DREAM BIG, EXPECT MUCH, AND LAUGH WHILE
ACCOMPLISHING GREATNESS!!!
Organizations...
November 15, 2007 - Thursday
Christmas Trees For Our Troops!
I got this letter from Operation AC, an organization that I think is really, really neat...
Dear Supporter,
Well,
it's that time of year again - the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays
are coming and there are so many of our US Service members going to
spend their holidays in Iraq or Afganistan. Many of these troops are
away from their families for the third or fourth time having spent
previous deployments in either Iraq or Afghanistan.
Thankgiving
begins a sad time for the troops and as Christmas nears, it becomes
sort of solemn and nobody really talks about it. Kim describes the
dinner as the command making the best efforts to creating all of the
foods from home, but it just isn't the same as spending it around the
dinner table at your house with your own family. She said everyone was
just quiet that day talking about what they were missing from
home-cooked meals with grandma or mom. I had gone to the store and
bought Chris and Kim's unit some artificial trees with lights and sent
them to their unit. Kim said when the Christmas trees arived in the
mail, many of the troops were spending their 1st Christmas away from
home and many others were able to get a bit of a mental vacation by
working together to make decorations for their tree. Many of the
platoon had contests for the best decorated tree in the unit. This is
what 1 small artificial tree with lights can do. Something about the
little tree with lights on it made grown-ups turn into kids again, just
for a little while. Kim said the little trees with lights made a lot of
difference in cheering everyone up.
We can
buy a tree and ship it to one soldier for $35. I have 300 here now and
we are getting another 500 in next week. The more money I can raise,
the more trees I can send. So this is it, simply put in a simple
in-expensive way. I'm sure you get asked all the time for money for the
troops, but I can tell you that what you send me, goes 100% to buying
these Christmas trees for our troops. Operation AC has sent exactly
6,582 of these trees since I sent them to Chris and Kim Christmas of
Operation Iraqui Freedom 1. This was all done because of people like
you. We are a team and can not make these accomplishments without each
other.
Nothing
is impossible because through God all things are possible. I pray that
my fellow Americans answer this call and help Operation AC help our
troops.
Thank you for your support.
I hope that everyone is having a really Super Terrific Thursday, take care and God Bless.....Mikey
iamnotagenious.com
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Operation AC Update
Got this letter from Operation AC, an organization that I think is really, really neat...
Our
lives were changed when an email from Chris arrived in 2003" Mom can
you organize and raise money to send us some air conditioners? It's 143
degrees in my HMMWV..." Long story short, we did send some air
conditioners - 9,400 air conditioners to be exact. But that was before
the people running this war stopped cooperating and made it nearly
impossible to get air conditioners to IRAQ. Until now. For over a
month, we have secretly been sending air conditioners to our troops in
Iraq and Afghanistan. We did this to test whether what we were being
told by the people at the Pentagon was actually true, that air
conditioners wouldn't and couldn't get there. What we found, instead,
was that they got to their destinations. That tells us that the
decision to block air conditioner shipment, because that's what they
are doing, blocking the shipments, is being made by someone at the
Pentagon. No doubt this someone is making decisions like this from the
comfort of an air conditioned office.
Let me quote some emails I've received about this:
"...I
will look into it. I do know several folks at dod are cautious about
sending air conditioners.. it competes with other types of
shipments...or so they say."
"..The
competition is filling up the mail distribution with things as big as
air conditioners. The folks here at dod often talk about the air
conditioners and how difficult that was for the mail delivery system in
country."
I
also took the extra step of asking if the Baghdad mail center would be
able to accept them if we flew them there privately, and that is when I
was told a very loud "NO!" I was told that the Baghdad mail center will
not accept air conditioners, period. Given what was said in those
emails so plainly proves that "they" think they know best for our guys
on the ground in all things. Meanwhile, our troops are being bound in
red tape with outsourced vendors who have to comply with contractual
obligations whether it be processing the mail (KBR does that) or
getting air conditioners to our troops. (The mail center in Baghdad
only processed 1,450 ACs which we mailed in 2004. The rest we paid DHL
to deliver.)
With
this said, we have spent the last month creating a delivery and
logistics path right to the units themselves via private carrier. While
I can buy one air conditioner for $85, it costs me an additional $100
to send it. Yes, it may sound insane, but we have done it thousands of
times and here is why: Our government is getting air conditioners to
our troops on the ground by "authorizing" the local Iraqis to sell to
them.
Why?
