Whether you are caring for yourself, someone else or both, loving yourself and practicing mindfulness is vital to your mental health.
Stress in the body can take a devastating toll leaving you exhausted and losing interest in activities or hobbies once enjoyed.
Self-care involves being deliberate about taking care of the mind, body, and soul.
Maintaining physical, emotional, and mental health helps to handle daily stress and prevent emotional exhaustion.
Weekly Wellness & Self-Care Routine
Decrease stress for an hour a day, by engaging with people, activities, and projects that make you feel valued.
Create boundaries and say no to those who try to interfere and inflict guilt for choosing to schedule time for solitude.
Journal for 5-10 minutes daily.
Schedule a staycation with all electronics turned off for 24 hours. For ideas and tips, read my blog, DIY Spa Day at Home.
Meditate for 5 minutes upon waking up. Wind down in the evening with yoga before going to bed. The video below is 50 minutes of ambient music to help you get in the mood.
Go to a nail salon and learn how to give yourself a manicure and pedicure.
Designate Sundays as audible book learning and discovery time for self-development.
Stress affects how we absorb magnesium through our bodies. Taking an Epsom salt bath soak improves mood. Add 1-2 cups of Epsom bath salts, your favorite essential oil (peppermint, ylang-ylang, lavender) to warm water. Soak for at least 15 minutes.
Go for an evening walk and listen to Pandora’s Chill station.
Schedule a date night with yourself. Find an easy recipe online to make and enjoy a Downton Abbey or Harry Potter weekend marathon.
Go on a short road trip. Spend the day at a state or national park you have never visited before.
Most of us know someone who is currently taking care of a sick parent suffering from a chronic illness. As parents age, the state of health, ability to live independently, and safely is not an easy decision to make.
Reports of neglect and abuse in nursing homes and assisted living facilities through social media or hearing about it in the news is enough to cause added stress for families trying to do the right thing for a family member.
Another situation that can cause stress among the elderly and family members is viral illnesses for the elderly living in close quarters with ongoing health issues like diabetes, upper respiratory, asthma, and weakened immune systems.
Taking care of an elderly parent can put a strain on relationships.
Just writing a check and having a transactional relationship over a harmonious one, shouldn’t be the last resort.
We have to take care of the elderly. Social distancing isn’t healthy and causes suffering the wrong way.
When weighing the pros and cons of an elderly parent to remain at home as long as possible or go into assisted living, caregivers and seniors can benefit from the use of technology to simplify everyday tasks.
By delegating the small things, you too can have more time to spend with your loved ones who want to remain at home and avoid severe caregiver burnout.
Effects of Being a Caregiver
I saw my mom’s physical and mental health take a nosedive when her dad died followed by her mom 18 months later.
Even though she came from a family of 8, my grandparents towards the end of their lives choose her to make decisions on their behalf and settle their estate. 10 years later, I found myself becoming a tireless caregiver.
Over time, it became unsafe for my mom to be behind the wheel of an automobile. Anytime she wanted to go shopping, I would drop her off at the grocery store and wait for her to come out.
The time allowed me to catch up on email and schedule doctor’s appointments. On a couple of occasions, she emerged from the grocery store with a full shopping cart in tow of groceries and hunched over in pain.
On one shopping occasion, she told me her back was hurting so bad, she ended up sitting down on the floor.
As shoppers looked on, no one tried to help her, but someone did feel the need to say something off the wall to her that was totally inappropriate.
Luckily, individuals like my mom and other caregivers like myself can avoid hellish shopping situations through online shopping and delivery services.
In today’s digital environment, technology can empower independent living for disabled adults.
If you have the option to work from home, I recommend asking your boss or consider starting your own business. Check out my post on Is Working Remotely Right for You? to weigh the pros and cons of giving up the daily commute to live a healthy lifestyle.
Tips and Ideas to Reduce Caregiver Stress and Burnout
Public Transportation
No longer being able to drive is not the end of living independently. It took a couple of years to get my mom to try a public transportation service called Metro Mobility. The service is available to riders who are unable to use regular fixed-route buses due to a disability or health condition.
