Bicycle Rules of the Road

As I continue to prepare for my bike ride, I am finding that people, including myself, are not very educated on bicycle road safety. Here are a few things that you should know.

* Bike riders are allowed to have 6 feet of space. What does this mean? It means that they ride in the lane with you.

* Bike riders are to use all turn lanes as vehicles do.

* Bike riders are to use arm signals when making turns.

* Bike riders are to obey all traffic signals.

Even if you are not a bike rider, it is important to be educated on what and where bicycles/bicyclists are allowed to be. Visit www.nhtsa.gov and go to Traffic Safety for more information.

Be safe and share the road.

Thanks for listening!

Sheryl

Volunteer Match

Did you know that there is a website that will match volunteers to their criteria listed? Simply go to www.volunteermatch.org, put in your information and hundreds of opportunities will come up for you volunteer at. It is amazing!

Tomorrow I start collecting shoes for Haiti victims. Did you know that children in Haiti cannot attend school without a pair of shoes? If you are interested in helping me in the cause, please feel free to ship your shoes to me or check out my last blog.

Thanks for listening!

Sheryl

Soles 4 Souls

Today I went into my DVR and began watching Extreme Home Makeover. Beside the fact that I cry every week when I watch that show, this week was especially touching for me. The mom Delores is one heck of a woman! I don't understand how people let their houses get like that but Delores was not only attempting to fix up her house but also other houses in the community. This is a woman who really cared about others just as much as herself and her family.

Delores grew up in Jamaica and had to walk 8 miles to school every day with no shoes. So this week on Extreme Home Makeover a group called Soles 4 Souls came in and basically what they do is collect shoes and send them around the world to those in need. I went to their website www.soles4souls.org and found out that they have donated over 7 million pairs of shoes to date. Also on the website you can find local stores in your area that participate, you can donate, fundraise and even volunteer to travel with them to hand shoes out!

It is amazing what we take for granted each and every day. Check out this site and see what you can do to help!

Thanks for listening!

Sheryl

More ways to HELP HAITI

If you are interested in donating money to the victims, you can do so in several different ways:
1. Text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross which is also aiding in the efforts.
2. Obviously if you are aware of any charities sending money to the victims, these would work as well.

Here is a long list of organizations participating in Haiti as of right now, so if you have the money to spare, please give what you can to help these people.http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/01/13/haiti.earthquake.how.to.help/index.html?hpt=T2

UPDATE: Actor Ben Stiller has just announced that ALL donations given through his charity StillerStrong (http://www.stillerstrong.org/) will go directly toward the disaster relief in Haiti. This is just another excellent way to show your support for the Haitian people.

IMPORTANT: If you are searching for relatives or friends who may have been in Haiti at the time of the earthquake, go to http://www.familylinks.icrc.org/WFL_HTI.NSF/DocIndex/locate_eng?opendocument. It is an excellent site that hopefully will reunite you with anyone that may be missing.

I would just like to take this chance to explain some things that I've been noticing in the wall posts. This event is in absolutely no way limited to just wearing red as a show of support. In fact, I would encourage EVERYONE to donate, no matter how much or how little they can manage. Obviously only wearing red is going to send no tangible help to the citizens of Haiti, but what it WILL do is draw more attention to the cause, hopefully ultimately resulting in greater donations to the disaster relief. Will wearing red solve this crisis? No. But directing a greater scope of attention to the situation is extremely important, and THAT is the core purpose of this event.

Ways to HELP HAITI

While we all have to be careful not to give to the wrong group, we still want to be able to help out. During times of tragedy, some people see a "light" and take advantage of the situation. I have done research and here are some legit groups and ways to HELP HAITI.

* American Airlines is taking doctors and nurses to Haiti for FREE. Please call 212-697-9767

* Through the Red Cross you can text "HAITI" to "90999" to automatically donate $10

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/1-million-in-donations-for-haiti-via-text-message/?ref=technology

* Donate for FREE each time you search the web

http://www.goodsearch.com/nonprofit/amer-haitian-bon-zami.aspx

* Send items to Haiti

http://www.ahbz.org/donate.php

* St. Louis Peeps

http://www.umocm.com/festival.htm

Thin Mints for Soldiers

Another way to support the Girl Scouts in our lives and the Soldiers who are fighting for our lives. A friend of mine was in the Navy and she sent me this, "Operation Thin Mint is great as well. When I was in the Navy they sent a box of Girl Scout Cookies to every single person in our Battle Group (about 7000 people). It was one of the greatest day ever! I still remember savoring my box of Tagalongs. Here's the link...http://www.facebook.com/l/70484;www.sdgirlscouts.org/operation-thin-mint/

Let's do it and help them out!

