How Can I Help?

Experience gives the test first and then lessons afterwards.
John Maxwell

Hi Everyone!

I hope you all had a nice, yet very strange, Passover or Easter this past weekend. Some folks were virtually with family; some folks were alone. Some folks made a dinner; some folks had left-overs. Let’s hope that next year we are able to celebrate with normalcy!

Today’s message is about only one thing:

Contribution

A sense of contribution is a basic human need. It is essential to our health and well-being. It is not optional. We need to feel as if we are “a part of” whatever it is … our planet, our community, our family … and that we are pulling our weight to help – to contribute in some way, be it large or small.

And yet … we need to help! 

Think out of the box. If you are able to, make some masks. There are plenty of tutorials online. If you don’t have the materials, purchase them online. My daughter is a visiting nurse, wound care specialist, and they are rationed from 2 masks per week (yes, seriously) to now 2 masks per day. They all see at least 6 clients per day. I made a bunch of masks for her, but she has peers that are in need. Just a head’s up, if they are given to the organization, they will be routed up to the hospitals and not given to the home care nurses. So it’s best to give directly to the nurses themselves. Use bright colors with animals or some kind of cute thing on them to cheer up the patients (if possible). My daughter has gotten a lot of comments on hers – “Hey, where’d you get your mask?” “My mom made it.” That gets a lot of “Awwwwww”s and my daughter is happy to be able to get them to think about something else and step out of their fear for a teeny tiny bit of time. Here’s a sample of a mask I made for my daughter. I’m not a great sewer, but it’ll help somewhat. I’m glad for that. 

If you don’t sew, the company I get our Door Opener t-shirts from is Custom Ink. They are making masks! I know money is tight right now, but if you want to purchase some for healthcare workers, I’m sure they’d be extremely thankful. Maybe they are not hospital quality, but think CNAs, companions, home care nurses, regular public, etc. They go through countless masks on a daily basis! Custom Ink has their masks manufactured as triple-ply. Here is the link if you’re interested: https://www.customink.com/products/categories/face-masks/205/styles

How about blood donation? 

How about calling someone – family, friend, neighbor?

How about cleaning out your house and donating to Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. They’re still accepting donations!

Put the red heart on your door. 

Drive by a hospital with signs saying Thank You and beep!

Arrange for a Bear Hunt in your community (everyone puts bears in their windows or on their porches and parents drive the children around to see how many they can find).

Post something funny on Facebook. My contribution is below. Remember, we need to keep laughing and keep those spirits up and that body oxygenated and energized! 

What else could you do? 

The possibilities are endless! 

Do something!

You’ll be thankful you did! 

Keep going!

You’re doing great!

One day at a time!

We’re going to be okay!