The rainy Chicago weather has squelched our plans today, but, quite honestly, we're okay with that because we are exhausted. I spent pretty much all day sleeping and I know Tarona took advantage of the downtime as well. We hadn't scheduled any meetings with organizations here, so we took a ride past Lake Michigan yesterday (when it was sunny) before heading to a hotel for the night.
Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline (taken especially for our new friend Cheryl from Lüke)
Tomorrow morning, we'll be heading out to Indianapolis for random acts of kindness and free book giveaways, then onto Pittsburgh, PA, where we're giving a presentation to the Three Rivers Youth organization on Friday. More on that when we get there. For now, we wish all of you a very good night.
It's odd to think we'll be home on Saturday. It feels like we've been on the road forever, but it also feels like we could keep going another two weeks, especially since we've been meeting some of the nicest and most fantastic people...like Bev Catalano, the Volunteer Services Director at the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center.
We met Bev first thing this morning at her facility on 23rd Street in Cheyenne, WY and she was gracious enough to take us on an hour-long tour of the medical center and then spent about another hour answering all of our questions about her work with volunteers. She staffs the various volunteer stations in the center and organizes fund-raisers throughout the year in order to donate money to various center projects, like purchasing new furniture for the 9th floor solarium and a flat screen TV for the 3rd floor pre-op waiting room.
Primarily, the volunteers perform administrative duties at each station, but they also work on crafts like baby photo collages for the 5th floor OB/Maternity Ward, and participate in the various fund-raisers throughout the year. Because of recent patient privacy laws, such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), and the instillation of paid internships, Bev has seen a depletion in the amount of volunteers over the years. It was because of these laws that Tarona and I weren't able to volunteer our time and services at the center because we would have had to wait out a background check and we were only available for the one day. However, we did offer to write about the center's needs in our blog and keep in touch with Bev once we returned home to see if there was anything we could offer the center even from across the country. As mentioned in our Mission Statement, Tarona and I want to continue our relationships with these organizations after our visits because volunteering is a gift that keeps on giving--for both parties.
Bev mentioned the center's need for receiving blankets for the 1,200 births a year it has. While she has been blessed with volunteers across the country who sew for fun and provide her with pillows, booties, and blankets, there's always a need for more. Bev seeks out sales at various fabric stores whenever she can, but, if you're anywhere in America reading this and have yards of unused fabric (especially something with a nursery-themed pattern), please send them Bev's way:
Bev Catalano Cheyenne Regional Medical Center 214 East 23rd Street Cheyenne, WY 82001 307.633.7513 p bev.catalano@crmcwy.org
In addition, if you're in Cheyenne and can offer any of the following, please contact Bev as well:
children's books (in good condition) magazines (backdated no more than 6 months) corporate sponsorship (for materials and supplies needed for fund-raisers)
After our visit with Bev, Tarona and I started the drive to our next stop: Omaha, NE, where gas is $3.39/gallon.
On our way to Nebraska
We had reached out to Lutheran Family Services (which provides human care services that build and strengthen individual, family and community life) prior to our trip. We hadn't heard back from anyone about our offer to visit and volunteer, so we decided to do an impromptu drive-by. Our timing was off, though, since the office was closed when we arrived, but we were able to drop off some books in the lobby and sprinkle our happy fairy dust before we set off to Chicago, IL.
Before I start posting about today, I wanted to point out that I'm finally uploading pictures (still having issues with importing video, though) and adding links, so, if you've already read through the past nine days' posts, please check back regularly for new stuff and let us know what you think. The entirety of our pics and videos will be loaded to a separate online photo album once we return from our trip. I'll keep everyone posted when it's available.
Tarona and I caught up on some much needed sleep this morning. We even missed our hotel's complimentary breakfast and most of you know that we would never pass up a free meal, so, we had to feed ourselves at a nearby IHOP. However, it just happened to be located next to the Frontier Mall where I'm fairly certain we freaked out everyone shopping there today even though we assured them that the books we were handing out to them were free and that we wanted nothing in return except for them to have a nice day and to check out our blog which was not a money scam. It's quite unsettling to have to defend one's genuine kindness and even more unnerving to know that the majority of the folks in that mall questioned our goodwill, but, alas, so goes human nature, or at least in America. However, fingers crossed, there may, perhaps, be a tipping point soon where everyone pays it forward to everyone else and thereby, the wariness and doubt will fade away to a land of good and friendly. One can only hope.
When we returned from breakfast and our guerilla book giveaway, we spent most of the rest of the day catching up on e-mail and other items from our journey so far, but, we also found time to pepper the entire town of Cheyenne with copies of our press release in hopes that anyone wandering past a community bulletin board will check out our blog and share his or her volunteering story with us:
Click on the jpeg for an enlarged image so you don't ruin your eyes. (Right, Dr. Dave?) If you'd like a hard copy version to put up in your family room and tell stories about how you knew us before we saved the world or to print in your local newspaper (that means you, New York Times), please e-mail us.
