Jessica Biel Helps Bring Charities Online
Celebrity and family launch social networking site to help non-profits boost donations.

Every day, even before my feet hit the ground, I try to start my morning by being grateful for the good and, if I’m in a particularly enlightened state, the not-so-good things in my life. (To be truthful, many of life’s greatest lessons are learned “the hard way”, so when conducting your I Am Grateful For….. exercise every morning, be sure to appreciate and be grateful for the not so pleasant learning experiences, as well!)

Today, while “being grateful” for some the wonderful and amazing people in my life, my thoughts centered on some good friends who just had their first baby. It is hard not to be grateful, every day, for the gift of life, but the wonder and magic of this human experience is probably never more powerful than at the beginning of a life - at birth.

“Every year over 10 million mothers and children die throughout the developing world. Yet providing simple, effective, low-cost health services could prevent over half of these deaths.” - Infante Sano

Of course, our family was thrilled when we received an email from Stephan and Nicole introducing us to little Sophia Bella (6lbs., 13 oz. & 21 inches) and informing us that everyone was fine and resting peacefully. It was not until a few days later my wife, Kim, and I learned that Sophia had been in distress during the later part of the birth process and that doctors had to perform an emergency C-section to deliver her before either Nicole or Sophia’s health was compromised.

“Imagine….A world where every baby is handed to a proud smiling mother in a clean towel “- Infante Sano

I’m sure we didn’t hear about the C-section initially because, although it was an unplanned emergency procedure, the medical care available to this young family made this requirement seem almost routine. Surrounded by competent and caring doctors and nurses in a hospital with state-of-the-art medical equipment and monitoring devices and steps away from an operating room with highly trained surgeons available for just such emergencies, I suspect this obstetrics team probably didn’t “skip a beat”.

It's hard to think about a life without Evan around.

I know something about competent medical care for infants because when my nephew, Evan,was born, he was premature and had to be helicoptered, alone without either of his parents, from his small mountain community to a town over 100 miles away, to be admitted to a neonatal unit. Since I was the only family member available to meet the helicopter when it arrived at the hospital, in the first several hours of little Evan’s life my job was to let his tiny fingers wrap around my little finger - to let him know someone who loved him was with there until his mother arrived.

“The most crucial days of a child’s life are from conception through their first few weeks.” - Infante Sano

Infante Sano, Spanish for Healthy Infant, is a Make The Difference Nework nonprofit member affiliated with Boston Children’s Hospital. With a mission is to improve the health and well-being of mothers and infants in Latin America and the Caribbean, Infate Sano provides medical equipment and training to those who need it most.

Happy Birthday Sophia Bella... Happy Birthday to you!

Infante Sano partners with existing hospitals and provide comprehensive training programs and medical equipment to empower local health care workers to improve the quality of the care they provide. They pride themselves on being a grass-roots organization that is successfully implementing proven strategies in the communities where they work.

In honor of little Sophia’s arrival and to celebrate her mother’s safe and successful birth, Kim and I made a donation to Infante Sano to help ensure another mother will be able to smile when her healthy baby is placed to her bosom and their lives begin together. (Check out my Wish Comments and Donation Dedication.)

Please join Infante Sano in its quest to improve the health and well-being of mothers and infants in Latin America and the Caribbean. Every mother’s child deserves a healthy start in life!

Happy Birthday Sophia Bella and congratulations Nicole and Stephan!

Sponsor a Birth - For as little as $25 you can sponsor a clean, safe birth for a mother, and a healthy start for her baby. For $300 you can sponsor a birth a month for a year. Please consider sponsoring a birth and letting your friends know that they can make a difference as well!

Wish of the Day (11/10/08): Operation Warm Hearts

Yesterday, my daily bike ride (an integral part of my “sanity routine”) was slightly interrupted by a short, but dramatic detour. Upon cresting the bridge at the Santa Monica Pier, I noticed something unusual on the beach and, for some reason; my curiosity told me to take the time to see what it was.

Now, this is not my usual behavior –my wife, Kim, will tell you I stick very closely to my routines and find that I can get into scheduling trouble if I let too many things distract me but, for some reason, I felt compelled to see what was going on.

