Vote For Aspiring Writers for a Good Cause

By Rae Saeed, Staff Writer

As an aspiring journalist, it is important make as many connections as possible. It is also important to support one another as writers. That being said, it is with great pleasure to show support for fellow WOM writer, Dallas Woodburn.

As someone who is passionate about writing, Woodburn founded ‘Write On!’ in 2001 to pass on her passion to others.

According to her website www.writeonbooks.org, ‘Write On!’ was founded as a nonprofit organization that encourages kids to discover confidence, joy, self-expression and connection with others through reading and writing endeavors.

In the past eight years, the organization has donated 11,117 new books to disadvantaged kids. They also teach writing workshops in schools, hold poetry, fiction, and essay contests, and award scholarships for young writers in middle school and high school to attend summer writing camps.

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Women and Men to the Causes!

New Zealand’s record breaker extraordinaire Alastair Galpin has for six years been mixing his love of the extreme with his passion for social and environmental awareness. He is now launching an entirely new, more powerful and potent platform from which to link his record-breaking attempts to causes that are deserving of greater coverage and media attention. Many involve women – from the meek behind the scenes to the hand-on types on practical front lines.

Galpin’s new website is dedicated to his activities, his aspirations and his love of achievement in the spotlight of world media attention – www.worldrecordchase.com. It goes to show what can become of men and women who refuse to let their lives become mediocre.

The website spreads word that this method of raising awareness for social and environmental causes can succeed in the developing world, a world in which some immense issues receive little publicity. Frequently, these forgotten or ignored causes include those out to save cute creatures as cuddly as fluffy toys, or to build better lives for children who have been disadvantaged. “In parts of Africa, south America and central Asia, for instance, both humanity and wilderness are confronted by escalating unsustainable changes – resulting in cruel circumstances for both”, states Alastair.
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Time to Plan for A Grape Escape

With competitive rates, a private residence for vacationers to stay and the personal touch of a concierge staff available, The Grapeseed Guesthouse & Gardens is helping to reshape travel experience in these current economic times. Getting more value for your dollar is paramount when taking a vacation these days and the term luxury is a concept few can afford to even dream of.

The Grapeseed Guesthouse & Gardens is changing that perspective by offering upscale accommodation affordable for families, couples and groups in one of the most beautiful tourist destinations in Canada. “Families have come to the Okanagan Valley on yearly vacations for decades, “ Grapeseed Operations Manager Karen Davy said. “I’m always hearing people who live in Vancouver and Calgary say ‘oh my parents used to bring me to Penticton every summer — I remember the big Peach on the Beach’. We are inviting those people back to remember why this is the best place to vacation.”
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NYC Theatre Artist Draws Inspiration From Teaching Inner-City Children

By Jackie O’Neal

Patricia Runice is a teaching artist with Arts to Grow, a New Jersey based non-profit that provides inner-city children in New York exposure to the visual, literary and performing arts by partnering with local public schools and community-based organizations.

As uncertain economic times continue to impact arts related programs in NYC, in Brooklyn at IS 171, children are busy at work writing an original theatre production thanks to Arts To Grow that is focused on enriching the lives of inner-city school children ages 5-18. The arts have always been integral in enhancing the learning process in academic subjects. Arts To Grow sends teaching artists like Patricia Runice into the public schools to bring creativity and excitement that would otherwise be absent.
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Founder of Tigerlily Foundation Will Appear On The Oprah Winfrey Show

Mark your calendar for 4:00pm EST, May 25th when the Founder of the Tigerlily Foundation, a non-profit breast foundation dedicated to educating, empowering and lending financial and emotional support to young women with breast cancer, will appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

On May 25, 2009, the founder of Tigerlily Foundation, Maimah Karmo will appear as a guest on the Oprah Winfrey show, sharing her experience with breast cancer and how it changed her life.

