Causes and Effect

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It’s Closing Time

I started Causes & Effect on Jan. 1, 2013 because I wanted to see how my relationship with money and the world would change if I gave away $10 ever day for a year. (Here’s a link to that first blog).

I felt that I was too fearful about money and while my frugality served me well in many ways, it was closing me off to experiences that would enrich me far beyond the financial benefit of holding onto my money.

As a freelance writer, it was a huge leap of faith to commit to giving away $3,650 in one year when I had no idea what my income would look like. However, I never once thought about stopping once I had started.

It is not hyperbole to say the blog changed my life. I am freer with money now, but I tend to spend it on experiences, not material things. The pre-blog me might not have spent the money for a Hamilton ticket or for a Springsteen on Broadway ticket (face value, not a scalper’s price— I didn’t go completely off the rails! LOL) .  But I have realized that I value experiences way more than my bank balance. The memories of a great evening at the theater or at a concert with friends or a spontaneous decision to hop on a plane and go somewhere to be with people I love for a once-in-a-lifetime event transcends my fear of letting go of the money in case I need it for something later. I can’t think of a single experience I’ve had in the past five years that I have regretted. I’ve also loosened my purse strings when it comes to giving. Philanthropy is built into my lifestyle now in a way it wasn’t before.

But the biggest takeaway after a year of writing the blog and four more years of overseeing it is a great feeling of connection. We are all kin—even people we’ve never met and people with whom we have great differences of opinion. We are all in this together. I went from often feeling isolated because I worked at home to feeling a part of something much bigger. We all belong to each other and are responsible for each other. Finding and donating every day to a cause that was trying to make the world a better place felt like I was holding up my end of the bargain in a very small, but meaningful, way.

I also have felt a connection and sense of indebtedness to everyone who took on the blog after me, whether for a year, a month or a week. I have yet to meet some of the people who helmed the blog and yet I know we are all kindred spirits. I was overwhelmed and humbled by the seriousness they devoted to the task. I was often brought to tears by the personal stories they shared. It remains remarkable to me that there were only two times in the four years and nearly 40 contributors that people didn’t fulfill their commitments. This turned out to be a trust exercise in handing off my beloved creation and my trust was not misguided. In fact, it was richly rewarded and I am so honored to share ownership of the blog with everyone who contributed.

And now it comes to an end. I am trying to be zen about its conclusion and believe that it has served its purpose— for me, for everyone who contributed to it, for anyone who read it and for the organizations who benefitted from it. Letting go feels right. When I started it, I had no idea that Brian Mansfield would take it over for year two and then Paula Erickson would have the great idea of having people helm it for a month at a time, so maybe there is another opportunity that will present itself down the road.

But in the meantime, part of me is also terribly sad. While I’m aware that giving $10 away every day was not a substantial donation, I truly came to believe that the blog put out a small measure of  goodwill into the universe. For me, writing it became a prayer of some kind. No matter how bad things seemed, I found something every day that lifted me up to write about and shine a little light on. Everyone who wrote a Cause & Effect blog entry did the same— they put positive energy into the universe. My only regret is that the blog ends when it seems like we need that positive energy more now than ever in a world that has turned mean.

What I will never know— and I don’t think it’s for me to know—are all the ripple effects of the blog. The first year, I would often feel my entries were falling into a void and then I’d run into someone I barely knew who would bring up the blog to me. Just last week, someone who took over the blog for a month in 2016 told me they had been invited to speak to a high school class about charitable giving after the teacher had read the blog. I don’t know if there are other such stories out there. All I know to my core is that no kindness is ever wasted.

Today, the blog comes full circle. My first donation was to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. My mom died from complications from Parkinson’s and it feels very fitting to end it with a $100 donation to where it all began.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who ever wrote a blog post and to everyone who ever read one. I have benefitted from Causes & Effect more than anyone. The other day as a friend of mine was experiencing the end of a huge event in his life, I texted him my favorite line from Semisonic’s “Closing Time”: “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” I realize now that I may have been saying those words to myself more than to my friend.

Here’s to the next beginning!

Happy New Year! I wish you and friends and family health and happiness in 2018.

“No one made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little”—Edmund Burke

About this blog: 
Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily, was started in 2013 by entertainment and culture journalist Melinda Newman, who made daily donations to a wide variety of non-profits and wrote about her experience. Former USA Today music writer Brian Mansfield took on this monumental task in 2014. This year, 20 individuals will contribute, each taking over the blog for a period of time.  

[myyearofgivingdaily]

In Honor of Tomas Albinoni

Let me tell you about Walter Rudolph Newman and Charlotte Neff Newman, my parents.

Walter was born in Shanghai in 1926, the German son of the Far East head of a Swiss textile company. Growing up at an ex-pat in Shanghai was a heady time from my father’s stories. They had a driver and a cook, and from an early age, my father accompanied my grandfather to places like India.

In 1937, my grandparents sent my father to a Quaker boarding school in Saffron-On-Walden in England. The Sino-Japanese War broke out and then WW2 started and my 11-year old dad did not see his parents again until he was 22. They corresponded via the Red Cross— they were permitted one letter a month— and the British head of the Far East textile company became my father’s guardian. My grandparents stayed in China throughout WW2. Thankfully, my grandfather was not thrown in an internment camp because of a letter from the Swiss consulate saying he was not any danger to the Japanese.

My father went on to go to the University of London and serve in the Royal Air Force.

Half a world away, in 1930, Charlotte was born in St. Louis and moved to Atlanta when she was little. My grandfather was a scientist and my grandmother worked as a writer for the CDC. My mom excelled at school and was one of the first two women accepted into Emory Medical School.

In 1947, my father and my paternal grandparents emigrated to the United States—my dad from England and my grandparents and uncle from China. They had given up their German citizenship and traveled on what were called Nansen passports, issues by the League of Nations to stateless refugees. They all convened in Los Angeles, but my father’s work took him to Atlanta, where he met my mom several years later after her father introduced the two.

