No, we’re not talking about the ozone this time. We’re talking about something closer to home.

This morning, I looked at my daughter on the way to school and realized that she needs a new coat. So we planned on going shopping this weekend to look for a coat before it gets too cold. So simple… need coat, go get one.

Yes, it is simple. So simple that we take it for granted. But when you’re homeless or don’t have a job, or even when you have a job but it’s only enough to keep you from the food bank, it’s not so simple to just go to the store and get a new one. I see kids all the time who go to school without a coat or one that is not thick enough for the cold. I know they’re not like my teenage daughters and their friends who can go out in a t-shirt in sixty degree weather; these kids are shivering. They wrap their arms around themselves to keep the warmth in. You see them all over the place if you just pay attention. It’s not just the ones living in the woods or under the bridge though, there are kids who have parents that love them who live in homes or apartments, who have enough to eat… but maybe not enough to buy new coats every season.

Next time you see a coat drive at the malls, at the church or at work, don’t walk by too fast.

One of the rituals I have gotten into this time of year is to go through our coat closet and clean sort through what we can still wear and what we can get rid off. Most of the time, we end up taking out the girls’ coats that they’ve out grown. I don’t toss them out though. I either take them to the neighborhood church or to Goodwill so someone else can use them. The last couple of years I had taken the girls’ gently used coats to the school. The elementary school my daughters attended keep coats in the office to give to kids who come to school without a coat. This year, I’m thinking of going by Sears to support the Land’s End campaign below.

I learned about Lands’ End joining forces with the National Coalition for the Homeless for the Big Warm-up.  The Big Warm-up provides an opportunity for people across the nation to donate a gently used coat that will then go on to warm one of more than 3.5 million homeless women, men and children in the United States right now – each facing a cold winter.

Beginning October 29 until November 30, Lands’ End is hosting Big Warm-up coat donation sites at its 252 Lands’ End Shops at Sears and 13 Lands’ End Inlets®.  Donated coats will be distributed via the National Coalition for the Homeless in communities nearby.  To further encourage donations, Lands’ End is giving 20 percent off the purchase of a new coat for each one donated.

Visit WWW.BIGWARMUP.COM to see how each coat can warm a heart, track donations, find donation sites, watch an inspiring video and spread the word.

Next time you’re bundling up to go outside, try to remember to pull out those unused coats in your closet. It doesn’t matter which agency you take your coats to, I’m sure someone will be glad to be able to bundle up against the cold too.

A couple of typhoons went through the Philippines a couple of weeks ago and left devastation in their wake. It’s one of the worst storms to go through the country and left many people flooded out of their homes and livelihoods. One of the affected communities is my mom’s hometown in Pangasinan. I posted some photos and appeals for donations for the region on our newsletter, the Sagunto Star.

Just from that small region alone, I know of many farmers and small businesses whose livelihoods were virtually washed away. They have nothing left. Their investments, which were often financed through micro-loans, were flooded out before they could harvest. The full impact of the damage brought on by these two super typhoons, of the same category as Katrina, will be felt for a long time. Even though the sun is shining again, these small businesses will not be out from under the cloud for years.

Kiva.org is an organization that enables small entrepreneurs in developing countries to be able to receive financing for whatever endeavor they may have dreamed for doing but had never had the capital to start up with. Funding comes from individuals who sign on to the site and lend a little of a lot. What’s a little to us in dollars can mean a lot to someone else in a third world country. The basic idea behind Kiva is what that old saying about teaching a man to fish says. Relief goods are fine for the short term but if you enable someone to make a living, you’ve helped them for a lifetime.

HaveImpact.org is a Kiva lender. They have sponsored several entrepreneurs all over the world including the Philippines and they are holding an interesting challenge. They have pledged to donate $5 for every comment people leave on their blog post to Give a Hand to Philippine Entrepreneurs Affected by the Floods. Yes, that’s all you have to do to help. Click on the link and leave a comment. It’s not a hoax, read the updates from the blog author. They are running this campaign until October 31 so please take a minute and go leave a comment.

Even before the campaign is ended, loans have been given out to entrepreneurs. Check out the people who have already received their loans from your comments.

If you hadn’t noticed all the pink products on the shelf and if you didn’t already know, October is The National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Celebrating it’s 25th year, The National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Organization continues its mission “to promote breast cancer awareness, share information on the disease, and provide greater access to screening services.”

