Buy a Christmas tree here to help domestic violence victims

REAL Christmas Trees delivered to your door this week, and Hope for Healing.Org gets 25% of the profits!  Use their website to get started.


You don't have to be one of our blog readers to know that nonprofits have been hurt by the economy. Several have closed their doors because there just isn't enough funding to go around. This always leaves victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and their innocent children hanging in the balance

When bad times hit everyone likes to know that there is someone that can be counted on. That's why we're excited to partner with Raise the Tree this year. If you are planning to purchase a real Christmas tree Knoxville please consider ordering from them through our special url.

All you do is click your mouse, select a tree and complete the ordering process. Then you relax and wait for your tree to be delivered to your Knoxville home. You'll have one less thing to do and you get the warm fuzzy feeling of helping victims of domestic violence and their children and victims of sexual assault.

It's hard for life to get any better than that. Merry Christmas!

Knoxville resources on human trafficking

We welcomed Christi Wigle from Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking in Knoxville to our Voices of Hope internet radio show yesterday. If you don't know about our show on Blog Talk Radio you should click the Voices of Hope link above to listen. What you hear may surprise you.

As we talked we learned that over 300,000 children in the U.S. are in danger of trafficking each year. If you think that this doesn't happen here think again. 

The Polaris Project places the volunteer state just behind the "dirty dozen" of U.S. states. In fact, the Knoxville News Sentinel ran an article about a prostitution delivery service. My Fox Memphis is ran an article about a human trafficking case there in August 2010.

The good news is that there are success stories. Some of these are linked from the Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking. No doubt, we will be hearing about more success stories in the future.

Christi Wigle urged that the public "should never approach" the captor but instead call 911. 

Help for human trafficking victims in Knoxville is available from local law enforcement, the Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking and Cry for Justice.

Human trafficking victims across the U.S. can call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline at 1.888.3737.888 for help 24 hour a day.

Point your browser to Voices of Hope to download this and all segments. 

Help Knoxville Become a Google High Speed Internet Test Location

Our city leaders are trying to bring Google High Speed Internet to Knoxville, Tennessee. The MPC, KUB and others are teaming up this effort.

All we have to do to help is vote on the Google website and explain why Knoxville deserves Google High Speed Internet. You'll need a Google account to vote. It's free and only takes a minute to sign up. Can you imagine what would happen if everyone with internet voted on this? Why don't we find out? Vote today.

Here's my request to Google. Please don't forget to send yours in as well.

Resources:
The Bottom Line
WATE

Dear Google, Please Bring Your Internet to Knoxville, TN

Here's why I think Knoxville, TN can use Google Internet. If you haven't gone to Google and voted yet please do.


Gayle Crabtree

Dear Google,

When it comes to educating our kids Knoxville, Tennessee could do better. We already have the best team of dedicated teachers that exist anywhere. The problem is that kids need tools at home that they can use. Not everyone in Knox County has access to the internet.  I believe that Google internet can help with that.

Nonprofits like this one often receive donations of laptops and desktops. Parts from nonworking machines are salvaged to create a working system. We've seen families who received these computers become excited only to have their hopes dashed because of lack of internet accessibility. 

Google High Speed Fiberoptics would not just help our county. It would help our children to move forward by giving them the tools they need to succeed. This not only helps Knoxville, Tennessee to have a top quality work force but it will build Google brand loyalty and awareness for generations to come. 

We hope that you will consider Knoxville, Tennessee as a recipient of Google Fiber for Communities.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

This is a YouTube video link of the kids we work with as an organization. Please help us help them get internet access.

Being frugal? Saving money in tight times?

Chances are high that you are probably being frugal with your spending right now. Some people are living frugally by choices. Others are being forced into it through lay-offs. Saving money in tight times is being seen as the thing to do. But what does that mean? How can you save a few dollars when it doesn't look like there's anything left to cut?

