Day 48: Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week - February 7-14

An international coalition of families, individuals, non-profit organizations, support groups, and health professionals participate in a campaign to increase public awareness of Congenital Heart Defects and Childhood Heart Disease. CHD Awareness Week is an annual awareness effort to help educate the public about Congenital Heart Defects. Participants include individuals, local support groups, national and local organizations and congenital cardiology centers throughout the world! Congenital Heart Disease is considered to be the most common birth defect, and is a leading cause of birth-defect related deaths worldwide.  Despite the fact that CHD affects approximately 1.8 millions families in the U.S., a relatively small amount of funding is currently available for parent/patient educational services, research, and support.

 

The International Children’s Heart Foundation

It is every child's right to be born into a world where he or she can thrive, grow to be strong and make their parents proud. It is not, however, every child's destiny.

One in every 100 children born in the developing world will never see his first birthday because of congenital heart disease. His parents will mourn the loss. They are powerless to save him because the resources required to treat and cure congenital heart disease are not easily accessible in developing countries and remote regions. Medical team skills, money to transport and house patients and their families, medicines, equipment and facilities are scarce.

The mission of the International Children's Heart Foundation (ICHF) is to bring the skills, technology and knowledge to cure and care for children with congenital heart disease to developing countries. ICHF does this regardless of country of origin, race, religion or gender. Their goal is to make the need for ICHF obsolete. They work toward this goal through their mission trips where they operate and educate local health care professionals, and provide needed equipment and medications.

Donation: $10

To support The International Children’s Heart Foundation, please visit:

 http://www.babyheart.org/

Day 47: Diabetes Sunday

DIABETES SUNDAY promotes awareness and education, and informs the public of the causes and dangers of diabetes. The African American Program of the American Diabetes Association began a program in 1996 and called it "Diabetes Sunday." The pastor or someone else briefly talked about the disease during the worship service and information was handed out about risk factors. A coalition joined with clergy to reach African Americans with important health information.

The African American Program’s goal is to increase awareness about the seriousness of diabetes in the community and importance of early diagnosis and treatment. This program was developed to provide churches with a foundation that would assist them with spreading the news to the almost 3 million African Americans who currently have diabetes or at risk for diabetes. In honor of Diabetes Awareness Month, the local chapter of the American Diabetes Association is partnering with local churches to educate all about Diabetes. "Diabetes Sunday" is usually held the first or second Sunday in February. Pastors and or church leaders will take time to make an announcement from the pulpit about Diabetes.

Public Health Problem

Diabetes is a serious problem for African Americans

·       They have higher rates of this disease and three of its major complications: blindness, amputation and kidney failure.

·       About one third of African Americans with this disease are not aware they have it and are therefore not getting recommended care.

Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions among Native Americans.

·       Complications from diabetes are major causes of death and health problems in most Native American populations.

·       Prevalence of type 2 diabetes among Native Americans in the United States is 12.2% for those over 19 years of age. One tribe in Arizona has the highest rate of diabetes in the world. About 50% of the tribe between the ages of 30 and 64 have diabetes.

·       Of equal concern is the fact that type 2, or adult-onset diabetes, is increasingly being discovered in Native American youth.

Diabetes Rapidly Increasing Among Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders

·       In Hawaii, Native Hawaiians have more than twice the rate of diabetes as Whites.

·       Asians are 20% less likely than non-Hispanic whites to die from diabetes.

·       In Hawaii, Native Hawaiians are 5.7 times as likely as Whites living in Hawaii to die from diabetes.

·       Filipinos living in Hawaii have more than 3 times the death rate as Whites living in Hawaii.

Facts about Diabetes

·       Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy.

·       Both genetics and environmental factors, such as obesity and lack of exercise, play a role in diabetes.

·       Symptoms of diabetes include excessive thirst and urination, dizziness, blurred vision and feeling tired.

·       Nearly 21 million children and adults in the United States, or 7 percent of the population, have diabetes. Most have Type 2 diabetes, which tends to occur later in life.

Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Davis established The Children’s Diabetes Foundation at Denver in 1977 in Denver, Colorado as a non-profit organization dedicated solely to the support of research in childhood diabetes and to provide the best possible clinical and educational programs for children with this disease. The Foundation's mission is to raise funds to support programs at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes where more than 5,000 children and young adults from all over America currently receive care. In educating the public, the Education & Public Awareness Committee promotes public awareness of the symptoms of diabetes and to provide schools with information about diabetes care.

