John Lennon Said It So Well

The late great Beatle once expressed in song that life is what happens to us while we're busy making other plans.

I can relate to that very well.

Between a whole lot of other things, I've been working on setting up a local (as in Madison County in Indiana) chapter of Invisible Youth Network, and I thought for sure that I would have it done before now.

Although there are obvious places showing that it really isn't grand-opened in the style for which I'd originally planned, I believe it's still presentable enough to go ahead and show around.

One thing I know for sure:

God willing and my computer doesn't fizzle, I know how I'll be spending at least part of the first day of 2010:

Adding tons more finishing touches to the website.

Tonight--as I will be--you're probably out celebrating tonight anyway and might not even check it out until next year (which, as of this posting, is about six hours away, Anderson, Indiana time).

However, in case you're in and want to take a look, this is its url:

http://www.iynpenlady.com/

On this note, I will close and wish you and yours a wonderful 2010!!!

Off-Topic?

Afternoon of December 24, 2009:

It's incredible how quickly this year has gone by!  At this time, I don't even have the time to explain what this blog-entry is all about.  That will be happening a little bit later in the day. . .

Evening of December 31, 2009

This entry will be finished next year. . .

(to be continued. . .) 

Christmas In San Diego, California 2009!!!

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Christmas In San Diego, California

San Diego, California is the home to an estimates 8,000 homeless kids, estimated by our medias.

We have 4,000 between the ages of 9 - 18 and 4,000 between the ages of 18 - 21. These kids choose San Diego because of our nice weather year round.

I am pleased to announce that I have put together Christmas for these homeless kids.

We have three churches each that is going to have Christmas festivities for these kids.   Church buses will be sent-out to pick-up the kids and they will be taken to one of the three churches where they will be surrounded by the Church's congregation, music, food, games and gifts.

We (the churches and I) have recruited several local merchants to participate in this event.

Each kid will receive a back pack filled with nonperishable food items, travel size hygiene items, a bed roll and gift cards for McDonald's and Target.

The games will have cash prizes.

These events will be open to the public and is being advertised, so we expect much more for the kids.

This will be an all day event and I will be making my rounds to all three of the churches.

Russell T. Hartsaw
Founder & Chairman
Invisible Youth Network
http://invisibleyouthnetwork.net

Russell T. Hartsaw

Dedicated to a very special guy!

Entry under construction...

When finished, it will tell you what's so amazing about IYN's Founder and Chairman...

Legal Status Of Invisible Youth Network (IYN)

The Invisible Youth Network is a Nonprofit Corporation and we have members touching down on every continent.

 

The Invisible Youth Network was organized under Internal Revenue Service Publication 1828, Page 3, and is a Nonprofit, Charitable Organization, we have 501 (c) 3 status.

Employer Identification Number:

11-3815799

With the following exceptions:

  

• We have no paid positions, everyone is a volunteer. 
• We have no fancy offices or expense accounts, all volunteers work out of their home/offices. 
• 90% of all donations go to our projects and programs.
• 10% of all donations go to operational expenses.
• You may specify how you want your donation used, and or we will discuss with you how your donation will be used upon request.  
• Any and all accrued expenses, has a receipt on file. 
• On the drawing board is publishing a bi-annual donation report.

Our headquarters is located at:

Invisible Youth Network
940 Park Boulevard, Suite 334
San Diego, California 92101

619-239-0101, #334

invisibleyouth@gmail.com

San Diego, California Registration Compliance

Fictitious Business Name Statement:
2009-018291

Business Tax Certificate:

2009015762

Russell T. Hartsaw
Founder & Chairman
Invisible Youth Network

 

Website:

http://invisibleyouthnetwork.net/default.aspx

 

Old Care2 Bulletin Board

I'm getting ready to change the bulletin board at our Care2 group, so I want to place the contents of the old one here...

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

Invisible Youth is an expansive online network that provides resources and support for an estimated 1.5 million homeless at risk youth. Our influence is felt every day in cities all across America. Our mission is carried out through both partner organizations and volunteers who take to the streets to find, stabilize and otherwise help homeless and at risk youth to improve their quality of life.

