Some time last year the Relief Society (women’s group) at our church hosted a Women’s conference with the theme of Be the Good. They had cute little posters around the room where “Be the Good” stood out within the words “Believe there is good in the world.” The keynote speaker was Alissa Parker, a mom whose daughter, Emille, went to Sandy Hook Elementary and was killed by the gunman who entered the school. The entire audience was spellbound and in tears as we listened to her story. I cannot even imagine how incredibly awful that would have been. Somehow she has overcome the tragedy and once again found the good in the world and she has become a powerful force for good. Alissa founded safeandsoundschools.org to help communities improve safety at local schools and a family charity – The Emilee Parker Art Connection which funds hands on art experiences, since Emille loved arts and crafts. You can find out more about her story here: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865677472/What-this-Utah-mom-learned-about-faith-family-after-her-daughter-was-murdered-at-Sandy-Hook.html

There were several other speakers who have made a big difference in their communities and even around the world. Right then I decided it was time for me to start making a difference again. When Kira and Kayla were growing up and I was their leader in Girl Scouts.

It was the perfect excuse for me to set aside work and spend scheduled ‘fun time’ with my daughters and their friends. Part of earning every badge was doing a service project related to the badge, which meant I was regularly involved in service projects. Now that my kids are grown and I am busy with work, our business, and life in general I have not made it a priority to volunteer so I hope to change that and I figured if I told myself I needed to blog about it once a month then I might make it happen – but where do I start? There are so many good causes.

I recently seriously reconnected with a good friend, Leona when she took me up on a last minute tip to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon – that tells you how awesome she is, right? We first met when she was Kira’s awesome second grade teacher.

She is involved with a group at her church where they get together every Monday to sew something for a charity. Their current project is ‘Dress a Girl around the World’. They use donated fabrics to make a dress and then they donate the dresses to charities in underdeveloped countries. Check out this picture of one of the dresses that Leona made being given to a little girl in Mexico!

We rummaged through my extensive stash of fantastic fabrics and Leona helped me coordinate fabrics for my first dress to support the project. Leona, of course, has been busy with this project for some time – and she still had two she recently made.

It felt really good to be actively engaged in a good cause again. I hope some young ladies enjoy their new dresses, because we throughly enjoyed making them! If you would like to participate in this good cause – here is a link to their website – http://www.dressagirlaroundtheworld.com/

You can get your very own “Be the Good” poster that Kayla designed for me by clicking right here. We have it in two colors, the pink that you can see at the top of the post and one with a green background. I hope the message will inspire you just like it inspired me. Please look for ways to contribute to your community and be a force for good in this world.