For Cory's Sake

#ProudPSUforRAINN: Penn Staters fighting back

2011-11-10T16:37:00.000-08:00

I was sent this email by RAINN, an organization that fights sexual violence with education, advocacy and services for survivors:

Dear ,

The recent allegations of abuse involving Penn State have shaken the nation. In response, a grassroots network of PSU alumni have started a movement - #ProudPSUforRAINN - to support victims of abuse and help Penn Staters display their true values by contributing to RAINN. This courageous effort will help ensure that something like this never happens again - anywhere.

In the words of campaign organizers Jerry and Jaime Needel, Bob Troia and Larena Lettow (Penn State '98):

"After having so closely identified with all things Penn State over the past 15 years, the recent events have shaken our beliefs - and those of other alumni - to the core. Simply put, Penn State is way bigger than the alleged actions of a few people. To honor the victims, our goal is to raise over $500,000 - one dollar for each of Penn State's 557,000 alumni. Please join us in showing the world what being a proud supporter of Penn State really means by making a donation in support of preventing and treating victims of sexual abuse and by adding your name to mine below."

Please support this important campaign by adding your name, making a donation, and joining the conversation on twitter at #ProudPSUforRAINN.

With gratitude,

Scott Berkowtiz

President & Founder

In the fight between good and evil, good has just fired a major salvo.

What I'm thinking this morning

2011-11-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

myfoxphilly.com has reported that "there may [now] be as many as 17 accusers coming forward against one-time Penn State University defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky." This is the monster who could have been stopped in 2002, when an eyewitness actually saw a sexual assault against a boy estimated to be about 10 years old, and four other people in authority at Penn State were told of what he witnessed, and none of them called the police.

I woke up this morning with a certain image in my head. I may have dreamed it, actually. It was of a courtroom, and the rows were packed with young men who had been victimized by Sandusky, (unknown how many after 2002, when five grown men could have stopped him and didn't). There were two or three rows of victims.

May there should be two or three, or more, rows of victims and their families in the courtroom at some point, maybe at the verdict reading. Then maybe the people who could have stopped Sandusky in 2002, and did nothing, could see the holocaust they enabled.

And yes, I did just use that word, and I intend to stand by it.

He could have been stopped in 2002

2011-11-08T19:22:00.000-08:00

He could have been stopped in 2002.

That's the main thought throbbing through my mind tonight. He could have been stopped in 2002.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a good place to start.

It should have been stopped in 2002.

New sale price for For Cory's Sake the e-book

2011-01-01T17:47:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! $0.99 is the new sale price for For Cory's Sake the e-book--let's get that out of the way. At least that is the price on smashwords; other retailers may mark it up differently.

I've mentioned in various places that I work in retail. Well, Christmas season was so busy that I suddenly feel like I have so much time, now that the season's over. I've been spending a lot of this newfound time thinking about my book and my characters. I want to write about them, some more; and write about other things I've been thinking about. So new content should be coming to the blog, and in the meantime, there is this news: For Cory's Sake (the e-book) is $0.99. All royalties will still be donated to organizations that help abused, neglected or exploited children, and I will continue to spotlight these organizations and their issues.

Up Next: "So, I was watching this documentary. It mentioned the federal debt. I thought, 'I guess I can kinda sorta understand how some people can think we "can't afford" certain initiatives. But on the other hand, if we do hold back, will we be able to afford certain consequences?'" 't'will be these thoughts, in more words.

Follow-up: So HOW can we cut health care costs by reducing violence?

2010-05-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

In a previous post, I wrote that both academic studies and front-line health care workers show that: "our national health care costs would be significantly reduced if we could become better at preventing/reducing violence in our society." The next obvious question seems to me to be: "so how do we prevent/reduce violence in our society?"

I would like to quickly show you on to a very enlightening post on the Larry King Live blog. It was written by Anne Lee, President & CEO of Darkness to Light, an organization which educates adults on how to prevent, recognize and respond to sexual violence against children. Her blog post succinctly tells the why and how of preventing and reducing violence.

