Granola bars, Goodwill & VAWA

October 30, 2012

Every weekday morning, as I exit I-25 on the way to drop my daughter Adina off at pre-school, she and I are struck by two things: 1) how absolutely gorgeous the view of the Rocky mountains is from that particular point on Hampden Road, and 2) how sad it is that some people don't have homes.  There is always someone waiting at the light at the end of the exit ramp, holding up a sign, asking us for help.

This morning, Adina and I decided to fill a bag with peanut butter and oatmeal raisin granola bars and give them out over the next week or so to whoever is waiting at that light in the mornings.  Truth: We'd bought 100 or whatever ridiculous amount Costco sells in one box, and it turns out, my kids only like (read: will eat) the chocolate chip ones.  Easiest form of sharing there is.  

(Another truth:  I learned this easy sharing trick from my husband, a man who always asks for his leftovers at a restaurant to be boxed up, and then promptly hands the box to the first homeless person he encounters on the street after the meal.) 

After I got my daughter settled at school, I drove east on Hampden a quarter of a mile to a Goodwill donation center and dropped off four bags filled with clothes that my children had outgrown and that I no longer wanted.  How do my donated items help the Denver community?  Well, they are put up for sale in the thrift store and converted into cash that funds the organization's overhead as well as job skills and job development programs.  "Goodwill Denver is dedicated to programs that benefit the local community by inspiring high schools students, helping people get off welfare and back into the workforce and offering work options for the disabled." 

Then, I came home and sat down at my computer.  Before getting to work, I took three minutes to send emails to my Congressman and Senators to tell them that I think The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is an election issue and must be passed by the end of 2012.  Click here to see the simple script provided for me by the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women.  Here is where I found my representative's contact information, and here is how I reached my senators.    

And the subtitle to this blog entry is: "Two basically effortless do-gooding acts and I share my opinion.  Again."  

e-impact, easy as pie.  Or granola bars.  Happy Tuesday to you all.  And now, back to work ...

-e