I never tired of hearing stories about my dad’s youth. He was basically orphaned at 11, but he made it sound like one big adventure. He was so grateful to America that he enlisted in the National Guard here. So far, he’s the only person I’ve met who was in both the RAF and National Guard.

Mom dropped out of med school to marry my father, who had gotten a job in Raleigh. I’d like to think now they would have figured out a way to make it work where she didn’t have to do something so drastic, but she never seemed to resent him for it. She went on to have a  great career and also started the Presbyterian church in which my sister and I were raised. The church is still thriving today and there’s a beautiful plaque with my mom’s name on it as one of the founders.

When I think about my parents, the greatest gifts they gave me and my older sister Jeannie were the belief that we could be anything we wanted to be and that we were loved unconditionally. I now realize those were more precious than I could have ever imagined. My dad, as many of your know, also taught me how to play poker…a skill that comes in handy. My mother, while being hilarious and having a great personality, was amazingly kind as well. My sister and I still marvel that we never remember our mom saying a mean thing about anyone. To this day, I can’t stand it when I hear someone make fun of someone. That’s pretty much a friendship deal-breaker for me.

Mom died 10 years ago, my father four, but as anyone who has gone through it knows, they live on within you in ways big and small and in ways that sneak up on you and surprise you sometimes.

Today’s $100 goes to WCPE, the non-profit classical radio station in Raleigh. For years, my father volunteered as a DJ there on the weekends and my mom would often join him to assist during pledge drives. From an early age, they dragged me and Jeannie to the symphony— one of the many things they did that I resisted at the time but am so thankful for now. It was impossible to stump my father when it came to Name That Tune with classical composers. One time, my sister asked him who had written a piece we heard on the radio and he replied Tomaso Albinoni. My sister and I were quite sure he was making that name up because it was not uncommon for my father to do such a thing and we’d never heard of a composer with that name. Sure enough, the piece ended and the announcer declared it was Adagio in G Minor by Albinoni. Game, set, match to dad. From then on, whenever we’d ask dad something and he’d give us an answer we weren’t sure was true. He’s simply remind us, “Albinoni.”  I hope he and mom are enjoying some Albinoni today.

About this blog: 
Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily, was started in 2013 by entertainment and culture journalist Melinda Newman, who made daily donations to a wide variety of non-profits and wrote about her experience. USA Today music writer, Brian Mansfield took on this monumental task in 2014. This year, 20 individuals will contribute, each taking over the blog for a period of time.  

[myyearofgivingdaily]

Benefitting Women Everywhere

Planned Parenthood turned 100 last year. The organization was formed more than a century ago with the idea that women should have the information and care they need to live strong healthy lives. Who would have thought that would be seen by some as a radical idea in 2017. But, as we know, it is.

Without the health services that Planned Parenthood provide, I’m convinced women will die.

While the Affordable Care Act ensures that for women with health insurance, annual well-woman visits are covered at little to no cost, for women without insurance, such preventive care exams may be too expensive. Therefore, they may go years without a pap smear or a mammogram. Planned Parenthood provides those services for free or low cost to women who qualify.

While I’m striving not to get political here, Planned Parenthood allows a woman to make decisions about her own body when it comes to reproductive health and in some quarters, there’s the belief that that is not a right they should have. Therefore, Planned Parenthood is under siege right now, and too often, politicians who know better, willfully misrepresent the facts when it comes to where federal funding for Planned Parenthood goes and does not go (if you’re confused, please do some research and make sure you look up the Hyde Amendment and you will understand why some politicians find it conveniently expedient not to mention that).

Planned Parenthood operates more than 600 health centers across the country, with some being the other outlet for women in their area. According to Planned Parenthood, more than 2.4 million women and men visit Planned Parenthood every year and an estimated one in five women has visited a Planned Parenthood health center at least once in her life.

Though I am not one of those women, I feel a moral obligation to help Planned Parenthood and have supported them for years. I am pleased to donate today’s $100 to Planned Parenthood.

About this blog: 
Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily, was started in 2013 by entertainment and culture journalist Melinda Newman, who made daily donations to a wide variety of non-profits and wrote about her experience. USA Today music writer, Brian Mansfield took on this monumental task in 2014. This year, 20 individuals will contribute, each taking over the blog for a period of time.  

[myyearofgivingdaily]

Love Heals

Growing up in a middle class home in Raleigh, N.C., I wanted for nothing, but it wasn’t until I got much older that I realized what an advantage I had in this world as a white female and that it was not a level playing field for all.

I remember the first time I heard the saying, “He was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.”  I never thought I had a sense of entitlement, but I came to understand that the world tilted in my favor through nothing I had done to deserve it  and that it was my job as a human being to lift up those who weren’t born into the same fortunate circumstances.  

Two organizations I have come to love dearly help women who are in need of second chances, many of whom did not grow up in as positive circumstances as I did.

The first is Together We Bake. In 2011, my friend Stephanie Wright co-founded the Washington, D.C.—based job training program for women coming back into society from the corrections system. Together We Bake started by making granola and expanded into other goodies, all the while giving these women workforce skills in food production, food safety education and business administration through three 8-week sessions per year.

Together We Bake’s granola, chocolate chip cookies, trail mix and cinnamon apple crisps are all available through TWB’s website as well as the Del Ray Farmer’s Market in Alexandria, Va., and Whole Foods across the metro DC are and dozens of other stores. Plus, you can order gift baskets and corporate gifts. I am in awe of what Stephanie has created and the women who have come through the program.

Here’s are some pretty impressive stats: Since TWB’s start, 119 women have graduated from the program, with 90%  passing the ServSafe exam and 70% now employed.  The national recidivism rate is 70%— For women who complete Together We Bake’s training program, it is less than 7%.

