Tips to Help You Educate and Become Educated

by Mom It Forward on March 21st, 2011 | 1 Comment »

This week's Season of Service challenge is to make opportunities to serve that involve education - either by supporting people or organizations who educate or by educating others yourself. It has been said that "education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army" (Edward Everett). Education is definitely a means whereby we can protect ourselves and others from the imprisonment of ignorance. It is also a way to lift each other up. Here are ten bite-size ideas:

10 Tips for Supporting Education

Go to Ready.gov and make a Family Emergency Plan, then hold a practice evacuation drill to teach what to do and what to take in case of an emergency.
Buy a copy of A Reason to Believe, a book about the first African American governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick. A portion of the proceeds benefit A Better Chance, a nonprofit that increases the number of well-educated young people of color who are capable of assuming positions of responsibility and leadership in American society.
Subscribe to the newsletter of Hands to Hearts, an international nonprofit that facilitates the education of young children in orphanages, refugee camps, and severely impoverished or conflict-ridden communities, and enhances their attachment to caregivers.
Contribute $10 to the scholarship fund of an international student (like Anthony, in Ghana) at Razoo.com, a website that facilitates generosity.
Loan $25 to an entrepreneur in education through Kiva.com, which provides microfinancing solutions to people in developing countries who don't have access to traditional banking systems.
Educate yourself on drunk driving by going to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and reading up on Ignition Interlocks, a new proposed solution for preventing convicted drunk drivers from driving drunks.
Educate family and friends on the possibility of preventing diabetes, and how to do it.
Call an older friend and educate yourself on what's going on in their life.
Host a Cookies for Kids Cancer bake sale to share the facts about pediatric cancer and the need for better and more effective treatments.
Buy a $14.99 cancer awareness bracelet at CancerSocietyStore.com.

How Will You Give to Others This Week?

What other ideas do you have for giving to others involving educating?
How has education made a meaningful difference for you this week?
How have others given to you this week and what difference has that made in your life?

How Else Can You Make a Difference This Season?

Make a meaningful difference this season by taking the Season of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here's how you can participate:

Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week's challenge.
Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week's challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
Enter to win each week's giveaway. Check out this week's prizes from Microsoft's Kodu Cup by clicking here.
Join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.