The Great Womancession

Help me Obi-Wan Konebi , it’s the Great Womancession.

The other day I was talking to a social worker about her clients and workload. What’s she’s seeing is a huge influx of female-headed households having the reach out for help, many for the first time in their lives. Maybe they were renting from a landlord that, oops, forgot to tell them the house was in foreclosure. Maybe they’ve been laid off from their job, unemployment benefits ending, and having to file for cash assistance for the first time.

We hear these stories anecdotally. Of women and children going on welfare for the first time. Applying for food stamps for the first time. Of becoming homeless for the first time. Of being unable to meet the family’s basic needs for the first time.

But what does it mean on the large scale?

The California Budget Project recently came out with a series of white papers detailing the effects of the Great Recession and budget crisis on women and families.These briefings solidify the anecdotes that we’ve been hearing on the ground during this past year.

According to this briefing, in March, 2010, 2.7 million fewer U.S. women held jobs than in December, 2007 (which marks the beginning of the economic downturn). The jobless rate for women has reached a 30 year high. The unemployment rate for California women is the highest in a generation.

For California women, the impact on the Governor’s proposed state budget cuts could likely have adire effect on women and children – not only if CalWORKS is eliminated, but also if cuts to IHSS (in home care assistance program for seniors and disabled) and Medi-Cal go through.

What I think about when I read these briefings are the women and children I’ve heard about from our partner agencies. I think about the single moms who were employed but still scraping by during boom times. Now they are unemployed and seeking assistance for the first time in their lives. I think about the purpose of the safety net, and how it is especially needed in this Great Womancession.

WE CAN take action today with a simple step:

If you are a California resident, contact your state legislator to voice your concern of the state’s most vulnerable – women and children.

Image from: http://www.freakingnews.com/Princess-Leia-aka-Rosie-the-Riveter-Pictures-39754.asp

At the Bayview Mission

On Monday mornings, starting around 8:30am, seniors, families and other local residents of the Bayview/Hunter’s Point community line up at the corner of Jerrold and Third. Rain or shine, they are waiting for the Bayview Mission to open its doors at 10:30am.

Reverend Nina Pickerrell of Grace Cathedral started the mission about six years ago, out of her family home on Jerrold Avenue. Lisa and I came to observe and help the volunteers on this particular Monday morning. Almost 30 volunteers were on hand to distribute food, clothing and hygiene products to the people waiting patiently on the sidewalk. Special goodie bags filled with crayons, snacks and small toys are standing by to give to the children who wait with their parents. The volunteers want the children to feel like they have something special, something just for themselves.

This week, Reverend Nina is very happy as they have eggs to give to the families. Fresh eggs have been the most requested food items and a volunteer is cutting the cardboard egg cartons into thirds with a small knife. They can’t afford to give a dozen eggs to each family, but even four eggs will be greatly appreciated. Cardboard bins of fresh oranges, yams and carrots as well as canned fruits and packaged fresh tomato sauce are available this week.

As the gates and doors opened to the Mission, it started to rain. Babies in strollers draped with blankets and covered with plastic or umbrellas waited in the chill air, but there was no crying. Some babies slept, one little boy blew us kisses. People smiled when we asked if we could take pictures of their babies to share with you.

Reverend Nina’s daughter Christine handed out the well-stocked Huggies gift baskets to the mothers, and thankfully there were enough to go around for everyone, with a few baskets to spare for next week.

You can read more about Bayview Mission here on their website.

You can see a slideshow of the photos we took here.

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Redux: California Budget Crisis Slams Women & Children

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Here we are again, nearly one year later singing the same tune.  When things get tough, the tough throw women and children overboard?

Last Friday, Governor Schwarzenegger proposed to end the state’s welfare program CalWORKS(again) as well as most of the state-subsidized childcare programs. According to the Western Center on Law and Poverty, the Governor’s proposed budget would “decimate” the state’s safety net for poor families, whose population has grown exponentially since the Great Recession.

According to the Los Angelese Times, nearly 1 million children would loose access to the safety net with the administration’s proposed budget.