Our focus reaches past the streets and lends itself to deterrence, research, resources, seminars, training and workshops that are provided to the communities and via the Internet. Despite our motto “Advocating for America’s Youth,” our endeavors are focused on all homeless and at risk youth with no regard to their geographic location. Mahatma Gandhi said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world,” and with that in mind, The Invisible Youth Network envisions better lives for children who cannot see it themselves.

OUR VISION

1. America's youth should not be homeless.
2. Homeless youth issues need to be addressed.
3. The Invisible Youth Network needs to form partnerships to address homeless youth issues.
4. The Invisible Youth Network needs to develop a strong membership base, that endorses our efforts on behalf of homeless youth.

To learn more, please visit our websites and online directory...


http://invisibleyouthnetwork.net


http://www.orgsites.com/ca/invisibleyouth

http://invisibleyouthnetwork.net/Onlinedirectory.aspx


To feel more, please watch these videos...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVEUJr-o0KY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2tkpFHeUaU


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enRTVzRQ4xU


and view more videos by going here...

http://www.orgsites.com/ca/invisibleyouth/_pgg6.php3

If everybody here gave even as little as a dollar per month ($12 per year), it would make a wonderful difference.


If each of you went a step further to tell 12 friends, encourage them to give a dollar per month, and ask them to do the same with 12 friends of their own, the difference would be even MORE amazing!


And what if your 12 friends would carry this act of kindness on in like manner, and so on and so forth...


Just like ripples in a pond...


Can you imagine!?! ...............................


To learn more about donating, please visit these two places...


http://invisibleyouthnetwork.net/helpushelp.aspx


http://invisibleyouthnetwork.net/ourwishlist.aspx


There are also a number of volunteer opportunties.  Please check them out by going here:


http://www.orgsites.com/ca/invisibleyouth/_pgg9.php3


Invest in our future...



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The Rights Of The Homeless
(Please Read!)
http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=18770&pst=868182

Please?

 Please?


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Please take the time to read what I've written about homeless and/or otherwise at-risk youth so as to get a better understanding of their reality...

http://www.epinions.com/content_5358657668

After you have done this, please at least go to take a look at a petition we're hoping to send to President Obama with at least 1000 signatures--and, hopefully, end up signing it.  Although just your signature would be enough, leaving a comment re: your observations of why this is so important would put some extra oomph! into making this an effective petition.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/enact-youth-outreach-day

Finally, please pass this message on to at least five other people and ask them to do the same.

glitter-graphics.com

Lamps, Lamps, and MORE Lamps!!!

Operation Lamp Post is doing very well!  I've just added a third way to get another lamp post in the park--which I'm hoping to have filled with 25 lamp posts before long.

After 25 lamp posts have been added, I'm going to switch habitats to a holiday-themed one.   Optimistically, I've already gone shopping for some really cool Halloween decorations and hope to have a Halloween-themed habitat up for Throw Rug and friends really soon!  

I will include the 25 lamp posts in that habitat as a celebration!


Although no more lamp posts will be added to the habitat after that, I hope that the kinds of outreach actions earning these lamp posts will continue!

Here are the three ways that lamp posts can be earned:

1. For every $100 total of donations sent to our headquarters.  This would be a total of donations, so it wouldn't all have to come from one person.
2. For every ten TLC packages sent to us.  It doesn't matter what size.  It can be a small package (like a large envelope filled with gift cards to national fast-food and/or store chains), or it could be anywhere from a small box to a huge crate of items listed on our wish list.  When a total of ten arrive at our headquarters, another one of the 25 lamp posts I have waiting in the wings will be placed in the park.
3. Finally, the newest way for another one of the lamp posts to make its appearance:  for every ten signatures to the petition that will be going to President Obama asking him to declare the second Saturday of every October to be Youth Outreach Day.  You can read more about this--as well as finding a link leading to the petition by going here. 

 There are times when Russell does extra-special things for the street kids in his area (San Diego, CA) such as organizing a cook-out in Balboa Park or taking them to a restaurant (generally, about ten kids at a time, give or take, re: going to a restaurant).

Passers-by will see this going on, stop by to ask questions, and will also get into the spirit of things.  They will offer to give Russell money to help with the mission, and Russell will ask them to give it directly to the kids, as they will know what they need the most.  

