Do your kids have questions about Haiti and the relief effort there? Do they want to know more about how to mobilize their schools and communities to help?
Then they might be interested in participating in (or even just watching) an online discussion tonight with Dr. Jim Yong Kim, physician, president of Dartmouth College, and one of the founders of Partners in Health (PIH), a leading aid organization in Haiti.
My good friend (and the most well-informed person I know) Wishy, just let me know about this great opportunity for students of all ages (elementary through grad school). It will take place tonight at 5:30 PM Eastern Standard Time.
Students can even send in questions ahead of time by email to sdhr at dartmouth dot edu. The subject line should contain the words: “JYK TALK: Your name, your school”.
PS. Our “Book and Bake Bonanza for Haiti” is scheduled for this Thursday. I’ll let you all know how it goes! If you are interested in some ideas on how to get your kids involved raising money for Haiti, please read my post: Help Your Kids Help Haiti.
My children’s elementary class is organizing an emergency “Book and Bake Bonanza” to take place next week. They are frantically trying to collect books and baked goods to sell in order to raise money for Haiti. Obviously money is needed NOW, so they must act quickly and there is no time for an elaborate fundraiser.
Will used books sell? We don’t know, but we need to try something and one of the kids came up with the idea. Anything we can earn will help, no matter how small.
(UPDATE: The result of our little fundraiser? A whopping $1,350.03!! Read here for more details about how we did it.)
Why not organize a speedy fundraiser for your children’s school? If you homeschool, then combine a quick study of Haiti with a smaller scale family-style fundraiser.
Here are some quick and easy fundraising ideas:
Bake sale
Lemonade or hot chocolate or cookie stand in your driveway
Garage Sale (if you can put it together fast, yard sales can be very time consuming)
Used book sale
Raffle something off
Car wash (or an interior car detailing day if it is too cold for a car wash, or you don’t want to use water)
A simple donation box in your school or workplace
A penny drive in your children’s school (Thanks very much to Jen for this simple yet effective idea!)
And here are a few less obvious ones that could possibly be put together fairly rapidly:
Board Game Competition: Charge an entry fee for each team or individual. If you want, give a small portion of this as a prize, or give a donated prize.
Dog Wash (if you can do it indoors or you live somewhere warm).
How Many in the Jar?: Fill a jar with M&Ms, marbles, rocks, anything small! Have people guess how many objects are in the jar. Sell guess forms for $1 or $2 a piece and split the earnings with the person who gets the closest.
Show Up in Your Jammies Day: (For schools) Sell tickets entitling the purchaser to wear your pajamas to school for a day. Encourage teachers and administrators to join in also. Sell donuts and bagels before school for breakfast.
Traveling Hobo Band: I can’t really explain this one, but it is pretty funny and spontaneous. Read more here.
Partners in Health (co-founded by Dr. Paul Farmer) is one I only recently learned about via my friend Wishy. PIH has been extremely involved in Haitian health care and social justice for over 20 years.
Remember, even a small amount of money can make a big difference!
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Don’t underestimate the power of even a simple bake sale. In December, my children’s Montessori School class raised over $870 for Heifer International with a one day bake sale!
The new requirements were scheduled to take effect on February 10, 2009 but enforcement will now be delayed for one year (February 10, 2010). This will give the CPSC time to finalize four proposed rules which could exempt certain products from testing and provide more guidance on when testing would be required.
The stay of enforcement provides some temporary, limited relief to the crafters, children’s garment manufacturers and toy makers who had been subject to the testing and certification required under the CPSIA. These businesses will not need to issue certificates based on testing of their products until additional decisions are issued by the Commission. However, all businesses, including, but not limited to, handmade toy and apparel makers, crafters and home-based small businesses, must still be sure that their products conform to all safety standards and similar requirements, including the lead and phthalates provisions of the CPSIA.
Hooray! This issue is not over yet, but at least Etsy and quality handmade and foreign toys have one more year of life. It seems as though the vocal public outrage has produced a step in the right direction.
Perhaps my favorite place in the whole world is the South Island of New Zealand. If you live there, I SO envy you! What a beautiful place filled with nice people…I can’t say enough wonderful things about it. The only drawback is that, for most of us in the world, it is a little out of the way. No, make that VERY MUCH out of the way! Upon further thought however, perhaps that is what keeps it so lovely and friendly?
Anyhow, I was once fortunate enough to be able to visit New Zealand’s South Island. I believe it was in May and the leaves were turning color. There was a fall chill in the air…strange, since we had just left tree buds exploding with flowers and greenery emerging from the sun’s warmth - a promise of lazy summer days was near.