Nashville-based Thistle Farms employs and empowers female survivors of trafficking, prostitution and addiction. I learned about this wonderful organization from my friend, singer-songwriter Radney Foster, who went to college with the founder, Episcopalian priest Becca Stevens.

She started Thistle Farms in 1997 as a free residence for women that also provided medical care, therapy and education for up to two years. Residents and graduates work with Thistle Farm’s social enterprises, which have expanded into body and home products, as well as apparel and jewelry. You’ve probably seen their hand soaps and lotions in Whole Foods. And if you’re in Nashville, The Cafe at Thistle Farms is must stop for a delicious meal or daily tea service. Becca is usually around and the inspiration radiating off of her and the residents is tremendously uplifting.

Thistle Farms has taken its model global, with 24 trade partnerships about the world that employ more than 1,700 women. Plus, 40 organizations through the U.S. have replicated Thistle Farm’s housing model, offering hundreds of women sanctuary from the streets.

Today’s $100 donation is split between Together We Bake and Thistle Farms. They prove a little faith and a hand up is all many people need to find their way. Thistle Farm’s motto, “Love Heals,” are words we can all live by.

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To David, Wherever He May Be

I’ll get into the reasons I started the blog five years ago on Dec. 31, but one of the reasons was to assuage my guilt.

In 2012, I had a homeless problem. A homeless man started sleeping outside my door. The way our building is configured, the entry to my apartment is up a staircase that no one else uses. Therefore, the homeless man, whose name I later discovered was David, could come and go unseen by anyone but me. I, however, could not leave my apartment without stepping over him. He would either sleep on my staircase landing or right up against my door.

I usually knew he’d arrived at night because I would smell cigarette smoke. In the morning, there would often be joints, other drug paraphernalia, and sometimes even urine in a cup outside my door.

At some point, it became clear that he was watching me. He'd never show up on my stoop until I’d gotten home—even if it was 2 a.m.— and he and his tarp were usually gone by the time I needed to leave in the morning.

However, I began to feel trapped in my own apartment and the smoke was filling my home.

While some of my friends felt I exhibited an unbelievable amount of patience in letting my uninvited lodger continue to sleep outside my apartment, I have never been so disappointed in my behavior.

If you had told me I would have a homeless person sharing space with me, I would have told you that I would have spoken with him, given him food and seen if I could help him in some way. I did none of those things. I was scared that David was mentally ill and that if I approached him I might get hurt, so I never spoke to him. My neighbor intervened one time when I needed to leave and David was still asleep. My neighbor simply woke him up and kindly, but sternly, told him that he had 10 minutes to leave.

I called my city councilman to ask for potential services in my neighborhood for David. I called some homeless agencies seeing if they could pick him up. I came up short every time. It was shocking to realize how little I could help him.

As we rounded month three, I had had enough. It terrified me every time I came home at night, not knowing as I made the blind turn up the staircase if he was going to be there blocking my way into my home. When he would show up at night, I instantly tensed up knowing he was on the other side of the door.

One morning, it was after 10 a.m. and David was still there. I called the cops, but I was concerned they would hurt him if he made a sudden move. As they talked to him, I kept my phone in my hand ready to video any of their actions. They were compassionate but firm with him. First they got him off my stairwell and continued their conversation with him on the sidewalk, still well within my watch. David insisted he had somewhere to go and that he wasn’t actually homeless. They offered to make some calls for him, but he declined. They said if he showed up on my stoop again, he would be arrested for trespassing.

That was almost the last time I saw him. About a week later, I saw him sitting on an electrical box a few doors down from me.

Even when I think about it now, five years later, I am so ashamed of myself. Never has my behavior fallen so short of my own expectations. I was fine helping the homeless, as long as I didn’t have to do it face to face.

The year I gave away money every day, I charged myself with at least once a month giving money to a homeless person whom I would talk to and hear his or hear story. It felt like penance and it helped me be less afraid.

I also began volunteering with The Giving Spirit. Based in Los Angeles, The Giving Spirit operates a winter and summer outreach, whereby volunteers pack duffle bags with supplies and distribute them to homeless people both in shelters and out. Founder Tom Bagamane tells the volunteers that more than the supplies, the homeless people crave a connection. They want to be seen. Ever since then, whether I give a homeless person I pass money or not, I always say hello and acknowledge them in some way. They are not invisible to me. Maybe one day I’ll run into David.

Today’s $100 goes to The Giving Spirit. If you live in Los Angeles, I encourage you to participate in their seasonal outreaches.

About this blog: 
Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily, was started in 2013 by entertainment and culture journalist Melinda Newman, who made daily donations to a wide variety of non-profits and wrote about her experience. USA Today music writer, Brian Mansfield took on this monumental task in 2014. This year, 20 individuals will contribute, each taking over the blog for a period of time.  

[myyearofgivingdaily]

The Arc Of The Moral Universe

When I moved to Los Angeles from New York almost two decades ago, I was struck by how easy gentrified it was. In New York, you saw all walks of life on the subway. In Los Angeles, it was very easy to stay in your bubble, isolated in your car, driving only to neighborhoods where other people who looked exactly like you were. Between that and the perpetual 72-degree days and sunny, blue skies, it felt like a movie set.. The Truman Show for real.

But, of course, that is not the real L.A. A few years in, a friend of mine introduced me to Liberty Hill Foundation. Since 1976, Liberty Hill has been on the front lines of the fight for social justice in Los Angeles. Liberty Hill made me understand that there were children living only a few miles from me who woke up every day with nosebleeds and headaches because of the toxic dumps in their neighborhoods, there were African American and Latino young males disproportionately targeted as discipline problems at schools and suspended at a much higher rate than white students, there were schools in poor neighborhoods where the children were being served spoiled meat every day.