Take Action:

Contact your California legislator to voice your concern over the Governor’s proposed budget to eliminate the state’s safety net programs for the poor.

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Playdate For a Cause = 17K Diapers

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Photo credit: Travis Jensen (http://www.travisjensensf.com/)

Big thanks to everyone who came out to our May 2nd Playdate for a Cause event in San Francisco.  We had about 60 families attend and raised enough funds and in kind donations to net 17,000 diapers. That’s 2K more diapers than we collected last year during the entire month of May!

Photo credit: Travis Jensen (http://www.travisjensensf.com/)

Our hostess for the afternoon, Whitney Moss of Rookie Moms, held court in the main Peekadoodleplace space, welcoming our guests including local bloggers Wendy of Wendolonia, Kelly Tirman, and Lizzie of LizzieBtv, who covered our event with this video:

The Playdate would not have even happened if it were not for the  mobilizing efforts of our very ownJulie Michelle, Buffy Robyn Kinstle, and Whitney Moss.  Seriously folks, you have NO IDEA how much work these three put into this event.

Amber of Wizbang Photography totally knocked our socks off with the photobooth, while Travis Jensen shot action photos (see our Flickr set for more) of toddlers rockin’ out their sugar high from all the cupcake decorating.

Photo credit: Travis Jensen (http://www.travisjensensf.com/)

More troops who volunteered include Kate Skogen, Helene Kwong, Amy Martin, and Sarah Wall – all of whom, we suspect, went home exhausted from the toddler and preschooler mayhem.

To everyone who donated their time and expertise into making this benefit a success, as well as to all the families who came out to support our cause (as well as the ones who couldn’t be there but donated anyway!), we are grateful for all that you have done and continue to do to help HAMO along.

For those who missed out on the fun, there’s still time to contribute!

Donate online or in person by May 31st.

A word about our supporters:

The Playdate wouldn’t have been nearly a smashing success were it not for our generous sponsors and raffle donors. Thank you so much for enabling us to throw a rockin diaper drive benefit and celebrate our 1 year anniversary.

Main sponsor: Huggies (big hugs for continuing the support our cause! They also sent over a massive donation of diapers, wipes, and baby toiletries for our partners!)

Presenting sponsor: Peekadoodle KidsClub (our friends are a real class act peeps!)

In Kind Gold Sponsors: BiRite Market, Aidell’s Sausage, Organic Valley, and Method Home.

Disclosure: I personally buy product for my household from each of these excellent businesses– how swell they wanted to support HAMO! No one paid me to say any of this!

Additional sponsors and raffle donors:

Burt’s Bees

Dolores Park Pilates

Earth Baby

Honest Teas

Jen Knight

Kate Skogen, JetKat Design

Jody at Park Salon

Julie Michelle, Femme Fotographie

Leapfrog

Mary’s Gone Crackers

Mighty Leaf Teas

Movement Lab SF

Mrs. Meyers

Natural Resources

Plum Organics

Rebecca Smith, Relaxmith

Revolution Foods

St. Clement Wine

The Sak

Whitney Moss, Rookie Moms

Amber Dubya, Wizbang Photography

 

Hey Bay Area! Got Storage?

Mom-run, all volunteer, pull up your bootstraps, grassroots organization ISO donated storage in San Francisco/Oakland/Emeryville area.

It’s been a little over a year and we’ve outgrown our current donated space! If you or someone you know is in the commercial real estate business, we’d love your help in procuring donated space for the next six months – to one year.

We’re also looking for a donated hand cart we can wrangle diapers with.

Here are the deets:

  • We’re looking for donated space – rent free/trade (mid June- December 2010 or longer)
  • Ideal cities: San Francisco, Oakland, Emeryville, Alameda
  • 3000 1500-2000 square feet of warehouse-type storage space (shared warehouse storage is fine!).
  • Access to loading dock.

What we can offer:

  • We will maintain our “virtual office” offsite. Office space is NOT required.
  • We’re low maintenance!
  • Promotional consideration via our website and social media channels.
  • Ability to hold community events in the space/area (if desired by donor).