There are more kids who stay in seclusion than come out in the open at this time, and those kids who are more out in public view will buy food, personal care items, etc. to take to the ones in hiding.

These kinds of donations don't even arrive at our headquarters, and their amount can only be estimated, and I'll place one or more lamp posts to recognize those gifts using the estimates given to me by Russell.

As of this writing (a little after noon, Anderson, Indiana time, on October 22, 2009), 14 of the 25 lamp posts have already been placed in the park, and they're just beautiful!

I can hardly wait to collect all 25 and place them in a more cheerful scene!!!

To take a look at pictures of how the park looked with no lamp posts and how the park looks at the time of this writing, please click on these two links...

No Lamp Posts

Lamp Posts In Park At A Little After Noon On 10/22/09.

Fall Festival Stuff!

Below, find something I wrote over at Facebook (copied and pasted here) along with a funny childhood memory I wrote about when I was discussing fall festivals.

I think I'll start with the funny story first--and, after reading it, you will be so pulled in that getting you to go on reading the rest of what I've written will be...........pun definitely intended...............a cake walk!

P.S. Speaking of fall festivals and games, let me tell you about something funny that happened when I was in first grade and at a fall festival at my school (Fall Creek Heights Elementary--Go Yellow Jackets!!!)...

We had a fall festival each year in October, and all of the classrooms were turned into places to play carnival games.

The gym became the place to gather to eat, attend a raffle later, and--at least, that particular year--to have a cake walk.

We had a young custodian and bus driver (not my bus--I just knew him from his custodian activities) named John Ent, and I had the biggest crush on him. I mean, it must have been the mother of ALL crushes!

Of course, he was married with a new baby, but--at six years old--that didn't matter to me.

He was around 21 and looked like a cross between Johnny Cash and Elvis--to me, anyway.

Whenever he appeared on the scene, I could hardly focus on what I was doing.

Seeing him even distracted me from eating lunch--which is a miracle! LOL

His wife and baby usually joined him in the lunchroom, but I wasn't jealous or anything like that. I wasn't planning on stealing him away from her. It was just the same kind of crush that I had on Pat Boone, Dick Clark, Robert Stack, etc. Like the person takes my breath away!

Anyway, it was fall festival night, and we were having this cake walk.

For anybody not knowing what a cake walk is, this is when there are squares with numbers on them placed on the floor in a circle, and everybody walks around in a circle while music plays.

When the music stops, the announcer calls out a number, and, if you're standing on it, you get to go pick out a cake.

So, I was in the cake walk circle with my folks (and, if I remember right, my aunt and cousin), and we were walking around to the music.

That is, we were until I noticed John Ent in the circle with his wife, folks, sister, and other family members, and I stopped dead in my tracks and just stood there staring at him with a goofy look on my face.

People were urging me to keep the circle moving, but I was oblivious to them.

My folks finally had to take me out of the circle and put me on the bleachers so that the game could go on!

Fall festivals bring smiles to the faces of children--and Youth Outreach Day
is about bringing smiles to the faces of children, teens, and young
adults who could really use something to smile about!

We don't need another paid holiday--even if there might be some people
who want another one--so getting another paid holiday isn't what this
is all about.

I'm pretty certain that employers think that there are enough paid
holidays hanging around, even if one more (minimum) might thrill
employees to no end.



Therefore, any business owner who might be hesitant to put another
holiday on the calendar due to fearing one more day of paying employees
to stay home and relax can rest assured that this isn't what we're
after.

Invisible Youth Network has created a petition that will be sent to
President Obama after we get at least 1000 signatures on it--and the
more the merrier, so please share what I've written here with your own
network of friends.

Although I'm going to share two direct links to our website with
you--the home page and the page about the proposal for a holiday called
Youth Outreach Day--I want to tell you something about our vision for
YO-Day (That's, of course, a more casual way of saying Youth Outreach
Day that I came up with, as it might look cool on certain things such
as t-shirts--and it just sounds cool and fits into small spaces well).

First off the time:

We want the second Saturday of every October to be officially recognized as Youth Outreach Day.

