Sunday, October 24, 2010

You've Heard Of Scratch 'n' Smell. . .

. . .well, this is Shop 'n' Search, Plain 'n' Simple. . .


Shop 'til you drop (or even just a little) and give our youth help and hope by using this link:
GoodShop: http://www.goodshop.com/?charityid=invisible-youth-network

In more of a surfing mood instead of a shopping mood?  No problem!  Here you go...
GoodSearch: http://www.goodsearch.com/?charityid=invisible-youth-network

Another way you can help us out is to share the link to this blog-entry and/or copy the above links into your e-mails; share them at places such as Facebook; and/or place them on your own websites, blogs, etc. 

One more thing:  You can also create buttons and banners that are set to help IYN.   Find html codes for doing so at the GoodShop/GoodSearch site.
Thanks, in advance, for any help you can give us along these lines.  

People are always searching the web.  I know that other searches are needed in order to find out some research, but I hope you'll surf for us at least part of the time.

This is also the time of year for various kinds of holiday shopping as well as being the time of year (at least, in my neck of the woods) for thinking about chilly January days when it's so pleasant just to stay inside and curl up with a good book.  

If you're an avid reader like I am, books are a wonderful present to give to yourself--as well as making great presents for fellow avid readers on your Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter Solstice/Kawanza/Winter Birthdays/Etc. list(s).

You can shop at so many online stores using our GoodShop link.

Here's a little something that will go nicely with a good book.  

http://www.mrsmccartneysteas.com

While the site for buying this absolutely-delicious-and-reasonably-priced-silky-teabag-encased tea (with each two-cuppa teabag kept fresh in its own delightful packet until ready to be used) isn't included in GoodShop, a percentage of sales goes to The Linda McCartney Breast Cancer Centre of which more information can be found at the site.

Let me now suggest some very good books. . .

For people who might think that our young people are just spoiled brats who decided to ride their thumbs to San Diego, California from so many parts of the United States because they were bored, didn't like reasonable house rules (e.g. curfew, decibel limits on entertainment, no such animal as limited credit card use, no unisex sleepovers, etc.), thought they looked uncool in the dress code/uniform requirements set by their schools, or some equally-unreasonable reason, think again.

With very little, if any, exception, they chose the streets/outdoors in a place with a relatively-favorable year 'round climate and plenty of secluded places to hide from authorities so that they wouldn't end up in juvie or right back at the place where they had already given up so much of themselves in order to escape because they had good reason to believe that even this kind of life is better than what they chose to leave behind.

These two books (which share definite examples of why kids just might decide that they'd rather be homeless than stay in the status quo) by Jodee Blanco (Please Stop Laughing At Me and Please Stop Laughing At Us) can be found at AmazonJust go through the GoodShop portal as set up here and do a search for them.

Another book I've recently ordered from Amazon and am waiting to receive is The Woman I Was Born To Be by Susan Boyle.  In this book, this now-world-famous singer with the amazing voice and teddy bear angel personality shares what it's been like to be Susan Boyle for almost half-a-century.  Sadly, there are incidents of taunting and bullying included in those pages along with the lighter times in her life and the happily ever after part of her life that she's now living.

Could another happily ever after story be waiting to be brought to life among those street kids in San Diego and other communities?  Could a person being bullied day in and day out someday shine?  Is there somebody out there who can get into the heart of a bully and find out what kind of personal pain is causing him/her to take things out on others?

I believe that the answer has the potential to be a resounding yes--that there are, in fact, thousands upon millions of young people just waiting for their time to be lifted up to where they deserve to be--not necessarily onto a performance stage (though, perhaps, this will prove true for some) but just to a place where they're in a safe place receiving respect, dignity, and care for their most basic needs (and then some)!

I think that the following graphic says it very well when each individual who reads this asks the question:  "But what can I--just one person--do to change things?"



While you're there, you might want to look for books by Roger Dean Kiser.  He has written books that inspire, books that entertain, and books that tell it like it is regarding the past of so many boys like himself who ended up as wards of the state of Florida.   He has these books on his website as well (which will be shared with you shortly), but I'm hoping to get you to go through our portal to order them so that it will also help IYN along with bringing in money that Roger uses to keep his stories out there (many are there to read for free on his website) along with helping orphans in his neck of the woods.

You can also get Roger's latest book, The Destruction Of Youth at Lulu while using our link as a portal.  Let me warn you that, in this book, Roger has pulled out all of the stops.

Amazing Windy City resident, Stuart V. Goldberg wears many hats--and a couple of those hats are novelist and defense attorney.  He now has a page-turning character study out now called The One And Only (which he hopes to, someday, turn into a movie).  He also has a (more-than-semi-autobiographical) novel manuscript recently finished called The Snake Charmer that he hopes to turn into a movie and--shortly after that--into a book.  You can find The One And Only at Amazon.  Please use our portal should you decide to buy this book of many twists and turns about an extremely-wealthy man who has an often-unhealthy hunger and thirst for collecting the very best, one-of-a-kind treasures at any or all costs.

From time to time, I'm going to be recommending more books (and other items, too) for you to consider buying while using our portal, but I think that this is a good place to stop--after I share with you an uncanny story about the alphabet and our Founder and Chairman, Russell, along with Roger and Stuart.

In short, did you realize that I met these amazing men in alphabetical order over a time span stretching from early in 2001 into the summer of 2010!?!

I would first notice (as I observed in the first thing I wrote about this phenomenon) that I met them in the order of how their first names would appear in an alphabetical list.

Not long after that, I would notice that this was, also, true of their middle names.

As for their last names. . .alphabetical in reverse!

Again, pretty interesting, to say the least!

I'm leaving you with three blog-entries I've written about this.

Will be returning soon with a different kind of shopping information. . .





Tribute To A Snake Charmer



Monday, October 18, 2010

From Happy Campers To Jolly Ranchers

Here is the latest from Russell re: plans for Camp Edge.  Sounds like a plan to me, so I hope that you'll pitch in to help in any way that you can. . .

Living on The Edge
 
  The estimate is 4,000 + homeless youth walking the streets of San Diego County, California and living on the edge every day in every way, for example:
 
“According to the National Conference of State Legislatures Five thousand homeless youth die each year from assault.”
 
That is equivalent to five high schools of students each year.
 
For some time the Invisible Youth Network has been kicking around the idea of putting together a camp in North County for the homeless kids of San Diego County, California, in the form of the various camps that you may enroll your kids in during summer break from school, the exception Camp Edge would be open year around.
 
What we have decided in the meantime is to have a series of fund raisers to purchase a ranch with all of the amenities of a ranch, and run Camp Edge as a ranch.
 
We can use your help in the following areas of this project:
 
1. Donations, of course.
2. Help us come-up with fund raising ideas for this project.
3. Help us find a location for Camp Edge.
4. Help us plan-out how Camp Edge will be operated.