Thirty Deeds in Thirty Days-Reflection

Today I drove around town paying close attention to people in general; I drove up College Avenue near Federal where I encountered three different people standing on street corners at street lights with signs. One saying "Will work for food," another saying, "Homeless Veteran" and a third with a Psalm Scripture on it. One was white woman, one was Mexican and one Black. The ironic part is that I had seen them the day before and the day before in the same general proximity but a different street corner causing me to wonder were they really homeless. As I listened to the news I heard on CNN today that one out of every four children live in poverty and are hungry in the United States. What's the point you say? Hunger and poverty don't discriminate, they don't differentiate between race, color, creed or religion. They don't affect just the old or Senior Citizens, they don't have socioeconomic barriers, white or blue collar. And last but not least, it's not going to go away over night. Can one person really make a difference? Most definitely! Here's my point to all of this-find something, anything, that YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE and Just Do it!

Thirty Deeds in Thirty Days-The Cause Marketing King

Day 18 of my Thirty Deeds in Thirty Days and though it may seem like I've been doing nothing significant-some of you know me and that is a stretch from the truth. So what is the truth? First, I continue to work on raising $20,000 for a friend suffering with breast cancer. A fundraiser has been put together called "Jazz & Jokes" featuring a Jazz band and several world class comedians; I've put together a synopsis to revive a former community street fair and recommended that it be revived. I've set up two separate dates to feed the Homeless, one on Thanksgiving day and another at a Senior recreation center two days before Thanksgiving. I continue to work on the Dr. Martin Luther King Breakfast for the Jackie Robinson YMCA, the Dr. Martin Luther King Parade Committee and even volunteered to deliver this Sunday's Bible study! I've met with three different San Diego non-profit organizations this past week regarding events or how to raise immediate funds. While on vacation from my Radio gig for the next ten days I plan to visit the downtown San Diego USO to thank some soldiers for their service, lead some middle school students on a tour of a radio station, some volunteer journalistic work for the Urban League of San Diego County, work on my own non-profit corporation in establishing its 501 (c) 3 status by 2011 and finally, attempt to "do something for me" on Black Friday! How's that for a full calendar?

Thirty Deeds in Thirty Days-Day Nine

I've been reluctant in reporting my daily deeds and keeping track. However, since I received a phone call November 1, 2010, from a friend that called me while I was on the air to say that she was simply calling to say "farewell," my world hasn't really been the same. I guess the million dollar question is what would you do to save a life? What lengths would you travel, how many people would you speak to, how far would you go to raise a seemingly astronomical amount of money? Well, to date my days and nights have been consumed in trying every "trick" in the book to get the word out about my friend needing a minimum of $25,000 for a special cancer treatment with little or no response. I've even put together a fund raiser at a local chic nightclub that I Host every Sunday night. The event called "Jazz & Jokes" will include comedians and a Jazz band but at best if every ticket is sold I would have only raised $4,000. Not even a drop in the bucket! I've tried so far unsuccessfully to get my local media's attention, television news, the Union Tribune newspaper thinking that capturing the masses would give me a better chance of locating that "One in a Million" person that saw a mere $25,000 as the perfect Christmas present in regards to saving a life!

So for now I guess, "Thirty Deeds in Thirty Days" is on hold because saving a life is the "Ultimate Deed!"

DJ Goes Homeless for Two Weeks to Raise Money

DJ Goes Homeless for Two Weeks to Raise Money

Thirty Deeds in Thirty Days

The day went mostly as planned visiting several non-profits to lend a hand in any way that I could. But the Deed of the Day came at 7:50pm tonight while I was on the air as the Host of "The Lites Out Lounge" on Smooth Jazz 98.1 here in San Diego. I received a phone call from a dear friend who I have known for approximately twenty years. She was a community activist and helped me when I was down and out; she had also helped many starving musicians and families throughout San Diego County. She had been on a "one-woman" crusade to raise $50,000. The reason? She was dying of breast and thigh cancer and was trying to get to Houston, Texas in order to get a revolutionary new treatment that might save her life. She had insurance but it would not pay for the treatment and to date she had only raised $4,000.  My instincts told me that this would be the "Deed" of all "Deeds" if I could someway help her. I began to E mail anyone I knew in the medical, journalism or banking profession to contact me with suggestions, ideas, etc. I even attached a portion of the recorded phone call clip so that those people I sent E mails to knew that this was by no means a prank. In less than 5 minutes of sending out the E mail to ten prominent people in my rolodex I had several positive replys and requests to make contact with my friend.  Now I'm not saying that I saved a life today, but I'm saying that the solution starts with just one person helping someone else. Have you did your good deed today?