LilSugar

Wee Are the World: PlayPumps Supply Clean Water

LilSugar — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:00:13 -0700

Drinkable water from the faucet and a shower or bath are things we Americans take for granted. For more than one billion people worldwide, clean drinking water is a luxury that is hard to come by.

By combining a merry-go-round and a water pump, PlayPumps International is bringing free, healthy water and fun activities to rural and peri-urban communities. Installed near school yards, PlayPumps' water pumps are powered by the children who play on them.

More than 1,200 systems have already been donated to communities in South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Zambia improving the drinking water for millions of people. With attention from Steve Case, Jay-Z and Kirstie Alley, the group hopes to install 4,000 PlayPumps by next year, ultimately benefitting 10 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Wee Are the World: Room to Read Expands Global Literacy

LilSugar — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 05:00:00 -0700

We take reading to our children for granted. Many families have stacks of texts on their shelves and also take part in lending libraries. It's hard to imagine not being able to flip the pages of a book on a whim.

While hiking through Nepal, former Microsoft executive John Wood was upset by the lack of resources available to the students and teachers in the region. Knowing the importance of education and literacy in helping people improve their socioeconomic conditions, Wood left his corporate job and founded Room to Read. His intention of building libraries, creating local language children's literature, constructing schools, and providing education to girls in developing countries has come to fruition. In the past eight years, the organization has impacted the lives of more than 3.1 million children by constructing 765 schools and 7,040 libraries, publishing 327 new local language children's titles, and funding 6,817 long-term girls' scholarships in communities throughout Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka, Laos, Zambia, and Bangladesh.

Wee Are the World: Hole in the Wall Gang Camps

LilSugar — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:00:01 -0700

Lots of parents take shuttling their youngsters off to camp for granted. But for other moms and pops, the prospect of their seriously ill tots enjoying one of life's simple pleasures is a dream.

Twenty years ago the late actor Paul Newman opened the first Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Connecticut to give children with a variety of illnesses the opportunity to experience athletics, arts and crafts and theater while camping under the watchful eye of specially trained counselors and themed medical centers. At the camp, lil ones are not treated any differently than healthy kids. Through the sale of Newman's Own food products and donations, the camp has now expanded to 11 locations in four countries.

Hole in the Wall Gang Camps serve more than 1,000 kiddos living with cancer, hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, HIV and other serious medical conditions free of charge each Summer. Through the foundation, they have expanded their reach to Asia and Africa, partnering with local organizations to help children living with HIV/AIDS in those countries build confidence and enjoy a break from the hardship in their lives.

Wee Are the World: Where to Donate Your Kiddos' Used Goods

LilSugar — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:00:00 -0700

My kids are growing like weeds, so I've been going through their closets and deciding what to toss and what to donate. The seasonal ritual also tends to turn up clothing items that still have tags on them, duplicate books, and toys that have never been touched. While some of the things are passed to friends, I am always looking for new places to donate the goods.

Baby Buggy collects and distributes gently used baby clothing and equipment throughout New York City and donates it to domestic violence and homeless shelters as well as court child centers. Started by baby puree guru Jessica Seinfeld, the charity has distributed more than two million items over the last eight years.
Pajama Program provides new pajamas and books to children in need, particularly those awaiting adoption. The nonprofit encourages individuals to hold pajama drives to help collect them for distribution.
Project Night Night provides homeless shelters with individual tote bags filled with a security blanket, an age-appropriate book, and a stuffed animal. The organization accepts new blankets, like-new books, and stuffed animals to be placed in their care packages.

For tips on what can be donated, read more.

Most donated items need to be in like-new condition.

Clothing free of stains, tears, or personalization.
Baby gear that is in excellent working condition, was purchased in the last three years, and has not been recalled.
Car seats that have not been in accidents.
Unopened diapers, water diapers, and pullups.
Never donate used feeding supplies (bottles, forks, etc.) or unsanitary breastfeeding supplies.

Source

Target's Bullseye Gives Allows Public to Determine Giving

LilSugar — Thu, 14 May 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Many shopping mamas toss a dollar in the bucket or on their bill at the checkstand, wondering how retailers determine which charity to support.

Target is taking a different approach with Bullseye Gives, which asks Facebook users to go online and vote how the company should distribute the $3 million it donates to charities on a weekly basis. Visitors can choose from 10 leading charities and see, in real time, how much money the institution will receive that week. Currently, St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital has a commanding lead, with one quarter of all votes.

Wee Are the World: Hope For Kai Foaming Hair and Body Wash

LilSugar — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:06:20 -0700

Yesterday, we tested your knowledge of pediatric cancers and today I am bringing you an easy way to help fight the deadly disease by simply washing your lil one with a great two-in-one soap.

