Hats off to Italian Home for Children

This past Saturday I went to the Derby Day event, which benefit the Italian Home for Children (IHC). This allowed me to do two things: One, to buy myself a ridiculously large flowery hat, and two, participate in a fundraiser for one of OYFP's partners.

This was my first time at the Harvard Club and the views it offers of downtown Boston were spectacular. Additionally, this was my first time to a derby event and it was fun to go around sipping mint julieps and admiring the creativity of other people with their hats.

My favorite hat was a lady who turned a baseball cap backwards, and put some flowers at the back (lid) of the hat. It's non-traditional of course, but I like people who think outside of the box. Jamie, my date was in the race for the best male hat. I think it was because he was one of three men there wearing hats, but I thought he looked very dapper in his hat.

In the Harvard Club, there were many flat screen TVs positioned around so you could watch the derby without straining your neck. When the horses were racing it was fun to see everyone cheer on the horse they thought had the best chance to win. It made you feel like you were at the clubhouse in Kentucky, cheering on the horses so they could hear it. And of course, we all knew that the tickets were going to support the Italian Home, which was reason enough to yell a little.

This event may not have been something you can afford but if you can, it is a spectacular event to attend that benefits an even more spectacular cause.

If you don't have any money to donate, but have the time, then come volunteer and play recess with the residents of the Italian Home for Children, Saturday May 17th, from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm. After all, volunteering will make you happier in the long run...

Spots are limited so please RSVP quickly to reena.mathew@oyfp.org. More information is available on the OYFP website.

Think of it as a field day to help out children who have emotional and behavioral issues... oh and you get to play too.

To view more photos of Derby Day 2008, visit Boston.com.

Related posts: Move your Bloomin', How to be Happier, Who is Happier?

photo courtesy of me

graphic flyer courtesy of Erica

Give a little marrow for Mom

It's time for another Hallmark holiday! Mother's Day is Sunday, May 11, and who are begrudge our mothers a little "thanks for raising me and helping me become so awesome"we to recognition?

What do moms do best? They help. When you scrape a knee, she provided a band-aid and a kiss. When your high school band got its first gig, she lent you the family van. When you weren't sure what to wear to your first job interview, she took you shopping.

Now's your chance to help someone else - in the same spirit that your mom helped you. May 5 through 19 is the National Marrow Donor Program's "Thanks Mom" campaign. What if, instead of getting your Mom flowers or treating her to a spa day, you get screened for a bone marrow donation? On any given day, the doctors of more than 6,000 children and adults are searching the NMDP Registry for a life-saving donor.

During the "Thanks Mom" campaign, the first 10,000 people who register online will receive a free swab kit in the mail that will enable them to join the registry. It normally costs $52 to get swabbed - a cost many of us might not be willing to incur. I was inspired to register after hearing Erica's story about her battle with leukemia. It reminded me that funny people, pretty people, mean people, people with brothers and sisters, people with friends - any of them - could be in need of bone marrow, and their chances of finding a match increase with every person who joins the registry.

And, contrary to popular belief, the donation process is no longer painful. Seriously. It's just a week long, outpatient procedure.

I'll admit - it was a little disconcerting to put personal health information online, but it's a secure site, and there's really not much to the form (No, I don't have Hepatitis. Yes, I consider myself in general good health, etc). I didn't input a credit card number as the kit is supposed to be free of cost - I'll update this entry to let you know if that was the correct thing to do.

If you don't feel comfortable registering, perhaps you could give some money to the foundation to help out.

What are you waiting for? Thank you Mom by actually DOING something - helping others, like she helped you.


Related posts: Getting Cheeky - Erica's Story and Why You Should Get Swabbed

Photo of the boy with a bandaid courtesy of Ed in Ohio.
Photo of Erica courtesy of her friends.

Food Crisis - Get on the Seoul Train

Let's stick around the Asian continent for a bit..

In the past ten years, approximately 3 million North Koreans have died from a food crisis and other persecutions committed by their government. As a matter of survival, about 250,000 North Koreans have escaped to China - only to live in worse conditions there. Some women are subjected to lives as prostitutes or as brides to Chinese farmers. Men end up working as farmhands or living homeless in the woods, while children become homeless street kids.

If the North Koreans are are caught in China, the Chinese Government arrests and send these refugees back to North Korea (hundreds each month), directly violating international laws under which China is held liable as a member of the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees). Defecting from North Korea is a capital offense, and these repatriated refugees endure such abuses as concentration camps, torture, forced abortion, and executions.

Seoul Train* is a documentary aimed at raising awareness of the plight of these North Koreans and their only hope - an underground railroad reminiscent of those from the histories of America and Nazi Germany. Harvard's Asian Pacific American Society will be showing this documentary tonight, Friday, May 2nd at 5PM in Larsen G08 (on the campus of Harvard Graduate School of Education).

To find out more info about the film, the dire situation facing North Koreans and North Korean refugees, and how you can get involved, check out www.seoultrain.com.

*fyi: Seoul is the capital city of SOUTH Korea. Since the armistice ending the Korean war, only about 6,000 North Koreans actually have found freedom in the south. Most North Koreans travel via the underground railroad over thousands of kilometers of Chinese territory and head to Mongolia or Southeast Asia.


Photo courtesy of Eric Lafforgue.

An Olypmic Debate

I enjoy watching the Olympics. I like to cheer people on from my country and always am astounded by some of the great athleticism and skill that these athletes display in front of the world. These athletes have pushed their bodies to their physical limits all to be the very best in the WORLD in a particular sporting event.

In upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics, the athletes have taken second stage to the protests against the host country, China, and its treatment of Tibetans. Several world leaders have even said they will boycott opening ceremonies. This isn't the first time the Olympic games have been boycotted either.

The first recorded boycott was at the 1956 Melbourne summer Olympics. The countries Lichtenstein, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden boycotted the games in protest of the Soviet invasion of Hungary. Additionally, The People's Republic of China refused to participate due to the allowance of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to participate in the games. My question to you is this the right place for political activism?

Let me take a moment to say that I am all for the human rights and I think China's lack of respect for women, and treatment of Tibetans should not be something that is just shrugged off. In my opinion, the Olympics is not the place for political activism. These athletes work extremely hard and this may be their one and only chance to win that gold medal, after all athletes have a short time span these days.

Yet still are the Olympic Games an appropriate place for protest? That is why Sport in Society is hosting an event, Olympism vs the Olympics: A Sport in Society Roundtable Event this Tuesday, May 6, starting at 6pm at Northeastern University. It will provide you an opportunity to gather and dialogue about the power of sport and to what extent the Olympics actually promote peace and dignity.

The even will be feature panel discussions by:

• Nathaniel Mills, U.S. Olympic Speed Skater and Director of the Olympism Project
• Whitney Post, U.S. Olympic Rower and Women's Sports Foundation
• Jennifer Molina, Mexican Olympic Soccer Player and Sport in Society
• Eli A. Wolff, U.S. Paralympic Soccer Player and Sport in Society
• Andy Wise, U.S. Paralympic Powerlifter
• Roz Puleo, Right to Play
• Tina Noles, U.S. Olympic Alumni Association

Hope to see you there, and we can carry this discussion on further.

Olympic Flag courtesy of www.flags.net
Sports photo courtesy of 1956 Olympic Games images.beijing-2008.org

Tickle Me Pink, Boston

It seems as though there's a fundraiser to help fight breast cancer every time I turn around. Well, there's a reason there's so many events to raise money.

In 2004 alone, 186,772 women and 1,815 men were diagnosed with breast cancer, and 40,954 women and 362 men died from breast cancer.* After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. Breast cancer is the number one cause of cancer death in Hispanic women.

In other words, a lot of people are impacted by breast cancer. Not just the women (and men) who have the disease, but those around them. Their children. Spouses. Parents. Friends. You get the idea.

With that in mind, if you would like to help raise money for the Susan G Komen for the Cure Foundation, consider attending the Tickle Me Pink fundraiser this Friday, May 2 at Saint in Boston. I mean, really, how could you say no after those sobering statistics?

For just a $20 donation, you get to hang out at Saint (oo la la), drink gin cocktails courtesy of their sponsor "Right Gin," and enjoy complimentary hors d'oeuvres.

You'll also have the chance to bid in the silent auction, which includes 4th row tickets to the Patriots, Red Sox and Bruins tickets, a Spa Day followed by lunch at Stephanie’s, a 4 hour private cocktail cruise in Newport, RI, and many other delightful and enticing items.

Doors open at 8 PM, and there's sure to be a line by 10 PM, so come early for the fun. Wear your snazziest pink duds to show your support for the fight against breast cancer. Men, this is your chance to wear pink with no fear. Come on, break out your fushia cowboy hat!

Real men wear pink.

*Source: U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 2004 Incidence and Mortality. Atlanta (GA): Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Cancer Institute; 2007.

Tickle Me Pink Elmo courtesy of The Secret of Being Numb.
Pink shirted cowboy courtesy of Rods.com.

Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll on the Charles

My Saturday morning was full of sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

Well, kind of.

My employer organized a group to participate in the 9th Annual Charles River clean-up this past Saturday. Evidence of man's hedonistic nature was abound. We found more than one condom (sex), lots of syringes and plastic blunt tips (drugs), and dozens of green ear plugs (rock & roll, baby!).

We found all kinds of other trash, from hub caps to bottle caps, styrofoam Dunkin Donuts cups, plastic bags, and candy wrappers. We cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned, and there was still more trash. Kind of disgusting, really.

It's hard to believe that people used to swim in the Charles River! The photo on below shows Boston bathers on the Esplanade in the early 1900's.

Though swimming may not be the sport of choice in the Charles these days, in 2007 63% of the time the lower Charles' bacterial levels met the EPA's swimming standards... so it would have been safe to take a dip more often than not. And fortunately for those sailors among us, the Charles met boating standards 100% of the time. This is all according to data collected by the Charles River Watershed Association between Watertown Dam and Boston Harbor.

Interestingly, there are currently no swimmable urban rivers in the United States, though many European cities offer their citizens the benefit of a downtown river swim. If the Charles River continues on its current trajectory towards cleanliness, it could become the first urban American riverfront to offer its citizens a refreshing swim on a hot summer day.

If you would like to help the Charles River on its way, consider volunteering at one of these fine organizations:

• Charles River Conservancy
• Charles River Watershed Association
• Esplanade Association
• Emerald Necklace Conservancy
• Trustees of Reservations

Even if you don't want to join one of the groups above, you can help. Keep your trash in your pockets, or put it in a trash can. Bring a reusable travel coffee mug to your favorite caffeine distribution establishment. Don't leave your syringes by the river, people! Let's keep the river that runs through us clean, shall we?

Brave Bostonites swim a mile in the Charles River last year on one of the "safe" days.

Related Post: Bigfoot Seen in Charles?

Photo of the people picking up trash courtesy of my co-worker. That's me in the sunglasses!
Photo of the 1900's bathers courtesy of the Charles River Conservancy.
Photo of swimmers in the Charles courtesy of the Living Root.