The Good Stuff: February 3 through February 9, 2013

“To be human is to listen to the rest of the world with a tender heart, and learn to live life with our arms open and our souls seared with a sense of responsibility for everything that is.” Sr. Joan Chittester 

In 2007, Gap, Inc. launched P.A.C.E. (Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement) in an effort to provide skills, technical training, and educational learning to female garment workers.  Women comprise 70% of Gap’s workforce, and 80% of garment workers worldwide.  An easy way for you to help Gap build a better world for women in developing countries is to visit their website and purchase a Gap GiftCard. For every card purchased, 2% of the proceeds will be donated to CARE, one of Gap’s key partners in their P.A.C.E. program.

“Simply put, no society can truly flourish if it stifles the dreams and productivity of half its population. Happily, I see evidence all over the world that women are gaining social and economic power that they never had before. This is good news not only for the individuals themselves but also for entire societies, for it’s been proven that women tend to reinvest economic gains back into their families and communities more than men do.” – President Bill Clinton

The efforts of companies like Gap and organizations such as ICRW will help empower women in developing countries in order that they may make a viable contribution to improving and sustaining their local economies.

By now most of you know that there is nothing I like better than to celebrate local talent. From Grant Landis to Carter Hulsey to ThomasHart Benton and beyond, Joplin has no shortage of incredible talent that is locally, regionally, and nationally celebrated. This past week, Joplin native Vance Powell received a Grammy for his engineering work on the Raconteurs album, “Consolers of the Lonely”. Take a minute to read his piece at Universal Audio (I skimmed the part about all the techie stuff. I have NO CLUE what all those initials and numbers mean. Which would be why Vance received the Grammy and not me. Well, one reason why.) 

Nia Vardalos’s book, Instant Mom, was released by Harper Collins. In her book, Vardalos tells about her struggles with infertility and how she and her husband found their daughter through adoption, in particular foster care. I love Nia’s honesty about her journey to motherhood and appreciate her advocacy on behalf of children living in foster care in the United States and Canada.

For Joplin locals: The Joplin Schools Foundation is currently selling tickets for their fundraiser, “Let’s Eat”. This event will be held on March 21, during Downtown Joplin’s Third Thursday. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for kids 6-12 (under 6 eat free). Proceeds will go to the Foundation’s Snackpack program, a weekly program that sends home backpacks of nutritious, child-friendly food to food-insecure homes every weekend in order that children may arrive at school on Monday mornings nourished and ready to learn.  For more information, be sure and visit the event’s Facebook page or their webpage at www.joplinschools.org

Finally, this video came across my newsfeed earlier this week, and caused me to stop and think about how silly we sometimes are when we complain about the things that bug us in our world.  May we all continue to do what we can to help ensure that everyone has fresh, clean water and a safe place to sleep.

What Good Stuff did you find this week? Feel free to share with me in the comments section below! Also, don't forget to submit your poetry for consideration for publication during National Poetry Month in April!