Anthony Logistics, the men's hair and skin care line, has introduced Hope For Kai Foaming Hair and Body Wash ($12) an extra-gentle, self-foaming cleanser that softens and conditions babies' skin without irritating their eyes.

Though the product was created to commemorate the birth of the company's founder's twin boys, Anthony Logistics is donating 100 percent of the product's profits to the Hope for Kai fund. The suds support a five-year-old named Kai Anderson, who was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and is in need of a bone marrow transplant. Simultaneously, his father was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma. Through the sale of the body wash, the company hopes to raise funds for both father and son to have the treatments they need to survive.

Wee Are the World: Generation Cures

LilSugar — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:00:49 -0700

Children are the future so I was surprised to learn that while youngsters represent 20 percent of the US population, a much smaller fraction of national funding is allotted to finding cures for pediatric illnesses. Children’s Hospital Boston, one of the most well-known children’s hospitals in the country, hopes to raise awareness of this issue, and financial support for medical research, through their web-based philanthropic community for kids.

Generation Cures offers stories, games and original kid-directed video content to inspire kids to care about others, understand the concept of giving and believe they can make a difference in the world. Their fun animated series Zebrafish explains how researchers study disease from the perspective for a children’s rock band. And Caduceus continues the story through an adventure game. Parents are encouraged to use the site to continue the conversations started online with their children and hopefully lend their support to the cause.

Wee Are the World: The Tooth Fairy Project

LilSugar — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Though you may have scrounged the Internet to find the perfect pillow, box or envelope for storing lost teeth, once the tooth fairy leaves her present, those teeth usually sit untouched hidden in a drawer. The lost tooth process can take on a whole new meaning if used to introduce lil ones to The Tooth Fairy Project. Created by the Radiation and Public Health Project (a watchdog group), The Tooth Fairy Project, studies levels of radiation found in baby teeth to determine where the highest levels of strontium-90 are located in America. Strontium-90 deposits itself in teeth and bones, just like calcium, so studying baby teeth allows researchers to see where the radiation is being released. The project hopes to identify whether radioactive material is being released by nuclear power plants, the effect of the Chernobyl disaster in America and if radiation levels have increased over the years. Participation in the project is simple – just fill out a form detailing where you live, when your tot was born and where you lived when pregnant, and send it in with the tooth. The group hopes to collect 10,000 teeth, and is about halfway there.

Source

Website lil Loves: Kaboom!

LilSugar — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 05:00:33 -0700

Spending the afternoon at our local playground is something that most of us take for granted, but for some, the cherished gathering spots are the result of a community effort to create safe and enjoyable areas for lil ones to explore. KaBoom!, a national non-profit group based out of Washington, DC, believes that outdoor, unstructured play is beneficial to tots of all ages and works with communities to build playgrounds. Since 1995, KaBoom! has led more than 1,500 playground construction projects - built by all-volunteer forces on single-day builds. The organization has also provided training and grants to build an additional 2,000 playgrounds across the country.

With the goal of providing a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America, KaBoom! offers the KaBoom! Playspace Finder, which allows you to enter, search, and rate play-spaces in your community. The free, searchable directory identifies playgrounds, skate parks, sports fields and ice rinks across the country, and allows visitors to add and rate play-spaces that are not yet listed.

Wee Are the World: Project Peanut Butter

LilSugar — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 08:00:44 -0700

Parents in the United States are up in arms about peanut allergies, but in many poverty stricken countries a similar paste is saving children's lives. Founded by Mark Manary, M.D., an American pediatrician who made it his mission to solve malnutrition, Project Peanut Butter makes Ready-to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). The combination of ground, roasted peanuts, vegetable oil, powdered milk, vitamins, minerals and sugar is then used to treat pediatric malnutrition. It has a 90 percent recovery rate.

The nutty paste is versatile. Project Peanut Butter's website explains why. It said:

It can be stored, unrefrigerated, for months without spoiling, requires no cooking and is transported by truck to rural villages for the home-based therapy. Teams of medical personnel measure malnourished children for height, weight and arm circumference, and provide a two week ration of RUTF for children who need treatment. Thereafter, medical teams return to the village every two weeks to reassess enrolled children and provide the next two week ration if necessary. Most often, children are fully recovered in six to eight weeks’ time, achieving normal height, weight and arm circumference for their age group.

The non-profit's factory currently produces food to feed two-thirds of the malnourished tots in Malawi and is starting production in Sierra Leone. The cost of the treatment is about $15 per child. If you would like to get involved, check their site for ways you can help.