Key points:

"As a nation of taxpayers we spend over $35B annually for the long term cost of child sexual abuse."
"Unlike other issues and diseases where we need to raise hundreds of millions and billions of of dollars to go into a laboratory and one day find a cure--the cure, the end of sexual abuse is right in front of us."

Read about the cure. We can prevent needless human suffering.

(And cut our national health care costs as well)

Sam and Corrin: Escape from "Vegas"

2010-05-02T21:32:00.000-07:00

Between laying down and falling asleep, Roci makes up stories in his head. This is one of the personal traits of mine that I wrote into one of my characters. Between laying down and falling asleep, nearly every night, I think about the lives of imaginary people. I usually think about these people in the context of a scenario; which develops into a scene; which multiplies into multiple alternate scenes. The alternate scenes smash together; they meld together; their individual pieces pull on each other and combine; some pieces fall out as by-product. (I'd love to visualize the process as solar flares, but it's probably more like a chemical reaction in a beaker) My head is a beaker full of reacting fictional elements.

Most of what goes on in my head stays there. (Huh, a Las Vegas commercial just popped into my head) Much of it is about borrowed characters--Batman, Frodo, Brock from Pokemon . . . Much of it isn't to any point. I don't see the point in writing out pointless scenes; and I do see the point in keeping my Batman fan fiction to myself.

For Cory's Sake, though, was different--more original and meaningful to me; surprisingly cohesive and long-running; and finally, very insistent about getting out. It was beyond insistent. It got a wire hanger and picked my double lock of laziness and inertia. I actually began to write out my ideas as consciously ordered words in a word processor. I kept on writing, eight hours a day for a while. I finished a complete first draft--about 300 pages of beginning, middle and end-type stuff.

(I let the draft sit in a box for 3 years)

I revised, rewrote, revised and published, and it all felt very compulsory. I can say that I know what "compelling" feels like. A story woke me up and pulled me out, like an eager pup taking its "master" out for a run. An exhilarating (and exhausting) run, I'll add.

Now, I've been paying more attention to an older pet story, lately. Its characters existed and were doing things before Roci, Kerry, William, Jeffrey, etc.x 4 were ever born. And I've decided to take this one out for a walk; see where we'll go. So I'm writing again--I guess that's the big announcement.

The characters are two brothers who have differing personalities, and adventure(s). The settings are Los Angeles, Earth (where I lived for 6 years) and Cory. It is in part a story of how at least one Earthling learned of Cory (and naturally he told at least one other person; and two people sometimes keep a secret less well than one; and one thing leads to another, and eventually to For Cory's Sake)

The two brothers are Sam, who is 19 at the moment, and Corrin, who doesn't know how old he is. By the end of our journey he'll know, and I'll know a lot more too, and will hopefully see fit to share where we've gone within the pages of a newly published (on Smashwords, at least) book.

Violence Prevention Will Reduce Our Nation's Health Care Costs--Notes on a presentation by Susan Chasson

2010-03-31T09:09:00.000-07:00

This month, President Obama filled out an NCAA Tournament bracket that, if looked at from one angle (focus on the middle), was even worse than mine.

Oh, and he signed health care reform into law.

This morning, I've been thinking about brackets, public health improvement, and . . . trees. (Yes, altogether)

Bear with me, Buddy Bear, and visualize a tree, please. It has roots and a trunk at the bottom and then it, um, branches out into branches.

So now, these trees we're visualizing have roots at the base, and bunches of branches, all big and pretty, up top. Now I think I learned in sophomore high school biology that important stuff does occur in the branches. I think the leaves collect stuff, like light and carbon dioxide and Easter bunnies (anyway, stuff) and I think bees visit the flowers and do things and then you get apples or stuff . . . I will not discount the importance, or fail to acknowledge the beauty, of the branches.

But I also know, from my experiences of seeing dead trees, that if you get an ax or a chain saw and chop or saw away at the trunk of a tree, and yell "Fore!" (no wait--"Timber!") and all the branches come crashing down together, their connection to the roots severed--well, that does it, right? Those branches aren't good for much more than composting the forest floor or feeding a fire or being decked with lights and decorating a living room for a month or four.

