Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation Rescues Animals

Rick Springfield helps the Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation.  Rick Springfield and Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation have teamed up to help save animals and fight against animal cruelty. Find out how the Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation and everyone can help save the millions of animals from kill shelters.

 

Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation (LBWF) is a a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a focus on animal rescue, spaying/neutering programs, rehoming, breed specific legislation, stopping dog fighting and animal cruelty education. Oscar nominated actress Linda Blair founded this organization in 2003 and after a three year search found a 2.5 acre setting in Acton, California which rehabs animals bu providing medical care, grooming, rehoming services and the time for animals to redevelop their coping skills after traumatic events. The facility houses some of these animals which in some cases could be as long as a year.

LBWF saves animals

The LBWF visits California shelters with euthanasia policies and rescues the animals that are on death row awaiting for their imminent demise. Most shelters do not have adequate funding or staff to raise puppies and kittens and unfortunately, these animals are the first to be put down. The LBWT has numerous “foster” families that house animals temporarily until permanent rehoming options can be facilitated. Some of these foster families rehab the animals for as long as a year before a suitable “forever” family can be found for the animal.

Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation and the Hurricane Katrina

Ms. Blair and the LWBF reacted quickly and took action when New Orleans was struck by Hurricane Katrina. Ms Blair personally spent 2.5 weeks living in the back of a camper in Gonzalez, Louisiana. Because of the damage cause by Katrina to the local shelter, it was earmarked for closure displacing 350 dogs. LWBF successfully found new homes for these orphaned dogs and brought 51 one of them back to Acton, California to live at Camp LBWF until more suitable accommodations could be found. Some of these dogs to this day still live at LBWF.

Rick Springfield Auction to benefit the Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation

Rick Springfield hosted an auction on June 19, 2014 where all the proceeds went directly to the LBWF. Rick Springfield and Linda Blair have been close friends for decades and Linda Blair was seen recently in Melanie Lentz-Janney film, “An Affair of the Heart” which documented Rick Springfield’s 30 year career as an actor, writer and musician. The auction grand prize is a one hour walk for two people and their pet on the beach in Malibu, California with Rick and his dog. The winner will also receive a signed guitar and a signed photo opportunity with Rick.

How can people support the foundation?

Of course, every foundation needs supplies and money to pay it’s bills. The LBWF is 100% volunteer so monies go towards essentials and no salaries for employees nor directors like other charities. The LBWF is always in need of: blankets, dog food, treats, toys, collars, leashes, stainless steel water/food bowls, garbage bags, paper towels, 42″ to 48″ wire crates, chain link fence and plywood. The “Dream Wish List,” would love to see a donation of a Cargo Van for animal transportation or an energy and water efficient top loading washer and front loading Dryer.

Ways to donate

Buy gift cards from Home Depot, Lowes, Petco, and Petsmart and send them to the foundation. You can buy a T-shirt at Booster, give directly at LBWF website which accepts PayPal, and all major credit cards. Purchase Linda Blair custom designed products, such as imprinted coffee mugs, hats, t-shirts, bags, and adorable Teddy Bears at CafePress where the proceeds go to support the LBWF. If you live in the Acton, California area and can either volunteer at the facility or become a foster parent, that is a great way to give to the LBWF. He mailing address for the LBWF for mailing checks and gift cards or parcels for supply donation: 10061 Riverside Drive #1003 Toluca Lake, CA 91602

List of Email addresses for immediate response to a particular inquiry.

• volunteer@lindablairworldheart.org – questions or comments concerning volunteering at LBWF
• adoptions@lindablairworldheart.org – questions or comments concerning adopting a LBWF dog
• worldheartdonations@gmail.com – questions or comments concerning donations made to LBWF
• events@lindablairworldheart.org – questions or comments concerning planning or attending a LBWF event
• rescue@lindablairworldheart.org – if you have a dog that you must relinquish or know of a dog in need of rescue
• info@lindablairworldheart.org – for general information regarding LBWF or any other inquiry

Sources: Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, Movie Review: Rick Springfield: “An Affair of the Heart”, Rick Springfield Auction for LBWF, DogTipper, Anipal Times

Free Health Care for Children and Teens in Las Vegas

Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada is a no-cost children’s healthcare clinic serving the 120,000 Nevadan children with no health insurance and a limited amount of options for preventing sickness. Dr. Noah Kohn is the founder of Clinics in Schools.

