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#GIVINGTUESDAY, A MANTRA FOR THE SEASON, #JUSTBECAUSE

What are your fondest holiday memories? Baking cookies with your mom? Or perhaps the anticipation of seeing the abundance you receive as gifts from those you love?  What about volunteering at your local food bank or seeking gifts of support for those in need instead?

As we head full-swing into the winter holiday season, we the Lions, encourage you to consider how giving and gratitude fit into your festivities and traditions. In fact, we believe they deserve a spot of prominence and that is why we deliberately chose #GivingTuesday™ as the release date for our latest issue.

Image courtesy of Jennifer Harris

#GivingTuesday™ was launched in 2012 as a national movement, with global significance, igniting a spirit and conversation about giving as well as inspiring acts of generosity throughout the holiday season. #GivingTuesday™ takes place the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday – this year, December 3, 2013.

As the movement states, “it’s a simple idea. Just find a way for your family, your community, your company or your organization to come together to give something more. Then tell everyone you can about how you are giving. Be a part of a national celebration of our great tradition of generosity.”  http://community.givingtuesday.org

Whether this is your first year making a deliberate effort to give back during the holidays or an ongoing thread in the fabric of your family, our hope is that giving back and being grateful will become some of your fondest holiday memories, fueling fulfillment and joy throughout all seasons.

If you wish to share your holiday giving stories, we would love to hear! Simply submit your story to [email protected] . In addition to the causes featured in the December 3rd release, please check out the following list of organizations we’ve previously highlighted for giving inspiration.

AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is the leading national not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research, education and advocacy, and to reaching out to people with mental disorders and those impacted by suicide.

URL: http://www.afsp.org

BANNISTER FAMILY HOUSE – UC SAN DIEGO HEALTH SYSTEM

The Bannister Family House provides a home away from home for families of patients undergoing long-term care at UC San Diego Health System in Hillcrest and La Jolla. The non-medical atmosphere of the house provides a retreat from the stress of keeping a constant bedside vigil at the hospital. Families have a chance to meet other families in similar situations and develop a support network necessary to help a loved one through serious illness.

URL: http://health.ucsd.edu/patients/bannister

GAWAD KALINGA USA

Gawad Kalinga is a Filipino community group in the Philippines in the U.S. aiming to facilitate unity between Filipino Americans and their heritage roots in the Philippine Islands. In light of Typhoon Haiyan, GK is mobilizing its direct connection to the Philippines to ensure that every $5 donated produces at least 4 days of food for families waiting for more aid to arrive.

URL: http://gk-usa.org/

NATURAL HIGH

Natural High is an organization that inspires youth to live happy, healthy, drug-free lives by helping them discover, amplify and pursue their natural highs so that they have a reason to say no to an artificial high.

URL: http://naturalhigh.org

  POPS (PAIN OF THE PRISON SYSTEM)

POPS (Pain of the Prison System) is an organization of clubs for high school students whose lives have been touched by prison—those with a parent inside, or a sibling, a friend, a cousin, any brush with prison. URL: http://www.popstheclub.com

  SHARE OUR STRENGTH

Share Our Strength works to ensure that every child has access to healthy food every day. Together, we can end childhood hunger in America.

URL: http://nokidhungry.org

SUSAN G. KOMAN 3-DAY

Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen® and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Susan G. Komen is the boldest community fueling the best science and making the biggest impact in the fight against breast cancer.

URL: http://www.the3day.org

- James Vermillion

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STRENGTH IN BEAUTY: JESSE BILLAUER INSPIRES

Image courtesy of Jesse Billauer

“Have a beautiful day,” Jesse Billauer says in the warmest of voices after talking with me about his California-based nonprofit organization Life Rolls On – an organization inspired by his own experience as a quadriplegic.

That’s right – Jesse is in a wheelchair – and this is no surprise to the tight knit so-Cal surf community he has worked with for the last seventeen years after his tragic spinal cord injury. 

But for those who don’t know Jesse  - who haven’t read his story or watched his 2009 documentary film –I have to say, you haven’t heard one of the most soulful, contemporary voices. 

Have a beautiful day - he says – a message that spoke right to the center of my being. “Nobody says that!” I thought to myself. “Who says that?” 

Jesse Billauer is a self-professed introvert who has taken a quiet leadership role as a motivational speaker, nonprofit founder, and chief executive officer. He talks lightly about the beauty in things, about all of the unconditional love in his life, his dad, his brother, his girlfriend, and his nieces. He shares bits about the origin and charge of Life Rolls On, about the programs that get adaptive kids to surf again, but he is the most emphatic when he says, “These events, they are not about surfing, they are an excuse to build confidence, to get kids out of their house, to inspire the whole family in a day. It’s a beautiful experience for the community,” he says, using the word “beautiful” again. 

Beautiful, his guru-like tone admittedly makes me want to sit with him longer, to dig deeper into his perspective, to understand the kind of strength he has that allows him to see the beauty in things after surviving such a traumatic, life altering incident. The kind of strength we all take for granted on a daily basis. 

In 1996, at the young age of seventeen, Jesse Billauer was well on his way to becoming a professional surfer when an accident in the water altered the course of his life. Today, he is inspiring millions with his story, with Life Rolls On programming, but even more so, with his genuine appreciation for life; with his humble yet profound message that the beauty of life is that “beauty” comes in various shapes and forms.  