We had many remarkable adventures in southern New Zealand as we explored the glacial and fjord-laden, yet lush, west coast; viewed spectacular snowy mountainscapes of the central region; and enjoyed sheep (many, many, MANY sheep) grazing on peaceful green hills in the eastern portion.
One of the most interesting places that we visited was the Royal Albatross Centre in Dunedin. Before the visit, I really new very little about these amazing birds, except that according to old sailing lore, it was considered bad luck to see one. Wasn’t an albatross involved in Edgar Allan Poe‘s novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym?
WEBCAM - I was quite excited to discover a live webcam from Dunedin’s Royal Albatross Center. I found this quite some time ago and have been meaning to write about it. At the moment, it seems to be showing just a general view of the colony since eggs are still incubating. However when there are chicks, it is a nest cam! Remember, that since it is live, you might find it is dark when you go to check it out due to the time difference. Keep going back, it is worth it.
TRACKING - There are quite a few sites out there that show tracking results for albatross that have been fitted with satellite trackers:
2008 Black-Footed Albatross “race”: Check out these amazing results for “the 2008 winner” named Oski. In the 64 days (s)he was tracked, (s)he traveled a curved path totaling 19,571 km (a straight line distance of 4,943 km) at an average rate of 305 km/day!
ADOPTION - If your family or class has the means (or wants to do a few fundraisers), you can even adopt your own albatross. The cost ($2,500 in 2008) covers the tracking tag and three months of data. You can choose the name of your bird and follow him/her in real time through online maps. Cool! The non-profit sponsor, Oikonos, will also send you a framed photo of your actual bird as well as a map of the completed three month journey.
If you do nothing else, watch (and show your kids) this gorgeous video of albatrosses soaring over the ocean, and “playing” in the wind. It is such a beautiful sight that it actually made me cry! Please watch it!
OK, now that you have been moved to tears by these beautiful birds, how about trying to save them? Here are some organizations that would like some help (fundraiser anyone?):
GIVING - Organizations that aim to protect the albatross from long-line fishing and ocean trash:
I don’t homeschool, but if I did, I would somehow work in an albatross unit despite the fact that I live in Arizona! I hope that these resources will inspire somebody somewhere.
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PHOTO CREDITS: Thank you Wikimedia Commons! For photo credits and licensing information, click on these links: Squabbling Albatrosses and Soaring Albatross.
As of today, there are 18 days until mandatory toy compliance certification is requested. Only 18 more days of legal Etsy, of legal thrift stores, of legal used books (even library books), of legal thrift store clothing, of legal garage sale toys, books, clothes… [???? See NOTE below???] The scope is potentially HUGE. It’s not just toys.
View a few CPSIA compliant Etsy products here. A $5,496 handmade T-shirt anyone? Or perhaps the $3,370.50 cloth pretend homemade cloth food breakfast set is more within your budget. If that’s still too much for you, rest assured that there’ll always be a Bratz Hair Color Doll (you get brush on hair color for your Bratz and your child, Brush on hair “glitter mascara,” and hair clips … all for a mere $27.97. Still too much? The Bratz World Doll Chloe in “snuggly loungewear outfit” and complete with “beauty accessories” so your little girl can “primp, relax and flaunt [her] fashions” costs only $15.00.
Ugh.
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If you are wondering what the heck I am talking about, here is a brief summary:
In August 2008 Congress passed the CPSIA with the goal of improving toy safety. It bans lead and phthalates from toys and children’s products and also mandates lots of extra testing and labeling. Well, the thought is nice, but in reality only large corporations will be able to afford the certification required. There is no exception for hand-crafted toys, or toys already certified under strict European standards.
The statute is overly broad and will effectively prohibit the sale of handmade toys in the United States. Even German toymaker Selecta has decided that the new law is too burdensome and has already withdrawn from the U.S. market.
NOTE: Thanks to alert reader Erika (I sound like Dave Barry) for pointing out my failure to completely do my homework. On January 8th the CPSC published a clarification which apparently exempts resellers from the testing requirement. So thrift stores, garage sales, used book stores and the like should be OK as long as they avoid selling “products that are likely to have lead content.” Here is the exact paragraph:
It is still a bit troubling to me. If I sell some antique toys to collectors on Ebay and one of those toys, unbeknownst to me, contains lead, will I be in violation of the law? My interpretation of this is yes. Hmmm….
I am "Mom Unplugged," Montessori teacher and mother of three children ages 12, 10, and 6. I invite you to read more about me and my blog here. Thanks for stopping by!
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