Champions for Kids – Make A Simple Snack Pack #Cbias #AbbottCFK

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We all know times are tough, and though we would like to pretend the recession is over (and getting better, or getting worse, or getting better, or getting worse? Bah, who knows!) It’s important to remember how many families are still struggling every day. There are lots of people who help others during Thanksgiving or Christmas- but what happens for the rest of the year?

Did you know that 17 Million Kids right here in the USA struggle with hunger? Here are a few more facts on hunger in the USA-

• More than 17 million children are at risk for hunger
• More than 700,000 children were reported abused or neglected in 2009. The numbers are suspected to be much higher—these reflect actual reports.
• A child is abused or neglected every 41 seconds; 71 percent of them are victims of neglect. Infants are the most likely to suffer from maltreatment. Almost 40 percent of child victims receive no post-investigation services and many more receive far less than they need.
• 1,200 children enter foster care each day remaining there on average more than two years. Thirty-one percent of the children in foster care are Black, double the percent of all children who are Black.
• About two-thirds of public school 4th graders cannot read at grade level; 6 out of 10 cannot do math at grade level.
• Well over 500,000 children remain in foster care each year.
• More than one in eight preschool children live with a parent who abuses alcohol or other drugs or is dependent on them.

Great news, yeah? Not so much. SO- what can YOU do to help? Lots of things. You can go big, or go small- how big is your commitment to change? In the words of a famous musician- “If you want to make the world a better place, you better look at yourself, and make a change”. So get moving, shake and bake! What will you’re legacy be? One of love, of caring? I don’t just mean when it is right in front of you, calling your name and being obvious- I mean when it isn’t convenient. Lets make 2012 the Golden Age of Men- for real- and let it begin with me.

“First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a
communist.
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the labor leaders, but I did not speak out because I was not a unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
As one day became another and others disappeared, gypsies, mentally retarded,
homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, criminals, anti-socials and emigrants, I remained
silent because I was not one of them. Then it was they came for me,
but no one spoke for me because by then there was no one left to speak.”
Martin Niemoller, 1945.


You all know I am passionate for change, and I truly believe you have to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. Is it hard? You bet. Will it take up time, and we are all surely busy? Yes, it will. But we can do it, because we are all connected in the human race- No man is an island, entire of itself … Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. — John Donne

Since I was 15, I have been an advocate for change, and have tried to do my part and walk the walk to be the change I want to see in the world. I am not going to list my contributions or where I volunteer, because only God and I need to know, and I think my going on about it diminishes the purity of intentions and actions. But I know that we all want to do more, and we don’t because we are busy with our own lives- and I am too. I am SO GUILTY of this lately. And I know that I need to work on that harder. So I took this as a reminder/push from the world and the Almighty to move it and stop making excuse, and it is the first of many small steps I have started to get myself back on track to making more positive changes.


This Snack Pack I will be shopping for this week will be crated with healthy foods to be donated to a local church that runs a fantastic food bank for those who would like to utilize it. Even people with college degrees, who have worked their whole lives, are lately finding themselves using such food banks now and again- the economy is not good, and there are those who are out of work for years. But for the Grace of God, go we ourselves- 17 million likely includes someone you know.


Even now
The world is bleeding
But feeling just fine
All numb in a castle
Where were always free to choose
Never free enough to find
I wish something would break
Cuz were running out of time

And I am Overcome
(Live Lyrics)

So get up. Get up and fight. Don’t put it on your “to do later” list (those good intentions rarely get done, right? I’m guilty too.) Do something- help your fellow man. Be a champion.

Make you you also Champions for Kids on their webpage or Facebook.

If you also want to get involved with a simple service project, just go to Champions For Kids for more information. Please feel free to join us for the Abbott/Champions for Kids Twitter party on January 19^th at 9:00 pm EST, and use the hashtag #AbbottCFK.

Disclosure- This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias”. All opinions are my own.