My point being that the roots are way essential.

A bracket looks a little bit like a tree. For those who don't share the least little bit in my sports obsession, this is what a bracket (my 2010 NCAA Tournament bracket on Yahoo!) looks like:

March 18-19

- 1 Kansas90
- 16 Lehigh74
Box Score - Recap
- 8 UNLV66
- 9 Northern Iowa69
Box Score - Recap
- 5 Michigan St.70
- 12 New Mexico St.67
Box Score - Recap
- 4 Maryland89
- 13 Houston77
Box Score - Recap
- 6 Tennessee62
- 11 San Diego St.59
Box Score - Recap
- 3 Georgetown83
- 14 Ohio97
Box Score - Recap
- 7 Oklahoma St.59
- 10 Georgia Tech64
Box Score - Recap
- 2 Ohio St.68
- 15 UCSB51
Box Score - Recap

2nd Round

March 20-21

- 1 Kansas67
- 9 Northern Iowa69
Box Score - Recap
- 5 Michigan St.85
- 4 Maryland83
Box Score - Recap
- 6 Tennessee83
- 14 Ohio683 Georgetown
Box Score - Recap
- 10 Georgia Tech667 Oklahoma St.
- 2 Ohio St.75
Box Score - Recap

Reg. Semis

March 25-26

- 9 Northern Iowa521 Kansas
- 5 Michigan St.594 Maryland
Box Score - Recap
- 6 Tennessee763 Georgetown
- 2 Ohio St.73
Box Score - Recap

Reg. Finals

March 27-28

- 5 Michigan St.701 Kansas
- 6 Tennessee692 Ohio St.
Box Score - Recap

EAST

1st Round

March 18-19

- 1 Kentucky100
- 16 E. Tennessee St.71
Box Score - Recap
- 8 Texas80
- 9 Wake Forest81
Box Score - Recap
- 5 Temple65
- 12 Cornell78
Box Score - Recap
- 4 Wisconsin53
- 13 Wofford49
Box Score - Recap
- 6 Marquette78
- 11 Washington80
Box Score - Recap
- 3 New Mexico62
- 14 Montana57
Box Score - Recap
- 7 Clemson78
- 10 Missouri86
Box Score - Recap
- 2 West Virginia77
- 15 Morgan St.50
Box Score - Recap

2nd Round

March 20-21

- 1 Kentucky90
- 9 Wake Forest608 Texas
Box Score - Recap
- 12 Cornell875 Temple
- 4 Wisconsin69
Box Score - Recap
- 11 Washington826 Marquette
- 3 New Mexico64
Box Score - Recap
- 10 Missouri597 Clemson
- 2 West Virginia68
Box Score - Recap

Reg. Semis

March 25-26

- 1 Kentucky62
- 12 Cornell454 Wisconsin
Box Score - Recap
- 11 Washington566 Marquette
- 2 West Virginia69
Box Score - Recap

Reg. Finals

March 27-28

- 1 Kentucky66
- 2 West Virginia73
Box Score - Recap

WEST

- 1 Syracuse79
- 16 Vermont56
Box Score - Recap
- 8 Gonzaga67
- 9 Florida St.60
Box Score - Recap
- 5 Butler77
- 12 UTEP59
Box Score - Recap
- 4 Vanderbilt65
- 13 Murray St.66
Box Score - Recap
- 6 Xavier65
- 11 Minnesota54
Box Score - Recap
- 3 Pittsburgh89
- 14 Oakland66
Box Score - Recap
- 7 BYU99
- 10 Florida92
Box Score - Recap
- 2 Kansas St.82
- 15 North Texas62
Box Score - Recap

- 1 Syracuse87
- 8 Gonzaga65
Box Score - Recap
- 5 Butler5412 UTEP
- 13 Murray St.524 Vanderbilt
Box Score - Recap
- 6 Xavier7111 Minnesota
- 3 Pittsburgh68
Box Score - Recap
- 7 BYU72
- 2 Kansas St.84
Box Score - Recap