I also learned that, in the words of Frederick Douglass, “Power concedes nothing without a demand.”  And in Los Angeles, the power was in the hands of the few and mighty. At Liberty Hill, where I have now proudly served on the board since 2010, we help give power back to the many by funding grass roots community organizations that unite people in their neighborhoods to demand social justice and change. Once someone realizes the strength in numbers and that they are not powerless, the dynamic shifts. The victories that Liberty Hill has been a part of have changed lives—including mine.

Right now, Liberty Hill is working to end youth incarceration— in LA County more young people are incarcerated or under law enforcement supervision than any other jurisdiction in the country; fighting for everyone to have a roof over their head by continuing the fight for workers’ rights, fair compensation and the end to discriminatory practices; and keeping LA on the forefront of climate justice movement by eliminating the hazards or urban oil drilling.

Los Angeles can’t prosper unless we are all afforded equal opportunities to thrive and Liberty Hill’s mission is to ensure that happens.

One of my favorite sayings comes from Martin Luther King Jr.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”  For more than 40 years, Liberty Hill has been helping  justice prevail. We've got a very long way to go and there are days that seems like we won’t ever get there, but we will. Of that I have no doubt.

Today’s $100 goes to Liberty Hill Foundation.

About this blog: 
Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily, was started in 2013 by entertainment and culture journalist Melinda Newman, who made daily donations to a wide variety of non-profits and wrote about her experience. USA Today music writer, Brian Mansfield took on this monumental task in 2014. This year, 20 individuals will contribute, each taking over the blog for a period of time.  

[myyearofgivingdaily]

Peace On Earth, Good Will Toward Men

Merry Christmas!

As I take back over Causes & Effect for its last week, I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday with friends and family. It’s a difficult holiday for some and a call or text to let them know they aren’t alone can make all the difference. Christmas Eve was the 10th anniversary of my mother’s death and it hit me harder than the previous anniversaries have. I was tremendously comforted by the kind and compassionate words of friends who reached out once I expressed what a tough time I was having.

When I think about Christmas and compassion and the lessons to be learned from Christ’s life, one of the people I truly consider to be walking in his path is Father Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries.

Over the five years of C&E, many of us have written about and donated to Homeboy Industries…especially among my Los Angeles brethren. For a little background, more than 25 years ago, Father G, as he is lovingly called, started what has become the world’s largest gang intervention program in Los Angeles. Homeboy takes former gang members and trains them in various professions, but much more than that, Homeboy gives them a support system so they don’t have to turn back to the family the gang provided.

Father G’s big on the word “kinship,” and that we are all “in kinship with each other.” I have been fortunate enough to spend some time around Father G starting with when I did a story on Homeboy Industries for Entrepreneur Magazine a few years ago. I walked away feeling blessed from being in his presence and, more than anything, his humility. Love, kindness and humor radiate off of him.

Over Giving Tuesday, he posted the following thought: "The wrong idea has taken root in the world. And the idea is this: there just might be lives out there that matter less than others."

Here’s the thing, while many of us feel —including Father G—we are in dangerous times, his words fired me up. Not on our watch will we allow this to happen. We know better. Like Father G, we know that every life—no matter where you are from, your sexual orientation, gender, race, economic status—has as much value as any other.

Many former gang members when they first come to Homeboy don’t feel worthy of God’s forgiveness, they feel less than, Father G has said. Father G simply tells them that God wants “for them, not from them.” This simple twist on how we are in communion with God has changed many lives, including mine.

Father G has a new book, “Barking To the Choir,” that I’m eager to read (I just bought a copy when I went to the website to make my today’s donation). I can’t recommend his first book, “Tattoos on the Heart,” enough.

Father G is as close to a saint as I have ever met—even though he would be the first to dismiss that notion. If he comes to speak in your town, do yourself a favor and go see him. No matter what your beliefs, you will leave feeling better about this world.

Today, I’m donating $100 to Homeboy industries  in honor of Father G and his priceless contributions to humanity 365 days a year.

About this blog: 
Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily, was started in 2013 by entertainment and culture journalist Melinda Newman, who made daily donations to a wide variety of non-profits and wrote about her experience. USA Today music writer, Brian Mansfield took on this monumental task in 2014. This year, 20 individuals will contribute, each taking over the blog for a period of time.  

[myyearofgivingdaily]

Fiona the Hippo

To end my blog period and to celebrate the holidays, I want to leave you with the little critter that has made my year…Fiona the baby hippo. When the world seems overwhelming, all I have to do is go get me some Fiona, and all is right with my world again. If you are one of the people who doesn’t know about this precious baby, Fiona was born prematurely at the Cincinnati Zoo. She was not expected to live, but the zoo team refused to give up and nursed her back to health, albeit with a few scares. I don’t think anyone expected that little Fiona would have SOOOO much personality, be so cute and adorable, and bring so much joy to literally millions the world over. The NY Times wrote an article entitled” Hooray for Fiona the Hippo, Our Bundle of Social-Media Joy” (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/style/fiona-the-hippo.html) that gives you all the details and some wonderful links.

As you would hope/expect the zoo did a video of Fiona to All I Want for Christmas Is a Hippopotamus at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj_rPtjVwb0. A classic! 😊

So here’s to my little spiritual animal, Fiona…thank you and the Cincinnati Zoo for making the world a brighter place. http://cincinnatizoo.org/

 Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily, was started in 2013 by entertainment and culture journalist Melinda Newman, who made daily donations to a wide variety of non-profits and wrote about her experience. USA Today music writer, Brian Mansfield took on this monumental task in 2014. Numerous individuals contributed by taking over the blog for a month. This year, 20 people volunteered, ending with Melinda bringing the blog to a close.

Jeannie Newman, in addition to being Melinda’s big sister, loves books, pets, movies, and friends. She has worked in the child welfare field, produced theater in London, been a corporate banker, and is now working to get pediatric hospice access to all children who need it in North Carolina.  