Now for the definition:

Although we want our young people remembered and cared for 24/7 and
365, this is a special day set aside for a special recognition and
celebration of our young people--and, especially, those who are having
a rough way to go (everything from being taunted/bullied in school,
abused at home, not fitting in due to disabilities and/or poverty,
fill-in-the-blank-here-wit

h-more-options to those who actually have ended up trying to survive out on the streets).

Youth Outreach Day will be a great time to hold yard sales, do thons,
have bake sales/bazaars, wash cars, etc. to raise funds to help out
needy kids in your own communities and/or donate to places such as
Invisible Youth Network.

It's also a time of hands-on celebrating, if you live in an area such
as San Diego, Chicago, Toronto, etc. where there are homeless youth
hanging out. Get with friends to do a cook-out, games, etc. that will
be street-kid-friendly so that they can make some happy childhood/youth
memories and--when these get-togethers get noticed--even end up with
places to live!

It might be a good time to send out e-mails and/or snail-mails to
people in high places informing them of the need--as well as a time for
planning what to do the rest of the year to make certain that our young
people won't be forgotten and left to fall through the cracks of
society.

Without any further ado, here's the link to the homepage of our
website. Please go there at least--and, hopefully, end up exploring the
entire website to try to find a place where you might fit into this
special mission...

http://invisibleyouthnetwork.net

The following is the link to the page where it talks about getting
Youth Outreach Day recognized as a regular holiday--as in even finding
it on calendars from such places as Hallmark and American
Greetings!--and, at the bottom of that page, there's a link that will
take you to the petition...

http://invisibleyouthnetwork.net/EnactYouthOutreachDay.aspx

In the short time we've had our petition up, we have collected (as of
this writing) 29 signatures from not only citizens of the USA but,
also, various other parts of the world!

Remember that number (29) when you go to sign it, because that will
show you where we were on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at almost ten in
the morning Anderson, Indiana time (which is almost seven in the
morning San Diego, California time). If you go there and see a higher
number (even if it's only a number or so higher), you can celebrate
with us!

And, by signing it, you can make the number get higher as we press on
towards our goal of 1000 signatures minimum to present to President
Obama!!!

Now onto other IYN business when I share a letter written by our
Founder & Chairman, Russell T. Hartsaw. If you're currently a
student, teacher, staff member, etc. at a high school or college,
please noise what he's written around...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello!

Are you familiar with our organization (Invisible Youth Network), which
was officially launched on March 26, 2007 for the purpose of reaching
out to homeless youth. If not, you might want to become familiar with
us by visiting our main website:

http://invisibleyouthnetwork.net

At this time, we are encourage teens and young adults to work together
with faculty/staff at their high school and college campuses in the
establishment of chapters of the Invisible Youth Network, which will
get your students involved in worthwhile civic activities.

There is no fee to pay for starting a chapter, and we will give you
whatever support you will need to both get started and maintain a
chapter, along with being available to answer any questions you might
have, now and later.

It's been our experience in the past that we can count on our youth to
bring a lot of insight and enthusiasm into our organization, so we're
anxious to hear back from you so that we can get started.

The Invisible Youth Network supports the leaders of tomorrow by partnering with them today!

Teens can bring refreshing insights into our organization. What we
forget is that some of the greatest minds in the world were teens when
they came up with their great ideas.

So, shouldn't youth as young people have a voice in issues that
directly concern them? They will not mysteriously learn how to fulfill
their civic duties the day they turn 18. They are a large presence in
our community and accordingly, they should have a voice in its
decision-making. And, shouldn't adults recognize that the tradition of
making decisions for youth without youth has failed and that their
ideas and solutions need to be taken seriously?

In addition Youth are 28% of the United States population, are active
participants in community activities, spend more than $150 billion a
year and are 100% of the future.

Russell T. Hartsaw
Founder & Chairman
Invisible Youth Network

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Invisible Youth Network is a grass roots project. It began with Russell
and me talking together about starting something like this.

Russell has actually experienced firsthand what it's like to be an
invisible youth after his parents mysteriously disappeared when he was
nine years old and he ended up a ward of the state of Florida.