Depending on the route, peak and off peaks times, fare costs can range from $1-5 each way. She uses Metro Mobility to go grocery shopping, doctor’s appointments, and running small errands. One day I asked her if she needed a ride anywhere and she said, “no I have Metro Mobility”.
Online Grocery Delivery
After the incident of the customer saying something off the wall to her at the grocery store and experiencing chronic pain, I let my mom in on one of my secrets, online grocery delivery.
My flight arrived late in DC and there was no way I was going to venture out at night for groceries. I came across InstaCart. I tried the service and I have been a fan of online delivery ever since.
Most grocery stores today offer online grocery delivery and outsource packing and delivery to a third-party.
To avoid confusion, be sure to coach aging parents on what to do in the event of receiving a wrong order.
In the event of having to self isolate due to an illness, epidemic, pandemic, or natural disaster, instead of physically running errands, taking advantage of online delivery services can be very helpful.
House Repairs
Neglected houses go down in value. My mom found an organization that helps seniors stay in their homes by making it easier to get around in by adding handgrips for the shower. Now that she is in the system, all she has to do is call and ask for what she needs.
Let Someone Else do the Yard Work
When it comes to mowing the lawn or shoveling the driveway, she doesn’t have to worry about doing it as there are plenty of folks out there getting their side hustle on to help a neighbor out.
They make some extra cash for helping folks like my mom out and pay for their children’s activities or take care of their own parents.
The person that does her lawn just shows up. I am sure there are volunteers out there that would do it for free. You can find volunteers who can help with landscaping in the United States here and internationally here.
Vacuuming and Mopping
I am a QVC and HSN fan especially when I can’t sleep. It’s funny how you can find good deals late a night and with easy pay. I discovered the iRobot Roomba robotic vacuum and the iRobot Braava floor mopping robot on QVC.
Press the button, remote or schedule cleaning on using the app and let the robots clean. Now if someone could come out with a drone that can dust, that would be epic. A hack I learned was using a hairdryer to get rid of dust.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnmrF0665Sk
Cooking and Ordering Out
This one is controversial for me as I feel like I might have created a monster, but hey shouldn’t we all enjoy life to the fullest? In addition to the online grocery delivery, the places my mom enjoyed driving/walking to now deliver to her.
The portions are so large that she can get a couple of meals out of them, which saves on cooking and the gas bill.
There are plenty of meal services out there that a volunteer is willing to bring to over from time to time. Starting a garden or going to the farmers market can lower the grocery bill plus it is a great way to be engaged, creative, and enjoy the outdoors.
Let the Store Come to You
Most of her prescription medication is delivered to her. Certain types of medication can’t be delivered in the mail. She calls the pharmacy ahead of time so I can pick up the order on my way home.
Many stores allow you to order online and pick up your order from customer service instead of standing in line with everyone else or have someone bring out your order to your car using the drive-up option again saving time standing in line.
Avoid the Post Office
Skip the long lines and schedule a pick up of your packages for USPS (Priority Mail Express items, Priority Mail items, or return items), FedEx (return package), and UPS (return package).
I like to purchase a three-pack of pre-paid flat rate boxes from the USPS online store with the address pre-printed on the boxes to donate magazines, used bras, and toiletries to different charities throughout the year.
Box and envelope sizes come in small, large, padded, and legal and can weigh up to 70lbs. Just write the address down, call or go online to schedule a pickup.
I use Stamps.com to weigh, print postage on envelopes, shipping labels for large packages, and schedule pickups online. Their YouTube channel has 1-3 minute videos that will teach you how to use the online postage features of the web-based software.
Finances
At the time of my grandma’s passing, she lived in a 5-bedroom Victorian house from the 1900s. It took months to go through everything and somehow most of it still sits in a garage untouched collecting dust. Living beyond one’s means is a problem.
No one should have to spend their hard-earned money or drain bank accounts to support an unrealistic lifestyle. With the rising cost of property taxes, it might be too expensive for someone to stay in their home.