It turns out I had stumbled on a Veterans For Peace LA display y called “Arlington Cemetery West”. Here’s how they describe their display:

“Every Sunday from sunrise to sunset, a temporary memorial is created on the beaches of Southern California. Located just north of the world famous pier at Santa Monica, California and at the Sterns Wharf in Santa Barbara, the Arlington West Memorial, a project of Veterans For Peace, offers visitors a graceful, visually and emotionally powerful, place for reflection. It is an impressive sight to see that many crosses meticulously staked out in the sand and to think about what each cross represents.

Although I didn’t stay long, the image of all those crosses on the beach has haunted me ever since.

Let me make it clear that I, personally, feel this was war uncalled for and was based on lies, but that is all I will say about the leadership of our country, at the time, and of this war. I have also always believed that our men and women in the armed forces are America’s true heroes and deserve all the support we can give them – both while at war or back home.

To the Biel family, this war has not been just some distant disturbance in a foreign land far from our shores. My nephew, Capt. Jason Biel, has served twice in Iraq. At each deployment he left his wife and 3 young children behind and courageously followed his orders while his immediate and extended family stayed behind and worried for his safety every minute. When you have “skin in the game” you tend to watch to score much more closely.

Thankfully, Jason is back home – safe and uninjured – but 4193 (today’s count) of his comrades (and their families) have not been so lucky. And don’t forget the thousands of injured soldiers produced by this war – official estimates are 30,000+ while others believe the number to be over 1,000,000 or the veterans of so many other wars who, because of the trauma they experienced while serving, often find themselves homeless challenged with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), alcohol and substance use and related disorders.

Regardless of the number (or the war in which they fought) one thing that is unequivocally clear - our veterans have placed their lives on the line so we can all live in freedom and they have earned our support and deserve our help when they need it.

In honor of all our country’s veterans (including my father - a polio victim – who was also a decorated WWII veteran) today’s Wish is from Make The Difference Network nonprofit member, Wishing Well to support their Operation Warm Hearts. With temperatures dropping to their coldest, Operation Warm Hearts is an outreach campaign to bring as much comfort as possible to homeless veterans.

Take a moment to remember “the VA estimates that nearly 200,000 veterans are homeless on any given night and nearly 400,000 experience homelessness over the course of a year. Conservatively, one out of every three homeless men who is sleeping in a doorway, alley or box in our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform and served this country. National Coalition for Homeless Veterans

Please join me in keeping one of them warm tonight by donating to Operation Warm Hearts posted by Wishing Well.

Let me know you have a favorite Make The Difference Network (MTDN) Wish!

Wish of the Day (11/10/08): Help People in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Get Water

I start almost every weekday by jumping on my old mountain bike and heading down to the beach to ride the bike path to Venice Beach and back. All the road bikes that share this route with me usually blow past me even though I am working pretty hard – their bikes are much more “road efficient” than mine - but It’s a wonderful way to get a “blood pumping”, cardio-start to my morning.

Half way through my usual route, I generally stop for a much needed drink of water from a conveniently located water fountain - it’s a routine I’ve come to appreciate and expect. All along my route, there are numerous locations I could stop to hydrate if I ever needed a drink.

I usually keep a bottle of water on my desk to use during my work day and my wife, Kim, keeps our cars full of water bottles. The truth is, in my world, water is generally available – so available, we don’t think much about it.

What if water is scarce?

Women in Bangalore slums wait 2 -3 hours to get two to four pots of water.

Unfortunately, access to so much water is not the case all around the world. “According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), more than 1 billion people – about one in six people in this world – have no access to clean and safe drinking water while over 2 billion lack access to adequate sanitation. The effects of unclean water often lead to an endless cycle of poverty, conflict, disease and death.

If we continue to follow the current trend, by the year 2025 two thirds of the people in this world will not have sufficient access to clean water.

The world water crisis is one of the largest public health issues of our time. Nearly 1.1 billion people (roughly 20% of the world’s population) lack access to safe drinking water¹. The lack of clean, safe drinking water is estimated to kill almost 4,500 children per day². In fact, out of the 2.2 million unsafe drinking water deaths in 2004, 90% were children under the age of five³. Water is essential to the treatment of diseases, something especially critical for children.

Women and children are particularly hard hit by this problem often having to walk miles to and from safe water sources every day simply to obtain water for their families’ daily needs. This requirement prevents these women and children from pursuing normal educational, household, or job activities and keeps them in poverty and limits their options to progress.