This is a good time to remember to schedule your annual mammogram especially if you’re a woman over 40 just like me. If you have a high risk for breast cancer, as in having immediate family who have been diagnosed with it, it is recommended that you be start screening earlier. While the prognosis has gotten better, it’s no longer a death sentence to have breast cancer, there are still thousands of women who die every year from this disease. Through education and awareness maybe the number of deaths will keep going down and the number of survivals will keep going up.

One of the pink products you may have seen on the shelves is Orbit Gum. I received some sample Bubblemint Orbit Big-E-Paks featuring the Bright Pink packaging as well the Bright Pink “Little Bright Book,” a guide to breast and ovarian cancer risk and how to be proactive with your health, via The Buzz Cooperative and Dig Communication. They are spreading the word that Orbit White gum has partnered with the charity Bright Pink during September and October to support Breast Cancer Awareness month. Bright Pink is a national nonprofit with an exclusive focus on breast and ovarian cancer prevention and early detection in high risk young women. Ten percent of the sales generated by the purchase of each Bubblemint Orbit White gum pack during September and October will be donated to support Bright Pink’s mission to help women proactively take control of their health via education, support and community development for those at risk. You can check out this cause at BeBrightPink.org.

So while you’re out and about doing your daily errands and shopping, keep an eye out for the pink products. It is the support from companies and all the support from concerned people like you and me that has enabled the research and ground breaking treatments for breast cancer to develop. Until there is not one woman dying from breast cancer, the fight will not be over so keep up the good fight!

If you’re a blogger, you can help by joining the Blogs Against Breast Cancer 2009 campaign. All you have to do is display the badge on your blog and Diets in Review will donate $5 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation in honor of your site. Click here to join Blogs Against Breast Cancer.

Here’s a few things you can do starting this month if you haven’t already:

Perform breast self exams regularly and get a mammogram.

From Diets in Review:

Start taking steps to prevent breast cancer in yourself by incorporating positive nutrition and fitness practices in your life:

• Breast Cancer Survivors Benefit from Weight Lifting
• Yoga Eases Pain of Breast Cancer
• 5 Things You Must Know About Breast Cancer Prevention, but Probably Don’t
• Alcohol Increases Risk of Breast Cancer in Women
• 7 Healthy Strategies for Fighting Breast Cancer

If you’ve never heard of Speak Now for Kids, you’re not alone. It is a new organization that has been long needed. We parents know what a struggle it is to provide quality health care for our children, even when we have health insurance through our employers. God forbid one of them should get hurt. We will find out real quick how inadequate our current coverage is.

For example, in North Carolina,

Child Health Data – North Carolina

* 31.0% percent of children are enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), compared to 28.2 percent nationwide.
* 11.6% percent of children in North Carolina are uninsured, compared to 11.2 percent nationwide.
* Among children who are uninsured, 75.4% percent are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP. Nationally, 68.4 percent of uninsured children are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP.
* North Carolina covers children with family income up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level through Medicaid and CHIP. A family of four must make less than $44,100 to be eligible.

Speak Now for Kids in Health Reform is a national campaign sponsored by the National Association of Children’s Hospitals (N.A.C.H.). N.A.C.H. is joined by national partners and supporting organizations from around the country who all care deeply about how children will be treated in health reform. Speak Now for Kids in Health Reform urges parents, family members, health care providers and other advocates to tell Congress why children matter in health reform – through stories, photos and videos.

Speak Now for Kids in Health Reform provides an open forum for the public to express their thoughts and concerns about children and health reform. The opinions expressed on this Web site are those of individuals visiting the site, and do not represent the views of the Web site sponsor, partners or supporters.

Be a champion for children. Take a moment to Speak Now to let Congress know in your own words what you think about children’s health care and share this information with your friends.

source: Speak Now for Kids

Please help spread the word about Speak Now for Kids because if we as parents don’t speak for them, who else?

Here are a few things you can do:
1. If you’re a blogger, please blog about Speak Now for Kids
2. Make a video and submit to the Speak Now for Kids website. The videos will be shown to members of Congress. Ask them to take on our mission to have children’s voices heard when they move forward with health care reform.
3. Join the Site Warming tonight, May 6th, from 9 to 10 p.m. eastern time on Twitter for a #SpeakNowforKids
4. Visit the Speak Now for Kids website and join the cause!