One option can be to downsize and sell some of the household items for cash. The next option is donating to Goodwill for someone else to actually use and appreciate.
The very last option may be to file for bankruptcy and makes a lifestyle change. As the saying goes, “you can’t take it with you.”
Consolidate Households
A co-worker purchases a lot and moved his parents and in-laws in to avoid nursing home expenses. The large space allows each family privacy and to remain in close proximity to one another in case medical care is needed.
Adjusting to a change in environment doesn’t mean your loved one has to lose his/her home, quality of life or giving up independence.
Given the digital environment we live in, technology can free up time, allow us more time to be a caregiver, and pursue personal passions while working to provide financial support to loved ones in need.
For most of my adult life, I have struggled with regulating my iron levels. I don’t eat a lot of meat and until recently wasn’t aware of alternative iron sources other than OTC medication.
Every year during my annual exam, I get my hemoglobin levels checked. I took iron supplements with no improvements.
A couple of years ago, my iron levels became so low that I became anemic without knowing. The extreme fatigue is when I decided to see my doctor.
Labs confirmed my ferritin levels were lower than normal. My doctor diagnosed me with iron deficiency anemia.
My doctor recommended a couple of prescriptions that at first, I was open to trying as the OTC supplements were ineffective. That is until she started telling me what the side effects were.
Going back and forth between diarrhea and constipation in order to get my iron levels up did not sound exciting to me.
Another option would be to increase my intake of meat. Not interested. When I eat meat, I want to enjoy it and not treat eating it like a chore. There had to be a third option.
How I Knew Something Was Wrong
A diet lacking iron-rich foods or experiencing issues with absorbing iron contributes to iron deficiency anemia. Tell-tale signs of iron deficiency are brittle hair and nails, shortness of breath, and cold hands and feet.
Anemia is not limited to women. Athletes, the elderly and vegetarians are at risk of developing a mineral deficiency.
One of the first signs I noticed something was I was displaying some of the iron deficiency anemia symptoms was when my hair started falling out and began shedding like my cat.
The difference between my cat and me is that I have thick curly hair and she has a short and thin coat of hair.
At one point I was contemplating using products that thicken hair or start fluffing it. Did I mention I have very thick curly hair that many folks pay a lot of money to recreate for themselves?
A second sign was feeling fatigued, light-headed, and very sore during and after strenuous activity. At my previous job, I was the first person to arrive in the morning and would have to walk down to the basement to get to the women’s locker room.
There were a couple of times that I would turn a corner and almost pass out. I am happy that didn’t occur as I would not have been found for a couple of hours.
The third sign was experiencing vertigo and not being able to stand long periods. I was always leaning on something to hold me up.
The Search for a Natural Iron Supplement
After my diagnosis, I increased my meat intake. My iron levels increased slightly, but not enough to be given the all-clear by my doctor. The standard ferritin range is 9 – 204 ng/mL. At the time of my results, I was at 23 ng/mL. With four months, it increased to 66 ng/mL.
How did I experience such a large increase? A natural supplement I found online called Floradix. The supplement consists of an iron and vitamin formula in a base of herbs great for vegetarians.
The iron supplement comes in a liquid and tablet form. I tried the liquid supplement for awhile but faced challenges with transporting it in my carry-on to cover 1-2 weeks of travel without constant access to a refrigerator.
The tablet is great and comes in an 80-count pack. I grab what I need and put in my purse when traveling. When I am at home, I set one tablet out on my nightstand.
One of the reasons OTC iron supplements didn’t work is having to take one pill two times a day and would forget to take the second pill. Also, it’s difficult to absorb iron.
One recommendation I read about was to take an iron supplement with orange juice. Since I am a night owl, I wait until midnight to take my iron supplement.
I stop eating after 8 p.m. If I have been very active during the day, I will have a light snack at 9 p.m. This helps with not binge eating at night and then experiencing some rather weird dreams from it. One of the drawbacks is if I sleep in late, I wake up starving.