He has had a long and, too often, painful journey to get to where he is
today and has an unquenchable passion for helping today's invisible
youth to avoid some of the mistakes he has made/things that he has gone
through along the way.

I grew up just the opposite--one of the privileged ones blessed with a
loving, stable family, several good friends, and the feeling of having
a place that I could truly call home. Even if what we do at IYN can't
completely bring about this kind of experience for our young people, we
want them to come as close as possible to being so blessed.

Since those early days back when 2007 was new (Russell and I met online
on January 15, 2007 when we were both writing for a discussion site
called Duno), and he and I talked into the wee hours of the morning
about our dreams, this organization of our dreams was officially named
and launched on March 26, 2007, and, even before then, we had joined up
with so many great people who shared our dream.

Several of you are right here on Facebook with us, and it would be hard
to tag all of you--but feel free to leave your comments here with this
note so that others can get to know you.

We also hope that, if you're reading about IYN for the first time, that you'll end up making it a household word of your own!

Perhaps, there will come a time when IYN is no longer needed, and that
will be a glorious day! Until then--when even one child is at-risk of
fading into invisibility--we would really like to be out there reaching
out to him/her.

Russell and I won't be around forever--and neither will you--so the
torch needs to keep on being passed from one generation to another
until no young person ever again gets left behind for any reason!!!

Blessings!
Ainsley Jo Phillips
Co-Founder
Invisible Youth Network

A few more matters before closing...

The picture used to illustrate this note isn't an original from me but,
instead, one I found on The Internet that I thought would fit the bill
quite well. I would like to share the link to the blog-entry where it
was posted. I don't know if the blogger is the original owner of the
picture, either. It's probably just a stock photo. However, that person
deserves to be credited for having used it before I have...

Home Decor Village News--Family Fall Fun

http://decorvillage.wordpress.com/2007/11/05/family-fall-fun/

Along those same lines, I've been promising a friend (whom I met at
another site, but she's here, too) to let others know about the various
things that she does, so I'm going to close this by introducing you to
Kimberly Lovell...

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=739715785

These are some fan clubs here at Facebook for some of her enterprises...

Whimsy Originals

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=739715785#/pages/Los-Angeles-CA/Whimsy-Originals-Online/91994818588?ref=sgm

Patches' Pet Pals

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=739715785#/pages/Los-Angeles-CA/Patches-Pet-Pals/91529371044

Crash Maps Accident Consulting

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=739715785#/pages/Los-Angeles-CA/Crash-Maps-Consulting/91192027686?ref=sgm

And I couldn't sign off after all of that fanfare without giving two
thumbs-up (because I was only born with two thumbs) to Bickel's Uptown
Cafe, which also has a fan club here. Do drop over there to drool--and,
if you're in the area--drop into the real McCoy to eat!!!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=739715785#/pages/Anderson-IN/Bickels-Uptown-Cafe/97786413973?ref=ts

I think I've bent your Cyber-ears enough for now! Thanks for hanging with me!

And Now For Operation Lamp Post!!!

 Note:  If complete photographs don't show up in this blog entry, you can use the links I've provided at the bottom of the page to go to the album where they were originally placed...


Old--But Good--Business...

The photo I'm showing here was how Throw Rug's habitat looked on Saturday, October 10, 2009 in celebration of a very new and special holiday called Youth Outreach Day.

I shared it in the Super Poke! Pets forum along with the following message...





The photo I'm showing here was how Throw Rug's habitat looked on Saturday, October 10, 2009 in celebration of a very new and special holiday called Youth Outreach Day.

Invisible Youth Network (http://invisibleyouthnetwork.net) came up with the idea of Youth Outreach Day for the purpose of getting more people to think about the needs of homeless and/or otherwise at-risk youth.

Of course, this is something we need to be doing everyday and not just for one day per year. But there still isn't anything wrong with having a day set aside where more people are thinking about the issues related to invisible youth and how to give them visibility so that they don't fall through the cracks of society.

Our goal is to have this as a widely-recognized official holiday by or before the second Saturday in October of 2010. We're not talking about a paid holiday off from the workplace, but just something right up there with St. Valentine's Day, Groundhog Day, etc.

YO-Day is still at a grass roots level, but a lot has taken place on this day even though it isn't official yet.