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Love Is Love

Like all the writers of this blog before me, it is hard to narrow down the choices of to whom we want to donate. I thought I was going to write about one today, and it was actually a rather dark cause. Then one of my closest friends (we’ve known each other since my freshman year at Davidson, so, at over 40 years, he is one of my oldest, too…I mean in length of friendship, not age 😊) continued our wonderful, decades-old tradition of his stopping by to see my sister and me at Christmas on his way to White Lake every year. He and his partner (whom I also adore) will have been together for 31 years on January 2nd.

That got me to thinking of how thankful I am that my gay friends can marry now if they choose. I have had the honor and privilege of walking one friend down the aisle when she married her lovely partner of 28 years (5 years ago when it became legal in DC) and handled the decorations and flowers for the marriage of two other great friends 3 years ago. I have many other gay friends who have finally been able to marry.

When I was growing up, I would play “wedding” with my Barbie and Ken. It was an option always open to me. When I got older, I wondered why my beloved friends, who often had been together longer than a lot of my straight friends, weren’t allowed to get married. I cried when Amendment One passed in NC. Why should they be denied the ability to commit to each other and declare their love?

I love weddings. I have been in over 30(!!!) and attended many more. But I confess that the joy I experienced when my gay friends were able to marry and the joy on the faces of all the attendees as we witnessed our friends being pioneers is something incredibly special.

So, here’s to love. I am donating to Equality NC, which has been at the forefront of equality for many years. https://equalitync.org/

Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily, was started in 2013 by entertainment and culture journalist Melinda Newman, who made daily donations to a wide variety of non-profits and wrote about her experience. USA Today music writer, Brian Mansfield took on this monumental task in 2014. Numerous individuals contributed by taking over the blog for a month. This year, 20 people volunteered, ending with Melinda bringing the blog to a close.

Jeannie Newman, in addition to being Melinda’s big sister, loves books, pets, movies, and friends. She has worked in the child welfare field, produced theater in London, been a corporate banker, and is now working to get pediatric hospice access to all children who need it in North Carolina.  

[myyearofgivingdaily]

Puerto Rico

More than 90 days after Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, 2017, more than 1 million Americans there still don’t have power, more than 250,000 Americans don’t have clean water, and more than 1,000 Americans have died. Around one-third of the U.S. territory remains without power. 

It had been expected for 95% of the island’s power to be restored by mid-December. But the Army Corps of Engineers has since extended the timetable to late February or early March 2018, blaming terrain challenges, logistical issues and a decades-old power grid for the delay. For example, some 50,000 power poles are needed to restore electricity to the thousands of families still in the dark. In an average setting, most crews can install 6-7 poles a day. But in Puerto Rico, where mountain ridges and uncooperative weather often hinder progress, it can take 7-10 days to install a single pole. Now officials said full power restoration likely won’t happen until the end of May 2018. 

As Lin-Manuel Miranda (who has been working tirelessly to support Puerto Rico) put it recently: “Since Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico…, my Uncle Elvin hasn’t had electricity. You read that right. [Eighty-four days] without being able to turn on a light, or stock a refrigerator, or take a hot shower. Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans on the island cannot do the simple things we all take for granted. Add to this lack of power the destruction of thousands of homes, rural areas still isolated, small businesses not operating and an ever-increasing migration of Puerto Ricans to the U.S. mainland. It will take a long time for Puerto Rico to be totally functional again under the best of circumstances. The federal government’s response to the disaster in Puerto Rico has been painfully slow and not commensurate with the hurricane response in Texas and Florida (italics mine).” 

And there’s the key point…can you imagine if it were taking this long with Florida or Texas? Hmmm, I wonder what’s different?  

So, today, because it seems like Puerto Rico and our fellow citizens have been forgotten, on the advice of close friend, Lisa Mallory (who is part Puerto Rican and has friends and family there), I’m donating to March of Dimes San Juan. https://nacersano.marchofdimes.org/quienes-somos/donar.aspx 

 Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily, was started in 2013 by entertainment and culture journalist Melinda Newman, who made daily donations to a wide variety of non-profits and wrote about her experience. USA Today music writer, Brian Mansfield took on this monumental task in 2014. Numerous individuals contributed by taking over the blog for a month. This year, 20 people volunteered, ending with Melinda bringing the blog to a close.

Jeannie Newman, in addition to being Melinda’s big sister, loves books, pets, movies, and friends. She has worked in the child welfare field, produced theater in London, been a corporate banker, and is now working to get pediatric hospice access to all children who need it in North Carolina.  

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When Children Die: Mountain Valley Hospice and Palliative Care

When I moved back to NC after my mother died to help take care of my dad, my plan was to combine my decades of child welfare experience with my love of hospice. I know that sounds funny, but I find being with people who are dying to be one of the most life-affirming activities. Sadly, several close friends have lost children, and they lovingly helped me to learn what to say and NOT say and how to just be present. Little tips for everyone: (1) You can’t make it better or fix it, so don’t use platitudes (e.g., God must have needed another angel); just be present and let them take the lead; (2) You can say how sorry you are and talk with them about their child. People are afraid if they bring up the child that somehow it will remind the parents of their loss…trust me, they haven’t forgotten. Most parents love talking about their children, so same here. Again, they will tell you if they don’t want to talk.

At any rate, imagine my surprise when I found out that in the Research Triangle—home of UNC, Duke, Rex, and Wake Med hospitals—there was no pediatric hospice (Thankfully, there is now. H/T to Transitions Kids.) That meant that if a child was dying and wanted to go home, he or she couldn’t; the child had to stay in the hospital. Now sometimes that is what everyone wants, particularly when the hospital staff have become like family. However, I will never forget getting a call about a little, 3 y.o. girl with a brain tumor who wanted to go home and die. The hospital had to cobble together volunteer, licensed social workers and nurses and a doctor to make it happen. Can you imagine if you or your parents were dying, and hospice was not available? Then why should it be like that when the worst thing that can happen to parents occurs, and no hospice is available? The costs, both fiscally and emotionally, are overwhelming.