- 1 Syracuse59
- 5 Butler6312 UTEP
Box Score - Recap
- 6 Xavier9611 Minnesota
- 2 Kansas St.101
Box Score - Recap

- 5 Butler631 Syracuse
- 2 Kansas St.56
Box Score - Recap

SOUTH

- 1 Duke73
- 16 AR Pine Bluff44
Box Score - Recap
- 8 California77
- 9 Louisville62
Box Score - Recap
- 5 Texas A&M69
- 12 Utah St.53
Box Score - Recap
- 4 Purdue72
- 13 Siena64
Box Score - Recap
- 6 Notre Dame50
- 11 Old Dominion51
Box Score - Recap
- 3 Baylor68
- 14 Sam Houston St.59
Box Score - Recap
- 7 Richmond71
- 10 St. Mary's80
Box Score - Recap
- 2 Villanova73
- 15 Robert Morris70
Box Score - Recap

- 1 Duke68
- 8 California539 Louisville
Box Score - Recap
- 5 Texas A&M61
- 4 Purdue6313 Siena
Box Score - Recap
- 11 Old Dominion686 Notre Dame
- 3 Baylor76
Box Score - Recap
- 10 St. Mary's757 Richmond
- 2 Villanova68
Box Score - Recap

- 1 Duke70
- 4 Purdue575 Texas A&M
Box Score - Recap
- 3 Baylor72
- 10 St. Mary's492 Villanova
Box Score - Recap

- 1 Duke78
- 3 Baylor71
Box Score - Recap

SEMIS & FINALS

Nat. Semis

April 3

Nat. Finals

April 5

National Semifinals

- 5 Michigan St.1 Kansas
- 5 Butler1 Syracuse
Apr 3, 4:07 pm
- 2 West Virginia
- 1 Duke3 Baylor
Apr 3, 6:47 pm

National Finals

- 1 Kansas
- 2 West Virginia

NATIONAL CHAMPION

- 1 Kansas

Tie Breaker: Enter Score

See?--roots and branches. Now, super important (and wildly entertaining) stuff does happen in those far outside branches, no doubt about that. But the really momentous stuff, where you (living vicariously through athletic young people) get to wear super-significant hats and T-shirts and use a Werner ladder as a pedestal and do press conferences wearing a net as a necklace, happens in the middle part, which--climbing back down from the metaphoric branches--we are going to have to call the "root" of the whole matter.

If you were to cut out the middle part of the bracket and stop the tournament after say, one or two games, you'd have an insignificant deadly dull dud, or the BCS. [Boise State for National Champion!]

Now honest, all this root and branch and bracket talk really is leading to an interesting health care thought. It's not my thought. I am a member of the Utah Valley Exchange Club, and we frequently hear presentations from individuals who are doing interesting and important things to improve our community and our world. This morning, we heard from Susan Chasson, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Coordinator (SANE-C?) for the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Susan has years of experience as a nurse practitioner; a law degree; and a part-time faculty position at BYU.

Based on her years of experience and her observations, Susan knows that our national health care costs would be significantly reduced if we could become better at preventing/reducingviolence in our society. In her experience, people who have been exposed to or experienced violence in their lives, are significantly more likely to experience chronic headaches, chronic abdominal pain, chronic back pain, substance addictions, health fallout from bad lifestyle decisions of all kinds, and so forth--even years and decades after the adverse experiences. Susan shared with us about several studies which support this idea (links to follow). So people know, both experientially and academically, that violence in society is a key contributor to a lower level of physical well-being in a society. Reverse the idea again, and becoming better at preventing/reducing violence will improve public health and lower our national (and individual, you know) health care costs.

