What Can I Do To Help?
	Recently the observation was made that many persons would like to be able to help those less fortunate than themselves, but monetary concerns prohibited them from being of any assistance.  In response to this, Our Red Earth issued a call for ideas from anyone who cared to respond - "Is there a way to help even if you don't have a lot of money to donate?" The  response(s) to our call are entitled "What Can I Do To Help," and they all involve cash free ways to help support the People.
	"What Can I Do To Help?" There are so many no cost and low cost ways to help others less fortunate than ourselves that it would be impossible to list them all, but hopefully these ideas will inspire others. 1. VOLUNTEER! Volunteer to help an elderly neighbor shovel the snow from their driveway. Prepare the evening meal for the frazzled mother caring for her sick children. Wash the windows or clean the house for the bedridden housewife. 2. Do You Have Skills You Could Teach Someone? Can you sew, knit, crochet? Teach a child these skills. Watch the glow of excitement on a childs face as they make a simple apron, knit their first pair of mittens, or crochet a simple doiley. Help them to learn a skill that can help them in their adult life. 3. Do You Play A Musical Instrument? Again, TEACH! Bring a little joy into someones life with the gift of music. 4. Are You Good At Academics? You guess it. TEACH. There are a multitude of children in this country alone that could use a tutor but their family cannot afford one. The child you work with could very well become the next Einstein or Salk. Heck, that child could become a doctor, lawyer, or even president. 5. Do You Like To Cook/Bake? Make an extra serving and give it to someone in need. When you make cookies, take 1 dozen out to give to the poor family down the street. (You didn't really want to eat the whole 4 dozen cookies yourself anyway, did you?) 6. Visit A Nursing Home A great many of our elderly are placed in nursing homes and forgotten by their families. The elderly get lonely too. Brighten someones day. Talk to them. Get to know them. Who knows, you just might learn something while doing it. 7. Do A Lot Of Sewing? Save your scraps. Cut them into squares and donate them to the incarcerated for prayer ties. 8. Having A Yard Sale? Donate the proceeds to charity. 9. What About The Family Down The Street? You know, the ones with all the kids that are barely making ends meet. How long has it been since the parents have had any time together alone? Offer to watch the kids so they can go for a walk together or just spend some time together alone. 10. Organize Work Bees I am from a long line of farmers, and work bees are a way of life for us. Whenever someone needs help, the neighbors band together to help. Organize a wood cutting bee to help someone get firewood for the winter. Organize a work bee to help someone do needed repairs on their home. Organize a quilting bee to make bedding..... 11. Are You A Smoker? Cut back just 1 pack a MONTH, and send the money to charity. One pack a month isn't much, but multiply the cost of that one pack by twelve months. It's a lot more than you think. 12. Can You Afford To Donate $1 Per Week? Again, this doesn't seem like much, but it adds up. 13. Pray For Others Need I say more? 14. Other Ideas Donate postage stamps, stationary or paper, envelopes, phone cards. 15.  15. On-Line Auctions I would also like to point out that there are well over 100 on-line auction sites right now. A few of us have been monitoring these sites, and to be perfectly honest----we could use a LOT of help. You don't have to try monitoring everything,just pick one subject and monitor that. We have had some luck in getting vendors to remove the "S" word from their listings. Watch for funery or sacred items. Watch for illegal feathers. On some of the auction sites you can type in a keyword(s) and they will e-mail you whenever they get a new listing on your "watch" list. If you would like to view the list of on-line auctions, go to: www.internetauctionlist.com 16. Barter Bartering is a win-win situation. Each person gets something they need or want. Maybe the single mom down the street is a talented seamstress. Ask her to do some sewing for you and in return you allow her to keep all leftover fabric. (And don't be a Scrooge, make sure there will be left over fabric, thread, lace,.....) COPYRIGHT 2000, Our Red Earth Organization.  Submitted by Norma, aka TW. Permission to reprint any of the articles from this page must be issued by their respective authors via the Our Red Earth Organization at <OurRedEarth@yahoo.com>.