So, for the past 3 ½ years, I have been going around the state working to get all children who need it access to quality, home pediatric hospice in their communities. There have been lots of wonderful people working for years to make this happen, especially the Pediatric Palliative Care Coalition of NC (PPCCNC), and I was able to work with all sorts of great, compassionate folks. What struck me in this quest was how there were metro areas with no pediatric hospice, while small towns and counties had incredible ones. The key was to find a way to network pediatric hospices with other hospices and to provide training and support. PPCCNC recently held our first, statewide conference, called Bringing Pediatric Hospice Home, which was incredibly well received and attended. The next step is to build on that momentum and get more hospices on board. Again, exciting work with great people for a wonderful cause!

For my charity today, I chose Mountain Valley Hospice and Palliative Care based out of Mt. Airy, NC (yep, Mayberry!). What impressed me most was that this little, rural hospice has a kick-ass pediatric hospice program (Kids Path) that serves children and families in three states. Not only that, but every single staff member there is trained in pediatric hospice as it relates to their job. Most hospices, if they even offer pediatric care, may have a dedicated nurse or two from their adult hospice staff, but everyone at Mt. Valley is trained in pediatric care. That takes incredible vision and dedication, and this hospice is awesome! Not only does it provide services to the child but to the entire family during the child’s illness and afterwards (including an annual camp for children who have lost a loved one, Brighter Days Camp). The problem is that pediatric hospice is paid for differently than for adult hospice, so almost all cases lose money (I won’t bore you with the ridiculous reasons why). But Mt. Valley chose to do the right thing and serve its entire community. May all hospices be so.

http://www.mtnvalleyhospice.org/kids-path

 Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily, was started in 2013 by entertainment and culture journalist Melinda Newman, who made daily donations to a wide variety of non-profits and wrote about her experience. USA Today music writer, Brian Mansfield took on this monumental task in 2014. Numerous individuals contributed by taking over the blog for a month. This year, 20 people volunteered, ending with Melinda bringing the blog to a close.

Jeannie Newman, in addition to being Melinda’s big sister, loves books, pets, movies, and friends. She has worked in the child welfare field, produced theater in London, been a corporate banker, and is now working to get pediatric hospice access to all children who need it in North Carolina.  

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Cat Angels Pet Adoptions

OK. Any one who knows me knows that I love cats, especially “special needs” cats. That may mean that they are older or have medical needs or some other issue. If you had ever told me that I would be able to give a cat insulin or subcutaneous fluids (I’m very squeamish), I would have laughed in you face. After nearly passing out the first time I gave a shot, I can now do it with aplomb…and the cats haven’t complained. Of course, treats help. Right now, I have three, precious cats: Gidget, 10, who is a Manx cat, meaning she doesn’t have a tail (which is spinal bifida in the feline world); Poughly, 13, whose back was broken; and Lucy, 6, who was a little older and has stress asthma. You could not ask for funnier, more loving companions. As my beloved godson said to me once, “I don’t understand why any of your cats die. They are already in heaven when they live with you.”

As a crazy cat lady, a moniker I embrace proudly, I have to do a big shout out to the charity for today, Cat Angels Pet Adoptions. All three of my current, four-legged kids came from there. The people (all volunteers) truly live up to their name. Every cat they take in has a home for life. While the hope is that their forever home is with a loving person or family, if that doesn’t happen, the cats are loved and cared for at CAPA until it is time to cross the rainbow bridge. I first met Deborah (the founder) and her folks when my wonderful vet told me that I should meet this cat that had survived two mastectomies and was a love, but no one would adopt her because of her “pre-existing conditions.” Well, I went over and met Luna (to be renamed Cosette), and it was love at first sight. Cosi was clearly loved, adored, and well cared for. She was the happiest little Zen kitty I’ve ever met.

I was so impressed with this incredible outfit. The rooms were all well-kept and colorful; there were “pet enrichment items” (fancy, zoo phrase for toys and cat condos and the like), and, most importantly, you could tell that every one of those cats—even if ill or not very social—was incredibly loved. Deborah started this mission of love out of her own pocket, and it is thriving now. It is a no-kill shelter. Every cat and kitten available for adoption has been spayed or neutered; is completely vaccinated and tested for feline leukemia and FIV; has been dewormed and flea treated; and is microchipped. So, as you can imagine, money is always an issue. 74% of the income is from donations and fundraising activities and the remainder comes from adoption fees.

So hug your furbabies tightly (no matter if feline, canine, or other), and head over to the site to help more kitties at http://www.catangelsnc.org/. You can also donate from their Amazon wish list at https://smile.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/21367UQLGU3Y5/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_v?ie=UTF8&sort=priority.

Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily was started in 2013 by entertainment and culture journalist Melinda Newman, who made daily donations to a wide variety of non-profits and wrote about her experience. USA Today music writer, Brian Mansfield took on this monumental task in 2014. Numerous individuals contributed by taking over the blog for a month. This year, 20 people volunteered, ending with Melinda bringing the blog to a close.

Jeannie Newman, in addition to being Melinda’s big sister, loves books, pets, movies, and friends. She has worked in the child welfare field, produced theater in London, been a corporate banker, and is now working to get pediatric hospice access to all children who need it in North Carolina.  

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Julie Cogburn/Panther Creek HS Classroom Library

Wow. I can’t believe it has been 5 years since my wonderful sister, Melinda, started this blog. When she first talked with me about it, I thought it was a great idea, but I don’t think either of us had any sense of the effect it would cause on her (pun intended) or on the readers and great friends who ended up writing for it. Like so many before me, it is hard to narrow the charities down to which I want to donate for the next 6 days. But I am beginning with one that is new and near and dear to my heart.

