail dot com. Exciting!

And Sauron, I'd never thought about it like that. Thanks for sharing that tidbit.

Black Sheep - um, are you planning awesome service activities without inviting me? *pouts*

Oh Unlucky Stuntman, I'd never not invite you. Oh the double negatives. If you'd just read the Board Board you'd know about these things.

But seriously, you have to email me, cause I'm not assuming that anyone wants in on this. If I don't get an email, I'm not emailing you.

um, I DO read the board board, I just don't comment much. I'm what they call a "lurker."

You and I both, brother/sister. Though you're even worse than me.

hey, I'm workin' on it okay! maybe i'll even crash one of these mythical reader parties that i hear so much about...

UnluckyStuntman wrote:hey, I'm workin' on it okay! maybe i'll even crash one of these mythical reader parties that i hear so much about...

For you, I'd arrange it specifically. I've been told I need to cook some Mexican food for the parties, so that's probably what will happen for the next party.