Will you Skip Your Starbucks?

 

My regular readers know I am a big (figuratively and literally) proponent of not only speaking out publicly on the issues that matter to you as an individual, but of going a step further to actually do something about them. Well, dear readers (*waves* at all three of them… *snort*), today is no different.

Why?

Because it’s Skip A Starbucks Day!!!

 And those of you who read this blog regularly (see my assault on Elmo) or know me, know just how important my morning coffee is!!!

Sometimes the issues we are asked to act on are very obviously global – like the right to water or campaigning for an international climate treaty.

Sometimes the issues – like the flooding tragedy in Pakistan – force us to examine in ourselves and those around us what we really believe to be our common humanity.

And sometimes, when fortune is smiling, we get the opportunity to reach out a helping hand and profoundly change the lives of a few individuals – to really do something tangible that contributes to making this world just a little bit nicer for everyone.

@CJRedwine and her family are nearing the end of a five-year journey to adopt a baby girl from China. Delays in the process caused by broader geopolitical concerns of the Chinese government have cost the family time, heartache and additional expense. The waiting, refilling and increased costs have eroded the family’s financial cushion. Now with their long-awaited goal finally in sight, the family is in need of help to bring their little girl – Joanna Faith — home.

Thus, Skip A Starbucks Day (which actually runs August 23 – 26)!

The family needs to raise $8,000 to travel to China, finalize the process and bring their daughter home. To my mind, at least, that is well worth the price of a latte …. Mmmmmmm, lattes …. I digress.

As a thank you for skipping your Starbucks (or other favored indulgence) for a day and generously giving that money to this deserving family, the family and their supporters have put together thank yous and prizes. Everyone who donates at least $5 will be entered to win.

Check out @CJRedwine’s post to donate, for information on the Grand Prize drawing and links to other bloggers offering prizes.

 

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Across Asia gender ratios are increasingly skewed by economic realities, modern technological advances and societal traditions that put a high preference on male children. In India, millions of female fetuses have been aborted in the last decade, and the practice is gaining popularity. In China, with the government’s strict one-child policy in effect, tens of thousands of baby girls are abandoned at, or soon after, birth and left to die.

Wrap your head around this:

The UN Development Programme, as report by AFP,

 found that in China and India alone,

 85 million females have died from discriminatory health care, neglect or selective abortions.

85 MILLION FEMALES.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t even begin to conceive of what that means. It is simply too huge a number to get my head around.

But one? One I CAN get my head around.

We have the chance to come together and give one little girl from China the start of a new life with a loving family.

So give it up people – Skip your Starbucks. It will be the best cup of coffee you never had!!!

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Just a note: Yes, I did a bit of due diligence on the process and agency facilitating this adoption. The process appears legitimate. Not trying to be a hard-ass, just forestalling any such questions.