During the taping of the segment, Ms. Karmo shared the stage with actress Christina Applegate, Nancy Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Christina Applegate’s oncologist, Dr. Philomena McAndrew to talk about breast cancer, coping, survivorship and its aftermath.

The show covers Ms. Karmo’s personal journey with breast cancer, Ms. Applegate’s decision to have a double mastectomy, and Ms. Brinker’s success in creating the largest breast cancer foundation globally.

In addition to sharing her personal story, Ms. Karmo commented on how friends, family and loved ones can assist others going through breast cancer treatment and recovery. She also stressed the importance of having a sense of responsibility for others and implementing preventative practices as a way to eradicate the disease.

Ms. Karmo talked about the Tigerlily Foundation, and its focus on educating, advocating for, empowering and supporting young women affected by breast cancer. She created Tigerlily Foundation with the primary focus of educating women under 40 about the disease and providing chemotherapy buddy support, meetings for survivors, financial assistance, beauty and pampering services and free mammograms to young women.

As young women who have been touched by this disease, Ms. Karmo and Ms. Applegate represented younger women, who are at more risk than women over 40, because they have more aggressive breast cancers and higher mortality rates. Ms. Karmo has been working to bring more awareness to this issue, through Tigerlily Foundation.

Questions about Maimah Karmo, Tigerlily Foundation or the show? Contact Tigerlily’s President and Founder Maimah Karmo at info@tigerlilyfoundation.org, 888-580-6253.

About the Tigerlily Foundation
According to the National Cancer Institute, breast cancer is the leading cause of death in young women ages 15-54. More than 250,000 women age 40 and under in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lives, and more than 11,000 women will be diagnosed next year. Further, younger women often have more aggressive breast cancers and higher mortality rates. Tigerlily Foundation’s mission is to educate, advocate for, empower and provide hands-on support to young women affected by breast cancer. The bulk of our funds go directly toward women in treatment who are struggling to pay their medical and household bills due the disruption that cancer has caused. We also provide meals and buddy support for women undergoing chemotherapy, and offer beauty and pampering services to women in treatment.

About Maimah Karmo
Author and activist Maimah Karmo is a breast cancer survivor who was diagnosed at 32, when her daughter was only three years old. Determined to live to see her baby grow into a beautiful adult, Maimah harnessed her strength, relied on her mother for support, and made a promise to herself that if she lived that she’d do everything she could to help other young women with breast cancer. She founded the Tigerlily Foundation in 2006, and gave it its name because this beautiful flower represents beauty, strength and transformation. “Tigerlilies bloom and survive in all seasons — just like young women who are battling, and surviving, breast cancer,” she says. “My goal is to empower women struggling with this disease so they have the confidence that they can fight and win their battle, then turn around and help others who are experiencing the same things.” For more information, visit www.tigerlilyfoundation.org.

What You Must Know About the Future of Newspapers

When was the last time you picked up a newspaper and devoured it from cover to cover? Personally, I still enjoy this activity as one of the best ways to unwind despite the negative news of late within some of the editions, yet I may be an anomaly because the Pew Center For Research is identifying a trend which appears to be unquestionable– fewer Americans are reading print newspapers as more depend on the internet for their news. And while the percentage of people who read newspapers online is growing rapidly, especially among younger generations, that growth has not offset the decline in print readership.

Statistics estimate that overall newspaper readership declined in spite of an increase in the number of people reading online newspapers: 14% of Americans said they read a newspaper online yesterday, up from 9% in 2006.
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Human Traffickers Aim to Exploit 2010 World Cup

South Africa is being eyed by human traffickers, who plan to increase their importation of victims to cater for the sexual appetites of visitors to the 2010 World Cup, human rights workers stressed at a human trafficking workshop in Durban on Wednesday.

The event was steered by the Gender Aids Forum and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

While South Africa is regarded as a “developed” country, in marked contrast to many other parts of the continent, it currently lags behind economically depressed neighbours like Mozambique and Zambia in terms of legislation to protect vulnerable people against the scourge of human trafficking.
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