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July 2004 -Innovations Newsletter
Happy 4th of July. Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday. This will be a short newsletter. Begging For Money – What Are We Teaching Our Children? I was returning home a few days ago and saw, on both sides of Highway 41, a large group of children. They were dressed alike and obviously part of an organized group. Each carried a bucket and when a light changed to red they would approach each captive driver with a smile and their bucket extended. I started thinking about what they were doing and the lessons they were learning and got mad. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve donated countless hours to Jerry’s Kids by working for his telethons and I always drop money in the fireman’s boot. I walked 18 miles in one afternoon with a group of young adults for the March of Dimes. I purchase overpriced candy and stop in parking lots where kids are washing cars. I do not drop money in strange buckets! In my opinion, the children working the Highway 41 intersection were learning that they can get something for nothing. Is this a lesson we want our children to learn? They were also endangering their lives by interacting with cars at a very busy and dangerous intersection. I’ve stopped sending money to most organizations soliciting through the mail. I’m tired of sending a donation and receiving a thank you with a request for more money. Some groups were sending requests every three months! I also discovered that much of the money is siphoned off for administrative or collection fees. Now, I give directly to the organization. Raising money for charity is a noble thing to do. But, in my opinion, the request for money should come with an offer to do a service or provide a product in exchange for the donation. Wash cars, baby-sit, take calls at the local telethons we all hate, sell over-priced candy or walk dogs. Do anything that’s honest, but don’t hold out a bucket begging for money and offering nothing in return. The kids I saw were giving nothing for the money they were collecting. They weren’t really even giving their time, because they were together, had their cell phones and were doing the same thing I see them do at the mall. The only difference was they were hanging out at a dangerous intersection instead of a safe mall. They were also interacting with strangers. The next time one of your youngsters tells you he or she is going to hang out at a dangerous intersection and beg for money, please think about it before you say yes. And now for this months sites: Photo Clocks Email your photos and Photo Clocks will take care of the rest including inserting and assembling your purchase. They also do minor retouching, like red-eye correction at no extra charge. They guarantee their work. http://photoago.com/ Glass Trinkets Personalized rice jewelry. They’ll put your name on a rice necklace, earrings, bracelet, keychain, charm bracelet & charm necklace. http://www.glasstrinkets.com/ Photomontage Memories Send them some photos and a little information and they will make you a very personalized, one-of-a-kind photo montage (photo slideshow, dvd slideshow) sure to bring tears to somebody's eyes. http://www.yourphotomontage.com/ Snapshots in Time Offers personalized calendars printed with your personalized dates and 12 photos. http://www.personalizedphotocalendar.com/ Personalized Refrigerator Magnets Wooden, hand painted, durable, inexpensive and personalized. Sounds like a unique gift for a busy mom. http://www.fridgemags.com/ Erika Beads Offers custom personalized keepsake jewelry. Keepsake name bracelets. Handcrafted with the finest sterling silver, 14k gold-fill, Swarovski crystal, semi-precious stone, and sterling Bali beads. http://www.erikabeads.com/ Military Financial Web Site A one-stop web site just for military members. Tailored for 18-25 year old service members without much financial experience. militaryfinance.umuc.edu That’s it for this month. Our grandchildren are still taking up most of our time. C U in August. Ron Nixon RWR Innovations We Make Reading Fun Again! Issue: 7/1//2004 ISSN #: 1543-9275 Note: The websites in this newsletter are listed because I find them interesting and have value to parents and children. They have not paid money or given me anything to be mentioned. Permission is given to reproduce the complete text of the article listed at the top of each newsletter as long as credit is given to: Ron Nixon Innovations Newsletter http://rwrinnovations.com/mailing_list.htm Home Page RWR Innovations Personalized Books make great fund raisers. Personalized Children's Books P.O. Box 460939 Papillion NE 68046-0939 770-850-1400 (Atlanta) 402-592-9199 (Omaha) Best time is 3-11 P.M. (EDT) or 9 AM to 9 PM on weekends 877-402-7167 (Toll Free) Webmaster: Ron Nixon wa8zde@bellsouth.net 3807 Shadowood Parkway SE Atlanta GA 30339-2301 770-850-1400 Site Map 7/1/2004 |