Some examples of events have been: the placement of collection boxes in stores for the purpose of collecting donations; a run-a-thon to raise money; delicious sack lunches being passed out to homeless kids; crafts being made and sold to raise funds; people writing to elected officials to draw their attention to this situation; and games and a cook-out being held in a park where several street kids camp out--which resulted in not only food and fun for them but, also, drew positive responses from onlookers who ended up taking several of them shopping, giving them their own spending cash, and even taking some of them into their homes!

Please join me in writing to President Obama and other more locally-elected officials (e.g. mayor, town council, governor) to request that the second Saturday of each October be officially proclaimed as Youth Outreach Day!

I hope that you'll also join me in writing to places such as Hallmark and American Greetings to get them to put out cards and other products with a Youth Outreach Day theme. Be sure to give them information about this holiday and that it falls on the second Saturday in October.

Finally, I hope that next October will find Youth-Outreach-Day-related items in the SPP store!

To get more of a feel for what kinds of things people can do to celebrate, go to a blog-entry I wrote in anticipation of our first one...

http://mhhj.blogspot.com/2009/09/youth-outreach-day-will-be-saturday.html

Thanks for reading this and, hopefully, responding!

Blessings!
Ainsley Jo Phillips :)
Throw Rug's Human
and
Co-Founder of Invisible Youth Network

And Now For The New Business--To Be More Specific:  Operation Lamp Post!!!

Throw Rug and I are going to use this latest habitat to kick off Operation Lamp Post.


Homeless Kids 10/11/09

Whenever cash donations total up to another $100, a lamp post will be added to this habitat.

Whenever IYN Headquarters five more packages of wish list items (whether they're small packages like large envelopes full of gift cards or huges packages filled with all kinds of food, clothing, etc., they will count as one package apiece), a lamp post will also be added.

After 25 lamp posts have been added, Throw Rug and her friends will be placed in a much more cheery habitat for a holiday celebration!!!  Will it be Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas?

Hopefully, it will be by or before one of these three holidays when we reach this goal...

Youth Outreach Day Habitat

Homeless Kids/Operation Lamp Post Habitat 

Youth Outreach Day Will Be Saturday, October 10, 2009 All Day!!!

Attention Please!!!

Invisible Youth Network has declared Saturday, October 10, 2009 as Youth Outreach Day--and hopes to make this a regular event scheduled for the second Saturday in October in the years ahead. So, what does this mean to you, the reader? In short... How might you participate in this event that is designed to reach out to homeless and/or otherwise at-risk youth? There are many things one could do when it comes to participating in something like this, and you can do one of more of what I'm about to suggest--and/or even think of some of your own. A few suggestions to get you started (some of which can be started right on October 10, and others that will need some pre-October 10 preparation):

• Prayer and/or positive thoughts is always a great starting point--but it's just a starting point, as we're expected to put wings on our prayers and to convert our positive thoughts into positive actions.
• Once you have studied this information in order to know more about what this event is all about and its possibilities, write to your elected officials (everybody from the Mayor/Town Council right up to The President of The United States--or, if you're from another country, whomever the powers-that-be are there) asking that they might declare the second Saturday in October as Youth Outreach Day--not as a holiday where people get paid leave from work but just as one of those holidays that appear on calendars such as Groundhog Day, Sweetest Day, etc.
• While you're contacting people, you might also include your local media and some of your favorite celebrities asking them if they would get involved in some way when it comes to celebrating this special day.
• Become familiar with our mission by visiting our website and checking out our online directory in order to learn about at least some of the places online where IYN is represented. Perhaps, you might find some groups and/or activities of which you might want to be a part. You might also like to check out our volunteer page and see what is needed there that might be a match for you and/or somebody you know.
  
