What is close to your heart?

My father just passed away 3 months ago.  He was fighting a rare form of cancer for three years.   He never drank or smoked...was a bit overweight, but other than that quite healthy until the big C word came.  My father in law died 6 months before that of cancer too.  He also never drank or smoked...ran everyday.  Yet, my dad's mom and dad both drank and smoked from age 12 and my grandma eventually died of emphysema in her 70s.  My dad died at 63 and my father in law at 59.  Does not seem fair.  My grandpa who smoked and drank quite drinking a few years before my Grandma passed and quite smoking when she passed...all done cold turkey.  He lived into his 80s.  Between my two dad's deaths, a friend of ours in her early 40s died of colon cancer leaving three young kids behind and her husband.  Cancer sucks!! So for this reason I give part of my proceeds to the Cancer Society.  I don't know if we will ever find a cure...but I need to at least try to help. 

I know in these economical times it is so hard to give, but just think what would happen if everyone in US just gave 5 dollars a month to a charity.  It adds up.  I know the Cancer Society is really suffering in these times.  I have had friends who have worked there FOREVER now being laid off because funding is down.  You know how hard it must be for a person who gives their life to children fighting cancer to have to walk away from that??  So sad.   http://www.cancer.org/

My daughter was born with a rare form of Spina Bifida.  She is 1% of the SB cases.  Spina Bifida is the most common birth defect in the world.  Many people can have a minor form and don't even know they have it.  Many of these kids don't walk or need leg braces.  Some have brain issues from water being on their brain and they require brain shunts.  When my daughter was getting her surgery at 5 months a little girl of 10 was in there with screws going through her head and a huge saucer thing around her head.  It was her 11th surgery.  My daughter, so far has been blessed enough to only have had 2 surgeries at 5 months.  She walks and runs without assistance, but they do give her leg braces to support her ankles and keep them from developing bad habits.  She does not have all the nerves working in her left foot.  She does not have the push down reflex on her left foot, which baffles the doctors as to how she is walking.  My lil miracle!  They say that Folic Acid helps prevent Spina Bifida (which is where the spinal chord is basically hanging out of the back).  I took tons of Folic acid and my daughter still come out with a rare form.  It was a closed one, however, which is much better than open.  It looked like she had a tumor on her back and her chord was in there with fat and fluid.  She never had any water on her brain because it was closed.  Who knows...maybe the folic acid prevented it from being open.  I can tell you that for some odd reason it is very common in Irish decent.  So because of Spina Bifida being a part of our life...I also give part of my proceeds from my shop to SB Association.  http://www.spinabifidaassociation.org

What is close to your heart?  Is there an illness or disease or disorder that has affected you or someone close to you?   I think most of us can afford to give  a dollar a week.  If you saved a dollar a week for a year you would be able to give  52.00 dollars and change to give to the charity of your choice each year.  Can you imagine the things we could do to help others if ALL USA citizens gave 52.00 a year to a cause????  I hope this will inspire you to start thinking out of the box.  I challenge you, this week, start to save 1.00 or more a week for the rest of the year.  Send it off before Jan.1, 2011 so you can write it off.

If you have a charity that is close to your heart...please comment about it.  I would love to hear about it!