Improving your local community can help others as well as help you to meet new people. It’s a great chance to give something back to the adults, elderly residents and children in your community – as well as create a better living environment for you and your family. So if you’re looking to improve your local community, how can you get involved?

Form Committees

Committees, when steered by the right people, can work to greatly improve a community and generally form to tackle issues and look for ways to better a suburb’s surroundings and lifestyle. Committees might request special services or upgrades from the council, be involved in decisions related to school and education or get involved in environment initiatives. If there are no committees in your area and you can see there’s a need, you may want to start one.

Neighbourhood Watch

If you’re concerned about the safety in your neighbourhood, Neighbourhood Watch is a good program to get involved with. Your state, city or council area should have a Neighbourhood Watch initiative in place to help keep residents safe. You may want to attend general meetings, volunteer or even register your house as a ‘safety house’ for children in danger.   

Volunteering

Volunteering is a wonderful way to improve your community. Volunteering could be at your local church, your kids’ school, a community centre or at an established charity in your area. The great thing about volunteering is that the work can involve almost anything – you might help with cleaning up areas, building new playgrounds, photocopying and distributing flyers or maybe putting together food hampers for a charity drive. Whatever it is, volunteering helps your community!

Helping Out at Holiday Time

Holiday times are often busy periods for a community. There are Christmas shows and Carols by Candlelights to organise, Easter parades and bake sales, end-of-year discos and dances and festivals and fairs, too. Helping out at one or more of these events is lots of fun and an excellent way to improve your community. Could you get involved in a stall, provide some entertainment, put together some Christmas cards or gift baskets for a raffle or help with coordinating rides?

Parks & Environmental Activities

If your suburb is perhaps lacking in cleanliness or needing an environmental pick-up, why not get involved or start an environmental initiative? The aim of these groups is to improve communities through environmental efforts. You might want to create an extra park, build more playgrounds, plant trees and bushes, clean up creeks and rivers or look for ways to make local homes and businesses more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. You can also get your community involved in national or global initiatives, like ‘Clean Up Australia Day’ or ‘Earth Day.’

Neighbourhood Gatherings

Do you feel that your neighbourhood needs a bit of social interaction or just a bit of fun? If your local community is a bit lacking on the social side, you can create events that will bring your community close together. Festivals and fairs are great for this, but you can also do things like organise a neighbourhood BBQ or a ‘street party’ or even a bowling day at the local green.

Via: justluxe.com

We’re almost at our goal and you can help us get there!

New York, NY - When Audrey Pollard joined the national bone marrow registry in 2003, she didn’t think she would be contacted, or that she would be anyone’s ‘exact’ match.

Mark Worrall is glad Pollard was wrong.

Worrall, who’s from Birmingham, England, was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in September of 2003, and was told by doctors he had four to six months left to live without treatment. He underwent chemotherapy and radiation for about a month before he was notified there was an exact match thousands of miles away in New York City.

That exact match was from postal worker Audrey Pollard. Her bone marrow saved Worrall’s life.

via: thegrio.com

Cancer prevention is easier than you think. With a few simple lifestyle changes, you can drastically reduce your risk of many type of cancer development, and the good news is that most can be avoided.

Avoid Smoking and Exposure to Smoke

Smoking is the most significant cancer risk factor that we can reduce. It is responsible for not only lung cancer, but many other type of cancer. One of the best ways to prevent is to quit smoking or never start.

Avoiding secondhand smoke is also a way to prevent cancer.

Practice Sun Safely and Recognize when Skin Changes Occur

Did you know that over one million people diagnosed of skin cancer because of climate changes in just one year?  Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer among men and women, and its accounts for about half of all cancer diagnoses.  The good news is that skin cancer is one of the most preventable types of cancer. The first step in preventing skin cancer is to avoid UV ray exposure. We can do this by wearing sunscreen avoiding mid-day sun, wearing protective clothing when outdoor, etc.

Eat Your Fruit and Veggies

A well-balanced diet is advantageous for many reasons. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables greatly reduces your risk of developing cancer and many other conditions. Fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants, which help repair our damaged cells. Green, orange and yellow fruits and vegetables are your best bet to help prevent cancer. Studies also show that dark fruits, like blueberries and grapes, may also have anti-cancer properties.

Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower appear to pack a powerful punch at preventing cancer, according to numerous studies. Other cruciferous vegetables include bok Choy, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage.

Limit Red Meat and Animal Fat

Numerous studies show that a diet high in animal fat increases the risk for several types of cancer, particularly colon cancer. Red meat contains much more fat than poultry and fish, so reducing the amount of red meat in your diet may help to prevent cancer. A diet high in fat also is major cause of obesity, which is a risk factor for many types of cancer.

Limit Your Alcohol Intake

Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol regularly increases your risk factor for many types of cancer. Studies suggest that men who consume 2 alcoholic drinks per day and women who have 1 alcoholic drink per day significantly increase their risk factors for certain types of cancer.

Exercise for Cancer Prevention

Did you know that when you are exercise, you are reducing yourrisk for many types of cancer? The American Cancer Society recommends   exercising 30 or minutes, at least 5 days a week for cancer prevention. Exercising doesn’t have to mean going to the gym to lift weights. There are plenty of ways to get exercise into your day. Check out these 10 ways to prevent cancer through exercise for great gym alternatives.

Know Your Personal and Family Medical History

Knowing your family history of cancer is important to properly assess your risk factor for certain types of cancer. We know that cancers like breast, colon, ovarian, and possibly other types can be hereditary.

If you know that a certain type of cancer runs in your family, let your doctor know. Together, you can determine a proper screening plan and assess your true risk. Genetic testing and counseling is available and may be recommended based on your family’s medical history.

Check out the following ideas for ways to help your community in the midst of your everyday activities.

1. Take a garbage bag while walking through the neighborhood.Pick up any litter along the way. As a by-product, you can get some exercise built into your day.
2. Shop with locally owned businesses, saving time and money. Many locally owned businesses offer services like free gift-wrapping and delivery. And a percentage of your sales taxes go directly to the local community.
3. Find positive aspects of your community share with other people. A positive image encourages residents to shop locally, increases the chance new businesses will open in the area and promotes growth.
4. Attend a local festival or other event. Many have free admission and activities. Most festivals are actually fundraisers for non-profit organizations who make their money through sponsorships. Since sponsors look at attendance numbers to decide how much to give, your family can add to the number and help increase what businesses give next year.
5. Write a letter to local elected officials encouraging them for making good decisions for the community. People work harder when they know they are appreciated. And elected officials seldom hear enough encouraging words.
6. Put a potted plant on your front porch. When your home looks spruced up, it makes the whole neighborhood and the community to look better as well.
7. Take left over dinner to an elderly neighbor. If you have a family of four, cook enough dinner for five one night and deliver a plate to the widow next door. Your delivery helps you to get to know your neighbors better. And police promote knowing your neighbors as the best way to fight neighborhood crime.
8. Look for opportunities to give in your community. Many schools collect items, such as like canned foods, old coats, toys and eyeglasses, for less fortunate families.
9. Vote. While the Presidential election comes around only once every four years, elections happen every year. Check out the candidates for local and state elections.
10. Encourage your employer to sponsor local events, join a civic organization or allow employees to volunteer during work hours. Many businesses have volunteer programs to reward employees for volunteering. Local news media often cover large volunteer events and having employee representation gives businesses extra publicity.

By doing our part to contribute to the community, we add people to our circle of influence and gain opportunities to build relationships with our neighbours. We also demonstrate what it means to be a good citizen to our children.

Dear Friend of LLS,

This is a story of a woman’s cancer journey and the appreciation she has for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).

In February of 2010, I received the frightening news that I had Hodgkins disease. After a PET scan and two biopsies, I was hit with the additional news that I was positive for stage 2 Lymphoma. I was 42 and scared to death.

When I went in for my first visit with oncologist Dr. Rafique of Tri County Hematology and Oncology in Ohio, I found out how expensive chemotherapy is and how health insurance doesn’t cover it all. Fortunately my doctor directed me to LLS and they helped with more than 50% of my insurance co-pays. This was a major relief and allowed me to concentrate on fighting the illness and getting better.

My 12 rounds of chemotherapy ended in the fall of 2010. Unfortunately, I sustained lung damage from one of the chemotherapy agents and had to spend three weeks in the hospital recovering. I had another PET scan in April of 2011 and was given the great news that I was in remission!

I am forever grateful for my wonderful doctor and the financial support I received from LLS. I encourage everyone to help this great organization and other cancer patients to take advantage of the support they provide.

~Cynthia Clark

via: lls.org

Hope, Gratitude And A Wedding Ring Amidst Tornado Rubble

6-year-old Texas boy’s lemonade stand raises $10,000 for cancer-stricken dad.