I always start my morning off with an elm bark latte. One of the ingredients the recipe calls for is one tablespoon of molasses another great source of iron.
If I forget to take my iron supplement, I take it right away in the morning on an empty stomach and then wait 30 minutes to an hour before eating breakfast.
I haven’t experienced any stomach issues by taking Floradix on an empty stomach. Not all iron supplements are the same and everyone responds differently. It’s important to go with what works for you.
Iron Deficiency Management
Foods rich in iron are now part of my daily meals: lentils, spinach, molasses, and almonds. If you are a fan of smoothies, add a handful of almonds to get both protein and iron.
Every once in a while, I treat myself to a filet mignon at a nice steak house due to its small size.
I have been maintaining this daily iron supplement routine for over a year now. My hair is slowly growing back thicker which is a good sign as I hate wearing hats in the winter.
Do you suffer from foot pain, heel pain, plantar fasciitis, or muscle cramps? It is possible you may be showing signs of a magnesium deficiency.
Other signs and symptoms include depression, anxiety, irritability, and fatigue.
While these symptoms can overlap with other medical conditions, population studies conducted in the U.S. shows that less than 30% of adults consume the recommended amount of magnesium.
Why is that you may ask?
Stress, drinking caffeinated beverages, taking certain medications, mass farming and producing processes can reduce magnesium levels in the body.
Epsom salt foot soaks for magnesium absorption can help correct magnesium deficiency along and provided much-needed stress relief.
WHAT DOES EPSOM SALT FOOT SOAKS DO?
Benefits of Epsom Salt for Feet
Does soaking feet in Epsom salt help plantar fasciitis? Absolutely!
Doing an Epsom salt foot bath every day for 20 minutes helps to reduce inflammation in my feet, chronic pain, and that pins and needles feeling like my feet are on fire.
I also like to do a full-body bath soak as well, but rotate between the two every other day depending on my level of activity.
If it’s my run day, I will go for the foot soak afterward for 20-40 minutes in warm water.
I use a space-saving collapsible tub I found on Amazon for under $14 that folds up nicely to hang on wall or store in my carry-on when I am traveling.
I find buying in bulk is cheaper than buying the 5lbs bags. I like to add my own essential oils.
I have found other brands that have fragrance mixed in, the smell is too strong.
DIY Magnesium Oil
If you’re short on time, an alternative is making DIY magnesium oil to do a spot treatment for a sore knee, tight calf, or toe cramping after a running, hiking, or working out.
Take one cup of water, bring to a boil, add one cup of Epsom salt and allow it to dissolve.
Once cool, pour the mixture in a glass spray bottle and store the rest in a mason jar.
Spray each inflamed area and leave on for 20 minutes.
Put a towel underneath. As the magnesium oil dries, the salt mixture can leave a film on clothes.
Doing one or both of these holistic treatments a couple of times a week, you will notice you have more energy, recover faster from workouts, experience deep sleep with less waking up at night with restless legs.
I noticed when I skipped my Epsom salt soak or magnesium oil treatments, symptoms of pain came back.
That is when I found a dietary supplement called trace minerals to further correct my magnesium deficiency.
Adding drops of liquid magnesium with trace minerals to your water to rehydrate your body, improve body function during physical activity, and stop leg cramping with the replenishment of electrolytes magnesium, potassium, sodium, sulfate, and chloride.
Our Feet Tell Stories
Our feet tell stories of where we have been and the current state of our health.
Creating a daily self-care checklist for yourself will ensure you don’t miss another date night with yourself.
Make it a daily routine to reap the benefits of transforming your swollen or sore feet to happy feet.
Like a house, feet are the foundation that balances our body and helps us to stand upright.
If there are cracks in the foundation, the house begins to shift it’s weight, with time, tilt to one side, and eventually fall to the ground.
Foot problems can transform into overpronation, favoring the outside of the feet, uneven distribution of weight, and the instability of the ankles.
Followed by knee pain from a tilted pelvis. Going up the back into the neck.
