We're already making a difference...

Since I have started the Facebook group, folks have been thinking hard about what they can do to create spare change, and they have been taking action! Today, I will be posting the things that people have been doing to make a difference. If you are interested in creating spare change but are fresh out of ideas, you might be sparked or inspired by some of these...

Cheryl from PA: i think i can spare change....i am going to take all of the stuff i posted on craig's list for sale to my local thrift store. it will help them keep the jobs they have for people and i don't really need the two dollars i was gonna get for it anyway. then, people in that neighborhood can buy stuff they need because they can afford it. i might do more later if i'm not too tired from lifting all of those boxes.

Casey from MA: I just made a micro-loan at MicroPlace.com. This loan will help someone in the United States start a business. Anything for the economy... (And then Casey wrote back) I am going to volunteer with The Extraordinaries. I get to help from home, from the grocery store, from anywhere. You can help too, check out the info session next Wednesday.

Katrina wrote: I just became a Red Cross "Champion for Life" by joining their frequent donor program after I found out that the blood bank in my home town is almost constantly low on my type (B positive). I donated here for the first time to commemorate the National Day of Service and I'll continue that sentiment.

Chloe wrote: I just found out that a ton of local kids are showing up to school without coats, food, basic needs - and that the elementary school has been feeding them, clothing them, and footing the bill with no help from the state. I'm talking with the principal and others to organize the community to help these kids. My little hometown is a pretty affluent place - there is no excuse for this.

Our Facebook group has 92 members and we get more everyday! Thanks to all of you who have written in with stories about how you are creating spare change! But more importantly, thanks for taking this much-needed action!

It's Happening!

This morning, I started the Facebook group ("I Can Spare Change") and told my wife about how scared and nervous I was about it. I was sure that I would be laughed at. You see, all my life I have been accused of being too idealistic and too nice and too forgiving and this was all seen and valued as some kind of naivete. I was mocked because I believe that within every single person there is some good. I was called "weak" because I forgave people who hurt me. (Do you know how hard it is and strong you have to be to forgive)? Still, I believed, as I do right now, that we are all capable of good things.

I created the Facebook group and held my breath. In just one day, less than 24 hours and at the time of this posting, we have 36 members! Every little bit counts and every bit makes a difference.

There are two scenes that are driving me forward. One is from "Finding Nemo". Nemo gets caught in a fish net with a ton of other fish. They have the choice of being dragged up to the surface by the strength of the pulley where they will be gasping for air and fighting for life, or they can take the other path. Instead of giving up, Nemo tells them that if they work together, they'll be okay. "Just keep swimming!", he urges. And guess what? The fish win--they save one another.

The other scene is from "Horton Hears a Who". Horton's speck is about to be boiled and it's up to the people of Whoville to make enough noise to prove they exist. They make as much noise as they can, but it's only until every single Who in Whoville makes noise that again, they save each other in the process.

We're no different. If each one of us does something, we can help each other out.

If you joined our group today, thank you so much! Tell your friends and spread the word.

i can spare change...can you?

when barack obama was a candidate for president, i was planning on voting for hillary clinton. i just couldn't believe that this guy was for real. i had attended an all women's college and my family was all about girl power. i wanted to see a woman in the white house, and not as first lady, but as president. i fought the notion of voting for him for a very long time. during the primaries, before i pulled into the parking lot of the polling location, i honked at the hillary supporters. i went into the voting booth all alone, as we all do. when i stepped into the booth, almost as if it was someone else's hand, i voted for obama. i keep hearing people say that they voted for him because they wanted to be "on the right side of history." i feared him because he was talking about hope and he was making others--and just about everyone around me--feel hopeful. eventually, i gave in and started to believe that what he was saying about the world around me changing, was really possible. on election day, i was a completely different person than who i was before the primaries. i went into the polling place with my obama tshirt on. i had texted my friends and wished them good luck. my mind was on one thing all day--the change this man would bring.

inauguration day felt like new year's day to me. i was filled with excitement and i was waiting for something to happen.

in the days since, i have been watching the news and worrying about friends and family members losing their jobs. i have been afraid of losing my own job and what that would mean for my family. i tuned in to president obama's address on the economy. the whole time, i was wondering, "what can i do? what can i do right now?" i thought about what i have right now that i could give. not lend, or expect back, not create i.o.u.'s for but what i could give. so here's what i did...i started teaching a social justice class. it meets every sunday morning and there are four women who want to learn and i teach for free. that wasn't enough. i knew that i could give more. my mom told me that three local animal shelters were closing because they couldn't afford to pay their staff. the animals would be moved to other locations. so what did i do? i signed up to be a volunteer at my local animal shelter. i know that i can walk a dog for an hour on a saturday morning. that's something that i can do today. right now. something that can make a difference. but that's not enough. i give social justice workshops and i get paid for them. i know that the colleges are having trouble with funding and programs are getting cut. my aunt who is an art professor isn't getting paid because there isn't money for that. so what can i do? i can share my knowledge for free.

last night, i shared this with my friend, and teacher. she said that i should share this with other people and see what they can do, today, right now, to make a difference.

i voted for president obama, and now i am realizing that the choice i made on november 4th was not to be passive, but to create change. obama can't change our world on his own. and me, even with my menacing four-foot-eleven-inch tall frame, can't do it on my own, either. it's going to take obama and me, and my wife and my family and my best friend and my teacher and my students and my neighbors and you and you and you and you.

i am a 34 year-old Latina lesbian who has two chronic illnesses and i am finding ways to spare change. can you?

tell me how you are sparing change by replying to this post or emailing me at icansparechange@gmail.com