"If you can't feed 100 people, just feed one." Mother Teresa
Last night Courtney had her "pinning ceremony" for her nursing school. Congrats Ms. RN!!
When she walked across the stage they had a picture of her--a darling picture from her trip to an orphanage in Ghana and one of her favorite quotes from Mother Teresa.
(Here we are with Florence. As in, Nightingale. The keynote speaker sculpted Florence while he gave his speech).
I gave her Stones for Schools (the second book by Greg Mortensen, Three Cups of Tea). Three Cups of Tea was one of her favorite books. I wanted to include something else with her gift. When I read about sending two girls to school in Afghanistan (for only $20) I made a donation in Courtney's name and printed out the certificate.
As we were driving home I thought about all the books I had tucked under the tree and how I could find a charitable gift to accompany them. Here are just a few of my ideas from "Gifts that Give More"--a printable certifcate will be emailed to you after your purchase is made!
Fire: High-efficency Stoves for Darfur Refugees
Sold (mature themes & haunting): Liberate Girls from Indentured Servitude
The Secret Life of Bees: Beekeeping Traning in Central America
A Thousand Splendid Suns: Pay a Teacher's Salary in Afghanistan
Charlotte's Web: Fund a Microloan for a Pig
Twilight Series: Protect Amerian Wolves (like the ones that almost ate up my dad last week hunting in Northern Idaho)
Left to Tell: Feed a Rwandan Family for a Month
The Curious Garden: Plant a Garden for Health in Rwanda
Brown Bear: Bear Hugs for Children in Need (and you might just need to include a Build-A-Bear)
The Hunger Games: Ending World Hunger
I could think of a book for almost every one of the charitable organizations. A girl who loves horses?
Riding Freedom and Feed and Care for a Rescued Horse.
I remember my "horse phase." I also remember wanted to adopt a wild horse. I think that is often the power of great literature, it motivates you to do something.
Now that we have Roxy, I think that Sit, Stay, Read would be great paried with Because of Winn-Dixie.
But my heart will always be with educating women. I believe that is the key to development (and I hope to think that I learned something from my major at BYU).
So, I think giving the gift of literacy and education can be paired with any book you give this season--and donations are currently being matched at RoomtoRead.