London Calling

Rebuild Together: New Orleans

Last week, I was fortunate enough to join Popular Mechanics magazine at a volunteer event in New Orleans with a group called Rebuilding Together.  They sponsor the rebuilding of a home that has been damaged by Hurricane Katrina.  My company donated product and flew a few of us to New Orleans so that we could spend a day working hard and helping to paint the home.

I was surprised at how many people in New Orleans are still displaced and at the still very high crime levels.  After painting all day, we toured some of the areas hardest hit by the hurricane.  It is amazing to me that after three years, and with all of the private groups who have stepped in to help, that there is still so much more to do. 

It was a great experience and one that I hope to repeat.  Ironically, my team at work is volunteering next week to help fix up an after-school program designed to keep kids out of gangs in Chicago -- which is less than a mile from my home. 

Annual Mother's Day Y-Me Walk: The Fighting Bialecki's

This year, like the past five or six, we'll be kicking off our mother's day celebration by participating in Chicago's Y-Me walk.  Some years there are more of us, some years less.  Some years we go out for a big brunch and others we stay home and cook.  Three years ago, we told my mom that she was going to be a grandmother just before the walk.  She was glowing for all three miles.  Last year London ran around the baseball fields after the walk, proud of his new skill.  Emily always captures the attention of other walkers with her t-shirt and her very own bib number.   

This year I'll walk with my parents, London, Emily and Aunt Barb and her friend Angie while Barry stays home to make a big brunch.  I'm not sure if London will sit in his stroller or try to walk the whole way.  It should be interesting. 

If you would like to donate to Y-Me as part of your mother's day tradition, please visit The Fighting Bialecki's web page.