Helping Hearts, Blog of Anne Sanders

It’s time to turn off the computer. Walk outside. Get in your car and go back to nature. I mean it. After you finish reading this blog, you will know the best time to get out there. Haven’t you missed feeling a real breeze on your arms instead of air conditioning? Or the way the trees look against the sky? September is a month of loving the outdoors. Summer starts to cool down and you can get outside. Believe it or not, you can do this for free and help a charity at the same time. Here’s your chance. Next Saturday, September 29 th , is National Public Lands Day . The National Park Service , U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have all declared it as a fee-free day. You can check the links above to find a wildlife refuge, park or other recreation area you want to visit and make sure it is included. As part of Serve Outside September (S.O.S.) this month the Children and Nature Network (C&NN) will get a buck for ev...

I am ecstatic. My husband who has been in Kuwait for a year and in Birmingham the year before is BACK!   He’s been home for a little over a week. We went on a nearby base a couple of days ago and I stopped and got Slim Jims for the guys at the gate.   It’s something I started doing back during Random Acts of Kindness week in February. I bring them snacks since they’re on their feet outside for hours at a time.   He asked me why I did it and I said because I like to. Another great kindness event is coming up next Saturday, the Great Kindness Challenge .   It’s an event aimed at getting children involved in helping others, but it’s also a great day for everyone to do as many kind deeds as they can. If you’re having trouble thinking of some things your kids can do, the Great Kindness Challenge website has a list of 50 suggestions which you can print and check off as you do them.   They include things like leaving a flower on someone’s doorstep, reading a b...