 

Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada is a no-cost health clinic for 120,000 children that is 100% funded by donations from the community. Because they refuse to participate in a sliding fee scale they have zero infusion of federal monies. The founders of the Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada believe that the “shared responsibility” platform that a sliding fee in the case of the poor is the difference in them getting check-ups for their children thus alleviating a future financial burden on an already overburdened and understaffed city hospital system.

Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada Medical Director, Dr. Noah Kohn

Dr. Noah Kohn is the founder of Clinics in Schools which focuses on the 120,000 children in Nevada schools that have no health insurance. If these children get sick, their school work suffers and their chance to get out of that economic pit strangles them and another generation is lost to a cycle of poverty and unhappiness. Every human being is entitled to health care especially the youngest and most vulnerable members of society that don’t have any financial way to provide for themselves yet.

Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada

Dr. Noah Kohn left the financially secure world of pediatric private practice and made a commitment to take his knowledge and training and devote his life to the underprivileged children of the world, not just his own neighborhood. He has traveled to Haiti to provide medical treatment to the victims of the Hurricane that devastated the island nation. He has been awarded a “Community Spirit Award,” by Channel 8 KLAS and the United Way of Southern Nevada. He has also been awarded the “Healthcare Headliners Award” by In Business Las Vegas. Swiss watchmaker, Frederique Constant nominated him as one of the seven considered for the 2010 Passion Award.

Services and remedies

It costs $250,000 a year to run the Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada. These monies go towards rent and utilities but more importantly the monies provide children with free prescription medications, free vision screening, immunizations, wellness checkups, routine camp, school and sports physicals, laboratory services, assessment, treatment, and management of acute and chronic illnesses and injuries. Referral services to free and low cost dental and vision providers and pediatric specialists. Additional treatment services for treatment off-site include: pregnancy tests, PAP tests, Testing and treatment for STDs, and teen health exams.

Sponsorships

Many people and companies around the Nevada region donate to keep the Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada financially stable. We all know that medical and prescriptions drugs are not luxuries in life. The sponsors and the companies that give to this worthy cause are owed many thanks by the community. It takes a village to rear a child and it takes a community to care for it’s sick. Nevadans all should seriously consider donating what they can to this fine organization where even a small donation will go a long way and change the life of a child. To become a sponsor of the Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada, click here. To make a donation, click here. A $25 donation pays for the full vaccinations for one child, and $40 pays for acute care for one child. Can’t we all afford to care for one child?

Need care for your child or teen?

Need an appointment to the Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada or more information. Contact the clinic at 702.826.2300 and find it at 1140 Almond Tree Lane, Suite #306, Las Vegas, NV 89104.

 

Sources: Children’s Free Clinic of Southern Nevada, Clinics in Schools, KTNV Channel 13 Action News

 

Denise Needs the Human Touch; Donate to Her Gofundme!

Follow the link to go to Denise Beckel’s GoFundMe page.  

Denise has struggled with life threatening illness since 1995. If the disease doesn’t kill her, the financial impact will kill her and her family. Read about Denise Beckel, Please reach into your pocket. Vote with your feet by donating to the Beckels.

 

When you peruse the listings on GoFundMe, you must be aware of scam postings and the genuine ones. It’s easy to by-pass the campaigns that ask for others to pay for their luxuries, like getting married in Hawaii. No way that person deserves a dollar much less the $50,000 asked for in the campaign. It is a great use of some discretionary money when you find the genuine “need” campaign. Whether it be for an injured dog rescued from a pit-bull fighting ring or to help defray the costs of a funeral and burial. The campaigns that really need help are the ones where catastrophic events happened in a person’s life or to help with medical bills of the under insured.

