What would you do with 7500 pounds sterling...

Awhile back the body shop foundation sent an email out to all of us consultants asking for nominations for their '08 grants.

If you've never heard of the body shop foundation, they are the charity that was set up by the body shop to provide grants to non-profits that work in the areas of human and civil rights and environmental and animal protection.
It's the body shops way of consolidating all of their charitable donations and doing the most good with their money.

Every year they choose which specific areas that they would like to fund. This year they were looking for groups in the following areas:
• GREEN LIVING - Education & implementation of green living
• ANIMAL ABUSE
• EMPOWERING WOMEN AND CHILDREN – sustainable programs that provide skills training for disadvantaged women and young people.
When I saw this, the first thing that came to mind was "I bet the Milagro house would qualify for that grant".
So, I followed the link in the email that led to an online nomination form. I took 5 minutes out of my busy day and filled it out.
Unfortunately, it's more complicated than just fill out a form and they get mailed a check.
First they had to be nominated, 5 minutes and I had that done easy-peasy.
Next all the nominees had to be reviewed, and then a select few would be invited to apply for a grant. That part took a few weeks, but after it was said and done, they were one of the lucky few that was invited to apply!!!!
Then more waiting, a few months this time. Would they get it? Would there be a more worthy cause? Did they apply when invited? I was on pins and needles waiting. I mean really, this is a world wide organization with so many wonderful causes asking for money, what are the odds that a little local place that I nominated would get a grant?

All I have to say, is that it was worth the wait! I just found out that the Milagro House was one of the grant winners this year!!!!! They got 7,500 pounds sterling, which comes out to about 15 thousand dollars! How cool is that? Imagine what they can do with that money. They are always in need of "stuff" donations, but money is really what they can use the most, because unfortunately you can't pay the electric bill with used clothing donations :-).

I wanted to tell you about this not to get a pat on the back or your praise, but to show you how just a few minutes of your time can make a big difference to someone else. It literally took me 5 minutes to fill out the nomination form. That 5 minutes got some people in need some much needed funding. Did I have $15000 to give? No way. Did I have 5 minutes? Heck yeah!

"If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito"
-Dame Anita Roddick