Free Mental Health Care for Soldiers and their Families

Free Mental Health for Returning Soldiers

Soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan can now receive the mental health services they need for free. The Soldiers Project is a non-profit organization set up to provide mental health care to soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families.

The group is made up of licensed mental health professionals who want to help fill the need. These people do this all on a volunteer basis. Services are provided in their private offices and are confidential.

With tens of thousands of soldiers coming home with PTSD and other emotional issues, the VA is unable to keep up with the influx of patients. The Soldiers Project hopes to fill the gap so that those needing help can get it regardless of their ability to pay or the backlog of applications at the VA.

According to the Soldiers Project website you are eligible for services if:
* Active duty uniformed service members who have served in OIF/OEF
* Members of activated Reserve/Guard military units with service in OIF/OEF
* Veterans of OEF/OIF
* Family members of the above including spouses, parents, grandparents, children, siblings, etc
* Other loved ones

Visit their website to find out how to apply for services: The Soldiers Project

Pack up your unwanted food for Saturday!

Saturday is the Post Office's annual "Stamp Out Hunger" Day. Every May, postal carriers around the country pick up bags of food left by residents on their route.

You can participate by filling a bag with unused and sealed packages of pasta, juice, canned soup, cereal, canned vegetables, rice and other grains, and canned meats. Expired items and those in glass containers are prohibited. Then leave your bag by your mailbox before your normal pickup time on May 10th.

You can visit the website: http://helpstampouthunger.com to learn more. Contact your local Post Office to see if they are participating in the food drive.

Human Spirit Is Back

My apologies to my readers for another break in the action. April was an incredibly trying month. I had my brother's 3 dogs (including 2 puppies) for a week. Then my own dog was sick for the second time in 3 months. She had a bladder infection and was throwing up for a week. I had to hand feed her for a couple of days. She's doing much better now, but I'm burnt to a crisp.

I am hoping that May will be a much better month.

Thanks for your patience and I hope you will continue to enjoy this blog.

Camels Bring Books to Kenyans

In America, we take things like public libraries for granted. Don't have enough money to buy a book? Get out your library card and borrow one from your nearest library.

In many parts of the world, their are no local public libraries. People may never see books because they can't afford one and there's nowhere nearby to borrow one from. The Camel Book Drive hopes to bring books to parts of Kenya where they are not readily available.

The project was started by authors who wanted to fill the void. The project is now open to anyone who wants to donate. Books can be chosen from a list at Amazon.com. They accept books in English and Swahili. When they arrive and are sorted, they then are loaded onto camel mobile library and taken to whatever area is served.

A few thousand books have been donated since the project began. Every book sent is a gift. You can learn more about the project from theCamel Book Drive blog.

Wasted Backyard Fruit Serves the Community

You've got a tree in your yard. It bears fruit. You eat as much as you can and then you get to the point where you hope you never have to eat anymore. What a waste!

That's what Natasha Boissier thought as she walked her neighborhood. She saw front yard littered with splattered fruit. Perfectly good fruit that folks were tired of. Fruit that rotted on limbs because no one picked it.

Bossier formed North Berkeley Harvest to solve the problem. Her group picks all that unwanted fruit. Then they donate it to homesless shelters, food banks, after school programs, and so forth. She has an agreement with the Chez Panisse Foundation, so some of the fruit ends up in school lunch programs.

A couple of weeks ago, Bossier set out with some volunteers. In just a couple of hours they collected about 150 pounds of fruit.

The group works mainly in the Oakland, Berkeley, and Contra Costa County. They provide a service to homeowners who don't have the time or inclinations to pick fruit, they keep the sidewalks clean of the unwanted messes, and they feed the poor. Just a couple of days a month but awhole lot of good gets done.