"There's a young woman named kill. She has a very bad spinal condition that has afflicted her in every aspect of her life; working, studying, exercising, just living. The pain is horrible and she needs surgery for it. However, as much as her spinal surgeon argues with the insurance company, the insurance company will not agree to pay for the initial operation. Because her spinal condition causes her such pain and movement restriction, she needs to have weight loss surgery before she can move on to having spinal surgery, which her insurance will cover. But they will not cover the weight loss surgery. They say it's cosmetic. In fact, it's necessary before she can have the spinal surgery. The spinal problem is what caused the need for the weight loss surgery. It's a vicious circle of the sort only a dedicated bureaucrat could come up with. As rm--who knows kill in real life---says, "The internet has saved houses, cars, and more. What about a life?""

I've added several more things to my Etsy shop! And from now until March 31, all profits from it are going to The Brittany Foundation.

Kaylee turned one yesterday! :-)

She got a small piece of cake, which she was actually fairly neat with (though I think that had more to do with not wanting to waste any sugar than any desire to keep herself clean).

We had a couple of mini-celebrations for her-- one last weekend that Chris's family could attend, and one on her actual birthday that her Aunt Ashley came down for. She made Kaylee a little rubber ducky cake; cutest thing ever. I will upload pictures, hopefully next week. My poor computer is sick. :-P At first it was just really slow and wouldn't run my spyware programs, and now Firefox is closing down at inopportune moments, such as whenever I try to send an email. Kath, if you don't have anything from me, that would be why. So we're going to work on getting it fixed this weekend.

The window also shuts down when I try to use Paypal, I just discovered, which is why I haven't donated anything here just yet:



It's a neat idea; fans are helping organize this donation drive for the Brittany Foundation, which is a no-kill shelter that works with dogs that might have a harder time getting adopted. Helping puppies! There is no downside to this. ;-)

Specifically, this fantastic idea that one of the people on my flist came up with:

You might be aware that I've got a seasonal job at Lane Bryant. This is awesome, for a number of reasons, but the key one here is that I've asked for and been given permission to use my 40% employee discount for the plus-sized girls who live at this shelter. I'm planning on hitting up Victoria's Secret or even Macy's in our mall this week and seeing if they'll match this discount as I'd really really like to get all the girls who live at the shelter some underwear that's never been used, is in their size, and is pretty.

If 10,000 people donate one dollar, they can keep their home.

ETA: Update-- You did it!

I was driving down the road and someone in a truck ahead of me threw a kitten out the window!
I thought it was a piece of trash - then I saw the tail!

She wasn't moving- I got her out off the road - her eyes and nose were glued shut with mucus and she had a hole in her neck. I raced her to the vet - even the vet was crying!

But she's going to be ok . . . I have named her Leeloo. She is only about 4 weeks old and very teeny and thin.
Her collar bone is broken and she has a respiratory infection but she'll be fine.

I am picking her up at the vet's tomorrow and will have to feed her with a syringe, as she is too weak to eat.

You can imagine what the vet bills will be like. Donate a little bit? :-)

((and thanks, naamah_darling for pointing this out!))

Specifically, he's participating in the Muscular Dystrophy Association's Lock-Up.

He's working on raising at least $800 in bail money (deadline is April 3), and when we found out that we could set up a website through them to take donations . . . well. :-)

So, if any awesome people happen to be interested: here's his page, and thanks!!

Just found out about this from ginmar's lj. :-)

darfur_counts

"LiveJournal has exploded in controversy over the recent banning of a number of fandom journals. Free speech is important, and so are creative outlets like fandom.

But those of us who are upset about the situation on LiveJournal have computers. Those of us who are upset about the situation on LiveJournal have clothing, and food, and homes. Those of us who are upset about the situation on LiveJournal know we have a right to free speech and can speak out when it is threatened.

There are people who have none of those things. And so, there is this community.

This community will be modeled on fandom_counts: you need only join, and you will be counted. But there is one more step here. After you've clicked "join community", go to this site, click the "Make Donation to Darfur button, and donate five dollars. Maybe you can afford more than five dollars; maybe you can afford ten, or twenty. We ask that you donate five because most charities will not allow donations less than that, due to credit card fees. Still, ask yourself if you can afford five dollars. If you can, donate it. All who join this community will be assumed, on an honor system, to have done so.

***Fandom counts, but those of us in a position to care about it are in a position of privilege. Protest for free speech, but protest for Darfur too.***"

It's not near Christmas (which, I've noticed, is when most of the charity posts come out) but a recent post of cleolinda's inspired me, so...

A few places to check out (or not, up to you)



Children's Hospice Association of Scotland

Heifer International

Here's the Red Cross donation page...

The death toll's at 52,000 now. I can't even wrap my mind around that. :-(