The lack of clean water can be traced as the source of many of the world’s problems.

WaterPartners International is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization and Make The Difference Network Network Member committed exclusively to providing safe drinking water and sanitation to people in developing countries.

Unsanitary practices are rampant in Bhangi colony, contributing to poverty & disease in the community.

More than 200 communities in eight countries - Bangladesh, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Guatemala, India, Kenya, and the Philippines - have gained access to a safe, reliable source of water and basic sanitation through WaterPartners International.

Join me in supporting Today’s Wish: Help People in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Get Water posted by WaterPartners International and take a small step to help in the world-wide effort to provide adequate and safe water to all the people of the world.

What is your favorite Make The Difference Network Wish?

Sources: [1] WaterAid, 2005 [2] UNICEF/WHO Water for Life, Making it Happen, 2005 [3] UNICEF/WHO Water for Life, Making it Happen, 2005

The Chris Williams Foundation

What does friendship really mean? Am I a good friend because I make sure I call them when I am going out to a great show so we can enjoy each other’s company? Would I qualify as a good friend by loaning money to someone when they are in need? Maybe it means I am there for them when they need a “shoulder to cry on”.

Just last night, my wife, Kim, and I cooked , delivered, and ate dinner with a friend who is house-bound with a medical condition – maybe that qualifies us for “good friend” status, I don’t know.

If someone close to you, while growing up, had a tragic accident that left them severely brain damaged and the physical, emotional, and financial impact on their family was catastrophic, would you have the courage to create a registered nonprofit designed to help your buddy and his family (as well as other individuals, and their families, who are dealing with similar injuries) and make commitment to be there for him during his recovery, no matter the consequences?

Would you call that person a “Good Friend”? I would!

Today’s Wish (Buy A Mile, Save a Life! posted by the Chris Williams Fund) honors not only a young man, Chris Williams, and his family who are in need of help as a consequence of Chris’s condition brought on by a devastating accident, but it also recognizes, Micah Crawford his fully qualified “Good Friend”, who earns that designation by his tireless commitment to Chris and other patients like him whose insurance is insufficient to cover appropriate and necessary therapies.

The Chris Williams Fund’s mission is to assist Chris and other young persons with severe brain injury to obtain appropriate therapies and treatments necessary to realize their full recovery potential.

Micah Crawford - the true definition of a "Good Friend"

Chris’ childhood friend, Micah Crawford, created the Chris Williams Fund and, in my mind, not only qualifies as a good friend, but as a stellar example of a young man who just doesn’t talk about doing something to make a difference in the world, but actually does it!

Micah is also tapping into the internet/Web in as many ways as he can to leverage his ability to fulfill his commitment to Chris and others like him. Review the sources, below, to learn more about the Chris Williams Fund and events and activities associated with their efforts.

• Micah Crawford’s Facebook Page
• Chris Williams Foundation Facebook Page
• Chris Williams Foundation MySpace Page

Please join me by donating a tax-deductible contribution to the Buy a Mile, Save a Life! Wish of the Chris Williams Fund today. Every dollar will get Chris closer to his goal of his safe transport to the world-renowned Tennant Clinic in Texas.

Let me know which is your favorite Wish on Make The Difference Network!

One of the most heavily ingrained daily behaviors in my life is my oral hygiene routine – I still brush my teeth every morning , after every meal (when possible), and I brush (and now floss) every evening before bed. My parents were absolute sticklers for taking care of our teeth - my Dad required a full set of dentures by his early 30’s, but my mother, she was a full-scale “tooth nazi”. These influences are so strong that, to this day, my wife and I carry on one of my Mom’s tooth care traditions and my grown children still find a full array of tooth care products in their Christmas stocking!

I believe you can get a glimpse of who a person really is through their teeth, and I have been known to spend the evening staring into a beautiful woman’s “pearly whites” trying to search for their soul.

While the importance of oral hygiene and regular professional care has long been known, recent research has further strengthened the link between good oral health and your overall health.

“The evidence is accumulating faster than you can say “Don’t forget to floss” that taking good care of your teeth — and treating gum disease aggressively — may be one of the best things you can do not just for your mouth but for your overall health.” Health & Fitness

For the past 18 years, Medical Missions for Children (MMFC) volunteers have donated their time and expertise to provide free surgical, medical and dental care for impoverished children and young adults in developing countries around the world. MMFC currently conducts 13-15 missions per year, traveling to Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador, Ukraine, Rwanda, Tanzania, Mali, India, and the Philippines

In honor of Mom (we all call her Biel - she’s 80 years old this year) and her still incessant emphasis on healthy teeth, the Wish of the Day is Provide Dental Care for a Child posted by MMFC.