As always before trying a holistic treatment, please speak with your doctor to discuss contraindications or side effects from prescription and OTC drug interactions.
In addition to soaking your tired feet, why not make it a spa day. Check out my post, DIY Spa Day at Home.
We, especially women grow up becoming nurtures. Self-care many times takes low priority over caring for others.
Making time for self-care can be perceived as selfish. As the saying goes, “if you can’t take care of yourself, how can you have the energy to take care of others?”
The mind and emotions can mess with your mental health and well-being.
Carving out time for yourself even if it’s for an hour can re-energize the body and senses. Luckily, you don’t have to go far to enjoy a spa day. Let the stress relief begin!
8 At Home Stress Relief Ideas
1. Portable Washing Basin
The multi-use tub can be used to wash dishes and clothes while camping. Even better, the collapsible water basin goes wherever you go and fits in a carry-on.
After a long day of hiking, why not soak your feet while listening to the chillwave radio on Pandora? Sip on your favorite tea to induce relaxation. Once done using it, can collapse it, store it away or hang it on the wall.
2. Back and Neck Acupressure Mat
Wind down the evening and get ready for bed with this sleep aid. Acupressure massage has been practiced for centuries to relieve pain, increase circulation, and cure insomnia.
The acupressure mat is good for pins and needles. Before indulging, put the back mat between yourself and the chair.
Sit on the wobble cushion, lay your head back on the neck pillow and enjoy an all body acupressure massage while your feet soak.
Used for hundreds of years to relieve pain, aid in stress release, and detoxify, the magnesium sulfate compound is great for maintaining foot health. Ballerina’s use it to soak their swollen feet after being on pointe.
One of the signs of magnesium deficiency is chronic migraines and pain. Soaking in an Epsom salt foot or bath for 20 minutes will do the trick to reduce swelling in painful feet and provide much-needed stress relief.
4. Bintivia Wobble Cushion
It may sound and look weird. The wobble cushion can be used to support the lumbar spine sitting at an office desk, working from home, on road trips, and during a foot soak. It has helped to reduce my low back pain.
5. Eye and Facial Mask
A spa day wouldn’t be complete without giving some face and eye love. The mask can reduce puffiness and sinus pressure. It can be frozen, chilled, or heated. If you experience migraine or tension headaches, this eye mask combined with the neck pillow can provide relief.
6. Go on a Sensory Journey
Epsom salts make a great exfoliating agent. Take a handful of Epsom or Himalayan salt, add 20-30 drops of AVEDA composition oil shampure, beautifying, stress-fix, or rosemary mint and massage feet for 30 seconds. Your hands will thank you. Silky smooth. Finish with a layer of AVEDA foot relief moisturizing creme.
7. Foot Massager Roller
After soaking your feet for 30 minutes, it’s time to get knots out with some reflexology. The dual foot massager is good for relieving plantar fasciitis, heel and arch pain.
8. Save that Bath Soak DIY for Later
Induce deep sleep by taking a luxurious Epsom and Himalayan salt bath. Add 2 cups of Epsom salts and a 2lbs bag of Himalayan bath salts. Add a few drops of your favorite essential oil and soak for 15-30 minutes.
Put a few pumps of AVEDA rosemary mint hand and body wash on a body brush and exfoliate the skin from head to toe. You will feel clean and tingly from the mint.
Self-care is essential to mental, emotional, physical health and well being. It’s key to living a quality of life with few if no ailments.
Finish with a mood-boosting beverage like a matcha green tea lemonade. Read my blog post on DIY Matcha Green Tea Two Ways. Enjoy your spa day, you’ve earned it.
Experiencing chronic pain and fatigue every day can lower the quality of life. Routine things once enjoyed like travel, getting around, running, and cooking in luxury become difficult to maintain.
Routine and complex work tasks take longer to complete. You might be thinking about quitting your job.
A recent chronic illness diagnosis makes it hard to digest and well what is an invisible illness?
An invisible illness is an umbrella term for any medical condition that isn’t easily visible to others.