Chronic conditions, substance addictions, unhealthy lifestyle choices, and the actions and costs associated with treating these symptoms are branches. The root causes of the symptoms are--well, the root. The symptoms of lowered public health (example: substance addiction) necessitate many branchy actions (example: rehab programs) at a great public and individual cost. If we could get at a root cause (example: experienced violence) in such a way that a significant number of these branches never form--well, my arboreal metaphor is beginning to shake a little, but do you see my point? If you strike at a root so a significant number of heavy, expensive branches never form, you'll get a much more streamlined, easy to maintain tree. Since we're using this tree as a metaphor for health care, that's a good thing, d'y'see? [Excuse me--the metaphor police are at my door, wanting me to sign a warning]

But I really like the idea that we could so strike at a major root cause of a major issue. It gives us a point of attack. We have an understanding: violence hurts our health. We have an action item: preventing/reducing violence will improve our health and lower our health care costs. And as in basketball: competent execution of a philosophically sound game plan can lead to a whole lot of happy in the Health Arena too.

I'm still in the understanding phase. If you'd like to join me, here are links to information about the link between violence and health:

If you don't like to read study reports, here is a 4-minute video via "someone on Twitter."

Adverse Childhood Events Study

Hidden Costs in Health Care: The Economic Impact of Violence and Abuse

Children's Exposure to Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey

Thank you for reading! Like all writers, I adore feedback in the form of comments ("hint, hint")

Quarter 4 '09 royalty payment donated to Childhelp--"Why"

2010-03-10T08:14:00.000-08:00

Got a little royalty check for the 4th quarter of '09. (Yeah, I know, it's March--the pay-the-author machine runs slow . . . )

I donated the royalties to Childhelp, and would like to take this opportunity to tell "why"--by spotlighting one of Childhelp's important services.

I keep a copy of Childhelp's "gift catalog" close at hand, as it is my favorite summary of Childhelp's services. The catalog tells me that "$25 will sponsor five life-saving calls" to the National Child Abuse Hotline. The hotline takes calls from kids and parents and concerned adults. It gives kids a chance to be heard by a trained, sympathetic ear; and gives help and guidance to kids in crisis and the adults who care about them.

It is my opinion that the hotline is a very important service, but I'm not sure how much my opinion is worth. Childhelp's website, however, features real-people stories which give a much better idea of the worth of Childhelp's services. I'd like to send you on to "Lisa B. in her own words." It is a story of literally life-saving help which was provided by the hotline. It is a very "strong" story--disturbing but important. A thought before you move on to it: in response to a movie critic who called the movie Precious "melodrama," someone tweeted (something to the effect of)--"what some people call 'melodrama', others of us knew as real life."

How William was introduced to his wife . . .

2010-02-17T12:06:00.000-08:00

Kenneth Bentler: A girl called Jeff "surprisingly graceful."

Jeffrey Bentler: I was dancing. Gracefully. She was surprised

Jeffrey Bentler: She might have bias against ppl shaped like spaghetti sculpture. Nobody thought I wouldn't be graceful when I was shorter and more proportional

William Bentler: Has Gordan told you how he first introduced us--Gordan and me--to your mom? The very first words? "This is Spaghetti, and I'm Meatball." It all began ... with a pasta reference

Jeffrey Bentler: That is so romantic! 'course I'm not surprised. Is no one more romantical than Gordan

Jeffrey Bentler: romantical or romancical?

Robert Bentler: i'm hungry

Happy 1st Birthday, For Cory's Sake

2010-02-10T08:26:00.000-08:00

I like the baby metaphor for "Cory". Publishing put For Cory's Sake out into the world, where he was able to travel to places like California and Michigan and Virginia and Texas, and London, and make the acquaintance of new people, freed from the security and obscurity of my hard drive. He was able to have a life.

The metaphor makes me Cory's "mother." I am not the mother of any human, yet. I do have six younger siblings, and was cognizant of the infancies of the youngest three. I know that babies are life-changing experiences, and in this way as well the metaphor fits like a modern diaper. In the past year, I've had experiences I would've never had had I not decided to publish--experiences for which I am very grateful. Here are the highlights:

I discovered Twitter: I am mentioning this first because it leads into number two. I first heard about Twitter in the past year, from Clark Covington (@ClarkCovington), an internet marketing service provider whose mailing list I had joined. Soon after I got on Twitter, #iranelection broke, and I was hooked. I grew up in a town of 13,000, have never traveled outside the U.S. nor lived east of the Rockies. #iranelection caused the world to open up before me, as never before: bigger, more real and more accessible than I'd ever felt it before; with great and terrible things going on in it every second. #iranelection on Twitter was an eye-opening, life-changing experience. I see and learn about my world differently now than I did before.