Lastly, Tarona and I decided that, even though it might not be eco-friendly, we're going to drive around Cheyenne tomorrow until we hit 1/4-tank of gas so we can fill back up on only $3.37/gallon. Rock on, Wyoming gas people. Rock on.
Tarona and I spent the majority of today driving. I'm getting so disoriented with what day and time it is that I can't even remember from where we departed this morning. But I know we stopped off for a bit to check out Great Salt Lake and then passed out more books to some folks along the way. We've been including our original press release in each book (which I'll try to attach here somehow tomorrow) in hopes that these random strangers will visit our blog and post comments. So, if you're reading this right now and happen to be a recipient of one of our acts of kindness, welcome...and please leave a note.
Great Salt Lake
Great Salt Lake, the video version.
Whenever we get a break, Tarona and I have been working on a Powerpoint presentation we'll be delivering when we get to Pittsburgh, PA. I'll elaborate more on that when we get there, but, for now I'll say that Tarona did most (ok, all) of the work on this presentation and it's fantastic.
Currently, we're in Cheyenne, WY (for those of you who know me, you know I may very well take a job here as a truck stop diner waitress and relocate for good) and will have all of Sunday to catch up on some of the correspondence we've been meaning to send out to those people with whom we've already visited on the first leg of our trip. And I know I'm going to spend a good amount of time finally uploading photos and video, so please check back if you'd like to see what we've been doing these past nine days.
On Monday, we'll be visiting the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, which is something Tarona and I are both looking forward to.
I'm also happy to announce that gas prices in Wyoming have come down to a relatively reasonable $3.49/gallon.
Much zigzagging throughout Arizona and California put us a little off schedule, so Tarona and I decided to forego our day in San Francisco in order to start our journey back east.
The Grand Canyon
Since we hadn't scheduled a meeting with any organizations in the area, we dropped off books (thanks again to our fab friends at Simon & Schuster, Wiley, and Random House) to some of the brave souls working at the 24-hour rest stops and wished them happy reading--we figured it was the least we could do in an area where gas is $4.13/gallon.
The view outside of our windshield has been consistently gorgeous throughout most of the states we've traveled. We removed the dead bugs from it before taking this shot.
We're stopping off at a hotel for the night and plan to head to Salt Lake City, UT in the morning. I'm a little more than exhausted, so forgive the short post. More to come tomorrow.
This train actually begins in New Jersey. We passed it on the way. Twice. No, seriously.
After heading out of Santa Fe, NM bright and early this morning, Tarona and I found ourselves with 466 miles of open road, desert, and the most breathtaking landscapes we've ever seen.
The Painted Desert in Arizona.
On the way to our next stop, we detoured a bit to drive through the 28 miles and 93,533 acres of the Petrified Forest National Park off Rt 40 West and couldn't believe that nature could create such an amazing piece of land. It was overwhelming and powerful and we were both happy we took the time to check it out.
Volcanic ash and a multitude of eruptions permeated the air and ground of the Petrified Forest with dissolved silicon which, over a million years or so, replaced the molecules of the wood of the trees, turning wood to solid silica, then solid quartz, then solid stone.
This evening was spent at the Watkins Shelter in Phoenix, AZ, which provides a safe haven for homeless families and women. Each person staying at the shelter receives a bed with blankets, hot shower, hygiene items, storage for belongings, clothing, a hot meal in the evening, and coffee and rolls in the morning. On every Wednesday evening, Pamela Straughn, a project leader for Make a Difference, conducts the "Read to Me" program where volunteers sit with the children of the shelter for an hour and read to each other from books in the shelter's library. Both Tarona and I read with two of the most adorable little girls and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
After the reading session, the children continued their evening activities in another room before heading to sleep. Meanwhile, Tarona and I sat and chatted for quite a while with both Pamela and volunteer Rebecca Phillips Harper, who explained their love of donating their time for such wonderful programs as "Read to Me" and other local organizations. They were both a true inspiration. On our way out, Tarona and I agreed that our experiences on this trip are getting more and more rewarding and we can't wait to see what the next ten days hold for us.
Rebecca Harper shares her volunteering experiences. (audio only)
Dina, Pam, Rebecca, and Tarona in a group hug at the Read to Me program.
And praise Arizona! Gas prices are down to $3.45/gallon here.
A little bit of luxury at Hotel Indigo, Scottsdale, Arizona.
