I met a great woman this morning at the Post Office. I noticed several large boxes stacked as she waited in line. Then, being a bit of a snoop, I saw where the boxes were going as well as where they were being sent from. I looked at the people in line wondering who was sending them. Then a woman pointed to the boxes and was talking about the cost of shipping them.
Wendy Shiner, Pres, Books for Vets Inc. was the woman in line.
BooksForVets
Bloggers are uniquely aware of the importance of the printed word. After all when you think about how many hours in the day we spend reading and writing, that is obvious. We know words matter. We also know that good works matter as much when we try to help someone. We could have done salacious blogs devoted to celebrities, sex, scandals or we could have blogs devoted to ourselves but most bloggers do what they do for a reason other than self-gratification.
I don't know about you, but I attend a Greek Orthodox Church in Maitland FL. I go as often as I can but it's been hard after a lifetime in one church back home in Massachusetts where I knew everyone followed by two years down here working for a church, again, where I knew everyone. The people at Holy Trinity are great and very friendly but the experience reminds me of how we got to here from the beginning of Christianity when One Man came to save all. I wonder how we would know anything about Him had His life not mattered enough for someone to write the words down. Would we ever know about Him or anyone else spreading God's message of love, mercy, forgiveness or compassion?
As I sit under the dome there are icons of the Saints, each one of them holds a scroll. Each one of them showing the importance of the written word. Words provide comfort getting people "out" of their own lives and problems for a time. They can carry people off to lands out of the imagination of the author just as movies take people away into the world of the imagination of the scriptwriter. They can heal. They can inform. They can comfort. They can entertain. Think of how much we'd miss if we could not enjoy reading or going to a movie.
While we can attend church service any time we want, there are many unable to. When the troops are deployed they cannot attend church with their families or see their church families. They cannot go to movies they want to see or read books they want to read because searching for them is the last thing on their to do list. We also have veterans in nursing homes, homeless shelters, hospice and shut ins unable to go out as often as they would like. This is something we can all do something about.
Most bloggers are flat broke, just like me. We can't donate to every cause we come in contact with, but our readers can. So here's the idea.
If you are a blogger in Florida, no matter what your blog is about, please put up a link to the Books for Veterans site and let's help them out. Ask your readers to donate as little as a dollar or as much as they can afford so that the troops and veterans are able to have some comfort with the printed word and entertainment with DVD's and videos. This is a great cause for the men and women we ask so much of but fail to remember them when they are out of the news.
I'm putting up my link right now. Will you do the same? If you do, leave a comment on this post with a link to your blog so we can see the power of what the blog world can actually do.
Wendy Shiner, Pres, Books for Vets Inc. was the woman in line.
BooksForVets
Our Mission statement is "Giving back to those who serve".
Books For Vets Inc is a non-profit, 501c3 organization collecting books and distributing them to VA nursing homes. We are committed to enhancing the lives of our veterans by way of a constant flow of "armchair entertainment" which includes books, magazines, DVD movies, both CD and cassette audio tapes and music CDs.
We service our local VA in Orlando, facilities within the state of Florida and remaining 49 states and our bases abroad in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our population includes both Veterans who live, full time, in Veteran nursing homes and our active duty men and women, abroad, away from home.
Bloggers are uniquely aware of the importance of the printed word. After all when you think about how many hours in the day we spend reading and writing, that is obvious. We know words matter. We also know that good works matter as much when we try to help someone. We could have done salacious blogs devoted to celebrities, sex, scandals or we could have blogs devoted to ourselves but most bloggers do what they do for a reason other than self-gratification.
I don't know about you, but I attend a Greek Orthodox Church in Maitland FL. I go as often as I can but it's been hard after a lifetime in one church back home in Massachusetts where I knew everyone followed by two years down here working for a church, again, where I knew everyone. The people at Holy Trinity are great and very friendly but the experience reminds me of how we got to here from the beginning of Christianity when One Man came to save all. I wonder how we would know anything about Him had His life not mattered enough for someone to write the words down. Would we ever know about Him or anyone else spreading God's message of love, mercy, forgiveness or compassion?
As I sit under the dome there are icons of the Saints, each one of them holds a scroll. Each one of them showing the importance of the written word. Words provide comfort getting people "out" of their own lives and problems for a time. They can carry people off to lands out of the imagination of the author just as movies take people away into the world of the imagination of the scriptwriter. They can heal. They can inform. They can comfort. They can entertain. Think of how much we'd miss if we could not enjoy reading or going to a movie.
While we can attend church service any time we want, there are many unable to. When the troops are deployed they cannot attend church with their families or see their church families. They cannot go to movies they want to see or read books they want to read because searching for them is the last thing on their to do list. We also have veterans in nursing homes, homeless shelters, hospice and shut ins unable to go out as often as they would like. This is something we can all do something about.
Most bloggers are flat broke, just like me. We can't donate to every cause we come in contact with, but our readers can. So here's the idea.
If you are a blogger in Florida, no matter what your blog is about, please put up a link to the Books for Veterans site and let's help them out. Ask your readers to donate as little as a dollar or as much as they can afford so that the troops and veterans are able to have some comfort with the printed word and entertainment with DVD's and videos. This is a great cause for the men and women we ask so much of but fail to remember them when they are out of the news.
I'm putting up my link right now. Will you do the same? If you do, leave a comment on this post with a link to your blog so we can see the power of what the blog world can actually do.
No comments:
Post a Comment
If it is not helpful, do not be hurtful. Spam removed so do not try putting up free ad.