To learn more about how Jesse gives his time and voice to the community, click here: http://www.jessebillauer.com/site/c.fnJJKPNjFiG/b.5245725/k.BE38/Home.htm

To explore Life Rolls On programming or to give back with Jesse: http://www.liferollson.org

Check out Life Rolls On in video

We are LRO from Life Rolls On on Vimeo.

- Jennifer Harris

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MAUREEN ROADMAN ANSWERS THE QUESTION MANY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ASK: “WHAT’S NEXT?"

Image courtesy of Jennifer Harris

Executive Director of Solutions, Maureen Roadman talks with us about transitioning high school students into a successful future. 

INSPIRATION

Every child deserves a level playing field. From the struggling late-bloomer to the straight A+ star athlete, each student needs the opportunity to fulfill the potential we know that they have. Solutions was created to help students - all students - navigate what can often be a difficult transition between high school and "what's next" by providing programs and support. I believe in the future.

CAUSE

Solutions: Exploring Success Post High School Find out more at www.exploresolutions.org

COMING UP

Meetings with individual college admission representatives ( the next one is a Dec. 12 reception with representatives from Ohio Wesleyan University at Estancia La Jolla Hotel, 9700 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA), speakers series and a variety of programs, all geared toward career exploration and finding that "best fit" college.

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AT THE KORPS, KIDS ARE EMPOWERED AND ENGAGED

Ilia Terrazas-Dickey, Board Member with Kids Korps USA, helps instill the spirit of giving in America’s youth while providing valuable education in leadership and responsibility. INSPIRATION

Empowering Youth

CAUSE

Kids Korps USA. "Developing a Generation of Volunteers"

Kids Korps USA engages young people, ages 5 through 25, in community service. Our mission is to instill in America’s youth the spirit of giving while providing valuable education in leadership and responsibility. Our vision is to develop leaders for life through youth volunteerism. 

The mission of Kids Korps has an indelible and unique impact beyond the many benefits of volunteerism: we shape young lives through exposure to, and direct involvement in community service. The daily benefit of improving ones community is tangible. The lifelong benefit to young volunteers is an increase in their level of maturity, empathy, and positive perspective on how THEY can make the world a better place.

COMING UP

Simply go to www.kidskorps.org to access our Online Project Calendar with over 1200 volunteer opportunities assisting 1000 nonprofit agencies address the most critical issues facing our communities today. Rally your friends and family to join the "Generation of Volunteers" and attend an event where you can make an impact any time of day seven days a week within your community TODAY!

IF YOU HAD TIME TO GIVE EVERYDAY, WHAT WOULD THAT LOOK & FEEL LIKE?

I would spend time inspiring young people to realize their full potential by helping them to understand and appreciate their special gifts and passions through engagement in their communities. Regardless of economic means, community service is proven to propel confidence and academic performance in youth, equipping youth to realize their dreams.

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SPARKING COMMUNITY THROUGH STORY – WITH SHAUNA MCKENNA

Image courtesy of Shauna McKenna

We conversed with Shauna McKenna – a Writer, Board Member, Mom, Volunteer, Magazine Aficionado – about writing, thinking, and serving the community and she said a lot about So Say We All.

INSPIRATION

Stories of all shapes and sizes

CAUSE

So Say We All http://www.sosayweallonline.com

COMING UP

VAMP (Video / Audio Monologue Performance) at Art Pulse, December 14

IF YOU HAD TIME TO GIVE EVERYDAY, WHAT WOULD THAT LOOK AND FEEL LIKE?

Stories make room for more stories - I'd be part of countless conversations sparked by the community of performance.

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THE MISSION IS TO GIVE: ON THE FLUIDITY OF GIVING

Detail from untitled painting by Marcel Reyes

Say I lose a grandparent to cancer, so I give to cancer research - for three years. Three years of passionate, earnest giving. I am just an average person of middle class income, ten percent of my monthly income would be a very huge, meaningful fraction, even if its drops in the bucket towards a major gift goal. When my spouse gets diagnosed with diabetes, I may choose to stop giving to cancer research and start giving to diabetes research. Or stem cell research, feeling like its many birds with one stone. In this case, a stone is an annual gift amounting to $1,000 a year. All the while, I also gave $300 in August to a start-up community theatre troop dedicated to writing plays raising awareness to local cultural issues.

Two years down the road, I could be in a total arts kick supporting film festivals and after-school programming for at risk youth. I could realize in five years how deeply I care about my identity as an Asian American and might want to support arts and culture non-profits aiming to cultivate western literacy in Asian media. Ten years down the road, I could care about scholarships being offered to medical students wishing to specialize their care for transgendered patients. Decade by decade, as fickle as the wind, I could swap out one cause for another, over and over again. From a charity's standpoint: World's worst donor right? 

In that hypothetical (but very much desired and likely) wishful giving history scenario - the point really is: I gave. I GIVE. Because I wanted to. Because I always wanted to. Different things felt important to support at different times. But I never stopped giving. Shouldn't that count for something? In my opinion, it is the entire point. Seneca alludes to a flow in giving in which the understanding is tacit: When you are a giver, giving of your time, energy, and resources, then you are a BEING towards whom the WORLD is indebted. And you will never be repaid, nor would you seek it. "The book-keeping of benefits [giving] is simple," said Seneca, "it is all expenditure. If any one returns it, that is clear gain; if he does not return it, it is not lost, I gave it for the sake of giving. No one writes down his gifts in a ledger, or like a grasping creditor demands repayment to the day and hour. A good man never thinks of such matters, unless reminded of them by some one returning his gifts; otherwise they become debts owing him. #BecauseItFeelsGood - Marcel Reyes