Not all chronic illnesses like fibromyalgia, lupus, chronic pain, fatigue, arthritis, diabetes, and others are not immediately apparent.
Explaining chronic pain to someone is difficult when you don’t understand what is happening to you. All you know is it just hurts all over and want it to stop.
It could be easy to ignore symptoms of pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances, thyroid problems, and cognitive problems commonly called brain fog.
Considering these symptoms as not a big deal and think a glass of wine combined with pain killers will make the problem go away may work temporarily, but long-term, if not addressed by a health care professional, symptoms can worsen.
Understanding chronic pain from the start will help you understand you’re not alone and there are effective alternative treatments out there to help manage your symptoms.
I found a wonderful analogy to explain fibromyalgia/chronic pain to others that they can relate to.
My pain feels like my nerves are literally on fire followed by pins and needles feeling like I am being poked like a pin cushion.
Once I understood what my diagnosed conditions were, I made it a mission to learn how to explain chronic pain to others, how to stay positive with chronic pain, and how to live with the pain.
It’s not easy because I hate routine, but when I don’t stretch, skip an acupuncture treatment, my pain levels increase, and I can’t do the things I like to do, go for a walk, travel, and meet friends for coffee.
You Don’t Look Sick
If you’re still working, some of your co-workers may perceive you trying to gain sympathy or trying to get out of work to put your feet up.
As word gets around about your condition from either your boss or the office gossip queen (or king), co-workers’ attitudes change. A hostile working environment is soon created causing more stress.
Just because they can’t see you struggling internally, it doesn’t mean your symptoms of physical pain don’t exist.
Instead of focusing on your health and scheduling holistic treatments like massage, cupping therapy or acupuncture, you are worried about what is being said about you.
Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation
Ailments and injuries can continue to accumulate until there is no option except to either find a less physically demanding job or go into earlier retirement. Let alone the financial strain that occurs if one is not prepared for this drastic lifestyle change.
Don’t be afraid to have a conversation with your boss and ask for a flexible schedule, change in hours, or a change in duties due to pain levels. You might be surprised in the outpouring of support and generosity received.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities, unless doing so would pose an undue hardship.
Federal employees and applicants are covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, instead of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The growing remote working options have made it possible for flexible scheduling so you can focus on reversing the damage caused by a sedentary lifestyle.
Working from home due to health issues can make adjusting to a new lifestyle enjoyable. How would you like to enjoy living pain-free?
Working remotely reduces the stress of a daily commute, wear and tear on your car, saves you money on gas, childcare, and buying new clothes for the office.
Now that I work from home, I have more time to work out and schedule weekly acupuncture treatments for headaches, hormone imbalances, and chronic pain.
As I am typing this, I am walking on my under desk treadmill. I repurposed a drawing desk to create my stand up desk during the day to combine work and a little exercise.
Adding a desk riser creates multiple standup opportunities rather than sitting in a chair that can be moved and used in the kitchen, in the living room, or in the bedroom.
Working remotely can allow you to prioritize self-care and put your energy towards hobbies you enjoy.
Having a support system around along with individuals who have similar chronic conditions can make you feel less alone.
Volunteering to serve a meal to a person in need is very humbling. Sitting down and listening to someone tell their story and express concerns for the future is very moving.
By showing empathy, we are practicing servant leadership, building deep relationships, and solving problems through acts of kindness. It empowers those we are helping to ensure we meet the basic human needs: food, water, and shelter on every humanitarian encounter.
Knowing someone is thinking about you is a reminder you are human and valued.
Acts of Servant Leadership and Volunteering
Deployed to Iraq in 2009, our office received care packages weekly that contained letters from children thanking us for our service. Cards from non-profit organizations I never heard of offered words of encouragement from non-profit organizations.
I didn’t realize the number of non-profit organizations that were working behind the scenes providing support to our families back at home. Working long hours, late nights, or had a hard time sleeping, books and magazines were a morale booster.
Many acts of kindness were shown during my deployment. Upon my return home, it was my goal to do the same for another deployed soldier.