Because KBR is only contracted to replace air conditioning units in the
living spaces (trailers) and common spaces which they contractually
provide and nothing more. This means there is a huge supply and demand
issue. Our troops have great difficulty getting them, and when they do,
the price is huge. As well, once they do buy them, they are left
waiting and waiting for them to be delivered as the Irauis get them
from Kuwait. This is going on while it is 114 degrees in the shade and
our guys are in their full battle rattle sweating their behinds off.
Literally. My concern is our troops and to help them, we need to band
together to get this done. The only and best way to do it is for us to
buy them in the USA and ship them via air freight via DHL Danzas Air
& Ocean to Iraq and Afghanistan. In other words, Operation AC is
back where we started: getting sorely needed air conditioners to our
troops.
On
Friday, June 22nd we will begin taking sign-ups from S4s (unit supply
personnes) and entire deployed units who are in need of the air
conditioners. We already have many units on the ground asking, and our
inbox is stuffed with several hundred emails. I asked the people who
run this war to help me and they flat out told me, "NO!" (They're very
good at that.) Today as I prepare this letter, 50 air conditioners are
headed to our troops in Al Asad, Iraq. There are many, many other units
waiting for our help. Please consider a donation to us.
Nothing
is impossible because through God all things are possible. I pray that
my fellow Americans answer this call and help Operation AC help our
troops by doing what we do best - sending air conditioners.
Frankie Mayo
I hope everyone has a really Wonderful Weekend, take care and God Bless.....Mikey
  
Quality Infant & Toddler Clothing
www.mikeywear.com
Monday, May 14, 2007
Update From NACER Steve...
I've
known Steve online for over 10 years now and have had the honor of
watching a vacation he took to Southern Mexico evolve into this...
It's been some time since our last update,
and much good work has been accomplished! I want to share with you the
results of this work, where our challenges continue to be, and how you
can help.
In
August of 2006, we laid much important groundwork - establishing the
voucher fund for homeless animals and those belonging to indigent
families, funding multiple sterilization campaigns, and broadening our
initiatives on the literacy and animal welfare fronts.
We
made repeated forays into Punta Laguna and surrounding communities for
feeding and anti-parasitic work, to set the example of compassionate
care for the animals, to alleviate suffering and improve the health of
both the animals and the people through the reduction of zoonotic
conditions.
For
the third time since August, we pulled into Punta Laguna with a trunk
full of croqeta (kibble), and medicine. The kids know now that when
they see us coming, it means an afternoon of paid work for them - each
receiving 20 pesos for helping to carry bags of food throughout the
village for distribution. Bits of salchichas (hot dogs) are filled with
medication to combat the intestinal worms and external parasites which
previously plagued the dogs of Punta Laguna, often passed from the
animals to the children as well....
Evidence of our success is seen in the vastly reduced incidences of mange and ringworm in the animals.
While
we would wish for an ideal world where everyone is compassionate and
caring, we must take our victories in smaller strides. A sign of the
acceptance we've gained in Punta Laguna was clearly evident, where we
found a poor puppy restrained by stiff bailing wire, wrapped tightly
around her neck. She likely was tied up as a result of chasing chickens
or otherwise causing 'trouble', and we could not simply 'order'
her owners to release her. However, we did gently but firmly inform
them that this would ultimately result in the death of the dog and was
causing her to suffer greatly, and asked them to tie her in a more
humane way using rope instead. The family immediately complied, and her
relief was evident in her eyes... Would that we could snatch her away
from this hard life.... But we will keep coming back, and we will pray
that we can make a difference for her as we have for scores of other
animals in the village.
At
a NACER sterilization clinic held in Cancun, was a similar horror - a
chain being removed from the neck of a dog, where the chain had never
been removed as the puppy grew to adulthood, and had become ingrown
into it's skin. This is tragically not the first time we've encountered
such suffering in our work....
Beyond
colorful handouts, we continue to be committed to a long vision of
education and opportunity for the children of the Maya. We know that
the answers to the challenges we confront reside here, where real hope
is found. We continue to ask for your retired laptop computers, of any
generation!
Following our visit, we were asked by the village if we would conduct another sterilization campaign there. Our answer is completely dependent on your help!
Building on the close rapport we have built with this community over
the years, we believe that we stand a great chance of actually
achieving a 100% success rate - something virtually unthinkable when we
first began here four years ago. The cost would be nominal - we believe
that for about $1000 we can accomplish this important task. Should we
do so, then Punta Laguna could become not only a model community for
others to emulate, but would also afford us a wonderful 'laboratory'
from which to glean hard data to further support our critical work...
As
for the Voucher Program, while we are deeply pleased with the results,
we need to replenish the fund if this project is to remain viable and
be sustained.