Thanks for listening!

Sheryl

Stock Food Shelves

Here is a really simple way to help and it only takes 5 seconds: KARE 11 & Land O'Lakes are donating $1 for every person who clicks on their web site. Go to the website listed below and on the right side of the screen there is the green area where it says: You Click, We donate. It's that easy. Please pass to all of your friends. 1 in 8 Americans is struggling with hunger. You are already on the computer, so just do it! We know that the food shelves are really hurting this year. Click on the green box in upper right hand side! http://www.landolakesinc.com/company/corporateresponsibility/foundation/

Thanks for listening!

Sheryl

Girl Scout Cookies

I received an email from a very good friend of mine the other day letting me know that her daughter is selling Girl Scout Cookies. Is it that time of year already? Of course I am willing to support others, after all I was a Girl Scout myself, however I really don't want those cookies in my house. First of all, it is the new year and a lot of people have make resolutions to eat better. Secondly, I have been working very hard for the last year and a half to lose weight and get in shape. And I have conquered that. So I simply told her that I would send her a check for some cookies but they are to stay there with her and be for her kids. After a bit she sent me a message. She learned that there are many people out there like me. So what her daughter's troop is doing, is giving the purchased and unwanted cookies to a local nursing home.

I encourage you this year to support the Girl Scouts. Ask them if they have a program like this and if not, put one together. It would only take a few moments to set it up. This way the Girl Scouts win, the recipients of the cookies win, and you win for not eating them while you are on your resolution. Although I must say, she is only the first of many that I know I am going to have to dodge and pass up those Thin Mints! Dang those Thin Mints! (fists in the air)

Thanks for listening!

Sheryl

Box Tops

You know those little pink and white looking stamp things on certain boxes of cereal, granola bars, etc? Well, I have started to collect them. All you have to do is rip them off the boxes and take them to the local school. Each box top earns points for free stuff for the school. Could it get any easier?!

Thanks for listening!

Sheryl

Resolutions

I have been thinking a lot about the past year and what I have accomplished. Along with that, I am making new "resolutions" as I am sure most of are about what we want for this year. Here is what I have come up with. I want to Make A Difference. I realize that this may be just a bit obvious hence the blog and all but lets take it a little further.

When I started this blog, I said that I wanted to get on here every day and help you find other ways to Help Others. I realize that I can not do this every day. A lot of time we let our emotions take over and we over commit. I am still going to come on here as much as I can and help you to find ways to Help Others.

This year my number one resolution is to Make A Difference. How am I going to do that? Well, each month I am going to volunteer. For instance, in January, I am going to have a clothes swap at my work (Nov 8 blog entry). Then I am going to take the left over clothes to a local shelter and donate my time there. In February, I will be serving meals to families who are staying at Ronald McDonald House. These are just the first 2 of 12 ways that I will volunteer this year. What will you do?

Earlier I mentioned that I had been reflecting on 2009. I have not only been thinking of what I have accomplished, but the people who have helped me to do just so. There are so many people that I would like to thank (Nov 14 blog entry) and I will be doing so before the month is over. The media has also been going over not only the last year, but the last decade. What have we all been through and accomplished in the last decade? Yes, we have a black president. Yes, we have lost many iconic people. Yes, our country was made vulnerable by the attack on September 11, 2001. Please remember the lives that were lost and remember the people that were lost.

Yesterday my husband and I were watching a college football game. For the life of me I can't remember which one. It doesn't really matter. What does matter is that one of the running backs set a school record for most yards. He knew at the beginning of the game that it was a possibility. With minutes left in the game, he was fortunate enough to receive the ball and make a big play. When we went over to the sideline, he asked the statistician if that put him over the yards to break the school record. The answer was yes. What he did next was even more amazing that breaking the school record. He immediately went over to the front line and thanked each one of them. The front line does the blocking so that he is able to make catches and to run with the ball. He knew that he could not and did not break the record alone. This was an incredibly selfless act.

On this first day of January 2010, maybe you are still thinking of what your new year's resolution is going to be. Please remember those who have helped you along the way, those who have given you tools to be who you are, and those who you can help.

Thanks for listening and Happy New Year!

Sheryl