Bandaids for a Cause

 My biggest fear used to be losing my home to a fire.  Or a tornado.  Things beyond my control.  Although I still worry about those things, they are literally just "things".  Now that I'm a mom, my biggest fear has shifted from losing something to losing someone - a child.  So when my blogger-turned-real-life friend, Brittany, reached out to me and a handful of other bloggers across the country asking for a little support with this amazing cause, I couldn't agree fast enough.

September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month.  If you're a fellow KC resident, you may remember {then} 6-year-old Noah Wilson.  He was a big fan of the Royals who, unfortunately, lost his battle with cancer in June of 2015.  It's a heartbreaking story - a true nightmare for any parent - but there is a silver lining to his story.

Before Noah died, he started something called Noah's Bandage Project.  You can read all about it here, but long story short, Noah wanted to provide kids suffering from cancer the cool and fun bandages they deserved.  What started as a small drive turned into something much larger.  The Royals got involved, as did many local news stations, and although Noah has been gone for over a year, his project is bigger and better than he ever could have imagined.

 Back to my friend, Brittany.  How does she fit in to this story?  Well, she is a next door neighbor to Noah's parents.  And they live just a few miles south of me.  So although stories like this seem far away and it's easy to think "that will never happen to me", it's often closer than we'd like to imagine.

What's the point of this post?  Local or non-local, kids or no kids, you can help!  All you have to do is purchase some fun bandaids and send them to this address:

Noah's Bandage Project
119 N Parker Street Suite 110
Olathe, KS 66061

Because band aids are considered medical supplies, they cannot be sent directly to hospitals--so funneling them through Noah's Bandage Project (and the above address) is necessary.

If you have a blog, feel free to share this information and link up with my friend, Brittany.  However, blog or no blog, you can still participate online!  Snap a photo in support of Noah's Bandage Project and share on social media using one or all of the hashtags:

#noahsbandageproject
#bloggerbandaidsfornoah
#goinggoldfornoah

I, personally, can't wait for this cause to go viral.



And if you'd rather take the easy way out, monetary donations are also welcome.  Noah's family is currently working to increase the funding for pediatric cancer research.  Currently, only 4% of cancer donations go toward researching pediatric cancer.  Donations can be made on their website: www.noahsbandageproject.com.

Thank you for helping to support not only this local family (and neighbor to my friend), but kids and pediatric cancer in general!

Feed USA

What a weekend!  July 4th, multiple visitors, and Brantley's first birthday.  Lots of pictures to sort through and lots to blog about, plus a 12-month Brantley update.  Whew!  It may take me a few days.  So in the meantime, I'll write about something that caught my eye on Good Morning America a few days ago!  Hope everyone had a fantastic holiday weekend!

As I was watching GMA on 4th of July morning, I saw a segment featuring a new clothing (and more) line at Target - Feed USA.  The line was created by George W. Bush's niece, Lauren Bush, who also happens to be the daughter-in-law of Tommy Hilfiger.  Each item in the Feed USA line includes a number; the number represents the amount of people that will be fed from your purchase of the item.  Cool, right?  I browsed Target's website and here are a few of my favorites!  Can't wait to help feed America! :)

Spread the Word to End the Word

You may not know it, but today is national "Spread the Word to End the Word" Day.  The word trying to be elminated is the R-word, or retarded (in a derogatory manner, of course).  I first heard about this campaign a few weeks ago when our school social worker mentioned it to our staff at an in-service day. However, I first became aware of the negative implications of this word in college.  All education students at Iowa had to take a class called Human Relations.  Though I hated going to class each week, looking back it was probably one of the best classes I took throughout my college career.  The class really opened my eyes to many societal issues and stereotypes.  I specifically remember talking about usage of the r-word and the connotations it brings.  Since that day, I have made a conscience effort to not say that word.

The national campaign "Spread the Word to End the Word" is trying to bring awareness to everyone, especially students.  Here's an excert from their website:

When they were originally introduced, the terms “mental retardation” or “mentally retarded” were medical terms with a specifically clinical connotation; however, the pejorative forms, “retard” and “retarded” have been used widely in today’s society to degrade and insult people with intellectual disabilities. Additionally, when “retard” and “retarded” are used as synonyms for “dumb” or “stupid” by people without disabilities, it only reinforces painful stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities being less valued members of humanity.

Basically, by saying "That's retarded" when you mean "That's stupid", you're implying that mentally retarded people are stupid. 

Here's their website: http://www.r-word.org/.  Check it out and sign the pledge!

I think "Spread the Word to End the Word" is a fantastic idea and I hope more people think about what they are implying the next time they say "That's retarded."

While we're on the topic, can we spread the word to end the word 'gay' as well??

Have a nice day!