I am lucky enough to be in the best book club ever. Yes, we drink wine, but we do actually read the books and have excellent discussions. I can honestly say that every woman there is smart, articulate, loving, and hilarious. I love my book club! Each December, we pick our books for the coming year; they always include both fiction and nonfiction and at least one classic….which brings me to Julie. Julie was a high school English teacher. To say that she had a love of reading and of teaching would be an understatement. She always led the discussion of the classic we chose, and it could vary from an old classic (Ethan Frome) to a more recent one (e.g., The Things We Carry). I was an English major, and there is another English teacher in the group as well, so to say that we could geek out talking about symbolism, metaphors, protagonists, etc.…well, let’s just say that it was a tribute to Julie’s leadership style that no one ever got bored. I think the resolution that two of the members crafted in honor of Julie  says it best: “She has never met a classic that she didn’t like, understands classics even without watching the movie, is the book-explainer extraordinaire to those of us who just don’t get it, makes her book club friends think of books on a deeper level, and is the best book discussion leader in her book club…Therefore, be it resolved on this day, August 10, 2017, that Julie’s book club, formerly known as The Book Club, will henceforth be known as The Julie Cogburn Book Club and hereby establishes The Julie Cogburn Classroom Library at Panther Creek High School in honor of our dear friend.”

Shortly after our December 2016 book club dinner where we chose the books, she was diagnosed with cancer; it was a real shock. Julie died on September 4, 2017, leaving behind her husband, Dave; her two children, Ryan and Ainsley; and so very many friends and family who adored her. She was able to come to the August 2017 book club where the full resolution was read to the group, and she chose our classic for the coming year (Madame Bovary). A member had had the great idea to start this library at Julie’s high school to provide more books in the classroom libraries so that students could just pick up something and read. They didn’t have to go to the school library, there were no grades or books reports….just reading for the sheer joy of it. This was also designated where people could donate in lieu of flowers in her memory. To date, over 1000 books have already been donated in 3 months (the photo is of the staging area where the books are sorted before going to the classrooms), and each is stamped with Julie’s name so the reader knows why the book is there. Many people have sent notes with their donated books, such as “Ms. Cogburn was the best teacher I ever had” or “She is the reason I became a teacher.” Our book club has committed to continuing to supply books every year in her honor and memory.

So, Julie, we love and miss you terribly. Book club isn’t the same without you, and we’ll be toasting you and Madame Bovary next year. Because you and I both loved magical realism, one book I am donating is Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits (my favorite book) and Moby Dick (IMHO, the great American novel and a true classic). I have no doubt that you are leading the best, heavenly book club ever!

https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/2A6YZVKWIMSSX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_6UTRzbWG88XRE

Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily, was started in 2013 by entertainment and culture journalist Melinda Newman, who made daily donations to a wide variety of non-profits and wrote about her experience. USA Today music writer, Brian Mansfield took on this monumental task in 2014.  This year, more than 20 individuals will contribute, each taking over the blog for a period of time, and ending with Melinda to bring the blog to a close.

Jeannie Newman, in addition to being Melinda’s big sister, loves books, pets, movies, and friends. She has worked in the child welfare field, produced theater in London, been a corporate banker, and is now working to get pediatric hospice access to all children who need it in North Carolina.  

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Don’t Forget the Staff

Pete & Sam’s in Memphis is devastated by a fire last week. Opened in 1948, this family owned restaurant is old school Italian with a décor that’s pretty much unchanged through generations. It’s on Park Avenue not far from Elvis’ old Audubon Drive house. Naturally, there are stories of him and his entourage eating there with later visits by Memphis Mafia members Red West, George Klein and others. Most recently, at a large birthday gathering for my friend, Andrea, we watched Wrestling King Jerry Lawler hold court.

Pete & Sam’s loyal following eats there regularly. It’s also a special place to celebrate. Over the holidays tables are strung together for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, children, and grandchildren. It’s a tradition, especially as family members are often scattered far outside of Memphis.  The fire on December 12 destroyed a lot of families’ plans for the annual, nostalgic feast.

Far worse is the fire’s impact on the wait staff whose holidays are more severely altered.  “We have college students, home owners, mothers, and fathers working here,” the owners wrote on the restaurant’s Facebook page. Many of the employees have worked there for years. Now they will not be working during one of the busiest times of the year.

A former Memphian and longtime customer set up a Gofundme page to collect money to be divided among the staff. That’s where today’s gift goes. Though the fire was controlled quickly, repairs and inspections will take time. I hope to see the same faces working there when Pete & Sam’s reopens in a few months. 

 https://www.gofundme.com/pete-sams-fireholiday-donations

For Causes & Effect the final countdown continues tomorrow as Jeannie Newman comes on board. As I close my second commitment to writing the blog, I’m aware that because the time frame is shorter, it has undoubtedly, been more meaningful. I’ve been challenged to dig deeper and give more. Thanks for the opportunity, Melinda.

About this blog: Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily was started in 2013 by entertainment and culture journalist Melinda Newman, who made daily donations to a wide variety of non-profits and wrote about her experience. Former USA Today music writer Brian Mansfield took on this monumental task in 2014. This year, more than 20 individuals will contribute, each taking over the blog for a period of time.

About Cindy Hazen: Cindy pays the bills as a freelance food science writer and food safety manager in Memphis, but she’s passionate about music. In some circles she’s best known as the former owner of Elvis’ pre-Graceland Audubon Drive house. She is the co-author of Love Always Patsy: Patsy Cline’s Letters to a Friend. That’s how she met Brian Mansfield. In 2015 she was one of 12 who contributed to Causes and Effect. She’s honored to help close out this wonderful blog.

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Old Dogs

After the last of my pack died a few years ago, I was dogless for the first time in my life. Dogs had always found me.  Everyone was a rescue.  Some came straight to the door and when I couldn’t find their owner, they settled in for a long happy life.

For once, after a month without, I had to look for a dog.  Memphis Animal Services was full, but I couldn’t settle on a dog that would be good with our two cats. At the Humane Society of Memphis & Shelby County, a gray muzzled 10 and a half year old lab caught my eye.  She had been there for a very long time. Memphis Humane tests dogs with cats. Abuela passed with flying colors. Because of her age and arthritis they considered her a hospice patient.

