Stop in the name of love...

Before you contract an STD?

Yes, that is the opening line of the song I am singing tonight at a pregnancy center volunteer appreciation banquet.
Yep, that's right. I'm not lying to you!

This is what I do- I take songs that are already out there, and change the words to fit whatever group I'm singing to. I did something similar at our National Conference last year for a coworker who was getting married. That one was more of an 80s theme though.

Tonight... is Motown. And I'll be videoing it. So, if I can ever figure out how to post video (which I've been unsuccessful at in the past), I'll post it on here so you can all see it.

Until then, this is Diana Ross- signing out. Or Martha (from the Vandellas) or one of the Temptations. You get the idea. :)

How do you honor your mother?

Mother's Day- it used to be a day that I forgot about until the Saturday before- and then I scrambled to get my mom something nice. Of course, something nice usually ended up being a useless trinket that she would never use, or flowers that would die the next day, or the only card left at the grocery store because everyone else had done their shopping already and picked out all the good ones.
I just recently starting pondering the appreciation of my mother- which isn't hard to do because I've got a good one. She's always there to help- sometimes when I don't even ask for help- but she's there.
I know that there are people out there who don't have the best moms in the world, but there is one thing that your mom gave you, whether or not you've realized it already or not. That thing is LIFE. I mean, I really like my life. And I really like my mom for giving me the life that I really like. Of course, I realize that dads have a part in this too, but there's another day for that- it's called Father's Day- and this post is on Mother's Day.
So, I got to thinking... what is it that I could give my mom to show her how much I appreciate her? Yes, a card would be nice, especially if I wrote it myself, or planned ahead to find one that hadn't been picked over by the "responsible Mother's Day shoppers." But what about the gift she gave me?
I'm 100% positive that I haven't always been easy to deal with. I'm sure that if my mom could have seen into the future, she might have seen what troublesome times she would have had with me through my teen years. But I'm also sure that she still would have chosen to bring me into this world. Because even through the hard times, the long hours she worked as a single mom to raise my brother and me, the tears she cried when she couldn't give us something that we wanted- she loves us. And she'll be the first to tell you that she would lay her life down for us. Now, how could she have known that she would feel that way now? She couldn't have- and she didn't. She didn't know how things would have turned out, but she chose to have us all the same. I will forever be grateful to my mom for that.
And because of that, this year I will be donating money to an organization that helps women choose life- in honor of my mom. It's the only way that I can think of to thank her for giving me life- to help someone else give life in hopes that their child will come to appreciate the sacrifices that were made by their own mother.
To all mothers everywhere- I'm starting early this year- but THANK YOU!
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Twitter for Twits

So, I sat in on a nonprofit911 call today about Twitter and it's uses for fundraising. Very interesting stuff. I have been hesitant to start a twitter account because I really just wasn't very sure what it was or how to do it. But after this call today, I was informed of all the different methods, uses, etc. So, I took the plunge. You're now looking at the newest member of Twitter. @kaysanford
Comments, suggestions, etc- they're all welcome! Are you using Twitter? What are your favorite things about it? Dislikes? Do you use it for personal updates, or for work? I'm curious to see the general consensus here.

It's "Bring your kids to work day!"

Last week during an all-staff meeting, I was informed that our north office in Virginia had planned a day for kids to come to work with their parents. Since our office is really small, and everyone else has grown kids in college, we only had one lonely kid show up to work at our office. However, I think that he really enjoyed his time with us, and that he will definitely sleep well tonight. So, I've put together a little comparison study of what the kids in the north office might have been doing while our kid was doing his little activities. Hope you enjoy!

1. While the north office kids were learning everyone's job descriptions,

Max was learning phone manners.

2. While the north office kids were doing arts and crafts,

Max was doing his own art.

3. While the north office kids were running around laughing and playing,

Max was practicing his Darth Vader voice into the fan.

4. When the north office kids took a lunch break,

Max was enjoying his snack time.

5. When the north office kids had nap time after lunch,

Max also took advantage of nap time.

6. While the north office kids were tye-dying t-shirts,

Max was just modeling his t-shirt.

7. While the north office kids were playing hide and seek,

So was Max!

8. When the north office kids were playing "House,"

Max was playing "Cops and Robbers."

9. While the north office kids were playing "Mother May I?",

Max was playing "Red Light, Green Light."

10. And finally when the north office kids settled down to watch a movie together,

Max watched a movie too!

All in all, it was a great day having Max at work with us. He's such a polite young man, and I know that I speak for all of us when I say that he is welcome here with us anytime. Who knows... maybe when he grows up, he'll want to work for Care Net too!

Purple Envelope Project

I just wanted to let everyone know of a grassroots movement that has begun. As you all know, I work for Care Net in Donor Relations, but what happened yesterday was nothing short of a miracle. I talked to a stay at home mom named Lauren who, in her words, "just wanted to help." She has started a project called the Purple Envelope Project to help support pregnancy centers. The idea was sparked from how much attention and response was generated through the Red Envelope Campaign. Lauren mentioned that she heard people say "we SHOULD have generated response and support for the actual pregnancy centers" so she said, "well, why don't we?" Thus sparked the Purple Envelope Project.
Lauren's blog is www.purpleenvelopeproject.blogspot.com which will give more information about how to participate. The idea is to send one dollar in a purple envelope to either Care Net or Heartbeat to help support pregnancy centers. I have already developed a plan in house here at Care Net so that we can track how many come in here.
I have to say that I am deeply blessed by the actions of one person who just wanted to make a difference. I pray that this project is a HUGE success!