I wanted to learn a creative way to support non-profit organizations.Some of the household items we have can be recycled and be put to better use. Recycling and reusing can reduce social injustice, improves the quality of life for others and creates jobs.
Giving and promoting social well-being has no borders. Here are five non-profit organizations I have supported over the years.
Non-Profit Organizations
1. Magazines
I stopped paying out of pocket for magazine and newspaper subscriptions and started using airline miles. I donate the remaining points after award travel to the Fisher House. Points are used to purchase airline tickets for military families.
I fill a pre-paid medium flat rate box with magazines, schedule a pickup and have them shipped to Soldiers’ for Angels. The organization is in San Antonio, TX. It was one of the organizations that would send our office a care package full of magazines.
In the last 15 years, more than 851,000 care packages have been sent overseas to service members.
2. Rescue A Girl From Sex Trafficking
Instead of tossing used bras away in the trash, consider donating them to Free the Girls. Host a drive to collect bras at your local church or schedule a girls night out and turn unused bras into currency.
Women part of the program on the receiving end are getting the chance of entrepreneurship selling bras and contributing to their communities. A woman’s earnings lift the family out of poverty and increase gender equality.
3. End Hunger By Packing Meals
Have a brand new team and looking for a way to build trust and cohesion at work? Host a Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) MobilePack event.
Headquartered in my hometown of Minnesota (with additional locations in Arizona and Illinois), I go to see first hand how these life-saving meals were helping children around the world.
One bag contains six meals of rice and soy. In two hours, over 3,000 meals were packed.
It’s a great way to introduce children to volunteering. FMSC partners with Pelican Missions to bring volunteers across the country to visit FMSC food distribution partners to learn and participate in the distribution process of ManaPacks meals.
I went on a Food in Action trip to the Dominican Republic through Pelican Missions.
Volunteers from Illinois were looking at the pallets of meals in the distribution warehouse. The pallet they packed was there. That was a pretty fantastic moment for the group.
FMSC purchases handmade items from artisans in communities that receive FMSC meals. The pieces are available on their online MarketPlace.
Each item sold goes provides a child with a meal. A $12 magazine short necklace offers 27 meals.
4. Lend $25
Kiva was started in 2005. Its footprint is in 85 countries working to alleviate poverty. For as little as $25, you choose a borrower. Sounds easy right? There are hundreds of profiles of borrowers around the world with amazing stories asking for help.
Loans support the selling of used clothing, buying livestock, cereals or opening a beauty salon. The loan repayment is 97%. You will receive periodic updates on repayment. Upon repayment of a loan, you can donate the money or lend again.
5. Protect Human Rights
I remember as a kid, my mom would get these letters in the mail from other countries. I would say to myself, “she has a lot of pen pals.” In her spare time, she would write letters to leaders of countries accused of human right abuses for Amnesty International.
Some of the leaders would write her back to her in shock that the international community knew.
6. Help End Homelessness
Do you get excited about receiving free travel-sized toiletries from hotel stays? I do! Seeing homeless men, young women, and children sleeping on streets, benches, under bridges, I realized those travel-sized personal items I hoard and allow to pile up in the corner of my bathroom, needed a new home.
Sarah’s Circle is a non-profit organization based in Chicago, Illinois that helps homeless women to rebuild their lives by providing services necessary to finding employment, a permanent home that allows them to become safe off the streets.
The organization accepts unopened travel-size toiletry items: soap, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, and deodorant to name a few.
I purchase a three-pack of pre-paid flat rate medium boxes from the USPS online store with my address pre-printed on the boxes. Box and envelope sizes come in small, large, padded, and legal. I use them as a recycling container to collect my bras and magazines.
All I have to do is open up the box, start a collection of toiletries and once full, write the address down, call or go online to schedule a pickup.
Want to extend your servant leadership further by volunteering in another country?
Check out my blog post, Volunteer and See the World at the Same Time and learn how you can explore Egypt while obtaining a TEFL (Teach English as a foreign language) certification.