I forgot to mention that yesterday's day of donation was kind of a bust. Tarona and I hadn't heard back from any organizations in Texas, so we thought we'd just wing our random act of kindness, but our timing must have been off because there was nobody around. We even thought that maybe we could clean up any garbage that might have been left on the tables at the food court where we planned to have lunch, but those Texans cleaned up after themselves! Seeing as we wanted to get going to Santa Fe, we just sent out happy thoughts and figured we'd make up for our lack of do-goodedness there. Which, I'm happy to say, we did.
After our day of chilling out and being pampered, Tarona and I stopped off for a bite to eat, but I couldn't finish my meal: a perfectly seared sirloin steak sliced thinly over sautéed spinach, grilled asparagus, and roasted tomatoes. I had about half of it wrapped up knowing that I wanted to give it to somebody who, most likely, wouldn't be eating tonight. I asked one of the locals if--and I know this sounded bizarre to her, but it made perfect sense to me--she knew of a popular area nearby where homeless people tended to gather. She did and she pointed us in the right direction because, lo and behold, right on the main boulevard, in the light of the late afternoon, was a man who definitely looked like he could use a decent meal.
Without being disrespectful and turning this into a comical recount, I will merely say that that man sure could bob and weave in between buildings because Tarona and I nearly ran over a median (twice) trying to catch up to this guy. When we finally did, and Tarona called out to him from her window, and I exited the car with my leftovers, the man said, "I've been looking for something to eat. Thank you."
I hope that our small act of kindness made that man's day because that was all I needed to make mine.
We decided to end our stay in Dallas early to get a head start on our next destination: Santa Fe, NM. We are on Rt 40 West right now and have about eight hours ahead of us and, for one of the rare times on this trip, Tarona and I will be donating time to take care of ourselves by stopping off at a spa for facials and massages because if we don't spend some time rejuvenating ourselves, we won't be any good to anyone else. (Plus, we're feeling a little scrappy.)
On a separate note, I wanted to send an enormous thank you to all of my former co-workers (and, blessedly, still current friends) at Simon & Schuster in NYC for donating such a wonderful and wide variety of books for us to leave behind on our visits. After seeing how appreciative the recipients have been, Tarona and I are hoping to further our partnership with Simon & Schuster as we would love to continue to encourage people to read and be inspired by books such as the ones we've been handing out.
Still having a glorious time, even though gas is $3.56/gallon in Texas.
Tarona and I left Atlanta this morning around 7:00 am and drove to New Orleans, LA. We hit one of the worst rain storms I have ever seen on the way, but it cleared up by the time we got to the French Quarter...for about an hour. Then, it started pouring again except, this time, we were strolling along the Mississippi Riverwalk when it hit again. We quickly took shelter under an enormous gazebo used for musical performances where we met Gwyne Gilmore, a Hurricane Katrina survivor. Gwyne told us his story (in video below) and gave us a real insight as to the destruction caused by the storm and the kind-hearted Tennesseans who took him in and took care of him when he had to evacuate his home. He also shared with us this tidbit of information.
Gwyne recounts his story.
Once the rain let up, Tarona and I drove through the most devastated area in the city: the Ninth Ward. I've seen slums and I've seen poor neighborhoods, but the only way I can describe the Ninth Ward is war-torn. The majority of the homes there are completely gutted and those left standing in inhabitable form have been renovated and remodeled in an almost embarrassingly overdone way (stucco exteriors, towering columns) and put up for sale. It's unnerving to think that the destruction caused by Katrina gave the city an excuse to encourage gentrification, so I'm going to believe that the survivors of the hurricane made out well in their insurance settlements and, therefore, received bigger and better homes to replace the ones they lost.
Almost all of the homes have the same sort of marking on them: a large X on the façade of the house, the date, "LSP,” (Louisiana State Police) and a number indicating how many bodies were recovered from the home.
A sign of hope in the middle of despair.
At around 7:00 pm, Tarona and I found ourselves heading out of The Big Easy--quiet, pensive--and into another, albeit smaller, rainstorm for the next leg of our adventure in Dallas*, TX. Gas price update: $3.64/gallon in Louisiana. *We replaced San Antonio, which was on the original itinerary we emailed to everyone, with Dallas.
Tarona and I started off our morning at the monthly volunteers' meeting with Dress for Success in Atlanta, GA and ended our day at the kick-off meeting for B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. Beginnings, a part of I Am B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. in Alpharetta, GA.
Prior to departure, the grand tour of The Decatur Inn.
While I have pages and pages of notes and lots and lots of pics and video footage, I'm too exhausted to figure out how to load anything from my new digital video camera onto my Mac, so I'll finish this post tomorrow from the road. In the meantime, I will say that if today was any indication as to how the rest of this trip is going to turn out, we are truly in for a phenomenal experience.
Oh, and gas went up to $3.55/gallon when we got to Georgia.
