11/4/09
GRAND TOTAL MONEY RAISED: 1,270.00
Many, many, many thanks to everyone!!!
RAFFLE PRIZE WINNERS!!!
Kulae Yoga Mat - Inna F
Bikram Yoga Month - Alyssa S
lululemon - Alyssa S
$50 Bourbon Street Restaurant - Nancy M
CONGRATULATIONS!
10/29/09
Day 59!!! One more to go:)
Good Katrina stuff.
http://www.nola.com/katrina/
10/25/09
BIG RAFFLE NEWS...lululemon raffle
lululemon Brooklyn is now a proud and excited sponsor of my challenge!! They have donated an AWESOME Raffle prize. The winner will recieve a certificate to waltz in the Brooklyn showroom and PICK ANY ONE ITEM!!! For just $5 dollars you can purchase your chance to win, and the more tickets you buy the more chances you will have to WIN BIG!
The other delectable prizes include...
One Month Free of Bikram Yoga at the Bikram BayRidge Studio
Kulae Mat
$50 Restaurant Gift Certificate to the Bourbon St. Bar and Grill
The drawing will take place this Friday October 30th. Good Luck!
You can purchase a chance to win directly from my site, please indicate in message box that it is for the raffle.
10/22/09
Beautiful St. Bernard Recovery Story..MUST READ!!!!
http://www.stbernardproject.org/v158/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=398
10/22/09
DAY 52!!!
10/18/09
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2009/10/barack_obama_town_hall_speaker.html
10/15/09
NPR: In New Orleans, Uneven Recovery Awaits Obama
NPR is at ground zero for their story, sending a reporter out to the Lower 9th Ward. Reporter Debbie Elliot spoke with Ninth Ward resident and local leader Vera McFadden. Like many locals, she wishes Obama would spend more time touring the city so he could see the real damages.
"It's been said that we're coming back, we're coming back," Vera McFadden told Elliot. "But when you ride down here and actually see what's going on, you wonder about that."
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"I promise you this ... we will not forget about New Orleans. We are going to keep on working. We will not forget about the Gulf Coast," Obama said.
10/15/09
Worth reading!!!!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091015/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_new_orleans
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/15/obama.new.orleans/index.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/us/politics/16obama.html
10/14/09
Eli Manning and New Orleans
http://wcbstv.com/local/eli.manning.giants.2.1247813.html
10/14/09
YET ANOTHER RAFFLE PRIZE TO ADD TO THE POT
Purchase your $5 ticket for your chance to win a Kulae Yoga Mat
http://www.kulae.com/_e/tpECOmat/product/KUEM/tpECOmat_.htm
Please use this site as reference only. If you win you will get to pick your choice of color and thickness however, availability will depend on stock available at BYBR.
Drawing will be Friday October 30th
Please indicate in message "yoga mat raffle"
10/13/09
NEW RAFFLE PRIZE - PURCHASE YOUR $5 raffle ticket to enter to win a $50 gift certificate to the Bourbon Street Bar and Grill - NYC. You can buy your ticket from my site www.firstgiving.com/dawnmortimer1. Make sure you put "Restaurant Raffle" in the message block! Drawing is October 30th!!
http://www.bourbonny.com/media/bourbonstreet.html
10/12/09
Did a double today to make up for a sunday that I missed, feel ready for bed! Day 42!!
10/12/09
Photo documentary of jazz fest
http://blog.nola.com/multimedia/2009/04/new_orleans_jazz_festival_40_y.html
10/10/09
I am on day 40 of my challenge!!
10/6/09- RAFFLE/FREE MONTH OF YOGA@ BIKRAM BAY RIDGE STUDIO
Day 36!!! I made it past my half way point. Take a look at my new (short and sweet) video blog. Also if you want to put yourself in the running for a free month of yoga at the Bikram Bay Ridge Studio, you can purchase your raffle ticket directly on my site. The tickets cost $5 each and the more you buy the more chances you will have to win! Just be sure to put in the message block "Free Month Raffle". Stay tuned for other cool raffle prizes you won't be able to live without!!!