A Touching Campaign

I was perusing the campaigns as I have a couple of spare dollars and I like the feeling of helping someone when they need help. I came across a person with a medical condition for the last decade. I did some background on the campaign since I am a journalist and was touched by the story.

Denise Beckel

Denise Beckel is a 43 year old mother of a girl and a boy; Taylor 16, and Ryan 14. Married to Eric, a Sergeant in the NYPD assigned to the Narcotics unit in the Bronx for almost 20 years. Denise was a nurse before she was unable to continue working due to her health issue. Her health issues started in 1995 with that feeling that something was just not right. Respecting her privacy, I will cut to the chase, doctors realized she had a failing liver and without a transplant she would die. Denise waited seven long arduous years for a healthy donor Liver. During that time, she “lived” in doctor’s waiting and treatment rooms and she raised her family from young children to teenagers. Denise took a handful of pills, all sizes and shapes, everyday to try and prolong the inevitable visit from the grim reaper when her liver one day would decide not to function properly anymore.

Post Op Liver recipient

Denise got her liver seven years after waiting on the donor list. Her strength and her support system of love from her family, her aunts and uncles, and nieces and nephews gave her the strength to preserve. The strength to not give up and to raise her children. Talking to her extended family, they had little knowledge that anything was wrong, because Denise was all about, how everyone else was doing and deflected any talk about her burden. The operation went well. Her body didn’t reject the organ and everything looked like they were over the hump. Unfortunately she developed a very common disease associated with liver transplants, its called Cytomegalovirus(CMV).

Cytomegalovirus

I’m not a doctor and really can’t explain the disease so I enclosed a link, just click the name. What I did learn was that 48% of the transplant patients that contracted CMV would die in the first 5 years. That’s a coin toss folks. Put 2 people in a room and 1 won’t be there in a year. This is serious. This is life and death. This is not being around to see your son and daughter graduate college, get married, meet your grandchildren. This is tragic. All CMV patients are put on a daily cocktail of pills to take. Without them the prognosis is inevitable death. This is non-negotiable and here is the problem, the cost.  The main one is Valcyte, the most expensive drug at $5500 for a one month supply. Without the medications, the prognosis is inevitable, Death. These pill cocktails are non-negotiable and here is the problem, the cost.

Cost of the drugs to treat Cytomegalovirus

The cost to take the medication is $2500 for a 14 day supply. That’s a cost of $178.00 per day. Or a cost of $5535.00 per month. Remember there are 4.3 weeks in a month so that’s 3 extra days of $178.00. Eric, her husband being a NYPD police Sergeant has Blue Cross/Blue Shield GHI as their health care provider and they only cover half the cost of the drugs. So, every month, they have to find $2750 net dollars to pay for the prescriptions. According to the NYPD website a NYPD sergeant tops out at 98k per year gross and they pay into their own pensions. After that deduction and the government getting their share of federal tax, state tax, city tax, and FICO, let’s say there is 60% left, that leaves $44,000 a year. Divide that by 12 months is $3660. net. Now they pay the prescription and that is $3600-$2750 leaves $916.00 to pay the mortgage, food, utilities etc. Now that is depressing and the numbers don’t work. Numbers don’t lie. They will eventually go bankrupt and won’t be able to live. If this isn’t a clear case of the community needing to come together and help, really, what is?

GoFundMe for Denise Beckel

Follow the link to go to Denise Beckel’s GoFundMe page. Her Aunt and former Emergency room nurse at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx started the GoFundMe page for Denise. You can read their story there. Denise’s Mom, Theresa, Step-dad Ronnie, hate that term step-dad, he is more of a father than the real guy, so I will just call him Dad out of respect, and her brother Rich continue to support their beloved Denise. Rich is a detective in the NYPD Bomb Squad. Rich is a helluva guy and both he and Eric were at the WTC and helped at ground zero. Rich and his wife, Police Officer Diana Henderson, saw the family being swallowed by the medical bills, they tapped into their pension funds and took out money to prevent the Beckel’s from going under financially. This can’t go on indefinitely, there is only so much money, only so much “blood can you squeeze from a stone.” This is where we come in, the community.

