Category: community service

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I would like to think I might do this too

I just read an article on msnbc.msn about a man that won $10,000 in the lottery.  Well what he did with the money is amazing and I would like to think I might do this too but I’m ashamed to admit I probably wouldn’t.  I might do that with part of the winnings but here’s the story and it should be an inspiration to all of us:

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – A Kalamazoo-area man who won $10,000 in the Michigan Lottery’s Club Keno game has donated his winnings to a charity.

Soon after winning the money on March 11, Jim Dancy of Richland decided others needed it more than he did. So he gave it all to the Greater Kalamazoo United Way.

“I was heavily influenced by my close friend Julie, who taught me to think of others first, and to stop and think about what life is really about. I know the needs in the community are great right now, so for me it was the right thing to do,” Dancy said in a statement released by the Michigan Lottery.

Dancy is co-founder, vice president and chief operating officer of Innovative Analytics, a biological research company in Kalamazoo. He said he felt good about his decision and was confident that United Way was the correct recipient.

There is more to the story so if you feel the need, just check it out at msnbc.msn and I’m sure you’ll find it.  It’s a great story and I think he did the right thing too!!  Way to go!!!!

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Some helpful hints for you

My mother told me that the US Postal service sent out a message to all letter carriers to put a sheet of Bounce in their uniform pockets to keep yellow-jackets away. I use it when I am working outside. It really works. The yellow jackets just veer around you.

1. All this time you’ve just been putting Bounce in the dryer! It will chase ants away when you lay a sheet near them. It also repels mice.

2. Spread sheets around foundation areas, or in trailers, or cars that are sitting and it keeps mice from entering your vehicle.

3. It takes the odor out of books and photo albums that don’t get opened too often.

4. It repels mosquitoes. Tie a sheet of Bounce through a belt loop when outdoors during mosquito season.

5. Eliminate static electricity from your television (or computer) screen.

6. Since Bounce is designed to help eliminate static cling, wipe your television screen with a used sheet of Bounce to keep dust from resettling.

7. Dissolve soap scum from shower doors. Clean with a sheet of Bounce.

8. To freshen the air in your home – Place an individual sheet of Bounce in a drawer or hang in the e closet.

9. Put Bounce sheet in vacuum cleaner.

10. Prevent thread from tangling. Run a threaded needle through a sheet of Bounce before beginning to sew.

11. Prevent musty suitcases. Place an individual sheet of Bounce inside empty luggage before storing.

12. To freshen the air in your car – Place a sheet of Bounce under the front seat.

13. Clean baked-on foods from a cooking pan. Put a sheet in a pan, fill with water, let sit overnight, and sponge clean. The anti static agent apparently weakens the bond between the food and the pan.

14. Eliminate odors in wastebaskets. Place a sheet of Bounce at the bottom of the wastebasket.

15. Collect cat hair. Rubbing the area with a sheet of Bounce will magnetically attract all the loose hairs.

16. Eliminate static electricity from Venetian blinds. Wipe the blinds with a sheet of Bounce to prevent dust from resettling.

17. Wipe up sawdust from drilling or sand papering. A used sheet of Bounce will collect sawdust like a tack cloth.

18. Eliminate odors in dirty laundry. Place an individual sheet of Bounce at the bottom of a laundry bag or hamper.

19. Deodorize shoes or sneakers. Place a sheet of Bounce in your shoes or sneakers overnight.

20. Golfers put a Bounce sheet in their back pocket to keep the bees away.

21. Put a Bounce sheet in your sleeping bag and tent before folding and storing them. It will keep them smelling fresh.

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Camping when we were young

When we were younger, we took our camper and decide to camp on Assateague Island in Virginia. The fishing was great and my Daddy and us had a blast. Mom, my sisters and I had a great time at Ocean City Maryland shopping. The first night we spent on the island, we thought we heard something but didn’t really pay it any attention. Well the next morning, there was horse droppings here and there and also hove prints too.

I knew there were ponies on Chincoteague but didn’t realize they were on Assateague too. That was one of the reasons for going camping there when we did; we wanted to watch the pony roundup. It totally amazed all of us watching them swim the ponies across the Chesapeake Bay. If you haven’t ever seen the roundup, you have got to try and at least watch it on TV or possibly go to Chincoteague yourself and see this amazing display of humans taking care of local wildlife.

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Going Green?

Everyone is talking about going green. Well we have been green for the past 25 years at my parents home. Behind our house we have a building that has our Radiant Heating system in it. It not only heats our house but also all of our hot water we use.