Over the past year NACER proudly points to these accomplishments:
- The sterilization campaign of March '06 at the Cancun Perrera
- The feeding and antiparasitic program in Punta Laguna
- The launch of the LookBeyond Computer Literacy project
- Providing medicines and supplies to care providers throughout the region
- Major
funding for three additional sterilization campaigns - including Punta
Venado, Punta Alan, and a projected clinic in Xcalac/Muajual
- Establishment of the Tulum Voucher program
NACER is currently drastically under funded, and we need your immediate help to continue our work!!
We ask you to build on the wonderful good we've done together, and continue to partner with us into the future!
For more info about this or to make a donation, you can go to NACER.ORG...
I hope everyone has a Wonderful Week, take care and God Bless.....Mikey
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Non-Profit Organization Sneak-Peek
And for the benefit of the new readers, here are the other two Non-profit Organizations of the Month so far..
Hope everyone has a Super Terrific Week, take care and God Bless.....Mikey
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Ukes For Troops!
Well, with October drawing near and Ukes For Troops being the iamnotagenious.com Non-profit Organization of the Month for September, just realized that I almost forgot to repost this article on them from July 8, so...
There are some non-profit organizations that catch my eye as something really really neat, like Operation AC, which is dedicated to sending comfort items to our troops deployed in the Global War On Terror, so Ukes For Troops, that I found out about here on MySpace and was mentioned in yesterday's blog post, definitely got my attention...
Yep, they send ukuleles to our troops!
Since
they initially only had addresses for the Hawaiian National Guard, many
of the first ukuleles that were sent out went to the members of the
29th Support Battalion. Even though the 29th Support Battalion has gone
back to Hawaii, they continue to receive and fill requests for more
ukuleles. Most of these requests now come from Non-Hawaiians who have
heard the ukuleles while the Hawaiians were there, or just heard about
them and really want an ukulele...
And Ukes For Troops doesn't just send over one ukulele to a trooper. When a request for an uke comes in, they
send 12 ukes to the unit, along with instruction book, tuner, and extra
strings, so that they can all learn to play together...
As of April 2006, Ukes For Troops had sent over 500 ukuleles to the troops...
This
brings a smile to my face every time I think about it and I'm proud to
be able to help get the word out about this organization...
Some
may have noticed that I haven't been on MySpace much, except to post
here on the blog, been mostly taking a break from it to let Tom get the
problems it's been having taken care of, have spent a lot of time on
archiving the blog at www.mikeywear.com/page18.html and working on he yard to get it ready for Fall...
Yesterday I got a final OK from NACER Steve (he's real hard to get hold of) for NACER.ORG to be the iamnotagenious.com
Non-profit Organization of the Month for October, so will be making
banner ads for this occasion as soon as I get a chance and you will see
them here first, of course, hope everyone has a really Wonderful
Weekend, take care and God Bless.....Mikey
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Bingo Reminder...
Going to be busy again this weekend and still have all 12 Bingo Cage Kits left, so here's another re-post for while I'm away from here...
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Let's get some BINGO Games Going!
I
was actively involved in church youth groups from the end of 6th grade
until the day I graduated from high school, then on graduation night I
began to use drugs, when I decided to get off the drugs (a little over
16 years ago), what I had learned in those church youth groups made it
a lot easier to understand what I had to do to get off and stay drugs...
One
of my fondest memories when was when the first youth group I was
involved in would go to a senior citizen's home and get a Bingo game
going for them, we would bring white elephant gifts from home to give
them as prizes and would play until all of them won something, one
person would call the numbers, while others would help them mark their
cards and know when to yell "Bingo!" and others would go around to
visit those that didn't come to play Bingo, it was a lot of fun and it
taught us a lot about helping others...
I
would like for more church youth groups and youth organizations to do
this, so I am in the process of purchasing 12 (to start with) Bingo
cage sets, with cards and markers, to send to church youth groups or
youth organizations that would like to go to an assisted living center
(think that's what they call them now) and get regular Bingo games
going in those facilities...
So I have all my ducks in a row, the church youth group or youth organization will need to have "all" of the the following info on the church's or organization's letterhead...
Name of church youth group or youth organization...
Mailing address of church or organization...
Contact email address...
Name and adress of assisted living center...
Contact name and number for church or organization... (to verify)
Contact name and number at assisted living center... (to verify)
Mail it to...
MikeyWear
PO Box 2759
Angleton, Tx 77516
Let's get some Bingo Games Going! Hope everyone has a great weekend, take care and God Bless.....Mikey
Jeanie Mc Cartoon T-Shirt by jeaniemc
iamnotagenious.com
Monday, August 14, 2006
Tips For Non-Profit Organizations...