• October 10 would be a great day for businesses to give a percentage of what they take in that day to Invisible Youth Network and/or any local agencies/churches/etc. who are doing something positive for homeless and/or otherwise at-risk babies, children, teens, and young adults. If you are a business owner, you might consider doing this. If you don't own a business, you can still discuss this with those who own/manage the restaurants, stores, and other establishments in order to encourage them to do this.
• At the time of this writing (September 19), we have a growing number of chapters/affiliates of IYN, one of which is out of a high school. You can find some of them here and here. We would like to encourage more high schools to start chapters by contacting us to find out the requirements (which are, actually, quite simple). What would be wonderful would be for several high schools to start chapters and, then, have their first order of business (fundraising) to occur on Youth Outreach Day with some suggestions being (but not limited to): bake sale, car wash, walk-a-thon, talent show, showing classic movies (complete with popcorn) in the school auditorium for a small admission fee, having a carnival.
• Get with your neighbors and have a yard sale with all money taken in going to IYN.
• If you're a popular musician, have a concert where at least part of your profits will go to IYN.
• Churches and other organizations could host a very meaningful dining experience in their fellowship halls. For a donation of five dollars, each diner gets a place at a table where each spot includes an envelope, which is to remain unopened until the servers come around to take orders. At this time, each envelope is opened, and a card with a number on it is taken out and placed into some kind of device to hold it up. Only the servers know what the numbers stand for (a number of numbers stand for the same thing) and will start serving the diners accordingly. Some people will get a single item such as a piece of fruit, box of raisins, or small package of oyster crackers along with an empty styrofoam cup for getting served water. Other people will get sandwich bags containing seven potato chips and their styrofoam cups. A handful of people will get lucky and be served a steak dinner with all of the trimmings along with a bottomless cup of their chosen soft beverage. The majority of people will get a styrofoam cup of water--and a cardboard with the same picture on both sides to be placed in what held their numbers: a nasty-looking dumpster with the words "Now serving dinner!" written above it. The five dollar donations would, of course, go to IYN. Each dinner guest would be given at least one of our pamphlets to take home.
• You could get with some friends or go alone to shop for items listed on our wish list. You could either do this on October 10 and, then, mail what you've bought to IYN headquarters the following Monday or else you could be doing your shopping in the days leading up to October 10 on which you go to the post office early to mail off the TLC packages.
• If you know where homeless youth spend time (if you live in, or near, a community that has them), get with a group of people and have a cookout with them as the guests of honor.

I hope that these suggestions will get you started on your celebration of Youth Outreach Day. Feel free to drop us an e-mail to share how you ended up spending Saturday, October 10, 2009!

Current Online Directory

Invisible Youth Network

Online Directory

Contact Information:

Wayneho Kam
Acting Chairman
wk13@duke.edu

Where We Can Be Found:

Angels for Street Kids Chapter
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=43196194633&ref=mf
Friends of Invisible Youth
http://invisibleyouth.gaia.com
Helping Hands for IYN @ Care2
http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/IYN
Invisible Youth Cause @ Facebook
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/?m=7b39c83d
Invisible Youth @ Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=51667072778
Invisible Youth @ GAIA
http://groups.gaia.com/homelessness
Invisible Youth @ Twitter
http://twitter.com/invisibleyouth
Invisible Youth Member's Club
http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/iynmembersclub
Taking IT Global
http://profiles.tigweb.org/TheChairman

Resources / Online programs:

Online Management Team
http://managementteam.groups.live.com/

Online Partnership Community
http://invisibleyouthonlinecomm.groups.live.com/

Website Information:

Department of Child Abuse Services - Website
http://childabuse.services.officelive.com/default.htm

Invisible Youth Resource Center
http://www.orgsites.com/ca/invisibleyouth/index.html

Invisible Youth Mentoring
http://www.iynmentoring.webs.com/

Invisible Youth Website
http://www.InvisibleYouthNetwork.net

Membership: 16,808

Russell T. Hartsaw
Founder & Chairman
Invisible Youth Network

940 Park Boulevard, Suite #334

San Diego, California 92101

(619) 239-0101, #334

E-Mail:

invisibleyouth@gmail.com

Invisible Youth Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVEUJr-o0KY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLAnQNj8MqU

Invisible Youth Website:

http://invisibleyouthnetwork.net/default.aspx

I've Known This Man For Almost Three Years!

The following was originally written as an invitation to join Online with Russell--along with giving out other important information related to Invisible Youth Network--to be presented to newbies at Care2.

As it turns out, it wasn't the right format for the invitation--along with being too long.