There is A LOT of empty space out there. Let it go to good use and help a mother out!

Got storage? Please contact: lisa at helpamotherout dotorg.

Guest Blogging Today at California NOW

This is a cross post from on California NOW’s blog. Thank you to the California Chapter of NOW for allowing us to speak to your readers!

Did you know that at some shelters, the #1 need is not food or clothing– but diapers? Did you know that diapers are not covered under public assistance programs, such as SNAP(food stamps) or WIC? As a result many mothers are forced to choose between affording diapers and other basic human needs: food, shelter, even medicine. It is heartbreaking to learn that many mothers are forced to keep their children in the same diaper for extended periods of time, which can lead to severe diaper rash and other major health problems such as staph and urinary tract infections.

In addition to the health risks associated with a lack of diapers, the impact of a low income family can mean the difference between attending school or being gainfully employed since the majority of childcare centers require parents to provide disposable diapers.

Enter Help a Mother Out (HAMO), a California based a grassroots advocacy and direct action campaign dedicated to improving the lives of mothers, children, and families in need one diaper at a time. HAMO started in spring, 2009 by two San Francisco Bay Area moms, Lisa Truong and Rachel Fudge, after learning about needy mothers having to choose between diapers or food. With an initial investment of just $100, and primarily utilizing online tools such as Facebook and Twitter, the group has collected more than 175,000 diapers and mainly distributed them through a variety of California agencies.

“Diapers are a must-have. You can’t skip them like you can breakfast,” explained one struggling mother in Oakland,California. “Getting donated diapers has helped me because I don’t have to have my child do without other things, such as food.”

Diapers are expensive — costing up to 20 to 40 cents each. What’s more, many low-income families don’t have access to discount stores, such as Target and Costco, and end up buying diapers at corner stores, where diapers are generally more expensive.

Take Action NOW:

By doing something as basic as donating a package of diapers, you are making a direct impact in the lives of women and children who would otherwise go without this basic need.

Photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sellerspatton/ / CC BY 2.0

Remember, we need you to donate – every little bit helps!

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Nowhere To Go With Her Four Month Old Baby

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This is a true story from our friends at Homeless Prenatal Program (HPP) in San Francisco.  Diapers and other hygiene items are one of the highest needs for families in transition.


HPP Staff with HAMO diapers - May 2009

Yesterday I met with a 38 year old mother of a 4 month old baby.  She was staying with friends and just became homeless because they received an eviction notice.  She didn’t have anywhere to go with her baby when she came to HPP and only had a diaper bag full of things for the baby.  She desperately needed diapers and wipes for the baby, especially since she didn’t even know where she was going to be for the next few days.  We were able to give her diapers and it just relieved one small worry (not really small but in comparison with her other worries).  This is an extreme situation but so many times clients have to leave where they are staying suddenly and cannnot always take necessary survival items with them.  When they come to HPP for help and need diapers it is very important that we can help them with this as babies can’t wait for a few days for things to settle down to get their diapers changed!

As I mentioned yesterday on Twitter,  except for newborn sizes – we are out of diapers.  Help us fill a room of diapers for HPP, et al. in May!  If you are near San Francisco, come to our benefit party this Sunday. If you can’t make it, you can participate by collecting diapers and donating in person (Bay Area) or via our virtual diaper drive.


On a related note: we had some great blog coverage yesterday. In case you missed:

Genie wrote about our May campaign on BlogHer.

Whitney invited all the Rookie Moms to our SF party.

Kim talks about how we are all crazy.

And our friends at Event Brite profiled us on their blog.

Tucson Mama’s sidekick  talks about Mother’s Day karma.

Nancy Was Pregnant When She Arrived at the Shelter

When you donate a box of diapers, it is either sent through Amazon or hand-delivered by one of our volunteers to one of our partnering agencies. For you it may end there. You’ve made your donation, you feel good about it, and you hope it helped someone.

It did.

Far from being simply a handout, that box of diapers boosted the efforts of a hard-working parent who is struggling to survive poverty, violence, homelessness, or all three and more. In Los Angeles, women who receive assistance from our partnering agencies responded to a request for feedback. The common thread among their notes was that having the free diapers allowed them to pay other bills, afford other basic hygiene products, and “feel less apprehensive” about their financial struggles.

Nancy*, a mother of three, lived at a temporary shelter in Glendale, CA. She arrived pregnant, with two young children, a leaving her husband who had beat her badly, possibly causing her to deliver her baby prematurely. The shelter helped place her in a transitional housing apartment and her children are doing well. Regarding the assistance of donated diapers, she says “I spend approximately $50.00 a month in diapers and wipes alone. Being able to save that money and use it for other bills makes a big help. I can’t thank you enough for the help, to some people it might be just diapers, but to me is being able to not just get by month by month. I am an ambitious woman. I work hard to provide a good future for my children, and any help I can get is always much appreciated.”

For these mothers, having diapers to help them properly care for their babies is one less worry off the top of a mountain of worries. Thank you.

You can take action by attending one of our upcoming events, hosting a mini diaper drive, or donatingtoday.

SF Style Counselors Help a Mother Out!

When we first started planning our upcoming SF-based anniversary party for HAMO, I sent out an email to everyone I knew to see who might help with the planning of the event. My email was passed on and on, and ended up in the inbox of someone I’d never met before.

Buffy replied to my request, and asked how she could help. With a young child under the age of one, she completely understood how important this diaper issue is but like many people, did not realize how people were not able to receive the diapers they need with the current system. We met up for coffee in the Mission, talked about the event and brainstormed ideas. She also suggested that an upcoming women’s get-together that she was helping to coordinate with her friend Kelly could help out, just by asking for small donations from all of the attendees. Lisa and I thought that sounded like a great idea, and the party raised over $350 towards the purchase of diapers for SF/Bay Area moms and kids.

Lisa took a photo of all of the diapers that money was able to purchase… over 1968 diapers in total! 15 cases of diapers went to our partner Homeless Prenatal (HPP) in Potrero Hill, and another 8 cases went to APA in Chinatown.

This unexpected windfall, and also the incredible generosity of the women who contributed at Buffy and Kelly’s event, was so incredibly appreciated by our partners and the moms who they help. Thank you all for your continued enthusiasm and energy in making the diapers happen!

Happy Bottoms in Kansas City, MO

This is a guest post from one of our new friends, Jill, from HappyBottoms.org.  Please be sure to leave a comment for Jill and congratulate her on starting this program in Kansas City!

Hey! We’re sponsoring a local KS area event with Jill and Happy Bottoms! If you’re local, join Jill on May 2nd for a Moms Night Out event. If you are local, RSVP today!


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A year ago, I knew nothing about the need for diapers.  Frankly, I’m still learning about the true need and how it affects individuals on a daily basis.  Being very fortunate myself in life it is often times hard to wrap my head around.  For the past 15 years I’ve always wanted to “help out” in some way….you know “give back” because I have been fortunate and lucky.  As I would approach things or start to investigate volunteer opportunities here and there I would become overwhelmed and always had that nagging feeling that this particular thing isn’t going to “really” make a difference.  Realistically I do know that every little bit helps, no matter how small.  This was just an excuse to put it off a little longer.  Frankly it was fear.  Fear is our worst enemy.  It holds us back from trying new things, from living, from taking those leaps that make life more exciting.

About 6 months ago I got an email “why don’t you throw some energy at a diaper drive for me. Check out HelpAMotherOut.org”.  This came from a friend of mine who runs a non-profit called Give What You Got that supports kids in the foster care system.  Diaper Drive – this struck a chord.  I checked out HAMO and WOW!  Loved it!

I was hooked.  Forget diaper drive, let’s make this a diaper program modeled on others around the country.  I immediately began emailing HAMO, Southern Diaper Bank of Arizona and others to beg, borrow and steal materials to start our own Diaper program right here in Kansas City, Missouri.

Our first drive was last November.  7000 Diaper in 7 Days and we raised over 14,000 Diapers thanks to 7 children’s stores spreading the word and collecting diapers.  We are currently holding a drive to raise awareness for National Child Abuse Prevention Month.  Did you know you can relate child abuse to Diapers?  Babies in wet/soiled diapers to long tend to be crying babies, crying babies are more likely to be abused by an already stressed out caregiver. We hope to have 50 people each raise 1000 diapers in April.  That’s 50 people, 50,000 Daipers!

We have had a 13 year old girl raise 3000 Diapers for her bat mitzvah.  A mom sent out an email about our diaper program and that she wanted to come home to a full doorstep of diapers every night that week.  It worked! Several school districts competed to raise the most diapers.  One company hosts an annual quiz contest and this year’s cost of entry?  A package of diapers.  One dad, who is a cyclist, challenged other racers to bring diapers to a particular race.  If a team besides his raised more diapers, he would race in a diaper!  Luckily his team won. J  Excited to see what’s next!

Want to challenge yourself? Step outside of your comfort zone and host a diaper drive!  Learn a little something new not only about this cause, but about yourself.

New Book About @Twitter, #SocialMedia, & #Nonprofits

Hey, this is really cool.

Long time HAMO supporter, Janet Fouts (@jfouts), along with Beth Kanter (@kanter) recently published a book about social media and how non profit organizations can further their mission by jumping into this crazy and mysterious world of social media. Janet and Beth crowd sourced contributions from non profit type Twitter users to contribute to the book – and HAMO made the cut!  Believe it or not, prior to HAMO we were pretty much “off the grid” when it came to social networking sites.

So if you are a non profit professional,  or just someone with an idea you want to share with the world, check this book out!

Yes Virginia, it works for us (-;

Bonus: All the proceeds from the sales of this book benefit a very worthy organization, the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN).

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The Baby Boy Wears a Size 5: A Story from San Francisco’s Bayview

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The other day I had the privilege to attend a private screening of a new short documentary film about our newest partner, the Bayview Mission. It was wonderful to see old friends and meet new ones, and learn more about the mission’s work.

For San Franciscans who don’t know, the Bayview Mission is a ministry started in 2004 by the Reverend Nina Pickerrell, and her many devoted volunteers at Grace Cathedral, the beautiful church and landmark on top of California Street. The mission is literally a beacon of hope inside the Bayview district, creating community through the food pantry that distributes every Monday afternoon. They supplement basic human needs and other supplies (groceries – including fresh produce!, clothing, school supplies, children’s books, and toiletries) to working families, the homeless, as well as any Bayview resident that comes to them in need of help.

And one of their highest needs is….diapers.

The Bayview/Hunter’s Point district of San Francisco is known as one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in California. For years, Bayview’s residents have been marginalized – both economically, and geographically from the rest of San Francisco. There are Bayview has the highest density of children in all of San Francisco, a 50-percent poverty rate, high levels of gang violence, has more liquor stores than grocery stores, and is predominately African-American.

The local Walgreens locks up diapers and formula.

Every Monday when the mission opens for food distribution, there are about 40 families who come to them and have a child in diapers. Diapers are in scarce supply at the mission. So much of an unmet need that, up until recently, they have only been able to distribute diapers once a month.

Nina and the mission’s volunteers told me story about a mom that usually comes to them on Mondays. She has a young child, as well as a 6 month old baby boy. Because she believes that larger sized diapers hold more, and therefore, are cheaper in cost, she puts the baby boy in size 5, even though he really fits a size 3. The baby is six months old and is still wearing newborn clothes, because the mother doesn’t have bigger clothes for him to wear. So his clothes are too tight, and he stays in the Size 5 diaper longer than he probably should.

It warmed my heart to hear that because of our very first diaper donation to the Bayview Mission, this baby boy got some of the perfect size of diapers when he came the next Monday.

And yet.

It also made me very sad to hear, the same story we hear time and again, that there are children, just like this baby boy, who go without something so basic as a diaper – here within the city limits of one of the most beautiful and affluent regions in the country.

SF Bay locals: You can help us continue this work by coming to support our event on May 2nd at Peekadoodle and/or pledging to host a drive in May. Please pass it on!

How YOU are Making an Impact: East Bay Edition

It’s crazy busy here at HAMO world headquarters. We’re literally underwater trying to get ourMother’s Day campaign off the ground starting with our kick off events. Grassroots! BTW, we’d LOVE to meet our supporters. Please join us and invite your friends! Also, if you’re a blogger and want to help spread the word, copy and paste our nifty little magenta Mother’s Day campaign button onto your site ———>

So with that, we wanted to share some quotes from east bay moms that we’ve been helping out atBrighter Beginnings.  For background, Brighter Beginnings does outreach in the poorest regions of the east bay – Oakland, Richmond, and Antioch. They literally go to where families in crisis live and assist them with difficult issues and provide parenting resources and support. They keep families from falling into homelessness and prevent child abuse by providing tools and resources to keep children healthy. We recently ask a few of their moms how our diapers have impacted their lives and how it makes them feel.

“It has helped a lot because sometimes we don’t have the money.  It’s a life saver!  It takes a worry away.  One less thing to worry about.” ~ Maria C., mother of 1, Oakland

“You giving me diapers for my baby feels really good because my boyfriend is not working and it helps us out a lot.  I really appreciate it  a lot because you give them to us when we really really need them. ~ Maria F., mother of 1, Oakland

“With the help of diapers from Brighter Beginnings, I am able to use the little money I have on food and other important necessities for my kids.” ~ Jennifer, Emeryville, 2 kids

These are real moms in their own words, and this is how YOUR support has helped to keep babies clean and healthy. If you are a mother, you know that STEP NUMBER ONE in taking care of your baby is to keep them in a clean diaper.

THANK YOU. You should feel like a super hero 

There’s still a lot of work to be done, including helping US take HAMO to the next level! Please join us in May!

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Mother’s Day Call To Action

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Can you imagine not having enough diapers for your baby?  Did you know that diapers are not covered under safety net programs like food stamps or WIC? For many families in crisis this can mean being forced to choose between affording other basic human needs — shelter, food, medicine, or diapers. Until we started Help A Mother Out, we didn’t know any of this. We’re working to help improve the lives of mothers, children, and families, one diaper at a time. Won’t you join us?

This year Mother’s Day is on May 9th. We’ll be celebrating the entire month of May both by raising diapers and awareness of this basic human need.

Your Call To Action:

ATTEND one of our sponsored events (check back frequently as we add more cities to this roster).

California:

Outside California:

COLLECT diapers* at your school, work, community group, or place of worship.

DONATE IN PERSON (CA) OR ONLINE.

PASS IT ON: Talk about this issue with others. No mother should have to choose between food or diapers for her baby.

*Be sure to report back to us on your May diaper collection efforts…we want to hear about it! Post a comment HERE or email us info at helpamotherout.org.

Swell magenta HAMO Mother’s Day, 2010 campaign button designed by Kate at Jet Kat Design. Thanks Kate!

Click here for press release (4/20/10)

First Lady of CA Helping Mothers Out

Well, she’s helping women out.  If you’re a woman, if you’re a mother, if you care for a family and you need some assistance, look to Maria Shriver.

This weekend – MARCH 26-28 – Maria Shriver and The Women’s Conference is hosting a weekend called WE Connect Los Angeles, that is designed to help families take full advantage of the valuable financial programs available to them – such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – by bringing together local, state and federal public and private resources all in one place.

The event also boasts FREE:

-Tax Preparation
-Foreclosure Assistance
-Employment/ Resume Assistance
-Bag of Produce
-Flu Shots
-more

At a similar event in Fresno over 26 thousand people were served – and over 200 thousand dollars in EITC credits were returned to families in need!  One woman who had not filed her taxes in three years discovered that she was owed about $13,000 — more than half her annual income

The event this weekend is at the Forum in Downtown LA, from Friday, March 26th – Sunday, March 28th 2010. Friday: 3:00 – 8:00pm, Saturday: 10:00 – 7:00pm, Sunday: 11:00 – 3:00pm.

Please, if you or someone you know works with low-income families or anyone who could use this help, tell them. Email this post, tweet it with the little “share” button down there, write a post of your own and link here or link to WE Connect.

[photo by ProComKelly via Flickr]

Still Hungry After All These Years

A year ago, a slough of news stories about the growing number of Californians struggling with hunger and risking foreclosures and homelessness provided the catalyst for us to start Help a Mother Out. Today, despite a change in national leadership and increasing public awareness of the not-so-trickle-down effects of the ongoing recession, the situation is little better. In fact, for many Californians the situation is getting worse.

According to this illuminating piece produced by Southern California Public Radio station KPCC, food banks across the state are giving out record amounts of food—in wealthy counties as well as less-well-off ones. According to a UCLA study, “more than 2.8 million households struggle to feed their families. The total population of these households is 11.3 million”—that means more than 1 in 4 Californians are hungry.

At the same time, the state of California is infamously broke, and legislators are trying to balance the state budget on the backs of the neediest. CalWORKS, the state’s welfare-to-work program that provides cash assistance, childcare, and job training for poor families is on the chopping block—and the California Food Assistance Program, which provides food aid to legal immigrants not eligible for stamps, is about to be eliminated entirely.

And yet, according to the researchers who produced the article, “mountains of nutritious food are being thrown away”:

In 2008, more than six million tons of food were plowed under on California farms or dumped by grocers and restaurants statewide, according to the California Waste Management Board. Much of the food was still edible.

California is still a deeply agricultural state, especially in its fertile Central Valley. Drive along the freeways and you see acres upon acres of green crops waving in the breeze. But in some of the most highly farmed areas, the very workers who once picked those crops cannot feed themselves. TakeMendota, for example, where unemployment is at 41.5 percent.

As the article note, there’s a small spark of hope, however: A new spate of efforts are focusing on such diverse efforts as removing hurdles to participation in existing food-stamp programs; organizing weekly farmers’ markets in urban “food deserts” where it’s nearly impossible to purchase fresh, healthy foods; and even working with restaurants to make donations to food banks easier and more efficient.

Diaper Engine Optimization

I’d like to send out a happy little “thank you!” to the organizers of Uptake.com‘s Los Angeles SEO seminar, held at the Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica, CA on February 28.  It was right after the U.S. vs. Canada Olympic hockey game, and Uptake’s SEO wunderkind, Brian Piepgrass, had to tear himself away from the TV at the last second to come and lead the seminar.


Brian Piepgrass shares some SEO tips

With about 35 Los Angeles bloggers in attendance to hear his tips and to learn about Uptake’s Travel Gems reciprocal link program, Piepgrass was able to make his voice heard above the shouty din of the rooftop bar and spark many interesting Q&A moments and a lively post-presentation conversation, all centering on how to get more traffic to a website.

I co-hosted this shindig with Jennifer Miner of VacationGals.com, and in a lovely show of support and altruism, the Uptake folks offered a raffle prize in return for donations to Help a Mother Out.  I sold $120 worth of tickets and the lucky Lee Vandemann of Moms Without Blogs took home a certificate for a massage at the local spa.  For HAMO, that means about 900 diapers can be purchased for our local partners.

It was free SEO info, cocktails, and diapers.  It doesn’t get better!

[photo by Sarah Auerswald]

We Made The Poop!

Welcome The Poop Readers!

Thanks for stopping by to learn more about our project! We are indebted to Mike Adamick who interviewed us and also to our very own Julie Michelle, for sharing our campaign with Mike!

Now, let’s talk Poop.

We continue to be surprised and awed by the amount of community support given to our project. We’d be delighted if you checked back from time to time and kept in touch with our campaign. If you have any questions or want to help more, check out our FAQ first and then write to us: info at helpamotherout dotorg.

Important: Do you need diapers? While HAMO does not distribute directly to individuals, we encourage you to look over our list of Northern California partners. Many of our partners distribute emergency diapers to individuals  in need as do some local church food pantries. Our partners also have many different services for families in need. Please contact them directly for assistance or Dial2-1-1 to get more information on an agency nearest you.