Monday #46- Donate Clothes!

Make Today Matter...

Facts:

• 20 billion pounds of clothes and textiles are thrown away every year--an average of 68 pounds per person.
• 1.5 billion pairs of unworn or barely worn shoes are lying in closets.
• Over 35 million people live in poverty and have limited money to purchase new clothes.
• On average, 3 million men, women, and children are homeless at some point each year.
• 50% of all homeless women and children are fleeing domestic violence, usually with only the clothes on their backs.

Take action today!

1. Contact a local shelter or organization that receives clothing donations and ask about any specific clothing needs.
2. Look through your closet for clothing, coats, shoes, suits, blankets, pillows, purses, briefcases, umbrellas, and scarves that are in good condition and that you haven't used in a year or more.
3. Organize a clothing drive at work, school, your place of workship, or in your neighborhood.
4. Wash or dry-clean items. Don't donate items that are stained or torn.
5. Fold and pack clothing in boxes, attach appropriate labels, then deliver them. 
6. Consider giving directly to a homeless person.

Clothing donations to qualified charitable organizations are tax deductable.

You matter!

Donating clothes is one of the easiest ways to affect someone's life in a very tangible and significant way. You can help someone stay warm, wear shoes without holes, dress properly for a job interview, or don a new outfit for school.
Do you really need all those clothes filling up your closet? Millions of other do!

(Adapted from Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways to Make a Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza)

Monday #45- Get Involved with Foster Kids!

Make Today Matter...

Facts:

•  Over 500,000 children are in foster care and their average age is 10.
• Approximately 46% of children are in non-relative foster family homes, 24% are in relative foster homes, 18% are in group homes or institutions, and 7% are in other placement types.
• 41% of these children are white, 32% are black, and 18% are Hispanic.
• The average length of stay for all children currently in foster care is 2.4 years.
• 14% of the children in foster care have been there for more than 5 years.
• Over 51,000 children are adopted annually through the foster care system.

A house doesn't always mean a home...

Take action today!

1. Find a foster care facility near you. Contact them and ask how you can help.
2. Sign up as a volunteer and get your family and friends involved.
3. Be prepared. Volunteers at a foster care facility can be involved in everything from outside physical activities to arts and crafts.
4. Become a foster parent or adopt a child.

You matter!

Children in foster care have been abused, abandoned, and/or neglected.

Many will not return to live with their parents or even a relative. While we wish the statistics were different, it is up to us to provide the love and support these children need.

They didn't choose to be placed in foster care, but we can choose to step into the gap and make a difference.

Who taught you how to ride a bike? Swim? Or prepare for a math test?

Whether you remember or not, those people cared...and so can you.

(Adapted from Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways to Make a Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza)

Monday #44- Use Online Bill Pay!

Make Today Matter...

Facts:

• On average,4.8 pieces of mail are delivered every day to over 146 million addresses.
• One of the fastest growing robbery crimes is identity theft by stealing mail. 
• With password protection, more than one level of authentication, increased online security, and 100% protection in case of fraud, online bill pay is much safer than putting a check in the mailbox.
• Internet use and electronic account monitoring is the fastest way to detect fraud and decrease losses from identity theft.
• Banking information can be accessed via the Internet anytime, anywhere.
• Paying bills online saves the average consumer $6 in stamps and 4 hours of time each month.
• 18.5 million trees would be saved annually if consumers viewed and paid bills online.

 Welcome to the 21st Century!

Take action today!

1. Go to your bank's Web site, click on "Online Banking," and follow the instructions to set up online bill pay.
2. Print out statements, view transactions, check balances, pay bills, transfer funds, and look for other financial information at your convenience.
3. Stop receiving bank statements and bills in the mail by signing up for online delivery.
4. If you're not able to connect online, then set up automatic payments over the phone. You may still receive a statement, but your payments will be automatically deducted from your bank account.

You matter!

Online bill paying is more cost-effective, more environmentally friendly, quicker, safer, and more convenient than the traditional open-the-envelope, write-a-check, lick-a-stamp, and place-in-your-mailbox method.

Do you need any more compelling reasons?

(Adapted from Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways to Make a Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza)

Monday #43- Listen, Play, & Appreciate Music!

Make Today Matter...

Facts:

• Over 70% of schools are not able to maintain funding for the arts.
• Schools with music programs compared to schools without have significantly higher education rates, 90.2% compared to 72.9%, and higher attendance rates, 93.3% compared to 84.9%.
• Students with coursework in music appreciation score roughly 60 points higher in verbal and 40 points higher in math on the SAT than their non-arts peers.
• Early musical training increases brain development in language, reasoning, math, science, memory, creativity, expression, and spatial intelligence.
• Choral singers are nearly twice as likely to be involved in charity work--as both volunteers and donors--than the average person.
• Every human culture uses music to preserve and pass on its ideas and ideals.
• Music is not limited by age, gender, ethnicity, or time.

Take action today!

