Philanthropy
Philanthropy
Bone Marrow Registration Drive
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 03/21/2010 - 10:18Today, I received Facebook invitation to a Bone Marrow Registration Drive in Milford, CT.
It will take place at Live Oaks Elementary, 575 Merwin Avenue, Milford from 3:30 to 7:30 PM.
It is a simple, painless procedure of filling out some forms and getting a cheek swab done.
You can find more information about the drive in Connecticut Post.
What Kind of World Do You Want? - Learning to Fall
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 03/17/2010 - 13:28Last night, I received a Facebook invitiation from Dan Navarro to a Cyber Listening & Viewing Party to Raise ALS Awareness!. Dan Navarro and Eric Lowen are fantastic musicians that Kim and I have often heard at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.
Six years ago, today, Eric Lowen was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Over the years, we watched him go from walking with a cane, to riding around in the mud of Falcon Ridge in a wheel chair and finally, no longer performing with Dan or being able to physically attend Falcon Ridge.
Through all of it, he has continued to be an inspiration to all of us and wrote a great song, ‘Learning to Fall’. There is a video of Eric and his friends performing this song a couple of years ago that was set up as a fundraiser. So, today, take a moment off from the celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day and watch Learning to Fall. Then, join the Cyber Listening & Viewing Party to Raise ALS Awareness event on Facebook and spread the word.
Thanks.
CT Underhound Railroad, Half a Year Later
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 02/10/2010 - 14:19Last August, Fiona and I gave a ride to a young pit bull rescued from the Hartford Pound. It took the efforts of several people to save the young dog.
First, Sherry, an animal control officer in Hartford reached out to people that might be able to help. A woman in Maine had a place where the dog could be fostered, if there was some way to get her up to Maine. Fiona and I couldn’t drive up on the day that the dog needed to be picked up from the pound, so another person pulled the dog from the Hartford Pound and took her over to the Sadie Mae Foundation where she stayed for a couple days. Finally, Fiona and I picked her up and drove her up to Maine. Another woman picked her up from us and brought her to her foster home. Eventually, she found her forever home.
After the trip, I set up a mailing list for the CTUnderhound Railroad. Over the past half year, we’ve set up a website, a group and fan page on Facebook and have touched the lives of many dogs. As we look at our next half year, we’ve been thinking back over the past half year, and how we can be most effective.
Besides finding homes for dogs in need, we also need to work to make sure that there are fewer dogs that end up in the shelters, and we’ve worked hard to encourage spay and neuter programs. We also want to encourage town animal shelters to adopt best practices to make sure that these dogs find safe homes as quickly as possible.
The group has worked together to create a spreadsheet of town shelters as well as to reach out to various animal control officers. Currently, we are listing the Petfinder pages of forty-four town shelters on the CT Underhound Railroad Shelters Page.
This morning, I did a quick census of dogs on these pages. I counted 125 different dogs of twenty eight different breeds in these shelters looking for homes. Almost half of them are pit bulls. Pit bulls can be wonderful pets when they are properly taken care of, and I hope that people looking for a new pet seriously consider adopting a pit bull. However, I realize that for some people that is not an option and there are many other wonderful dogs in the shelter of Connecticut. If you are looking, please spend time looking through this list and seeing if there is dog that meets your needs.
The first half year of the CT Underhound Railroad has been more successful than I ever imagined it would be when we first started, and hopefully the second half of our first year will be even more so.
The Feast of Stephen
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 12/26/2009 - 09:52Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
Today is the Feast of Stephen, or Boxing Day. We don’t particularly celebrate this in the States, but it is an important day to note. The song Good King Wenceslas is set on the Feast of Stephen, and captures the spirit of the day, giving to those less fortunate. The meaning of the Feast of Stephen came home to me last night in a comment to a blog post I’d written a year and a half ago.