However (with a certain amount of adaptation), it fits perfectly here, and I can share it with a number of people this way.

I can't think of a better way to grand-open My Helping Hand Journal!

Hello--And Welcome To Care2!!!

At this time, I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine, Russell T. Hartsaw--along with five other very special friends!

It will be three years this coming January 15, 2010 since Russell and I first met at an online discussion site and became friends, and, to this day, he never ceases to amaze me!

This invitation is not only to invite you to check out his discussion group called Online with Russell but, also, to check out the organization he launched on March 26, 2007 called Invisible Youth Network which was set up to reach out to homeless and/or otherwise at-risk youth.

You can find out more about this organization by visiting our main website:

http://invisibleyouthnetwork.net

as well as checking out our group at Care2:

http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/IYN

Online with Russell is a wonderful group to belong to, if you're interested in serious discussions about current events and life in general. I hope you'll accept this invitation to become a part of this thought-provoking group.

Let me point out that what it ISN'T is a group for posting recipes, bragging about your grandkids, sharing cutesy graphics, and stuff like that. However, our Invisible Youth Members Club--hosted by Nancy Lou Roy--is one place where you can really express yourself in that way if you wish.

http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/iynmembersclub

She has also started a special friendly thread along those lines in our Care2 group, but keep in mind that this group (Helping Hands for IYN @ Care2) has as its main purpose discussing matters related to homeless and/or otherwise at-risk youth except for in this thread and those that have been especially set up for birthday greetings, etc. by our group hosts and Nan.

Russell is a very busy man these days, as a lot is happening to promote the growth of IYN, so he won't be spending as much time online. Therefore, he has been trying to do a lot of delegating to various people who are able and willing to fill in for him. Still, he can't, by his own admission, stay completely away from the Cyberspace scene.

We have someone very special who has been a real blessing to us, but, more and more, he wants to be anonymous, so I'm respecting this.

Yet, I can't completely go without telling about the wonderful things this young man of only 19 years has done to help street kids locally (in a large city close to his hometown several thousands of miles away from our San Diego headquarters); for the large population of young people who have come from all over the country to congregate in San Diego; and for any other place where he can meet a need. He uses his athletic talent to raise lots of money and other forms of funding (e.g. gift card donations).

Yvonne Ladd is one amazing woman who has been with IYN for a very long time. She doesn't even come close to being a wealthy person, but she gives what she can to our youth in the way of funds and wish list supplies. She also does a lot of fundraising in a number of creative ways. Although what I've just said about her still holds true, we're missing her cheerful messages online right now because she's computerless at the moment. You can read more about her story by going to the thread called The Princess & The Computer at our IYN group.

Finally--thanks to Terry "Tj" Harris and Kim Smith--we have a printable (two sided and made to be folded) pamphlet about IYN, and it looks really wonderful! Check it out by going here:

http://cid-d312f28c2be7bb2b.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/Pamphlet.pdf

Perhaps, if you have a printer, you might like to print out some of your own and distribute them.

Thank you for taking the time to read all of this! Please keep in mind that the second Saturday in October has been designated Youth Outreach Day. Please celebrate this in your own community by doing any, some, or all of the following (and then some):

Take one or more underprivileged kids on an outing.

Have a fundraiser (e.g. bake sale, yard sale, walk-a-thon, car wash, etc.) for Invisible Youth Network.

Encourage local merchants to give a percentage of their profits earned on that day to IYN.

Ask your local officials and/or governor to officially proclaim the second Saturday in October as Youth Outreach Day.

Write to President Obama to encourage him to proclaim the second Saturday in October as Youth Outreach Day--and to get involved with IYN.

In closing, I would like to encourage you to check out the profile pages of Russell, Nan, Yvonne, Tj, and Kim in order to get to know them better:

Russell: http://my.care2.com/russellonline

Nan: http://my.care2.com/nemetchek

Yvonne: http://my.care2.com/bonbon124

Tj: http://my.care2.com/kelfresh

Kim: http://www.care2.com/c2c/people/profile.html?pid=671798633

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this and, hopefully, join us!

Warmly,
Ainsley Jo Phillips :-)
http://my.care2.com/aj1952chats
Co-Founder of Invisible Youth Network