Back in October (I think), KC Strate of Bach ECI (Brazoria County Association for Citizens with Handicaps/Early Childhood Intervention) had
come by the Friday Morning Breakfast, so for coming by the breakfast I
stopped by there to donate some MikeyWear and get more info for a post
I wrote on 11-14-2005, and she had sent a thank you card with a hand
written note, with a photo of one of the children that were being
helped there with Santa...
Now
I haven't sold that much MikeyWear yet to be able to make many
contributions to the folks I have promised a portion of the off the top
profits to and those contributions have been small, but the last time I
sent checks to those I had promised to for he sales of the "Jesus Loves
Me" t-shirts, without really thinking about it I decided to send an
amount equal to what I sent to the others to Bach ECI, and received a
thank you card with a hand written note with a photo of one of the
children they are helping there...
Twice
since then I've been with folks who were having a fundraiser and were
trying to decide who they should contribute the money they raised to,
and the 1st organization that popped in my head was, yep, you guessed
it, Bach ECI...
And I thought it was because she had come by the Friday morning breakfast...
So
about a week after last month began I did an inventory of the MikeyWear
I have in stock and there were some that were slightly damaged (had a
stain or two), so when deciding who to donate them to, well, there's no
need to guess who popped in my head anymore...
Then
on the way to donate the slightly damaged MikeyWear to Bach ECI I
stopped by the post office to check the mail, most of the time I just
check to see if there's anything that needs immediate attention (like a
request for a Bingo Cage Kit) and throw the rest back in till it starts
filling up and this was one of the times I grabbed them all...
Now
as anyone that donates to organizations knows, for the week after the
1st of the month, most all of the organizations you donate to mail you
a request for more money, some with a return envelope and some without,
and that doesn't really matter, because I never can find the return
envelopes when I'm sending contributions and use my own anyway, so when
taking the mail to the car after pulling it all out of the mailbox I
realized why BACH ECI is always the 1st place that always pops in my
head when I'm thinking about what non profit organizations to
make a contribution to...
It's
time to take a break from this to copy and paste what I wrote about
BACH ECI last year, so folks don't have to try to maneuver that far
back in the archives to read it...
"Research
shows that growth and development are most rapid in the early years of
life. The earlier problems are identified, the greater the chance of
eliminating or minimizing them. Early intervention responds to the
critical needs of children and families in Brazoria County by Promoting
development and learning, Identifying and providing early intervention
and treatment, Providing support to families, Coordinating services,
Decreasing need for costly special programs..."
Also
to note: BACH ECI is a United Way Agency, so if you are contributing to
the United Way through your work, you can designate all of your United
Way donations to go to BACH ECI or any other United Way Agency that you
choose...
After
picking up the "Jesus Loves Me" infant t-shirts on Friday afternoon, I
went by BACH ECI to donate some to them, was able to see their new
expanded facility, and I can assure you that they will be making even
more of a difference in this community, take care and God
Bless.....Mikey
OK,
guess it was after I got the new t-shirts and not right after I met KC,
but I'm going to try to go to bed before midnight and don't want to
have to finish this after getting up, so that's going to go without an
edit...
So
when I went by there today to get KC's permission to share her secret
with you (which she obviously did, because you are reading this, of
course!) and asked her if I could, she said "which one?" Then she
offered me a cup of coffee and gave it to me in an Early Childhood
Prevention mug and she told me to keep it, then when we sat down to
chat for a few she pulled out chips and offered me a bag...
And
during our conversation she asked me to be their back-up Santa for the
Christmas Party there in case their main Santa was ill, don't think she
asks everyone that, though...
Think it's going to be some time till I think of another organization to donate to 1st when I'm making contributions...
Hmmm, wonder just how many secrets KC does have...
Still have to take a shower so going to cut it close, take care, God Bless, and g'night.....Mikey
Henry & THE BOX Cartoon4 Mug by henry_box
iamnotagenious.com
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Finally! A new message from NACER Steve!
I've
known Steve online for 10 years now and have had the honor of watching
a vacation he took to Southern Mexico evolve into this...
Greetings to all our wonderful friends and supporters!
This long-awaited update comes at a time of tremendous change for NACER.
Through the past several months, we have been in a time of great
transition. We are extremely proud of the many accomplishments from our
past, and have seen our efforts bear fruit in ways we'd have never
expected. Looking back over the past three years, we see many scores of
animals provided with sterilization - sparing countless thousands of
unwanted births and preventing untold suffering. We look at the
rescues, the resources shared with care providers, and the thousands of
dollars raised for relief from hurricanes, and man-made disasters as
well. We reflect upon the shining faces of hundreds of children, our
visits to schools and homes and villages - the legacy is documented on
the website in vivid colors, for all to see.
