Wear It On Your Sleeve

I've been advocating for important issues since I was four-years-old.

It started way back on a sunny spring day in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sunshine is at a premium during that time of year in the Twin Cities, and the weather must have made an impression on me as I played at a park with the rest of my Montessori class.

There we were, running around the swings and slides, when one of my classmates offered me a big, red, stop sign-shaped sticker denouncing acid rain.

I happily grabbed that Stop Acid Rain! sticker and slapped it on my metal, Holly Hobby lunch box.

To this day, my mom says that's when she knew I was going to grow up to be an activist.

Since that glorious day near Lake Minnetonka, I have trumpeted issues that matter most to me. I've gotten involved in political campaigns and used my personal blog as a forum to champion ideas important to my community.

I am committed to using my passion, my energy, my time to making a difference.

Whether I help make change in the community, in my neighborhood or in one person's life, I am confident my work is making our world just a wee bit better.

Everyone has the potential to advocate. If you have Facebook or Twitter, use your avatar to raise awareness for a cause that's important to you. If you have a stretch of lawn in front of your home, raise a yard sign informing your neighbors about an issue you care about.

Next time you join a friend for coffee or a cocktail, take a moment to tell them what you really care about, and how they can help support your cause.

Heck. Plaster your car with bumper stickers.

Just get the message out.

We each have a voice and a channel for advocacy. It's not just about writing your lawmakers about issues that need attention - it's about telling your family, friends and co-workers why they should care about something that's important to you.

Sharing the message is one way we can rally the troops.

Even the little four-year-olds.


This is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

The Price of Produce (and meat, and eggs, and bread, and...)

Three days away from payday, and I am cutting corners.

So goes the ebb and flow of my financial forecast. Once the paycheck rolls in, I dole out what's required to cover my debts and financial obligations, saving what's left to fill the gas tank, cover my grocery expenses and otherwise support my thriving social life.

Life tends to get a little leaner the further out I am from payday.
Those leaner, meaner days mean cracking open tuna cans stockpiled in the pantry for just the occasion or forgoing a night out on the town for a cozy evening in with a cheap (but equally tasty) Three Buck Chuck or something comparable.

I am intimately familiar with scraping by until the day of my next direct deposit. This is less of a reflection on my salary and more a reflection on my ability to manage finances, but I digress.

Times can be tough for just about anyone.

In regards to my more frugal circumstances, today's lunch presented something of a challenge.

How does one eat a meal for less than $3.50?

Such a daunting task is possible when one plans accordingly - preparing a meal at home and packing it up before work, or toting along a one-dollar frozen meal from the discount section of the grocery freezer case.

But when an individual (read: me) is lazy and less inclined to plan ahead on occasion, said individual is forced to hunt-and-gather for food at fast food joints close to the office.

I made it back to my cube with a McChicken sandwich, small fries and small diet soda - my wallet only $3.18 lighter after the trip.

My lunch time challenge and results made me think about the cost of an average meal around the world, and how my three-bucks-and-change respite is likely an extravagance when compared to what other people have to spend on lunch.

I just crossed this interesting piece on the cost of groceries around the world, and the related explanation of how the prices were assessed. While India turns out to be the world's source for most inexpensive groceries, the price of eggs and bread is still probably too steep for a country coping with up to 42 percent of its population below the international poverty line.

India isn't the only place coping with poverty.

Right here in Greater Cincinnati, we have people struggling to cover their utility bills and rent. Local families and individuals are stretching even further, hoping to make ends meet and put food on the table every evening.

Thankfully, United Way 211 is here to help those in need. Whether you need assistance in buying groceries, or are interested in finding a quality child care program for your little one, United Way 211 is a resource for anyone needing almost any kind of help.

United Way 211 is also a great source for people seeking opportunities to give help.

You can learn more about United Way 211 by clicking here.

If you'd like to support United Way's work to create change and improve lives across Greater Cincinnati, please click here.

Living United at the Hometown Huddle

Geoffrey Pope of the Cincinnati Bengals and Karen Snyder and Nickol Mara of United Way of Greater Cincinnati read over instructions before beginning the '09 Hometown Huddle project in Price Hill.

Daniel Coates of the Cincinnati Bengals, Yolanda Miller of United Way and Roy Williams of the Cincinnati Bengals pause for a photo break at the Hometown Huddle - a joint effort between United Way and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Michelle Rummel of United Way teams up with Domata Peko of the Cincinnati Bengals for the '09 Hometown Huddle project, which involved building a pars course for children and a community garden at the Price Hill Community Center.


Carol Aquino and Rob Reifsnyder of United Way of Greater Cincinnati meet with organizers and volunteers at the '09 Hometown Huddle.

Volunteers Bob Kobman and Nate Wolff of Sherman Williams go over the plans to build a shed at the '09 Hometown Huddle.

J.P. Foschi of the Cincinnati Bengals helps other volunteers build a fence at the '09 Hometown Huddle project in Price Hill.


United Way Loaned Executive Becky Fellerhoff of Macy's puts on her LIVE UNITED t-shirt to help build some children's exercise equipment at the '09 Hometown Huddle community project.


Cincinnati Bengal Bobbie Williams digs in and helps build children's exercise equipment at the '09 Hometown Huddle project in Price Hill.

You can check out more Hometown Huddle pictures by visiting our Facebook page.

Good Company.

An engineer. A clinical psycologist. A commercial real estate professional.

I was in pretty good company at Friday's Youth Succeed Impact Council meeting. The volunteers around the table come from varied professional and personal backgrounds, but they come together because they're passionate about ensuring youth in our community have every opportunity to succeed.

They, and dozens of other volunteers, aren't just wearing the shirt. They're living it. With concern. With integrity. With perspective. With knowledge. Some for mere weeks. Others for years ranging from two to 30+.

That's what I call Living United.

Learn more about ways you can Live United at www.wecanliveunited.org.