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Out of the Darkness Walk

Coming up this September there is an event that while difficult to talk about is an important one to our community.  It is the Out of the Darkness Walk held on September 18, 2010.   I will join hundreds of others on this walk to raise money to prevent suicide.  Last year over 350 individuals joined us in this effort. 

Since the Out of the Darkness Walk in 2009 I have had the privilege to be a part of the Youth Suicide Awareness Task Force here in Anne Arundel County.  There have been 44 of us trained to teach others how to recognize the signs of those who may be considering ending their life. This year with a grant received from, Garrett Lee Smith Youth Suicide Prevention, along with the work of this Task Force we will be training an additional 19 individuals and completing the training of many individuals (gatekeepers) in our community.  The groups being trained at this time are the majority of those in the school system and many other youth leaders, coaches and public service individuals. 

I have personally never undertaken a more important work.  I also have never seen so many agencies, faith groups, public service groups, non profits and community members ban together in an effort to protect our youth from the #3 cause of death among 15-24 year olds.

If you are going to be in Annapolis on September 18 I would like to invite you to join me (us) in this cause.  If you are interested in having a group of parents or other adults to be trained in QPR, the training for those of us who have contact with young people (gatekeepers), please let me know and we will make the arrangements for this training to take place. 

In the near future I will be releasing a report on the 6 most dangerous trends facing children, many of them are factors that lead up to suicide attempts.  I have been working on this along with a few others for the past few months and the information is shocking.  As shocking as it is, being aware of the trends allows us to do something about them with our own children. 

You can sign up for the walk at this website.

http://outofthedarkness.org

Please feel free to let me know that you will be joining us at the walk. 


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Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful

I want to share with you a clip from a documentary being done about this wonderfully strong, gentle, beautiful woman who has practiced judo her entire life.  The film maker needs some support to complete the film.  I personally believe this is a film that must be completed. I hope you are able to help.  Please in addition to anything that you can contribute, join with me in writing to Oprah to see if she will help get this film completed.  This is a moving story of dedication, perseverance and love for the art.

This film was brought to my attention by my instructor Mr. Tom Callos.  This is what he wrote:

1000 Letters to Oprah about Judo 9th Dan Black Belt, Kieko Fukuda. Will you Help?

Would you be so kind as to help us write 1000 letters to Ms. Oprah Winfrey –urging her to seek out 96 year old Keiko Fukuda. There is a documentary in the works about Sensei Fukuda’s extraordinary life-story, Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful. Here is a clip:

 

I have not watched the film once, without being moved to tears.

The filmmaker is Ms. Yuriko Romer of www.flyingcarp.net.

Here is the information you will need to participate:

Send a letter to her at the Oprah Winfrey show:

 

To Ms. Oprah Winfrey

C/O: The Oprah Winfrey Show

110 North Carpenter Street,

Chicago, Illinois 60607

Dear Ms. Winfrey,

Sensei Keiko Fukuda is now a 9th degree black belt in judo, at age 96, and the first women to ever be awarded that title. She was a student of judo’s founder, Jigoro Kano –and still teaches classes three times a week. A filmmaker, Ms. Yuriko Romer, is making a documentary film about Sensei Fukuda, “Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful,” which may be seen both on youtube and at www.flyingcarp.net.

Remarkably, Ms. Romer first heard about Sensei from your magazine. As time is of the essence, I urge you to seek out Ms. Romer and Sensei Fukuda, as Sensei’s story is compelling and wonderful. She is, quite literally, “living history.”

Thank you for taking the time to consider this request.

Love and respect,

Tom Callos

————–

Of course, you may alter the letter any way you see fit. I’ve already sent an e-mail to Oprah’s show –and several people are mining their connections to people they know –who may be able to get through.

Please show and share one or both of the film clips (Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful) to your friends and students, and let’s send 1000 letters to Oprah as a show of respect for this icon of martial arts self-discipline and history.

THANK YOU.

Tom Callos

If you would like to contribute to this project here is the link.

http://documentaries.org/cid-films/be-strong/

I personally have contributed to this project and sent a letter to Oprah.  This is living history. She is a living Hero!

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Charity: acting on our desire to help others

Have you ever noticed that sometimes it takes a natural disaster to move people to open their hearts to give to others.  We saw this great outpouring in the hurricane that destroyed New Orleans, the Tsunami that struck in Indonesia, a fire that strikes a neighbors home, a disease that hurts a child.  But when we take the time to be aware of the needs of others, even when there is not a tragedy involved, and give of our things, talents or time, we not only make the world a better place, but we also are helping ourselves.

Philanthropy is about making the  world a better place.  I have noticed that when I speak to children about this idea of giving to others without expecting anything in return that they are a bit quiet at first.  It is like they are absorbing it and trying to grasp the concept.  Then they many times want to act on it.  Just this week I have heard of our students setting up a lemonade stand to raise money for a cause.  Others have been talking about things that they could create – and give all the money to a cause. 

As parents the example we set in giving, using our talents and time to the advantage of others, will have a long term impact on our children.  What can you do to make a difference with an individual, in your community, or in the world?  Every good act – Every act of kindness is charity.


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Charity: definition

Each month we define and discuss a word of character development with all of our students.  This month the word is Charity.  It will be defined this way.

Young students:  Charity means: “I give to people, places or things in need!”

Older students:  Charity means:  Giving to those in need without expecting anything in return.

If you would like to see how we will deal with this subject with our students please follow our discussions here during the month of August.



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Student demonstrates spirit of Charity

We have been discussing the word charity at our school.  One of our students demonstrated a great spirit of giving without expecting anything in return this year with his own personal birthday party.  Joey is now 9 years old and in lieu of accepting gifts at his party, he made the following request.

He asked his friends to bring a food donation to his party.  Then this week he delivered the food to the Lighthouse Shelter personally.

His dad said, “We have found this practice to be helpful in delivering the message that there are many people in need of our help and we should also be thankful for the lives that we do have.”

Thank you Joey for putting into action the lessons you have learned about charity.  Great job!