When in need of help, we call

When you need help, you call 911. Two people in blue uniforms arrive and no matter what time of day, the weather, pr if it is a holiday, they will be at your door within minutes of being notified a member of the community needs help. They will run into a dark alley outnumbered 100 to 1 ready to give up their life to protect someone in their community. They will die to protect a stranger. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13.

It’s our turn to answer the call to help.

It is our turn. The GoFundMe posting is the Beckel family calling 911. Will we answer the call? We better because this is the way we say thank you. This is what we should do. This is the right thing to do. Let’s make that commitment and take the stand that Denise doesn’t belong just to the Beckel family but is a valuable member of mankind., of our family They say a village is needed to raise a child; a community is needed to heal it’s sick. If we all decide to give some money, together we can make their life a happy place without financial disaster waiting them. Do it because that could be your daughter, your wife, your mother in that bed staring death in the face. Just Do It. If Everyone gave as little as $20, it will help to defray their cost. What do you say. 20 bucks a reader and let’s make Denise a honorary member of our family. Makes sure you put Yahoo in the donate note section and I will personally list your name in a future article to thank you personally. Thanks and God Bless Denise and he family. All proceeds from this article will be remitted to the Beckels. Please share it so more people know about this worthy endeavor. Denise Beckel GoFundMe Page.

***For the residents of New York city. There is a 10-13 fundraiser sponsored by the NYC Detectives Endowment Association on June 26^th at 7PM at St. Vartan Cathedral, 630 Second Avenue, Between East 34th & 35th Streets in Manhattan. The cost is $20 per person to benefit Denise. Please RSVP at 10-13 FOR DENISE BECKEL, WIFE OF SGT. ERIC BECKEL

GoFundMe is the Most Popular, Easiest to Use Crowdfunding Site

Need Help with Medical Bills or an Emergency?  GoFundMe has raised $290 million dollars to date. GoFundMe enables people to ask friends, family and strangers for financial assistance throughout various times of their lives when they need help with medical bills, burial assistance, or college tuition.

 

GoFundMe is a great website. It is a crowdfunding fundraising site. GoFundMe was started in 2010 and over $290 Million dollars has been raised to date. GoFundMe is filled with financial requests from people who want help with tuition bills, to third party requests to help cover the expenses of a medical crisis or to bury a loved one. Some of the stories will make you cry and other requests will make you want to reach through the computer screen and strangle the person wanting $50k to have a lavish wedding in Hawaii. Looking past the obvious “idiots of the internet,” there are an amazing amount of genuine requests from regular people in dire need.

 

How I found about GO Fund Me?

I think most people encounter the site for the first time because they saw it on their facebook page as a request for financial need from one of their social network friends. This is the most common way for people to get out the message. Some people find it uncomfortable asking for financial assistance and this takes some of the sting out of it. It also allows people that don’t want to or don’t have that flexibility in their budget to not participate and still save “face.”

 

How it works?

It’s a simple process. People sign up for a free account. They build a page with an easy to navigate dashboard that tells the story of what the financial request is all about. Once the page is built, they link it to their social media sites like Facebook or Google+. They can then Tweet the sites link and in general promote it with any tool at their disposal. That’s it. Now the money comes in and it will be available as it rolls in, not waiting for a goal amount to be reached. When you withdraw the money it can be directly transferred to a bank account or a check request can be submitted. There is a 5-7 day processing period for either withdrawal.

 

What does it cost?