The other strong memory I have about my dental history are of the great dentists and dental professionals my family and I have had the joy of working with over the years. Even when the procedures were somewhat scary or a little painful, these wonderful professionals got us through, and for that I’m grateful.

Join me in honoring the important and necessary work of the MMFC dental professionals with a donation so they can continue to travel the world, with their fellow medical volunteers, to make sure all children have happy and healthy smiles!

Let me know if you have a favorite Make The Difference Network Wish you’d like to see fulfilled!

As I watched the historic election results and listened to President-elect Barack Obama’s victory speech, I was reminded of the message that many parents tell their children while growing up - “You can be, and do, anything you want! You simply need to believe in yourself, set your mind to it, persevere through any adversity you face, and you can achieve your greatest dreams.” (For a fun and inspiring glimpse at the lives of famous people who persevered, read The Secret of Success is Not a Secret by Darcy Andries.)

I am proud to live in a country that has the courage and capability to make such incredible progress and embrace such immense change without always resulting to violence. In the broadest sense, the 2008 elections are a victory for all of us, a validation of the American Dream, and a great endorsement of the democratic process and its power.

(Note: If you are a Republican and not feeling particularly victorious, simply remember politics is cyclical and that your time will come again. You need only go back to the 2004 Presidential elections and ask a Democrat how they felt to be reminded of how quickly the tables can turn!)

Much has been said and written about the fact that Obama will be the first US President of African-American descent, and his ascent to the highest level of leadership in our country will further open the door to the latent capabilities of the truly multi-ethnic nation in which we live.

Education is the Great Equalizer

While this historic first will help “open doors” to a wider range of participation in this county’s political process and its leadership positions, to me, the other key ingredient is education. Education is the great equalizer. Although nothing substitutes for any individual’s unique personality and “drive”, these characteristics, built on a solid foundation of experience and learning create the “perfect storm” of influences that can position anyone for an influential role in their community, their country, or the world.

The Wish of the Day (11/7/08)

With this in mind, today’s Wish of the Day: KIPP to College Opportunity Fund reminds us that, while an education is increasingly available, not everyone has equal access to the academic foundation required to access the highest levels of educational opportunities available.

KIPP Academy of Opportunity (KAO) is a tuition-free, public charter middle school that opened in summer 2003 in South Los Angeles. KAO is modeled on the successful strategies of the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), a nationwide network of 57 schools in 17 states and the District of Columbia.

KAO shares a single mission with all KIPP schools: “To ensure that educationally under-served students develop the academic skills, character, and intellectual habits necessary to succeed in top-quality high schools, competitive colleges, and the world beyond.“

Please consider joining me in helping the KIPP Academy of Opportunity develop our nation’s (and the world’s) future leaders.

Who knows, we just may be helping educate the next Barack Obama or John McCain!

Okizu is a nonprofit organization that operates Camp Okizu, a summer camp and peer support program for children with cancer and their families.

Make The Difference Network and Jody Covard’s FMG Network have joined together to create a fun Holloween activity that can also make the difference in the life of children suffering through childhood cancer.

You can visit www.halloweengram.com and, for only $2.00, you purchase unlimited access to the Halloween-focused messages by the participating spokespeople (including my daughter, Jessica Biel) that you can send to your friends and family to celebrate this holiday.

All proceeds from Halloween Grams will be applied to Okizu’s camp program through their “Send a Halloween Gram and Help a Kid Go to Camp!” Wish.

If you send any Halloween Grams, please send one to me - and thanks for mnaking the difference!

One of the fun events at the recent Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open was the golf clinic sponsored by Justin and put on by is one of the world’s best known golf instructors, Butch Harmon.

Harmon is best known for having been Tiger Woods’ golf coach early in the great champion’s career and he is also Justin Timberlake’s golf instructor.

Attending the clinic was a large contingent of young First Tee Southern Nevada participants who not only got to watch Justin and other celebrity golfer “swing their stuff” they also got some close-up interaction with the superstar golfer - see video below!