Donation: $5

To support The Children's Diabetes Foundation at Denver, please visit: http://www.childrensdiabetesfoundation.org/

Day 46: Black History Month

Black History Month celebrates contributions made by African Americans and people of African descent around the world. An African American man named Dr. Carter G. Woodson in 1926 started it.  Back then, it was called Negro History Week and was celebrated the second week of February.  Now it is celebrated for the whole month of February in the United States and Canada, and the month of October in the United Kingdom. Dr. Woodson studied African American culture and encouraged other people to study it, too. He felt it was important for people to recognize the great contributions black people have made. He devoted his life to educating people as a teacher, a writer, and a publisher. He was also a political activist who worked to make sure the government treated African Americans fairly.

Negro History Week was set for the second week in February to celebrate the birthdays of two people who worked hard for African Americans: Abraham Lincoln, the white president who freed the slaves, and Frederick Douglass, the first African American Vice Presidential nominee.  Negro History Week became Black History Month in 1976, in celebration of our nation's 200th birthday. Since its inception in 1926, Negro History Week and Black History Month have been given annual themes. The first annual theme was simply, "The Negro in History," but since then the themes have grown more specific. This year’s theme is “African Americans and the Civil War”.

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF or BDPA Foundation) is a 501(c)3 non-profit charity, founded in 1992 to support the education and technical programs of Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA). BETF recognizes that to close the gap of computer and technology literacy, minority youth must participate and compete in today’s digital economy.  They want students from historically disadvantaged communities to learn advanced computer science and community responsibility from any of the BDPA chapters located around the nation.

African Americans make up 24% of the working population in America, however only 13% of the IT industry employees are African Americans.  Further, African Americans in the IT Industry earned but 84% of the salaries paid to their counterparts.  There is still a need to ‘bridge the digital divide’.

In 1986, they began developing high school youth for future entrance into the IT industry through the Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program.  Annually, they train up to 900 of these students in after-school computer camps on the latest computer and Internet website developing languages as well as the much-needed industry knowledge and presentation skills.  

Donation: $5

To support BDPA Education and Technology Foundation, please visit: http://www.betf.org/

Day 45: National Wear Red Day®

Today, Americans nationwide will wear red to show their support for women's heart disease awareness on this National Wear Red Day^®. This observance promotes the Red Dress symbol and provides an opportunity for everyone to unite in this life-saving awareness movement by putting on a favorite red dress, shirt, tie, or Red Dress Pin.

National Wear Red Day makes a statement about the number one killer of American women, which is cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease is the cause of one in every three female deaths, and one woman dies every minute due to this largely preventable disease.

National Wear Red Day was created in support of The Heart Truth, a campaign implemented by National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and partner organizations to "give women a personal and urgent wakeup call about their risk of heart disease." The Heart Truth campaign is specifically targeting women aged 40 to 60, as the risk of heart disease increases during this time in a woman's life. The effort hopes to reach African American and Hispanic women, as these ethnic groups have "higher rates of the major risk factors of heart disease" including diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure.

The mission of the American Heart Association is to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. That single purpose drives all that they do. The need for this work is beyond question. They want to ensure that they never have to deny research that could save a woman's life.

In 2004, the American Heart Association faced a challenge. Cardiovascular disease claimed the lives of nearly 500,000 American women each year, yet women were not paying attention. In fact, many even dismissed it as an “older man’s disease.” To dispel the myths and raise awareness of heart disease as the number one killer of women, the American Heart Association created Go Red For Women – a passionate, emotional, social initiative designed to empower women to take charge of their heart health.

Go Red For Women encourages awareness of the issue of women and heart disease, and also action to save more lives. The movement harnesses the energy, passion and power women have to band together and collectively wipe out heart disease. It challenges them to know their risk for heart disease and take action to reduce their personal risk. It also gives them the tools they need to lead a heart healthy life.

Help the American Heart Association (AHA) raise the funds needed for lifesaving educational programs and the development of new treatments to fight heart disease.

Donation: $5

To support the American Heart Association, please visit:  http://www.heart.org

Day 44: Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese Lunisolar Calendar. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Ancient Chinese New Year is a reflection on how the people behaved and what they believed in the most.

