Cause and Effect - April 2011

Each month of the year is chosen as the "month of" several causes, encouraging awareness and support for any number of programs and diseases. April, 2011 has the honor of being the month for Parkinson's Disease Awareness, Autism Awareness, M.A.D.D. month (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and Diabetes Awareness, among others.

In keeping with the philosophy of community involvement that Etsy fosters, I'd like to share some of the shops that are currently donating all or a portion of their profits to these wonderful causes. Please be sure to consider making a purchase - because you never know when your dollar will find a cure or prevent the unnecessary loss of life or limb. Join these shops in their causes - the effect is certainly positive!

 

What. No Mints? is donating 25% of the purchase price of their Dopamine Molecule Heart Pins to  support Team Bettina and the Parkinson's Unity Walk. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter produced primarily by the brain that is responsible for feelings of love and pleasure and also plays a huge role in the body's ability to control and direct movement. Parkinson's disease is a degenerative order which blocks the body's ability to make and utilize this neurotransmitter appropriately. Clicking on the photo collage above or the listing name will take you directly to this shop section. Clicking on the shop name will take you to the shop home page so you can see all of the crafty goodness at whatnomints.

My good friend Norah, and the owner of YOURDAILYJEWELS is a physical therapist who specializes in standard physical therapy as well as hippotherapy for children with disabilities. It's probably no surprise to anyone then, that Autism Awareness is a cause that she supports. For the month of April, Norah is donating 10% of her total sales proceeds to help find the cause and a cure for this neurodevelopmental disorder that is a thief of childhood and continues to challenge everyone who deals with the autistic patient, often throughout their lives. Since autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning that there are degrees of severity, not all patients are affected equally, nor do they respond to treatment equally. Until the cause can be pinpointed and curative treatment becomes available, the increasing incidence of this disorder is quickly becoming a major health focus. Isn't treating yourself or someone special to a beautiful and unique piece of jewelry a great way to do your part to support this cause?  Head on over to YOURDAILYJEWELS and pick out your favorite now!

With Easter right around the corner and summer vacation not too far down the road, it's the perfect time to encourage your little artists with some new crayons - and thanks to SquareHip, you can encourage the cause of diabetes awareness at the same time! 50% of the purchase price of any of their recycled crayons will be donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Diabetes, marked by the body's inability to control and stabilize blood sugar levels, can lead to serious health consequences like blindness, kidney failure, arterial and cardiovascular disease, amputation of limbs. In type 1 diabetes, the body's immune system attacks the insulin producing cells of the pancreas, leading to a complete deficiency of the hormone - often appearing at a very young age... which is why this form of the disease is commonly called juvenile onset diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, the body is able to produce insulin, but not in the levels needed to properly metabolize blood glucose. While type 1 diabetes is hard to predict, proper medical management and healthy lifestyle habits allow patients to live long, healthy lives; type 2 diabetes, however, is reaching epidemic proportions due to increased incidence of obesity and a trend towards inactive lifestyles. Sadly, unlike type 1, type 2 diabetes is virtually completely preventable.  Do your part to help change lives of people affected by this disorder.

Dorana Hernandez, owner of a Dorana design lost her friend Tom Klosterhoff to the misjudgment of a drunk driver, and in an effort to honor the memory of this friend, she donates $5.00 from the purchase of every item from her "M.A.D.D. ABOUT YOU COLLECTION" to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Do your part to help educate young people by supporting Dorana's shop and cause - the life you save may be your own or someone you love dearly.

In 2009, 10,839 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (32%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States. Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver.  This amounts to one death every 48 minutes. Every minute, one person is injured in an alcohol related crash. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens and one out of three of those is alcohol related. There are a million drunk drivers on the road at any given time. (NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts 2009). Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.) was founded by Candy Lightner in 1980 following the death of her 13-year-old daughter Cari in Fair Oaks, Calif., on May 3. Cari was walking to a school carnival when a drunk driver struck her from behind. The driver had three prior drunk driving convictions and was out on bail from a hit-and-run arrest two days earlier. The organization works to educate young people on the dangers of drinking and driving, as well as stepping up to support the passage of laws safeguarding the lives of our youth.

For every cause, there is an effect - support your favorite charity and the effect will be a spring in your step, a smile on your face, and a warm fuzzy feeling in the area of your heart... guaranteed!

xo,