A year and a half ago, I wrote Clarence and Lori : Foreclosure, Bankruptcy, and Suicide; a post about my own financial struggles and recovery, as well as about a friend that did not recover. Last night, a visitor to my blog wrote:
Someone please send us an angel..........I have to close my business with chapter 7 and I am going down personally as well ( chapter 7 ) I only started the process and I do not think I have the strength or will to go through it. Thoughts of suicide always run through my head. I have alot of family and friend support and my wife as well...but she blames me for all of it too.....and she is right in a sense....I made a bad situation worse.
I hope someone is listening........
I listened, and sent the writer an email offering what I could for hope. Those of you that believe in the power of prayer, should lift up Michael.
When I was younger, fortune smiled kindly on me. I went from one successful job to another, only to find better pay and more success. I gave of my time and treasure to the church and life seemed simple. Yet things were not as good as they seemed and my marriage fell apart. For the first time, it seemed, I started running into problems bigger than I was.
As I stayed with friends while I tried to put my life together, one of them thanked me for giving them the opportunity to help someone. It had never occurred to me that my honest need for help from people around me could be a gift to them. Another person commented about the great hero myth as captured in the work of Joseph Campbell. The hero goes through trials and returns a changed person, bringing back the bounty gained through the tribulations. What have I brought back?
Perhaps, some of it is the spirit, not of Christmas, but of the Feast of Stephen. It is a hard won lesson, that no matter how ‘self-made’ we are, we all depend on God, and perhaps most importantly on God’s grace and love as shown through the people around us. It is a hard won lesson of gratitude for what we have that really matters, not the trinkets, or even somehow managing to avoid chapter 7 bankruptcy. It is our connections to our family, friends and neighbors, it is experiencing God’s love through them that matters. It is enduring hope, that even when things are at their bleakest, we can experience God’s love through the unexpected kindness of strangers.
So please, think about the Feast of St. Stephen as you go about your day. Think about Michael and his tribulations. Think about those around you that may be struggling and you might not even know it.
Happy Feast of Stephen.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing
#arrow Provides and Important Christmas Message
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 12/23/2009 - 22:59I settled down into my pew while my eight year old daughter practiced for the Christmas Pageant. She was practicing her lines,
"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
The toddlers who were playing sheep in the pageant were climbing over pews and it was the sort of chaos that generally accompanies Christmas Pageants. It was warm in the church. There were some good people trying to direct the kids. As soon as the rehearsal was over, we would go over to my father-in-law’s house dinner.
While I waited, if played with my cellphone. It is a pretty powerful new smartphone, and I started by checking Twitter. I don’t remember exactly which tweet it was that caught my attention, but it went something like this:
leslie Help #arrow on Facebook: http://is.gd/5z8zz in case you missed the first few tweets
I checked to see what other posts on Twitter were about #arrow and found
truckersnews RT @longhawl: @truckersnews Help message board for stranded Arrow Trucking drivers http://bit.ly/6QwyQF #arrow#trucking #truckers #Travel
This lead me to the Facebook Page to Support Stranded Arrow Trucking.
I did a little more searching. A headline on WLTX reported 900 Drivers Stranded After Arrow Trucking Shuts Down.
“Many drivers learned that the company had folded only after filling up their rigs and discovering the company's fuel credit cards would not work.”
I thought back to the Christmas Pageant. In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night, and tweeted “#arrow In that region there truckers stranded when their company suspended operations. Then an angel of The Lord appeared to them ...”
Reading through Facebook and Twitter, I read of people reaching out to help those around them; to help others get home for Christmas, as well as face the difficulties of they would encounter picking up the pieces after the company they worked for failed.
My mind drifted to the Richard Shindell song, The Next Best Western
Whoever watches over all these truckers
Show a little mercy for a weary sinner
And deliver me Lord, deliver me
Deliver me to the next best western
So, this Christmas, my thoughts and prayers go out to the truckers stranded when the company they were working for suspended operations. My thoughts and prayers of gratitude also go out to all of those that have stepped up to help out stranded truckers.
‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
In the version I have it goes on to say, “Remember that trucker you helped out in Tulsa Oklahoma?”
So, this Christmas as you come adore the infant Jesus, keep your eyes up for where you give aid to The Lord. Merry Christmas everyone.
