How good it feels...

Photo (left to right): Maggie Lachmayr, Bob Crutchfield, President/CEO of Christian City, Pat Sams, Phyllis Bennett, Victoria Hughes, Janet Dunn, Belinda Fitch, Debi Lenox, Dana Forse, Angela Bean, Chair of Volunteer Committee, Angela White, Randy Hall, Heidi Becker, Director of Marketing and Development at Christian City, State Representative Matt Ramsey, and Missy Ramsey

I participated once again this year in the Chair-ity Event, helping to raise much-needed funds for The Children's Village at Christian City. (That's me behind the two elves in the photo above) What a fabulous group of volunteers! What a wonderful cause.

I may have shared my feelings on giving and how I choose who to support before so skip this paragraph if you remember this particular soapbox! I was the local president of a large national charity for a number of years. We raised a ton of money for the cause. Along the way I also joined in efforts to raise dollars for other well-known organizations. Until I traveled to the headquarters of one of the groups. I realized where a lot of our hard-fought donations were going!

I started doing research and decided that I would only support organizations I could see, touch, visit, and get to know personally. I support a wide variety of local groups - the Joseph Sams School, the Promise Place, Southwest Christian Care, The Breast Cancer Survivor's Network... I know I'm missing some... but I'll end the list with "my" charity of choice, Christian City.

The volunteers and staff at Christian City are a stellar group of people who do so much to help so many. They not only support children through numerous programs, but they help our senior population. They're now working on a new program which will provide assistance to adult children with special needs. That's going to be a program I'll be getting behind 100%.

Christian City is well-run. Everyone I've ever gotten to know is committed to what they do and they all go way above and beyond. I'm so impressed with every aspect of their mission and the way they go about the business of helping others.

It makes me feel good to do my tiny, tiny part to help this great organization! I wish I could do more.

The Chair-ity Event is an annual Christmas event that raises money through sponsorships, donations and the auctioning of chairs painted by local artists and other donated items. It is completely volunteer driven. We just held the event and raised over $30,000. Not bad for a 2-hour event. Next year we're going to raise more.

I am primarily in 'charge' of collecting and managing the artists. Many fantastic artists donated their time and talent to paint some of the cutest and most beautiful chairs for the event. I've looked on-line at similar chairs --- our artist's chairs would sell for over $500 retail! I also try to keep up with the website for the event and do whatever else that's needed. Everyone works their tushes off to make the event a success!

This year we held the event at the Dolce in Peachtree City. Very wonderful group who worked with us and truly gave a lot to support our efforts!

Ah well, I'm ramblin' now... it's easy to do when I start writing (or talking) about something important. It's Christmas -- I hope you'll consider checking out Christian City's Children's Village and maybe you'll feel led to sponsor a child.

Like to get involved in next year's Chair-ity event (our 5th annual) or another fund-raiser to support the group? janet at georgiafrontpage dot com.

Monday, Monday...

I took yesterday off. Yup, gave myself a day off. I only spent maybe a half-hour on the computer... shock! Went out to eat, watched Avatar on the tube, vegged all day. It was nice.

Noel November on Saturday night was fun. The food at the Towne Club Center in Peachtree City is superb! I thought the Noel folks had hired a caterer and went looking to find out who they were... only to be told it was the regular chef at the Towne Club. I told them the food was enough to make me want to sell my home and move in immediately . I did learn that the public can stop in for lunch or dinner, they'll let you hold meetings there, etc. A friend told me that they'd recently changed chef's and the food improved substantially. That's second-hand info...

I went to Noel November last year and it seemed to me that the money being spent by attendees at the auction this year was a LOT less. Last year trees sold close to a thousand dollars, this year they were getting $200 - $400. I left before the auction ended so maybe the prices increased later.

I hope they raised a lot of money for the causes. I know the Realtors who put on the event worked at the Clothes Less Traveled in Peachtree City to raise money prior to the event. The Clothes Less Traveled does a phenomenal job of supporting numerous local charities. Love the organization!

I spent the day-time on Saturday at the Apples & ArtFest in Fayetteville. It was also fun. The attendance could have been better. I think part of the problem is they're not on any main roads, you have to know how to get there. It was a lot of crafts. I came home with some cool pieces, sold a few of my own, spent a lot of time talking with friends who stopped by... It was a good day, think that if I do it again next year I'll make Christmas ornaments, smaller items in the craft-price range.

The apple cobbler and zucchini-apple muffins were drooling-good! Laurie Bean made them, sold them (with a little help from Mom and a cousin). They also sold red-velvet-cake-in-a-cup, which was a big hit. Laurie is a chef, caters... everything I've ever tried that she made is excellent.

I have one more charity to go this year and that's the Chair-ity Event to benefit The Children's Village at Christian City. Let me know if you'd like information, tickets, to make a donation..

It's Monday and I'm back at work. First thing I had to do was figure out what was eating up the memory on my computer, slowing my system. I think I may have it fixed, we'll see. I thought I'd fixed it once before and it came back...

OK, enough ramblin', I'm going back to work. Monday, Monday...

ShopFaithfully.com Launches Virtual Shopping Mall That Helps Churches and Christian Charities Raise Contributions

RJ Note: Now this story has the potential to give Fayette County and all believers new meaning as we "shop til we drop." Or at least until our fingers get all tuckered out!

/PRNewswire/ -- ShopFaithfully.com announced today that it has released the latest on-line "virtual mall" for people who want to support their Church or favorite Christian Charity. During these tough economic times, this site is the answer to a challenge that Churches and Christian Charities continue to experience as direct donations significantly decrease, while individuals see their savings and investment portfolios severely affected by the troubled financial markets. ShopFaithfully.com provides a solution for Christian shoppers to give contributions in addition to their normal tithing.

