The Give Blog

On the Ground: Chicago Law & Education Foundation

Today we feature the Chicago Law & Education Foundation.  One of our good acquaintances is involved with this foundation.  Check out this information from it’s website.

CLEF mission is to operate and provide long-term support for legal clinics and legal educational initiatives in Chicago Public Schools.  CLEF's long-term goal is to establish free legal clinics and relevant education programming in all Chicago Public High Schools, with access to those programs for their respective feeder elementary schools.  Read more from the organization’s website.

 

Our Conscious Living: ESPN 3

In the past we have blogged about how we don’t have cable, and I must admit I wished I could watch some games.  Well, now, I can, and I still don't have cable.  Little did we know that we can receive a bunch of ESPN games via our regular internet connection.  We have watched bowl games and our home Illini team so far.  Join in.  You don’t need cable! 

 

 

Increasing Conflict Between Rich and Poor

New York Times-- Survey Finds Rising Perception of Class Tension  By Sabrina Taverisa

Conflict between rich and poor now eclipses racial strain and friction between immigrants and the native-born as the greatest source of tension in American society, according to a survey released Wednesday. About two-thirds of Americans now believe there are “strong conflicts” between rich and poor in the United States, a survey by the Pew Research Center found, a sign that the message of income inequality brandished by the Occupy Wall Street movement and pressed by Democrats may be seeping into the national consciousness.  Read the entire article.

 

Melinda Gates Answers Questions--Part II

New York Times—Melinda Gates Answers Your Questions  By The Editors

Ms. Gates, of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, recently returned from a three-day trip to Bangladesh. She, along with Nick, agreed to answer readers’ questions about development issues focusing on that part of the world. Here is the second of three installments.

COSIMA BARLETT: My comments do not in any way detract from the profound admiration I have for you and your Foundation but a simple question: why do you not concentrate more of your efforts on American children who are so lacking in so many important areas as statistics now show?

MELINDA: When Bill and I started the foundation we decided to tackle the largest sources of inequity, both at home and abroad. Globally, the greatest disparity we saw was in health. Children in poor countries were dying of diseases like measles that were either preventable or that nobody was working to address. We felt like our resources could make a huge difference in the lives of poor families.  Read more questions and answers.

 

Melinda Gates Answers Questions--Part I

New York Times—Melinda Gates Answers Your Questions   By The Editors

Ms. Gates, of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, recently returned from a three-day trip to Bangladesh. She, along with Nick, agreed to answer readers’ questions about development issues focusing on that part of the world. Here is the first installment of the Q&A session. 

How can a “small” person without a lot of financial resources help the women of the world? What can each of us do to reach out to the women in Africa, Haiti, South America and the Far East? I feel so helpless and it really hurts. –JEANIE, New York City

MELINDA: That’s a great question, Jeanie. I believe that each of us can do important and meaningful work to make the world a better place. It’s not about the money. It’s about using whatever resources you have at your fingertips to try to improve the world. I think that real giving starts with caring about others and wanting to learn more. I encourage everyone to become a student of the causes they care about.   Read more questions and answers.

 

On the Ground: Dental Care for Children

Today we feature Dental Care for Children.  Here is some information from its website.

There are numerous programs in the underdeveloped world that take care of basic health, education, clean water and so forth. Without doubt, they are truly needed.  But there are very few organizations that take care of the other most basic need of underprivileged kids – their teeth. Pain, decay, impactions, infections… all combine to make a child’s life uncomfortable at best, unbearable at worst.  Read more from its website.

 

Our Conscious Living: Spring Break II

Last year we were lusting over all of the places we heard people were going over the university’s spring break.  What was wrong with us?  Why didn’t we go somewhere?  We did know though that we weren’t going anywhere because we were trying to consciously live and give.  This year we show that we do not live like paupers.  We saw that a hotel was running an $89 a night deal in Chicago so we decided to start out spring break with a weekend trip to Chicago.  We’re taking the train including going at the cheapest times and using our AAA discount.  With the cost to board the dog, our total cost for two nights out on the town (without food) is $350.  A little trip and a little guilt.

 

New Study on Roots of Poverty

New York Times-- A Poverty Solution That Starts With a Hug  By Nicholas D. Kristof 

PERHAPS the most widespread peril children face isn’t guns, swimming pools or speeding cars. Rather, scientists are suggesting that it may be “toxic stress” early in life, or even before birth. This month, the American Academy of Pediatrics is issuing a landmark warning that this toxic stress can harm children for life.  Read the entire article.

 

Let's Not Forget Haiti

New York Times—A Quake-Scarred Nation Tries a Rural Road to Recovery  By Randal C. Archibold 

For months after the earthquake that struck the capital, Manel Laurore pulled shattered bodies from his neighbors’ homes, hunkered in fetid refugee camps and scrounged for food and water. Today, his main worries are when his bean, corn and plantain crops will come in. “I will never go back to Port-au-Prince,” said Mr. Laurore, 32, a former shopkeeper who was sifting soil to plant a tomato garden, referring to the capital. “It left a strong pain inside. Here the work is hard, but you live in total peace.”  Read the entire article.

 

Moral Leadership from Hollywood

New York Times—Angelina, George, Ben and Mia  By Nicholas D. Kristof

HERE’S a paradox: We’re finding authentic leadership these days not from our nominal leaders in Washington but from unelected (and mostly unelectable) figures whom we like to deride as self-indulgent narcissists. . . . Even more startling, we can now turn to moral leadership from — brace yourself — Hollywood’s “most beautiful people.” I know, I know.  Read the entire article.