A Poser Donates

Donors Choose Bloggers Challenge '08

Please click on this link to make a donation to the school project of your choice. If you choose to donate via this link my Deep South Moms Blog will get credit and bragging rights...and you will get the supreme satisfaction of helping kids learn. Come on, how can you just sit there and not help kids learn? Are you anti-kid? Are you against learning? Were you always an adult? Were you always so stingy? All they need is like five bucks for pencils and calculators. Quit being such a Grinch and help these kids so they can learn stuff and have a bright future. Maybe if they had calculators they could figure out this whole economic mess we're in today....

OK, enough shameless grovelling and guilt trips - On to the actual message.

Even though I am a hopeless Southern poser it does not blind me to the plight of educators and ultimately school children in Kentucky and across the South. I keep thinking, "Is there anything more important than educating our children? Can we really afford to leave any children behind?" In my humble opinion the answer is a resounding, "NO!".

So why are schools and teachers struggling to access basic tools to educate our youngest and most vulnerable members of society? I know times are tough everywhere - People are losing jobs, homes, and worst of all hope. But many of us, many of my dear friends and family who read my mind-numbing ramblings on this blog site, have a few extra dollars lying around. Trust me, all it takes is a few extra dollars. I know it sounds cliche but it's the truth. You know me, I'm anything if not brutally honest, so trust me on this one, a few bucks goes a long way.

Now that all of you have navigated away from this hack blog site, here is a little bit on how I got hooked up with the DonorsChoose (dot) Com initiative. As some of you know, I also contribute my opinions and ramblings to Deep South Moms (dot) Com which is part of the Silicon Valley Moms Group (SVMG). SVMG has teamed up with Donors Choose for the month of October to help spread the word about funding deficiencies in schools. The Donors Choose website allows teachers to post their specific needs with a proposal describing the project or deficiency in their classroom and how your donation will impact the lives of students. It's like the Craigslist of donations and it's fabulous.

This morning I donated $10 to a classroom in Tennessee that needs books and educational toys to use in teaching children about food and healthy eating. As many of you know, this is an issue close to my heart and mouth. I may have bored you to death with my speeches on food origin and the epidemic that is the Western Diet. As a disciple of Michael Pollan I found this particular teacher's initiative especially poignant. But let me tell you, I wanted to contribute to all of the classrooms once I started reading their proposals. So please, take a few minutes and go to DonorsChoose.org and start reading. While you're there, picture how different your life would be now if your elementary school didn't have books for reading, pencils for writing, paints for coloring, or big red bouncy balls for playing Kick Ball. "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret" and "From The Mixed-Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler" were my favorites books in elementary school and I could throw a slow and bouncy like it was my job. What did you love about school? Think if that memory was wiped from your life because of budget shortfalls.



Please help me spread the word about DonorsChoose.Com and the October Bloggers Challenge '08. Send a link to your friends and family . Together we can make a difference in the lives of school children in the South and across the country.



In the immortal words of Whitney Huston: "I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they posses inside. Give them a sense of pride, to make it easier. Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be."



This is an original Bourbonbaybee post. BB also contributes, along with other fabulous moms, to Deep South Moms blog part of Silicon Valley Moms Group.