Working with leading on-line retailers like Wal-Mart, Buy.com, Family Christian Stores, ToysRus.com, Office Depot, Overstock.com, and iTunes, ShopFaithfully.com has created an environment of giving through shopper's everyday on-line purchases. ShopFaithfully.com gives back a percentage of every qualified purchase directly to the shopper's chosen Church or Christian Charity. Shoppers do not have to make a direct donation and pricing is the same or better than if they went directly to the retailers. This provides the shoppers a one-stop shop opportunity that can save consumers time and money in a very charitable way.

Shoppers can allocate their donations to one of the Christian Charitable Partners, or they can submit their own Church or Christian Charity to be added. The site's most popular feature is the capability to submit a Church or Christian Charity for approval. The submittal can be made by the Church, the Christian Charity, or the shopper. Once approved, shoppers can then select that Charitable organization as their charity of choice. Up to 20% of every qualified purchase they make will be donated directly to their chosen charity. This provides an additional revenue stream that supplements their organization's tithes, offerings, donations, and fundraising programs.

Since shoppers are using the web more than ever to do their everyday shopping and to look for gift ideas, ShopFaithfully.com has partnered with hundreds of leading on-line retailers offering over 10 million products to choose from. In an anticipation of strong support by the Christian Community, ShopFaithfully.com has increased the site's capacity and has prepared a migration path that will support future growth. With an estimated 50 million on-line Christian Shoppers and $240 billion spent through on-line shopping annually, ShopFaithfully.com hopes to reach $8 million annually in donations to Churches and Christian Charities within the next 3-5 years.

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James Brown Memory

A few years back a group of us were in Augusta for a convention. One night we hit a local bar and restaurant on the river for dinner. We hadn't been there long before James Brown and his entourage dropped in. We didn't know it was one of the places he liked to frequent, but we soon learned he was somewhat of a regular.

It was interesting talking with him for a few minutes. If I hadn't been at the right time at the right place that little tiny exchange wouldn't have happened. Can't tell you the name of the restaurant 'cause I don't remember, can't tell you what I said to him 'cause it was no more than typical surface talk that you have with someone you don't know.

What is interesting is how when paths cross, no matter how lightly, some sort of connection is formed. I payed attention to new articles and was saddened to hear of his death. He was so alive it was hard to imagine a world without him.

Now I find that I click on stories about all the hoopla that continues to occur after his death.

Five of his children are contesting his will. It's a family brawl that I imagine will leave scars that will never heal.

Money has a way of tearing people apart. Brothers and sisters who have shared their closest confidences become bitter enemies when a parent dies and things have to be split.

Brown left a large portion of his estate to charity. Commendable. He also took care of his grandkids. Again, commendable. I would assume he felt his older children were capable of standing on their own two feet, taking care of themselves. Obviously, they disagree.

While he definitely didn't lead a perfect life by any stretch of the imagination, most of us will remember Brown for his antics, his enthusiasm, his music. I think it's time for me to stop reading articles about James Brown and let the memories of his music be what I think about when I hear his name.

A better way to give?

Working on the Fayette Front Page and the Georgia Front page I see a large, large number of releases and stories about all the good things people are doing in the world. Turn on the television, especially at this time of year, and you're bound to see a commercial or a story for or about a charity.

I hear huge dollar amounts tossed out. Millions are donated to feed the homeless, cure a disease, right a wrong.

So how come we're not making a dent in things? We're tossing zillions of dollars toward research. Zillions of dollars to rebuild homes. Zillions of dollars to feed people across the world.

Off and on I think about the industry of helping others. It's a huge business. HUGE.

It's not always a business that is a good steward of our donated dollars and time. I remember visiting the Atlanta office a very well known organization fighting a deadly disease. I should be so lucky to sit in an office of similar opulence.

Think about all of the people who make their living fighting diseases. We have managers, vice presidents, presidents, staff workers, accountants, doctors, scientists and untold numbers who would be jobless if they found a cure for the disease they're trying to eradicate. Do away with those who are now in poverty and we'd create a whole new group of out-of-work poverty fighters on the dole because they no longer had a job (no matter how minuscule the pay they're currently getting).

Now, I'm not saying that the people aren't working diligently to cure whatever disease they're fighting. There are many very dedicated individuals out there who would love to lose their job if it meant success.

However, the fighting poverty, fighting disease industry is huge. I remember when there was a big scandal of sorts some years back where charities were attacked for having such huge operating costs. Now everyone is proud to show that ten percent or some small percent is going to operating costs.

Call me skeptical, call me scrooge, but I find it difficult to see all the high dollar amounts going to various organizations and not see any major strides in fighting poverty or illnesses. I'm also smart enough to know that books can be cooked and operating costs can be downplayed by moving things into a different column. Not saying there are any shenanigans going on, just noting that it's possible.

I see our local charities and I can feel the dedication, I can see them helping individuals. I see their crowded offices and know that in many, many cases the space is donated by a local business person. I know they work for meager salaries. I see the impact they make in people's lives. I volunteer, donate, help raise money and know it's going to a good cause and being used wisely.

Take it a step higher and I start to lose a bit of faith. I still help when I can. I donate when possible, help raise money, give of my time. Wondering about something I can't know doesn't stop me from wanting to do whatever I can to stop cancer, heart disease, kidney disease, etc.

But I wonder if there's not a better way sometimes.

Funny. As I was typing this the Georgia Front Page phone rang. I picked it up. It was a charity (calling from Florida) wanting us to make a donation. Great timing...