For the people donating, it costs nothing. For the hosts of the event, Go Fund Me does take 5% of each donation to run the overhead cost of maintaining servers and hiring employees. They also retain 3% when making a withdrawal, so 8% will come off the top. I do recommend if someone wants to make a large donation. Different arrangements should be made to avoid that 8% fee. The site is really about collecting the smaller amounts from many people. You will be surprised at how quick some $20 bills add up.

 

 

How long are the campaigns?

You set the duration of a campaign. You will continue to have a “live” page till you turn it off. Most people have a financial goal in mind and easily readable stats on how well, the campaign is doing in comparison to the goal. Most people never take down the page in testament to the generous donors. The actual goal will never come into play in a real world scenario. No matter the goal, every penny collected will go to the recipient of the campaign.

 

Does it have to be a public campaign?

It doesn’t have to be a public campaign and you don’t have to promote it on any social media site. You can build the page and hand out the link independently to whom you like. Keep in mind, Go Fund Me success happens when lots of people know about it. People you know and strangers can all be potential donors. So it is in your campaign’s interest to get the word out and keep the site public. There is nothing wrong to ask for a hand up when you need one legitimately.

 

Type of campaigns

There are many categories on the site and you have a wide range of what is socially acceptable and even what isn’t that is on the site. Some examples of some categories are:

• Accidents and Emergencies
• Babies, kids, and families
• Business and Entrepreneurs
• Celebrations and special events
• Community and Neighbors
• Medical, Illness and healing
• Funerals, Memorials and Tributes

Beware of the Net

Everyone should beware of course of con men. This isn’t Disney and there are a lot of predators with no morals in the world. So, do your due diligence before you donate. See, if there are links maybe showing an article on what the campaign is about. If the campaign is requesting money because a woman had a birth of 12 kids and she needs the assistance then I am sure there is some news about her. Don’t be gullible. Remember to check authenticity. There is nothing wrong with being guarded but don’t let that prevent you from being generous either.

 

Feels good giving someone a hand up

We need to remember our humanity. We need to be thankful for what we have and also remember some people have a real tough road in life. They may at times need the community to help them overcome a burden. Not everyone is financially solvent to handle every emergency that life throws at them. It is said, it takes a village to raise a child and it takes a community to support it’s needy. Give what you can and the smallest contribution is a more than welcomed and appreciated and as you hit the donate button, say a quick prayer that you or a love one won’t be building a GoFundMe page in the future because of some unexpected life catastrophe.

The Homeless and What You Can Do

Mental health issues impact all people equally. Volunteering with the homeless changed my outlook that mental illness was an elderly affliction primarily. Seeing it affect all ages was a startling revelation.

 

Homeless in Suburbia

Suffolk County, Long Island is a suburb of New York with a population of 1.5 million. Newsdayestimates that 2500 people are homeless, 50% being children. Volunteering at a shelter in 2010 enabled me a to form an opinion which mirrors law enforcement’s, Drug addiction is a major influence of homelessness. Many people affected by mental illness walk the streets of the nation including rural America. Some started out mentally ill, the streets drove the others. The one common thread that most homeless share is their loss of hope.

 

Addiction vs Mental Health

Identifying the cause is the first step. Mental illness and addiction sometime find each other. There is no way to separate the two without prioritizing which problem is more severe and treating that one first. Empathy, compassion, and patience allow for the establishment of trust. People feel shame regardless of their stigma, but trust will allow for communication. No cure can be offered, no addiction problem conquered without dialogue. Once the afflicted trust a caregiver, the path to recovery becomes hopeful. Once hope is restored, the process of healing the body and mind can begin. Once health of the body and mind are restored, then plans to become productive members of society can be laid out. The path to heal the spirit comes into focus. Soon body, mind, and spirit will be back in harmony. But here is the next obstacle. The final hurdle rehabilitating the homeless arises when they have recovered from their maladies. Society loses interest in them as a person would free a bird that healed it’s broken wing. They are no longer mentally ill nor are they addicted. They are just homeless. The government has no plan for helping anyone overcome that alone. Now, they are healthy homeless sure to regress quickly if a life line isn’t thrown to them.