There are 55 gallon barrels at every downspout from our guttering so when it rains, the barrels fill up. At the bottom of each barrel, there’s a spigot that is attached to soaker hoses that go through our landscaped plants and if it doesn’t rain enough, we just turn the soaker hoses on and water everything. There’s stuff you can put in the barrels that keeps mosquitoes from breeding in them and it also won’t hurt the plants either .

All the junk mail we get is sorted through, shredded and added to our compost bins along with any scraps we have like banana peeling or any other fruit or vegetable peelings. We always have rich dirt for my flower boxes on Moms porch rails.  It’s not that hard to most of what we do so you might want to take some of these things we do and do them too.

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I’m so proud of my friend

I have always thought my friend acted a bit odd from time to time but thought it was just her. You know, every one’s different in different situations. Some days I’m really quiet and other days, well I’m wide open. She has been that way since our junior year in high school. I just thought maybe she was ‘blossoming’ since she was usually pretty shy. It wasn’t blossoming though. It was drugs.

She called me today and told me that she has a cocaine addiction. Cocaine!!! I was shocked. I didn’t know what to say. Then she told me that she was going for treatment for her addiction. I almost cried I was so proud of her. She’s a great person and has a really good family that is standing behind her all the way. That’s a lot more than some families would do.

The treatment center she’s going to is a really good treatment center too. I wouldn’t expect her family to send her to anything but a good one. I made sure to let her know just how proud of her I was for admitting she had a problem and going to get help. That’s a huge step in the right direction. I promised her that I would write her at least once a week while she’s gone.

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Another friend moving away

A good friend of mine lost her job here and found another one in Massachusetts so I now have another friend moving away.  She does have some family up there but needed an apartment.  Luckily she found out about Central Mass apartments from one of her family members.  This web site is helps people to find not only apartments but also to find homes to rent.  One thing I found most useful on this site, as did she, is the fact that you can search for an apartment by area, or by size, or by price and even by price range too.  That way you don’t have to go through a lot of places that you wouldn’t be interested in.

She only needs a one bedroom apartment since she’s single and is open to a couple of different areas.  Luckily she knows something about the areas she wants since she has been there before.  They tell you about the area too just in case you don’t know anything about it.  I found the site quite easy to use which also is a huge help since some web sites like these aren’t nearly as easy to maneuver around.  If you’re planning a move to central Massachusetts, I suggest you check these guys out.  I bet you’ll find an apartment easily there.

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Hard work pays off

It used to be that people came to our country in search of the American dream.  We have long been known as the land of opportunity and I believe we still are as long as you are willing to work hard.  It’s no wonder so many come from other countries like Mexico in search of a better life.  I can’t blame them one bit since my ancestors did the same thing and I’m glad they did because I know I wouldn’t have the chances I do now if they hadn’t.

Laura Diaz is one of the people who’s family came here hoping to make a better life for their family.  Well this lady has done her family and herself proud.  She worked hard and has become one of the top influential Hispanic News Anchors in the country.  She is an amazing young woman.  She has also won several awards. She is an eight-time Emmy Award winner. That is an amazing accomplishment in itself. She won an Emmy in 2006 for Individual Achievement in Feature Reporting. She won back-to-back Golden Mike Awards in 2005 and 2006 for best feature reporting. She earned her a national Imagen Award in 2006 for the first in depth television interview with incoming Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

In 2003, Ms. Diaz received the L.A. Press Club’s highest honor, the “Joseph M. Quinn Award” for journalistic excellence and distinction. Her story about Billy Queen, a federal agent who went undercover to bust up a murderous motorcycle gang, was awarded an Emmy and a Golden Mike. She also confronted an angry gang member for a story on “Emotional Gangs,” a new kind of street gang that spreads hate between African Americans and Latinos in Los Angeles.  So not only does this woman have guts when it comes to getting a story, she has the determination to reach for excellence and accomplish it.

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I got new bedroom furniture

Well I finally decided on what new bedroom suite I wanted and it’s being delivered tomorrow.  I was surprised that they would agree to deliver on a Saturday but they did.  It sure helped me out because I don’t have to take any time off of work to be here for them to deliver it.  Isn’t that wonderful!!!

Well I have decided to donate my old bedroom suite to the Crisis Ministries close to where I live.  That way, it can help a family in need of furniture.  I just can’t see giving it away to someone that doesn’t really need it.  I was taught as a child that you help those in need so that’s what I hope my old furniture will do, help someone in honest need.  It feels good to think that I might be able to help someone in need and there are a lot of people out there in this day in time that are in need.