I found people who share my interests: more of them than in all of the years previous to publishing For Cory's Sake. I donate all my royalties, from Cory, to orgs that serve abused (or neglected or exploited) children. During the publication process, I had to decide whether or not to go public with this intention. I decided to go public. Now, I was wearing my concern for this issue on my sleeve, for the first time in my life.

And then I joined Twitter. I learned how easy it is to find people who share my interests, on Twitter. I found people who share my interests, all over the world. I found a constant stream of information, and caring, and reports of people doing things about the issue. I found myself inspired on a nearly daily basis.

I also met other writers: more than I'd met in all of the years previous to Cory's publication. Writers are fascinating people: brave, enterprising, supportive, thoughtful, diverse, multi-faceted . . .. Again, I met people I would've never met had I never published--and it's hard, now, to imagine such a barren reality . . .

I got to practice life-skills "learned" from years of watching ESPN: The-job-that-pays-my-mortgage is in retail. Now, you get criticized in retail, but criticism in retail and many other jobs (I've had many other jobs) never cuts to the core of one's self; never threatens one's actual identity. I have long thought, that the fields in which criticism does cut the deepest, and threatens one's identity are: professional athletics, and the arts. (If you need examples, you could watch Skip Bayless talk about "certain wide receivers" on 1STand10, watch American Idol or similar, or read Twilight's "1-star" reviews.

My television, when it is on, is usually on a forensics/detective/FBI/etc. marathon--or ESPN. And I have long been consciously impressed by athletes who can take public criticism gracefully. From years of watching ESPN, and knowing what field I was getting into, I knew Cory and I would be criticized, and I was determined to be gracious about it. And with the prep I received, I did durn good. Thank you, certain quarterbacks.

I learned my strengths and gained confidence: For Cory's Sake was a pretty ambitious concept, for a first novel. The execution was not as high-level as it could've been (I've heard), but critics and fans alike agree that its story was original, unique, different, imaginative and odd. I'm good with this, as I think execution (like athletic fundamentals) should be easier to refine than imagination (think wingspan) would be to acquire. "Storyteller" is a confirmed and happifying part of my identity, now.

This finishes my reflections on the first year of Cory's life, with all of its experiences and growth. Thanks, my darling baby.

141 Cranes and a spotlight on Deseret International

2010-02-03T08:03:00.000-08:00

Once upon an unspecified time, an unnamed American organization decided to give free medical care to an area in Haiti. As an unfortunate, unintended consequence, the local Haitian doctors were not able to compete with the American MDs, and were forced out of the area. When the American organization later pulled out, the area was left with no system of medical care.

With this cautionary tale in mind, Deseret International executes a different model. Nowadays, developing countries have local surgeons, who received their surgical educations in Boston, London, etc., and then returned to their home countries with a desire to help.

Help is needed, certainly. The local surgeons may know of girls who have dropped out of school because of speech and social difficulties caused by a cleft palate. They may see children suffering from life-threatening hydrocephalus.

But the crossing from desire to action may be stymied by practical obstacles. Let's take one example: the surgeon does not have an adequately equipped operating room. Some needed thing is lacking: from sutures, to an operating room itself.

Deseret International bridges the gap from desire to action, by helping local surgeons get what they need to help their people. They may approach a local hospital, and offer to donate an updated anesthetic machine, if the hospital will reserve an operating room for free surgeries on, say, Friday. They may provide medical supplies to the local surgeon. Now the local surgeon has an operating room on Friday, and needed supplies, and spends Fridays performing surgeries on local people.

And then--I'm being literal here--the blind see, the lame walk, children live and go back to school.

Some of these miracles cost 25 U.S. Dollars. To learn more, visit DesInt's website.

