BRING THE HOPE

New Ideas Bring The Hope

Cheers to Jennifer Regnier for the cool visual blog that she started recently to put messages of hope and optimism out in the world.

We love her concept and can't wait to see what's next. A few of our favorite images from Jennifer's blog are shown below. If you want to check them all out, go to http://littlemissringy.tumblr.com/

 

Good Friends Bring The Hope

I spent the weekend hanging with good friends at a cabin in South Haven, Mich. Our crew rolled in from three different states and some of us hadn't seen each other for quite awhile. We came in with our different backgrounds and our divergent opinions on various issues and spent somewhere around 40 hours just enjoying each others' company.

Good friends are hard to come by and it can be tough to get people together with all the responsibilities everyone has. So, I'm pretty thankful when everyone finds the time to block a weekend for catching up.

Good friends bring the hope.

"Life is partly what we make it, and partly what is made by the friends we choose." - Tennessee Williams

"A true friend is one who thinks you are a good egg even if you are half cracked." - Author Unknown

"No road is long with good company." - Turkish Proverb

Hope Never Looked So Clean

Bringing the hope is easy. There are so many ways to do it. You could...

1. Send a card to one of your old teachers and tell them thanks
2. Pay for the person's order behind you at the drive thru
3. Do something (anything) nice for your neighbor
4. Read your kid a book or tutor another kid who needs some help
5. Take used bars of soap from hotel rooms and give them to refugees (huh?)

Okay...so, maybe #5 isn't easy. But, it is a really simple idea that no one had thought of until one very cool Ugandan, Derreck Kayongo, decided to make it happen.

Check out Derreck's story here.

The True Nobel Prize Winner = The American Soldier

Cheers to columnist Thomas L. Friedman for the outstanding piece he wrote for Sunday's edition of The New York Times. Friedman's column laid out the acceptance speech that he'd like to see President Obama give when he receives the Nobel Peace Prize this December.

Friedman wrote, "...upon reflection, I cannot accept this award on my behalf at all. But I will accept it on behalf of the most important peacekeepers in the world for the last century — the men and women of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps."  

Friedman is an inspired writer and his column really hits the mark. No one likes war, but we certainly enjoy our freedom and liberty. Thanks to all American soldiers (current and past) for their sacrifice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/opinion/11friedman.html

Who Gets The New Shoes?

It's time for another post from Matt, our Bring The Hope intern. Cheers to Matt for making us think.

As we head into the first full day of fall, it's time to think about how we treat those less fortunate than us. I always thought I was a rather charitable person until I heard a wise man discuss charity.

Chris Provence, founder of Rebuilding the Wall, once said, “Often I find myself wanting to donate my old shoes to my neighbor and buy new ones for myself. That’s loving my neighbor like I loved myself last year, not like I love myself today.”

Based on that standard, I need to modernize my charity a bit.

I Have A Dream

On this day back in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stunned the nation with an address for the ages.

"I have a dream...that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.

"I have a dream...that one day even the State of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

"I have a dream...that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character...Let freedom ring."

The King's words brought the hope. Check 'em out.

What Will You Do That's Extraordinary?

However you look at it, our time on this Earth is short. So, if we plan on doing something extraordinary, we better get busy. Here's a cool story about one woman who did just that. Check it out if you're looking for some inspiration.

Whatever you want to do in life, go after it. We all have the power to do extraordinary things and it would be a shame if we didn't use the talents, skills and passions that we each have within us to do something special. I wish you all the best in whatever extraordinary thing you're working on.

"The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places."  ~Author Unknown

"I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday."  ~Author Unknown

"Difficult things take a long time, impossible things a little longer."  ~Author Unknown

"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go."  ~William Feather

Coach Ron Hunter and Crocs Give Back

We've posted before about IUPUI Coach Ron Hunter and the impressive work he's done in recent years going barefoot on the sidelines to help collect shoes for kids in need. Now, the Coach is back at it and he's hoping to encourage even more coaches to get involved.

For 2009, the Coach has added Crocs to the mix. And he is also encouraging teams to build international travel into their plans so that student athletes can experience mission work first hand.

Click here to see the AP story about the Coach and his new plans. Cheers to Ron Hunter for showing us all the way.

"One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those who are kind."  ~Malayan Proverb

"The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit."  ~Nelson Henderson
 

School Bus Driver From Queens Brings The Hope

If your weekly paycheck totaled $700, how much of that would you set aside for helping others? Some might earmark 10 percent and put $70 to work for charity. Some might do a little more. But, what would you call someone that gave more than 60 percent of their weekly paycheck to serve people in need? That's easy...you'd call them a hero.

Check out this story about Jorge Munoz from Queens. According to CNN, "Munoz and his family have been feeding people in need seven nights a week, 365 days a year for more than four years." Wow...that's cool. Cheers to Munoz for bringing the hope.

Satchel Paige's Ageless Question

Satchel Paige was a star pitcher in the Negro League and in Major League Baseball. It's believed that he pitched more games than any pitcher in the history of the game. Paige was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. He was born on this day in 1906 and he once raised a question that is one of my all-time favorites. Paige asked, "how old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" That's a good one to ponder. Here are a few of my other favorite Satchel Paige quotes. "Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter." "Ain’t no man can avoid being born average, but there ain’t no man got to be common." "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." "Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines." "Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching."