Compassion

Taste of the Nation Portland Oregon

Posted by Ana on May 1, 2012 in Charity Focus, Compassion, Mercy | 1 comment

From Share Our Strength -”Join us in celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Portland’s premier tasting event dedicated to ending childhood hunger. Mix and mingle with Portland’s premier chefs, wineries and distilleries in the heart of downtown Portland. Savor signature dishes, specialty cocktails, wine and beer. The silent auction will feature lifestyle and epicurean packages!”

Proceeds locally benefit Oregon Food Bank, Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon, St. Vincent de Paul Food Recovery Program and Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank. All of these organizations are fighting to end childhood hunger in Oregon.

Dozens of Portland’s finest chefs from the city’s top restaurants will participate in this incredible culinary event. Guests will have the opportunity to enjoy exceptional food paired with beverages from local wineries, breweries and distilleries. In addition to fabulous food and drinks, the event will feature a silent auction with lifestyle and epicurean packages.

May 8, 2012

About Share Our Strength

Share Our Strength®, a national nonprofit, is ending childhood hunger in America by connecting children with the nutritious food they need to lead healthy, active lives. Through its No Kid Hungry™ campaign—a national effort to end childhood hunger in America by 2015—Share Our Strength ensures children in need are enrolled in effective federal nutrition programs, invests in community organizations fighting hunger, teaches families how to cook healthy meals on a budget, and builds public-private partnerships to end hunger, both nationally and at the state level. Working closely with the culinary industry and relying on the strength of its volunteers, Share Our Strength hosts innovative culinary fundraising events and develops pioneering cause marketing campaigns that support No Kid Hungry.

Find Taste of the Nation on Facebook and Twitter.

Adelante Mujeres

Posted by Ana on Apr 24, 2012 in Compassion | 1 comment

Adelante Mujeres (Flourish/Rise Up Women) is a 501(c)(3) in Forest Grove, Oregon working to educate and empower low-income Latina women and families. We provide low-income Latina women and families the tools to achieve self-determination in the areas of education, empowerment and enterprise.

Adelante Mujeres was founded in 2002 by Bridget Cooke and Sister Barbara Raymond. Through their work in other local organizations, Bridget and Barbara noticed that Latina women did not actively participate in the programs.  They founded Adelante Mujeres to empower these women, who were often relegated to the home.  As the founders suspected, when presented the opportunity to attend a program focused on and developed for women, these same women quickly found their voices.

Adelante Mujeres fosters the empowerment of women who are often relegated to the home. The program helps often isolated participants to build friendships, engage in the community, celebrate their cultural heritage, and improve skills and self-esteem. Our holistic approach aims to build stronger families, healthier communities, and foster respect for our planet.

The Justice Conference

Posted by Ana on Feb 21, 2012 in Charity Focus, Compassion, Mercy | 0 comments

This week the 2nd annual Justice Conference is being held in Portland.  We are proud it is in our home city and thrilled we will be there with the exhibitors.  Keep an eye on our Twitter feed as we tweet out our thoughts from the conference #justice2012.

The Justice Conference focuses on the tremendous issues of social justice facing our world today.  Here’s how they describe it on their website:

Justice is a garment, a billion threads, interwoven, interlocked, knit together with strength and integrity.  Pull one thread from the fabric and the garment begins to fray.  Pull ten million threads and justice unravels into injustice.

The work of justice is to mend the holes injustice inflicts upon the garment.  It is a brave, challenging, courageous work and it does not begin with expertise or duty.  It begins with love…and love is a thread.

The Justice Conference 2012 is the second annual international gathering of advocates, activists, artists, professors, professionals prophets, pastors, students and stay-at-home moms working to restore the fabric of justice.  For some it means speaking.  For others it means singing.  For some it means going.  For others it means giving.  For all, it means living with mercy and love.

You are invited to come weave your voice and gifts into the conversation.  Join us, and discover that in the garment of justice, your love is an irreplaceable thread.

What the Justice Conference does, and what they stand for is exactly what Focus 52 is about.  Compassion.  Mercy.  Love.  We look forward to sharing more about this conference and the many amazing organizations and causes we will connect with.  For yourself – perhaps consider attending – tickets are still available.  Currently almost 4000 are expected to attend.

Get your tickets here!

 Visit The Justice Conference website!

Sisters of the Road

Posted by Ana on Feb 13, 2012 in Charity Focus, Compassion | 0 comments

I’ve heard about Sisters Of The Road and the great work they do since I first moved to Oregon.  I have friends who have volunteered there.  I’ve read about their work and seen the lines out their door of the homeless and hungry individuals they serve.  The people associated with Sisters are passionate about ending poverty and homelessness.  The live out that passion through their service, their love and their mission.

We here at Focus 52 urge you to check them out this week!

Read more about them:  (taken from their website)

About Sisters Of The Road

Since 1979, Sisters Of The Road has been an essential part of the Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood. Sisters offers a space to build community, empower ourselves, learn from one another, dine with dignity and organize for justice and human rights for all.

Sisters’ Mission

Sisters Of The Road exists to build authentic relationships and alleviate the hunger of isolation in an atmosphere of nonviolence and gentle personalism that nurtures the whole individual, while seeking systemic solutions that reach the roots of homelessness and poverty to end them forever.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention – AFSP

Posted by Ana on Feb 6, 2012 in Charity Focus, Compassion | 3 comments

This particular charity is close to my heart as I currently serve on the board of the Oregon Chapter. More importantly, though, I have had family members who have struggled with profound depression and at times contemplated suicide.  I even had a sister-in-law who tragically did take her own life.

Having seen this much pain in my own family and knowing the toll mental health issues can take – I believe wholeheartedly in what the AFSP stands for.

Suicide crosses all races, all economic levels, all cultures, all countries. The current number of suicides in our nation is growing – especially among those brave soldiers who have served our country.  You can help. Regardless of whether you have lost someone in your life to suicide – you most likely know someone who has.  Join in the efforts, support the AFSP, be aware of the signs.

Feed My Starving Children

Posted by Ana on Feb 1, 2012 in Charity Focus, Compassion | 8 comments

Yes, there are many organizations feeding hungry children.  Feed My Starving Children is unique in a number of ways and this week they are the one we’ve chosen to introduce you to.  I had the pleasure of attending a MobilePack event a little over a year ago and was blown away by the work they are able to do and how they are able to do it.

Started in 1987 by a businessman who felt called the help those who are hungry – FMSC has grown and adapted to the needs so well that in  2010 they produced over 124 million meals with 6 permanent packing sites, and a nationwide MobilePackTM program, and more than 515,000 volunteers.  This organization relies on volunteers to make it happen.  Churches, organizations and businesses participate in MobilePack – packing parties and agree to raise the money for the amount of meals they pack.  This, combined with other fundraising efforts have allowed FMSC to change lives every day.

The packing party I was a part of was so much fun! Orientation to teach us how to do it was great, testimonials of kids whose lives had been saved with these meals and the comraderie of those around us created such an energy!  We could have kept packing for hours upon hours.

To give you an idea of the difference these meals can make – here’s Omar.

We encourage you to check them out.  Help them provide meals by finding a MobilePack event in your area!

Visit the Feed My Starving Children Website!