In
April of 2006, Alex West decided to pursue a new course, and NACER came
to a crossroads. We had seen the growth and development of teams within
Southern Mexico - local vets and techs, and concerned lay persons
picking up the torch a running with it - conducting free sterilization
clinics within their communities and beyond. We had come to see that
planted seeds were taking root, and that now was the time to find new
ways to effect change, and to maximize the use of our precious
resources.
In January of 2006, we began a new effort - the LookBeyond Project - seeking to reach the problems of animals neglect, and mistreatment at the source: human poverty and lack of opportunity.
The
approach is multifaceted, but brilliantly direct: we seek to stimulate
the development of literacy and contemporary skills, by providing
working computers directly to the indigenous children of the region.
We
began securing and building computers - P2 and P3 level machines loaded
with open-source (Linux) operating systems, which are transported to
the region and distributed under adult supervision to the kids.
Contained within the computers are multimedia and educational software
designed to promote values of kindness, caring and compassion - as well
as to educate on proper protocol for animal care, and general
educational support. The children must develop the skills needed to
operate the computer (which stimulates the development of academic
skills such as reading, writing and math) and then must help to teach
another child what they have learned (with the support of an adult
administrator) in order to earn a computer of their own. The project is
being administered by me, and in Mexico under the very competent
direction of Carlos Peche, of the Hekab Be Library in Akumal.
In addition to this work...
- We are developing printed educational materials for mass distribution to schools and within the communities.
- We will continue to raise funds and provide resources for free sterilization clinics throughout the region.
- We
will continue to implement feeding programs - another important aspect
of our mission which will become a point of strong emphasis.
- We are developing a therapy dog project
The
Therapy Dog Project aims at pairing rescued dogs of appropriate
temperament and disposition from the region with developmentally
disabled participants, who will receive mutual training, ultimately
then going together to provide therapeutic visits to those confined to
hospitals and nursing homes. The aim of this program is to create a
link between our respective communities, to demonstrate to both
communities that the animals have great value, deserving of care and
attention, and to provide a wonderful therapeutic adjunct for all the
program's participants and recipients.
The
feeding programs involve the purchase of volumes of kibble, which is
handed out directly to the people in pueblos and pueblitos wherever we
find neglect and starvation among the animals. The aim is not only to
provide immediate relief from the horrific suffering by these animals,
but to instill within the people a sense that the animals have value,
and deserve to be treated with care. We hope that by using this
opportunity to interface with the people directly, we can gently and
without judgment, persuade them to continue to provide food and care
for the animals after the provisions we give them run out. Our
experience with this aspect of the mission has been very positive in
the past - and though we know that we cannot guarantee that every
hungry dog will be cared for beyond our visit, we know that in
increments we can effect changes in attitudes and practices. This
project will seek to provide deworming and vaccinations along with
feeding and literature distribution, whenever possible.
This
coming Tuesday, NACER will reconstitute it's Board of Directors,
bringing in fresh energy and inspiration, and renewed dedication to our mission
- which remains unchanged. We appreciate the patience and continued
goodwill of our friends and supporters as we have undergone his period
of transition. Though we have been quiet we have continued to work
behind the scenes, and are about to enter a period of energetic and
active accomplishment - springing to the next level. We need your help
and support as much as ever - and we remain deeply grateful for every
contribution, however large or small.
Much love,
Steve
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Message from Steve at NACER.ORG...
As
most of you know, over the past period of nearly two years, NACER has
been my passion. We've done some great things along the way, and will
continue to into the future.
As my experiences in Mexico have
grown and expanded, so has my personal vision for what can and
must be done to help the indigenous children of the Mezoamerican zone
to rise above the mire of poverty and lack of opportunity which is the
root cause of so many problems within the culture there.
Toward this end, I've begun a new effort as an outgrowth of NACER.org's Community Services section: The Look Beyond Project.
While
some of you may be aware that for several months we've been actively
building computer systems for transport and distribution to Southern
Mexico, this effort will take the concept to a more complete and
permanent level, expanding the effort to become that of a new,
free-standing organization.
I'd like to ask you only for a little of your time to visit the new site at http://lookbeyond.org
and to send this along to anyone and everyone that you feel may be
interested in helping these wonderful kids to escape the traps of
poverty and illiteracy which limit their future, and contributes to so
many pressing challenges in their region.
I wish you all the best for the Holidays, and send my love, Steve
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