9 is the Loneliest number?

Okay...computers, SO not my thing! Blogging... again, not my thing. Trying to be a team-player and wanting the Dinner Project to be successful--so my thing!! So here I sit, typing on the computer, blogging on a Saturday while the hubby and kids nap.

The only thing I know about blogging is from the movie Julie/Julia. Amy Adams' character is so charming while she blogs and is ecstatic when she finally gets a comment from a "follower" and it turns out to be her mom asking why is she still wasting time with this "thing". Well, I have 9 followers...NINE!! Okay, so if you subtract the 4 founders, my poor husband, and two of my friends that I beat at arm-wrestling to join the blog...I have TWO people following along and zero comments. (also, when I asked one of the 2 people what she thought about the last blog post she answered, "Oh, I haven't gotten around to reading it yet."--lovely!) So why am I still "wasting" my time with this?

Because, I care and the 9 people following these posts care. And, each of the 9, know at least 9 more people that care and so on. Making a difference is what warms our souls. That is why those silly, sappy insurance commercials where the man picks up the stuffed animal for the kid in the stroller; whose mom in turns holds the door for someone trying to catch the elevator, and each kind act begets another kind act until it comes full circle tugs at our hearts and makes us smile. We care because we live in Texas and always comment how very kind and nice people in our great state are compared to somewhere else we have lived or visited. Every small act counts and comes full circle. So get the word out about the Dinner Project, let that be your kind act today--I guarantee a smile ahead!

the Ripple Effect

Everyone knows what the Ripple Effect is...." the ever expanding ripples across water when an a object is dropped into it." That is why we created the Dinner Project. Life is full of meetings, emails or new tasks we assign ourselves. In the end we are left feeling overwhelmed, underfunded, and thinking, "Is this going to work? I am just one person...can a little bit really make a difference?"

During naptime this week (procrastinating on the household chores) I watched an HBO documentary "A Small Act." It is about a holacaust survivor who was displaced to Sweden as a child, became a preschool teacher and joined a charity program and donated $15 a month to sponsor a Kenyan child in his/her secondary studies. She never knew what happened to that child. "Her" child excelled in his secondary school studies, received top grades and received a scholarship to the University of Nairobi, then another scholarship to Harvard. Today Chris Mburu is a Human Rights lawyer for the United Nations and founded the Harriet Back Education Fund in 2003, which sponsors scholarships to primary school graduates who have no possible way of going on with their studies due to the cost (roughly $40 a month). A few years later he decided to find Harriet and share with her what her gift of hope had created. Talk about a Ripple Effect!

So when our group feels we are but a drop of water in an ocean of duties, ideas, and responsibilites; I will remember what Chris says in the film, "You have to do something. I know I cannot provide relief, support and help to all the suffering that is around me. But I want to do one thing; I want to do one action that will work towards relieving that situation." So we are hoping your one action will be to join us in the Dinner Project.

shish kabobs, roasted corn and plantains...oh my!

Our first Dinner Project event is August 27th and the menu theme is African. Hmmm...never have eaten an African dish--check! Never have made an African dish--check! Scared out of my mind to know what's in an African dish--check! Is it too late to change our menu plans? Wait...step out of the box, where is the adventurous side of you, there's more to life then steak and potatoes, right?

Okay, google "African recipes"....and find:

http://www.african-recipes-secrets.com/appetizer-recipes.html

Shish kabobs? Roasted corn? Fried plantains? Okay...must retract my earlier statements of never eating, making, or trying African food. As I scroll through the recipe options I see carrot cake, cornbread, and garlic chicken. I have been eating African cuisine all my life and just didn't know it! Granted there is something called cassava that you can boil, fry and make into a bread, a suspicious recipe called togbogee and rice which is made with bitterballs and a refreshing beverage called pawpaw juice. But as long as there is skewered peppered beef and sweet potato fries, I realize once again I am wrong. Universal dining is all about steak and potatoes!

Have you heard about the one...

Have you heard the one about the ex-teacher, the ex-banker, the ex-social worker, and the present day web designer who walk into a bar and say "let's make a difference." How can we make a difference when there are only four of us? The ex-teacher said let's meet/make more friends, the ex-social worker said let's feed everyone with food and information, the ex-banker said let's make some money and give it to worthy charities and the web designer said, "I think we can integrate all three!" And here I am today, blogging about The Dinner Project. Our chance to make and meet new friends, eat a great meal, learn about different projects helping our world, and contribute to make a difference.