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Addendum:
At Dress for Success, Janet Thornton, the Volunteer Professional Women's Group Director welcomed us with a big hug before the meeting began. We soon found out that hugs are given out often and in large quantities at this organization whose mission is "to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life."
Janet Thornton discusses her experiences at DFS and working with volunteers.
After networking with some of the volunteers (over the yummiest lemon cake and fresh fruit), Tarona and I listened to Janet explain the history, partnerships, and success of her Professional Women's Group program. Dress for Success' motto "Suits to Self-Sufficiency" speaks volumes to its volunteers' long-term commitment to helping women develop confidence and self worth in both their professional and personal worlds--as Janet said, "We're not just a closet." The Professional Women's Group provides support, encouragement, resources, and a variety of other services to help empower women. However, they are often in need of clothing donations, especially polo shirts and khakis for those women interviewing at non-corporate companies. We strongly urge anyone reading this to please contribute what you can to the following address:
Dress for Success Atlanta 220 Spring Street NW, Suite 102 Atlanta, GA 30303 404.589.1177 p 404.589.1187 f
If you're not in the Atlanta region, Dress for Success has offices nation- and worldwide.
Each month, Janet books guest speakers to present at the volunteers' meetings and this month, Tarona and I timed our visit perfectly as the guest speaker was entrepreneur, inventor, and all-around true Renaissance woman Cheryl Scales. Cheryl's topic this evening was how to market oneself, where we learned something as simple as buying a website domain name can garner each of us marketability regardless of whether we have our own business or not.
Rhonda Willis and Joslyn A. Moore describe their experiences as volunteers.
We were also pleased to find out that Rochelle Ward, PWG's Program Coordinator, is starting a book club in which she plans to discuss a variety of fiction and non-fiction titles with members who sign up for the meetings every other month. (Note to my former publishing pals: you'll be hearing from me soon to ask for donations again.)
Tarona poses here with Frances Browning, a volunteer for Dress for Success' Professional Women's Group and Every Woman Works, an organization for women in transition from the penal system which helps them develop work skills and strengthen their self-confidence.
At B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. Beginnings, Tina Woodard addressed moms of girls 5 - 10 years old about her prevention program which focuses on increasing self esteem and leadership skills. A subsidiary of her I Am B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. program for teens, B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. Beginnings understands that girls are being affected at a younger and younger age as the years progress and provides a support system to ensure the achievement of physical, mental, social, emotional, spiritual, and economic success of these "little" girls overtakes--or, at least undoes--any image issues they might have based on current media standards or the ignorant jabbings from their peers.
Tina Woodard
The program is a fantastic combination of mentoring, community service, workshops, and activities which encourage leadership in girls, but also educates mothers on how they can support their daughters' empowerment. While the cost for parents to enroll their daughters in Camp B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. is nominal, Tina estimates it costs the organization approximately $700 per girl, which is why she relies heavily on the financial support of donors. If you would like to contribute any amount to this wonderful program, please contact Tina at the following address:
I AM, INC. 4850 Golden Parkway, Suite B-230 Buford, Georgia 30518 404.545.9051 p (Georgia office) 843.616.4415 p (South Carolina office) 770.831.0813 f
Cameca Fenderson explains her sickle cell anemia foundation.
Tarona and I have been on the road for just about 6 hours now. The weather's been fantastic, aside for some rain showers earlier in Pennsylvania.
Currently, we're on Rt. 81 South, passing through Harrisonburg, VA. We're about ninety minutes from Roanoke and then another two hours from there to the North Carolina border. Our goal is to keep driving until we hit Atlanta, GA, which should be somewhere around the 6:00 am mark tomorrow morning. Once there, we'll be meeting with the women from Dress for Success.
So far, so good, except that gas is $3.49/gallon. Yeesh.
A couple of years ago, Tarona and Dina made a plan to do something special before they turned 40 and, so, the time has come. From April 25 through May 10, the duo will be on a road trip to volunteer their time and energies to various organizations and unsuspecting individuals across the country. Ambitious to do in two weeks, they know, but they're completely dedicated to doing something that they will surely remember for the rest of their lives.
Check back on Friday, April 25 when they officially set off on their journey...
Our mission is to gather and document information from people across the United States who are donating their time to help and create local organizations in their community as well as the people who reap the benefits. By volunteering our assistance to non-profit organizations, interviewing the employees and recipients, and offering random acts of kindness, we intend to gain a complete understanding of the charitable efforts taking place throughout the United States of America.
By utilizing our integrity, dependability, confidentiality, flexibility, and exceptional organizational and time management skills, we pledge to extend our hands to assist others throughout our journey.
While meeting all deliverables as promised, our goal is to foster continuous relationships with the organizations and the people we come in contact with along our journey and to share this experience with the rest of the world.