 

Outreach for the homeless

Where the government stops, private charities start. Some of the organizations below can help a homeless person find a job, temporary shelter, clothing, purchase of toiletries, registering help to get food stamps, bus pass issuance, computers, telephones and resume building help to speed up the job hunt process, etc. Direct handouts normally don’t happen as these organizations subscribe to the saying, “Feed a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.”

 

• Catholic Charities
• St. Vincent de Paul
• Salvation Army
• Alliance for Children and Families
• United Way
• Save Our Children
• Goodwill

 

These are national listings. Click the links above to find a local agency near you to help someone you see that needs help. Reaching out is the first step. So the next time, someone asks you for change. Give them change but not the kind that sings out when it hits the bottom of a cup. That sound is the sound of rock bottom. The person standing before you is at rock bottom like that coin. Instead, Leave your car where it is, call a taxi and take him directly to the closest agency above and show them that someone cares for this person and they will follow your lead. Now that’s giving someoneCHANGE.

 

Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down

Two Things that You Should Do Today Regardless of How You Feel.

The Carpenters sang about rainy days and Mondays in the ’70s and people still get the blues. Today, You have the blues so bad, you are changing to a lovely shade of purple. What to do? You could draw a warm bath and find something sharp. You could climb atop a building and “slip.” Or, You could do what I do. Take inventory of your world and then follow my directions below precisely.

 

The Daily Motivator

It was started by Ralph Marston, in 1995, as a labor of love that morphed into something bigger than life. If you have never visited the site, you need to start, now!! I try to start my day with my coffee and read Ralph’s words of the day. A different uplifting reminder less than a page long that is truly inspirational and thought provoking. Ralph updates the Daily message everyday but Sunday. He has written over 4,500 Daily Inspirations and has never missed a day in 19 years publishing. I rarely find a message that doesn’t have a profound significance to lift my burden. His words realign my spirit and make me appreciate life and how lucky we are to live it, no matter the challenges and pain of life.

 

Reaffirming Life Slideshows

He also produces short, 3 minute long slideshow presentations set to a soothing soundtrack with short snippet messages appearing and then slowly fading away. Please when you have time, view “Right Now,” I have watched it countless times and still it impacts me strongly. He has other videos to view as well. Ralph doesn’t require any registration or login hassle. He does it cause this is who he is. At the end of the presentations, you can click a link and it brings up the prose of the presentation and converts it to text on a brilliant background that can be printed and framed. What a great gift for someone’s home. Feeling generous, click his Paypal button and make a donation, a cup of coffee will do.

 

“Joy is the best makeup”–Anne Lamott

If you have a dog at home. Just forget everything and pick up a ball or a chew toy, go to a park where no one else is with Fido and throw the ball as far as you can. Fido will run back and forth with you all day and I guarantee you will forget anything that was bothering you. Fido is 50 pounds of fur and unconditional love. Fido never judges you. Fido never thinks your hair is a mess. Fido doesn’t care if you put on a few pounds over the winter. On the way home, stop at the store and get an ice cream and get Fido a treat. You both deserve it. Just remember water as you two will be thirsty.

 

No Dog, No Problem

For people who don’t have a dog. Go to your local ASPCA and adopt one. Don’t even think about it. Just do it. We need animals and they need us. Millions of dogs are put down every year. Humans wouldn’t have survived in the beginning without Fido at his side. It’s time we ALL start returning the favor. No excuses!! I don’t care if you have a small apartment, pick a small breed. I don’t care if you work a lot and aren’t home much. Good, adopt two dogs so they can keep themselves company and get the local teenager to walk the dogs. Dogs are happy, the kid makes some money and won’t be breaking into your house while you are “out so much.” The amount of joy a dog brings is well worth the $100 to $200 cost per month. Go Get a dog and Be Happy. We Owe them so much, it’s time to repay their contributions.