9/28/09
Women’s Rebuild Week (St. Bernard Project)
Oct. 12-17, 2009
From October 12-17, more than 200 women from across the nation will join in solidarity to restore the homes and lives of more than 20 families still displaced by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The fourth annual Women’s Rebuild Week celebrates women who have helped rebuild the New Orleans area, while empowering others to get involved in the continuing effort to get families back into their homes.
9/27/09
Homeowner Testimonial for St. Bernard Project
“The St. Bernard Project has helped me renew my faith in the kindness in people for it has been absolutely unbelievable what the Project and the people who come to serve have done for me.” – Louis C.
“The people at the St. Bernard Project cover the whole spectrum of goodness.” – Beatrice D.
9/27/09
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS DONATED AND HELPED MAKE THE DONATION CLASS A SUCCESS!!!
Please scroll down for more information regarding the 60 day challenge!
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9/25/09
"The "underprivileged" people of New Orleans spun a culture out of their lives-a music, a cuisine, a sense of life-that has been recognized around the world as a transforming spiritual force. Out of those pitifully small incomes and crumbling houses, and hard, long days and nights of work came a staggering Yes, an affirming of life-their lives, Life itself-in defiance of a world that told them in as many ways as it could that they were, you know-dispensable. They are not dispensable. Not to New Orleans, not to America. And any scenario of a rebuilt New Orleans that does not embrace the fact of their centrality to New Orleans, that does not find a way to welcome them back and make jobs and a new life for them, will be an obscenity." Tom Piazza-"Why New Orleans Matters"
9/20/09
Thomas Neff-Photographer-Images from Katrina-"Holding out and Hanging On"
http://www.thomasneffphotographer.com/?goto=images-from-holding-out-and-hanging-on&img=1
9/18/09
MUST READ-there really is no "post" for Katrina-mental health issues and increase in suicide rates
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1221982,00.html
9/17/09
Huffington Post article - 4 years later housing issues and then some post Katrina
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marian-wright-edelman/katrinas-children---still_b_271216.html
9/17/09
Cool special on PBS - all about New Orleans from the days of the French to Hurricane Katrina
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/neworleans/
9/12/09
SAVE THE DATE-SEPTEMBER 25TH 8pm - FREE-BIKRAM YOGA CLASS-with $20 suggested donation. www.bikrambayridge.com (for more studio details) Watch the new video I just posted.....
9/12/09
Interesting Bill Moyer video - social, political, environmental, class and race discussion regrading Hurricane Katrina
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08172007/profile.html
9/10/09
President Obama addresses the Gulf Coast relief effort and the St. Bernard Project
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Weekly-Address-Lessons-and-Renewal-Out-of-the-Gulf-Coast/
9/2/09
Article from FAIR - dwindling Hurricane Katrina coverage in the media
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3891
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Earlier this summer I visited New Orleans for the first time, and fell head over heels in love with this beautiful and magical place.
SInce I have been back I have been reading books and trolling the internet looking for anything and everything - New Orleans.
Most of what I have found is about Hurricane Katrina, the rebuilding efforts, and the thousands of people who are still homeless and struggling with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
I don't know why or the how of it but I feel incredibly drawn to this city and KNOW it is my DUTY to do something!
After reading about the St. Bernard Project (a non-profit organization that rebuilds homes for those displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina) - the "how" of how I could help fell into place with incredible ease. (Please visit their website link provided below for more information on the St. Bernard Project).
My plan/goal is to complete a 60-day Bikram Yoga Challenge starting on September 1st, and ending on October 30th. I am requesting $1 a day for every day of the challenge that I complete. The suggested donation for my challenge is $60. I need 50 generous souls to donate $60 ($1 a day) to raise $3000 for the St. Bernard Project by October 30th 2009. $3000 is enough to re-build a kitchen complete with cabinets, countertops and appliances for one of the many families benefitting from the efforts of St. Bernard.
As I explained above - $60 is a suggested donation. However, any amount large or small will work just fine and support my goal.
I would also like to ask you to please forward this page to anyone and everyone that you know that would be interested in donating. The more the merrier!!
I am truly honored and passionate about this project and am so looking forward to the challenges ahead!!
*If you would like to learn more about the St. Bernard Project please visit:
http://www.stbernardproject.org/v158/
Thank you for your time, support and attention!!
dawn