Here are a few ideas on being frugal:

Shop thrift for clothes and gifts. A Lenox vase from a thrift shop is still Lenox.
Cut bank fees. I changed my personal bank account to SunTrust last year. Not only do I no longer pay a fee but they donated $100 to our charity. It cost me nothing.
Like movies? Think church. More churches are offering movie nights. You get to enjoy the night, see friends and you are being frugal.
Check it out at the library. Did you know that the library has a wide selection of movies that you can borrow for free? Sure beats paying a rental fee.
Take a picnic. If you are craving a day out try a picnic. Except for gas, this may not cost you more than eating in normally would. Take the kids. Make it a family day and enjoy it.

Being frugal doesn't mean you won't have fun. Saving money in tight times can help you have a few more dollars for what's really important.

eBay Helps Nonprofit Raise Funds in Tight Economy

We're turning to eBay to help our nonprofit raise funds in this tight economy. Up for grabs right now is depression era furniture, kitchen table and greeting cards. These items have been worked on by the juvenile offfenders and volunteers of Hope for Healing.Org. They are available for pick up from our Strawberry Plains nonprofit. For a small donation (to help our volunteer with gas) they can be delivered within the Knoxville area.

Other items that are going up on eBay include clothes and knick-knacks. These are the types of things that helped make eBay famous.

The money raised will help us with basic operating expenses of rent, phone, internet etc. to keep us going. We only have 1 paid part-time staff member. Everything else is run by volunteers. This stretches our budget to help donations go as far as possible.

We'll be listing items on eBay all this week to help our nonprofit raise funds in this tight economy. You're getting good products at a price you determine by bidding on the auction. Keep watching our site all this week for great deals!

Our eBay store url is http://stores.ebay.com/hopeforhealingorg

Charity Hosts Service Event for National Day of Service Dr. Martin Luther King Holiday

The Strawberry Plains charity Hope for Healing.Org, will host a service event on January 19 at our office on 3130 W. Old Andrew Johnson Hwy., Strawberry Plains, TN 37871.

At the time of this writing, this service event is the only Presidential Inaugural Committee approved event within the state of Tennessee (although it is expected that more organizations will be participating.)

The website of the Presidential Inaugural Committee reads:

In 1994, to further commemorate a man who lived his life in service to others, Congress transformed the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday into a national day of community service. To honor Dr. King’s legacy, the President-elect and Vice President-elect and their families, joined by Americans in communities all across the country, will participate in activities dedicated to serving others...

Part of that commitment includes organizing a National Day of Service to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King., Jr. on January 19, 2009. Volunteers are invited to help the less fortunate in Strawberry Plains by working in the organizations clothing closet. Clothes will be sorted, folded and organized in preparation for the summer season.

To sign up for the event please visit the website of the Presidential Inaugural Committee here: http://www.pic2009.org/page/event/detail/dayofservicejanuary19/jrr

For more information about Hope for Healing.Org please contact us at 964.6673 or email gayle@hopeforhealing.org

Heat Problems Closed Doors Saturday

Hi All,
We're still addressing the heat issues at Hope for Healing.org. It's on the agenda for tonight's board meeting.

In the meantime, thanks for your patience. We're still serving clients but it is only by appointment only right now. If you need something please give us an email or phone call. Thanks.

Knoxville Christmas in the City Regal Celebration of Lights

My family and I went to the Regal Celebration of Lights in Downtown Knoxville. We had a lot of family fun! The kids favorite was the marshmallow roast by the Knoxville Fire Department. The city booth even gave away reindeer antlers. Mayfield Dairy was on hand to give away treats of Snow Cream Popsicles and holiday Egg Nog. The event was budget friendly since most of the activities were free.

For our clients, if you want to go as a group activity to any of the events on the website let me know. We'll look at the events and make plans. I would encourage anyone who is looking for Christmas activities to check out the city website. I was pretty impressed at what is offered. Many activities are free or at very little cost. Check it out at http://www.cityofknoxville.org/christmas/default.asp