planting seeds of compassion
Our #MindfulLittleSpotlight story is about a special young lady named Ellie Shandalov. Ellie is 13-years old and first came to Mindful Littles during our inaugural event last fall, when we partnered with a wonderful organization called Youth Homes. Read more
So often many of us, myself included, go through each day taking for granted some of the most simple pleasures in life. I almost never stop to think about the fact that I get to have toothpaste, a toothbrush, shampoo, soap and so much more; and that truly we are so lucky to get to have these luxuries. In fact, World Bank projects that as of 2015, based on the poverty line of $1.90 per day, “global poverty may have reached 700 million, or 9.6 percent of the global population.” This statistic alone sets things into perspective. I spend double the global poverty line in a single Starbucks visit. What’s even more jarring is to realize that there are kids that live right by us, in neighboring towns, who have been severely abused and neglected. These kids are worried about their safety, whether they have a home or a family to rely on- let alone the simple pleasures of life that we so often take for granted. Read more
Gratitude was the theme of this weekend’s Mindful Littles community service event. Yesterday we got together with several families from our community to give a big Valentine’s Thank You gift to our local Moraga-Orinda Fire Department (MOFD) to thank them for their service.
During our event we heard from two local firefighters, got to tour a fire engine and learn about the different equipment they use. In addition to explaining the types of calls they get and some fire safety tips, the firemen also explained to the kids how they deal with their own fears when fighting fires by relying on their training and camaraderie. Read more
We have learned about some incredible stories about a few local children doing some amazing mindful work and giving back to the community. Some of these kids have been inspired by our Mindful Littles community service events and have started campaigns to help the causes they learned about. We want to start featuring these awesome littles and share their stories with our community.
Our first #MindfulLittleSpotlight is about a big-hearted 1st grader, Caden Morrow. Read more
We had our second “Helping Haiti Kids” event yesterday which was another heartfelt event with local families. We had a wonderful turnout despite the super stormy weather. Our event followed a similar agenda as our first one in December, which you can read about here. Because of both events, we completed 84 hygiene kits and now every child in the Center of Hope Haiti school will receive a personalized hygiene kit- each kit showcasing a polaroid picture and special wish from the family who made the kit. Read more
This last weekend we were very excited to host another Mindful Littles community service event. This time we partnered with a wonderful organization called Center of Hope- Haiti (COHH). COHH has built an orphanage and school in the small town of Hinche in Haiti and has an incredible mission: “To foster livelihood and hope for the future of orphaned children of Haiti by providing shelter, education, nutrition, emotional security, healthcare and life skills to the children and their caregivers.”
The children who attend the COHH school have an ongoing need for hygiene supplies, so during our event we put together hygiene kits and created personalized cards for the schoolchildren. We also taught the littles (and their bigs) at our event about the country of Haiti, about the children in Hinche, and about some mindfulness and compassion practices.
My close friend, Mary Patel, and I piloted our first community seva event last weekend in my backyard. We invited 15 neighborhood families (one parent with children 3 years or older). For our first project, we helped an incredible organization, Youth Homes, which serves as a resource center and provides residence homes for at-risk and neglected adolescents. This was an especially meaningful project because my friend, Beth Goldberg, is the Director of Development there. An ongoing need that Youth Homes has is to supply shower/bath/hygiene essentials to their young clients who live at their residence homes. Read more