1. Listen to your favorite music and sing, dance, clap, jam on your air guitar, and enjoy it like no one is watching.
2. Go see or buy tickets for a live music performance.
3. Sign up for music lessons for yourself or your family.
4. If you already sing or play an instrument, do it today or offer to teach someone who wants to learn.
5. Donate unused instruments to a local school, church, or music education center.
6. Communicate with your school-district administrators or national legislators. Write a letter of appreciation for the hard work they do and request continued funding for the arts.

You matter!

Music is fun, expressive, imaginative, beautiful, energizing, relaxing, interesting, and freeing. Through music, we preserve our cultural heritage, celebrate our faith with praise and worship, remember events and experiences from the past, come together with friends and family, and express our emotions.

Music is the soundtrack of life!

(Adapted from Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways to Make a Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza)

Monday #42- Give A Hug!

Make Today Matter...

Facts:

• Stimulation by touch is absolutely necessary for physical and emotional well-being.
• Touch is used to relieve pain, depression, and anxiety; to enhance a child's development and IQ; and to nurture premature babies.
• Hugging strengthens the immune system, reduces stress, assists sleep, lowers blood pressure, and is an antidote to depression.
• Hugging bolsters a patient's will to live, dispels loneliness, eases fear, opens doors to buried feelings, builds self-esteem, fosters altruism, and imparts feelings of belonging.
• Hugging offers a wholesome alternative to promiscuity, alcohol, and drugs.
• People need 4 hugs a day for survival, 8 for maintenance, and 12 for growth.

Take action today!

1. Hug the people you care about today. Hug them in the morning, hug them to say hello, hug them because they bring you happiness, hug them to say good-bye, hug them to say "I love you," hug them to show compassion, hug them if they are sad, hug them if they are hurting, hug them because they did something incredible, or hug them just because.
2. Hug someone you don't know that well...but ask first!
3. Challenge yourself and your friends to keep track of how many hugs you gave or received today.
4. Notice how you feel at the end of your day of hugging.

You matter!

If everyone hugged 4 people today--the minimum requirement for "survival"--that would add up to 1.2 billion hugs. 

If everyone gave 12 hugs--the number required for "growth"--the total would be 3.6 billion. So take the time to give 12 hugs today.

That hug might be exactly what those 12 people needed...so why wouldn't you?

(Adapted from Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways to Make a Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza)

Monday #41- Choose Canvas Bags!

Make Today Matter...

Facts:

• Almost 7 billion paper bags and 400 billion plastic bags are used every year.
• 90% of all grocery bags are plastic.
• Only 5.2% of plastic bags and 21% of paper bags are recycled.
• The average length of time a high-density plastic bag will exist on earth is 1,000 years.
• Producing and recycling paper bags generates significantly more air and water pollution compared to plastic bags.
• Paper is 40% of all waste.
• The average family accumulates 60 plastic bags every 4 trips to the grocery store.
• San Francisco, the first city in the U.S. to ban the use of plastic grocery bags, eliminates the use of 100 million plastic bags a year.

Take action today! 

1. Buy several canvas shopping bags or use duffle bags that you already own. Most trips to the store require more than one bag.
2. Purchase canvas bags made from recycled materials.
3. Keep your canvas bags in the trunk of your car--trips to the store are often spontaneous.
4. When purchasing only one or two items and if you don't have a canvas bag with you, just carry the items out of the store without a bag.
5. If you forget your canvas bag, at least avoid double-bagging.

You matter!

You would accumulate 1,000 fewer bags this year if you simply used a reusable bag when shopping, especially grocery shopping. Paper and plastic bags are an environmental killer--they biodegrade slowly or not at all, deplete energy and natural resources, endanger wildlife, and poison our soil and waterways. 

So, from now on, when a store clerk asks "Paper or plastic?" you can proudly answer, "CANVAS!"

(Adapted from Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways to Make a Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza)

Monday #40- Thank A Local Law Enforcement Officer!

Make Today Matter...

Facts:

• Over 675,000 sworn officers and nearly 295,000 civilian officers protect and serve citizens.
• Over 14 million arrests occur annually for all offenses except traffic violations.
• Each year:

- Over 50,000 officers are assaulted while performing their duties.
- Over 100 are killed--their average age is 37.
- Over 23 million people are victimized by violent and property crimes

• There has been a 58% decline in violent crimes and a 52% decline in property crimes over the last 12 years.

Would you risk your life for a total stranger?

Take action today!

1. Walk up and thank a law enforcement officer for keeping you and your community safe.
2. Pull your car to your right and out of the way when you hear a siren or see a police car approaching with its lights on.
3. Organize your friends, co-workers, neighborhood, or child's classroom to create and deliver a thank-you card to your local law enforcement agency, police station, or town sheriff.
4. Ask your local police department which organizations support them...and donate.
5. Support or start a Neighborhood Watch program in your community.
6. Always report crime.

You matter!

Law enforcement officers make an incredible difference in your community. Every day they put their lives on the line to protect you, your neighbors, and your loved ones. Show appreciation, thank them for their valuable service, and tell them the impact they have on the lives of the people in your community.

(Adapted from Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways to Make a Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza)