this is life in austin & aspen

I don’t care how you do good, but you need to do it. Smiling at people, holding the door for someone, carrying groceries … it’s the little things. But if you are looking for a place to donate money this season, I have two places. Both work primarily with kids.

Do Good: Debra

I got an email from Daily Candy with a picture so compelling I clicked through to the site. On the DEBRA site I saw these two boys’ pictures and they reached out and grabbed me through my computer screen:

They’re precious, precious children who can’t have normal lives because of Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a rare genetic skin disease that causes the skin to be so fragile that the slightest friction can cause severe blistering—inside and outside the body. Severe forms of EB cause patients to live with constant pain and scarring. The worst forms of EB lead to eventual disfigurement, disability and often early death. There is no cure. The only treatment for EB is daily wound care and bandaging.

1 out of every 50,000 live births in the United States affected by EB. With skin as fragile as a butterfly wing, EB patients are dubbed “Butterfly Children.” On the outside physical wounds prevent them from normal daily activities enjoyed by other children. Debra of America is the nonprofit dedicated to research and providing help to patients and their families.

Click here to go to Debra, learn more, or donate.

Do Good: Fresh Air Fund

Summer camp helped shape me as a person and instill in me more self-confidence than I ever imagined. I went for 6 years as a camper and worked for 3 years as a counselor at Camp Olympia in East Texas. It was life-changing.

Think about the inner-city kids who live in NYC in high-rises (“concrete jungle where dreams are made of …”) and have no access to grass, much less the acres of horse and bike trails, lakes, and soccer fields of my youth. Whether it’s a two-week trip to the country to visit a volunteer host family, or a fun-filled and educational stay at one of the fund camps, the Fresh Air programs make for unforgettable memories for those kids – and open a world of new friendships and fresh possibilities. Fresh Air children are boys and girls, 6 to 18 years old, who live in New York City.

What do Fresh Air children enjoy?

• Playing in the backyard
• Laughing in the sunshine
• Catching fireflies
• Riding bicycles
• Learning to swim
• Running barefoot through the grass
• Gazing at the stars on moonlit nights
• Building sandcastles
• Making new friends
• Simple pleasures of life away from the inner-city