Showing posts with label cervical screening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cervical screening. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Pennies


QUAD CITIES (but could be coming soon to a town near you!) - Come on, I only have a few bucks. It’s not like that can help anybody. Plus, I really want to spend it on myself because I’ve had a long day and I deserve this ... fill in the blank …

I found this cool civil engineering site (yes, I find those civil engineers to be a fantastic bunch) that shows the strength of a penny. If used properly, you can assemble them and actually create a very strong structure.

The idea that individual contributions can’t help anyone should be a thing of the past, but clearly this is not the case. The downturn in the economy and a simple fiscal year switch has altered the lives of people in the quad cities in a fairly terrible way – the funding for people who need mammograms RAN OUT. Yes, according to a story on WQAD-TV, women who were under-insured or have high deductibles (these are women who actually have health insurance but still can’t afford a test!!!) were unable to get a mammogram. (Please note: The Centers for Disease Control has a program to help low-income, uninsured and underserved get breast and cervical screenings.)

I’m delighted to report that a new donor, the Trinity Foundation, stepped in to help cover this terrible gap. They held a fundraising event, much like the hundreds I have been so blessed to attend, and they averted a financial crisis. So yes, events can actually make a change. Your attendance at such an event, while masked as a fantastically fun party, can be the change that is needed. Your simple donation of even just a few dollars can be pooled with others, like this event did, and change an entire region.

It doesn’t have to be a breast cancer charity (but if you want to, gosh I know a great one - verabradley.org) – just pick the charity of your choice. Donate 5 bucks and see what happens. Maybe next month you can shoot for $10 or $15. Then, you might just feel the need to throw a party for the charity and make it $20K. Sometimes the power of change is sitting right there in front of you, in those hands of yours. :)