Year of the Golden Rabbit:

According to Chinese tradition, the Rabbit brings a year in which you can catch your breath and calm your nerves.  It is a time for negotiation.  Don't try to force issues, because if you do you will ultimately fail.  To gain the greatest benefits from this time, focus on home, family, security, diplomacy, and your relationships with women and children.   Make it a goal to create a safe, peaceful lifestyle, so you will be able to calmly deal with any problem that may arise.

People born the Year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky. The Rabbit is a lucky sign.  Rabbits are private individuals and a bit introverted.  They are reasonably friendly individuals who enjoy the company of a group of good friends. They are good teachers, counselors and communicators, but also need their own space. They are fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind. Rabbit people seldom lose their temper. They are clever at business and being conscientious, never back out of a contract. They would make good gamblers for they have the uncanny gift of choosing the right thing. However, they seldom gamble, as they are conservative and wise. They are most compatible with those born in the years of the Sheep, Pig, and Dog.

Zooh Corner Rabbit Rescue was founded in 1993 by Alexandra Logsdon. Zooh Corner is a local, non-profit, no-kill rabbit welfare organization based in San Gabriel, California. Their mission is threefold: to rescue, treat, spay/neuter and place as house pets, rabbits that have been abused, neglected, injured or dumped; to educate the public on rabbit health care and needs; to stop the irresponsible breeding and selling of rabbits. They are sustained by donations and by the helpful hands, pocket books and wallets of a growing number of volunteers.

Because they are a no-kill organization, they and their Foster Friends and volunteers are able to spend as much time as is needed with each rabbit, getting to know its special personality and taking care of each bunny's individual needs

They work with many different kinds of rabbits from all walks of life and in doing so learn more about rabbits and their needs all the time.

Donation: $5

To support Zooh Corner, please visit:  http://mybunny.org/

Day 43: National Girls and Women in Sports Day

Since its inception in 1987, National Girls and Women in Sports Day has become the premiere occasion to celebrate the participation, success and accomplishments of girls and women athletes. What started in 1987 as a single event in Washington, D.C. to honor Olympic volleyball star Flo Hyman has grown into a nationwide celebration across all 50 states. On February 2, 2011, thousands will gather to celebrate NGWSD 2011 and "Play, Believe, Achieve."

“Each year as we celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day, we are reminded of the importance of maintaining a focus on, and creating an awareness of, the important issues facing women and girls in this country and beyond. The powerful combination of sports, health and education found in programs administered by organizations like the Women’s Sports Foundation not only directly benefits women and girls today, it lays a foundation for growth for generations to come.” -- Women's Sports Foundation Founder Billie Jean King

The Women's Sports Foundation is an educational organization founded in 1974 by tennis legend Billie Jean King. Their mission is to advance the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity. One of the top five public grant-giving women's funds in the United States, the Foundation distributes $10,000-20,000 per week from operating dollars to provide opportunities for socioeconomically underprivileged and inactive girls to participate in sports and physical activity. The Foundation works for equal opportunity for our daughters to play sports so they, too, can derive the psychological, physiological and sociological benefits of sports participation.

Donation: $5

To support Women's Sports Foundation, please visit: http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/

Day 42: National Freedom Day

Today is National Freedom Day. The purpose of this holiday is to promote good feelings, harmony, and equal opportunity among all citizens and to remember that the United States is a nation dedicated to the ideal of freedom. Major Richard Robert Wright Sr., a former slave, fought to have a day when freedom for all Americans is celebrated. When Wright got his freedom, he went on to become a successful businessman and community leader in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Major Wright chose February 1 as National Freedom Day because it was the day in 1865 that President Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Do you know what the 13th Amendment did? This amendment, an important change to our written law, outlawed slavery in the United States. Wright gathered national and local leaders together to write a bill declaring February 1 "National Freedom Day" and President Harry Truman signed the bill in 1948 making it official. 

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. is America's premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans. LDF also defends the gains and protections won over the past 70 years of civil rights struggle and works to improve the quality and diversity of judicial and executive appointments. Working in the four key areas of Criminal Justice, Economic Justice, Education, and Political Participation, LDF seeks to:

• Diminish the role of race in the criminal justice system and the role of the criminal justice system in community life;
• Increase fairness and African-American participation in all aspects of economic life;
• Increase equity in education and eliminate tolerance for schools that fail students; and
• Achieve full African-American civic engagement and participation in the democratic process.

Donation: $5

To support LDF, please visit:   http://naacpldf.org/