I learned about Deseret International when Doug Jackson came to speak to my club, this morning. It inspires me, how many people are going forth from my town (I googled DesInt's mailing address--it's 3.7 miles north of my home) to do work to advance our world. Doug was recently in Haiti, and shared another story with a memorable lesson, with which I'll conclude.

Jeremy Johnson, from St. George, Utah, wanted to help in Haiti. He didn't know how, at first--he just knew he needed to be there. So he went to Haiti, and brought his personal helicopter. (Do I need to mention that Mr. Johnson is wealthy?) He ended up buying two more helicopters, and used his three helicopters to transport aid (many roads are impassable), and help people like Doug Jackson from DesInt to get around.

Doug's lesson. "Sometimes you have to--just show up, without a plan, without the set-up being absolutely perfect. Just show up, and you'll find ways to help." This lesson, of course, doesn't only apply to Haiti, which trip most of us can't afford.

Nah, I'm sure anybody can find plenty of things to show up to, just a few miles away from their homes--no helicopter needed.

103 Cranes and A Child's Hope in Haiti

2010-01-20T08:02:00.000-08:00

This is a story of a bubble gum machine, a man who saw a need and did something about it, and a place of hope in Haiti.

The bubble gum machine was in an auto shop, as was I. I'd read the shop's Sports Illustrateds (I subscribe) and I'm just not interested in gossip magazines--so I read the bubble gum machine. The machine informed me that its quarters would benefit "A Child's Hope Foundation."

I remembered this information, somehow, and months later I googled "a child's hope." My eyes got round (figuratively--I'm Asian) when I realized that the foundation's office was located 5 minutes literally down the street from my home. The website said "visit for more information," so I drove down the street, walked through a door, knocked on a door, spoke to a nice (and very tall) guy and asked if he could come to my club's breakfast to tell us more about "A Child's Hope."

He came, spoke, and I have just returned from said breakfast full of french toast and inspiring thoughts. I'd like to share a few of them.

A Child's Hope Foundation germinated when a need was brought to the attention of a man with means to meet the need. A friend invited Paul Cook to visit a Haitian orphanage, to which Mr. Cook had previously made a monetary donation. When Mr. Cook saw the 800 sq. ft. orphanage, literally "stuffed" with vulnerable children, with no electricity or running water--he knew he had to act.

Mr. Cook started A Child's Hope Foundation and built, with volunteer labor, a 14,000 sq. ft. adoption orphanage in Haiti. I am pleased to report that the facility, children and staff are all "fine" after the quake, though the orphanage is outside of Port-au-Prince. They providently had reserves of food at the facility; they have a week of food left; and A Child's Hope is partnering with the Phoenix Suns (basketball team) to airlift supplies to Haiti as soon as possible.

That is what's right. I learned much else about Haiti that highlights why we, the better off, must be mindful of its children. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Its life expectancy is below 50 years. Its literacy rate is below 50%. Its government, after the quake, is no more--it is literally no longer in existence.

Children are already vulnerable--but when adult caregivers die at such a rate; when parents can literally not afford to feed their children; when official protections and recourses do not exist--then you have infants left to die on the floor of hospital hallways (real story); children sun-baking real mud pies (made of wet dirt, not chocolate) to eat; and the risk of trafficking, exploitation, slavery, prostitution and human rights violations almost unimaginable to our sheltered, civilized minds.

There are populations that cannot help themselves, that require outside intervention to provide basic needs and human dignity. I'm going to try really hard, after the earthquake coverage dies down, to remember that need isn't suddenly born in a disaster and doesn't fade out with the coverage. A need persists until good people see it, take action and persist themselves, to meet it.

A Child's Hope Foundation has been expanding its coverage into other countries across the world. As their resources grow they will be able to meet even more real, present needs--needs that aren't

going to just disappear without conscious needbusters. We're all in different places in our lives, but it would probably be well to stay informed of real needs and real efforts. I signed up for the A Child's Hope newsletter. I think it's a good way to be remember and be mindful.