There is something about the gratitude of an old dog that really gets me. Abuela captured our hearts quickly. We brought her old bed from Memphis Humane with her. She left it only to go outside or to greet us every time we came in the room, even if we’d gone out for only a moment. She loved her toys and especially her Kong.

About a month after we brought her home she began to cough. The vet at Memphis Humane diagnosed a mass in her upper chest. We thought she would be here a month or two more. She lived with us for 15 months and never realized she was ill until her final hours.

Memphis Humane provided all of her medical care and meds that suppressed her cough. When the day came when she could no longer stand, they came quickly to put her down.  They were wonderful to her and to us.

Today’s donation goes to Memphis Humane Society in memory of Abuela.  memphishumane.org

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“This is getting serious...”

We entered the National Museum of the Pacific War on Pearl Harbor Day.  It wasn’t planned.  

Following mandatory training in San Antonio, we spent three nights in the Texas Hill Country. We settled in Fredericksburg, a quaint town with deep German roots and a Main Street full of shops and restaurants.  We planned a visit to LBJ’s ranch and took our binoculars for birding.  We spotted the museum on the way into town.

We woke to a cold rain on our first morning. December 7, 2017. It was a good museum day.  The significance of the date hit us only as we were parking.

My uncle served in the 1st Marine Division. My aunt kept his wartime letters. I have them now. One day, hopefully soon, I will put them in a format that can be shared. One is most poignant.

On Saturday night, December 6, 1941, my uncle began penning a letter to the woman he would marry four years later.  His love letter took a different tone after the first paragraph because he continued the letter the next morning. “Have you heard the latest news? Japan has just attacked Manila and the island of Guam. Those dirty Japs. If they stop me from going home to see my bestest girl, I’m telling you, I’ll take off over the hill.”

In the next paragraph he says he’s just heard the news that a U.S. troop transport has been sunk. “There is no kidding honey, this is getting serious. The whole U.S. fleet is blocked up. That is what we get for being in the back seat. If everything goes as it will, the Marines will be the first over.”

Deep into the letter, after laying out scenarios in which he may be shipped out, he realizes he has been counting chickens before they hatch. “Just think, if the U.S. counted a few of those chickens maybe they wouldn’t be in this mess today.”

My uncle Bing served on Guadalcanal and throughout the rest of the war. My uncle Trace was briefly lost during a mission over Burma. My dad, who was in the National Guard in Massachusetts on the morning of December 7, was guarding the coast of Maine by nightfall. Shortly after, he was a Quartermaster for the Army in New Caledonia.

The museum brought these places to life for me over the course of about seven hours. We learned the history that led to the war. One panel described a wedge driven between the U.S. and Japan over reparations in a treaty mediated by Theodore Roosevelt in 1905. In the Russo-Japanese War, Japan and Russia had fought over territories in China and Korea. Japan emerged as the dominant power. We learned about Japanese attacks on China in the 1930’s. We studied the U.S.  battles that were fought in the entire Pacific theater during WWII. It was an ugly war. U.S. military and civilian deaths worldwide totaled 450,700. China lost 20 to 50 million, Japan about 2.5 to 3 million.

Though the players may change, I believe that history can repeat itself, especially if forgotten. That’s why today’s donation goes to The National Museum of the Pacific War.

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The need is a half-mile long...

The opening of the letter from Elmwood Cemetery caught my attention.  This rural garden cemetery is one of the oldest in the South. Built in 1852, its trees and landscaping provide not only an idyllic resting place for nearly 85,000 souls; it is also a scenic respite for the living. Whether wandering on foot or on wheels (bicycles are sometimes encouraged), or in a predictable vehicle, one passes magnolias, maples, dogwoods, redbuds, crepe myrtles, and towering oaks.

Marble monuments, angelic statues, stone cradles, and mausoleums tell stories of the rich, the notorious, the infamous, and the ordinary. Blues singers, civil rights leaders, outlaws, mayors, madams, and suffragists are buried here. Mass graves were created hurriedly to bury Yellow Fever victims in a section dubbed “No Man’s Land.”

History within the cemetery is deeply entrenched and worthy of preservation, not only for those who are entombed there, but also for future generations. The South’s first black millionaire, Robert Church, rests at Elmwood. About 1,000 Confederate soldiers lie here, as does renowned Civil War author Shelby Foote.  If revisionists have their way, civil war statues and bodies will be moved from a Memphis park to the cemetery.

Not everyone in Memphis has been to Elmwood. Of my group of five girlfriends, four have never visited, though they have lived here most of, if not, their whole lives. We are going later this month to see the new headstone of one we lost this year. Today’s donation goes to Elmwood in Suzánne’s memory.

Specifically, my contribution goes toward the funds used to replace the fence. “The need is a half-mile long, give or take,” they say in their fundraising plea. The fence separates the north side of the cemetery from industrial neighbors and vacant and abandoned buildings. Storm damage and age have taken their toll and as the letter continues, falling to time and circumstances.

About this blog: Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily was started in 2013 by entertainment and culture journalist Melinda Newman, who made daily donations to a wide variety of non-profits and wrote about her experience. Former USA Today music writer Brian Mansfield took on this monumental task in 2014. This year, more than 20 individuals will contribute, each taking over the blog for a period of time.

About Cindy Hazen: Cindy pays the bills as a freelance food science writer and food safety manager in Memphis, but she’s passionate about music. In some circles she’s best known as the former owner of Elvis’ pre-Graceland Audubon Drive house. She is the co-author of Love Always Patsy: Patsy Cline’s Letters to a Friend. That’s how she met Brian Mansfield. In 2015 she was one of 12 who contributed to Causes and Effect. She’s honored to help close out this wonderful blog.