How to Deal, a Way to Help

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who struggles with what to do about large tragedies like the one in Japan. Or even what do to about small tragedies. The truth is that a lot of bad things happen a lot of the time and for the most part we can't do a whole lot about them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm in favor of doing the things we can do. Maybe it is volunteering, fundraising, writing your own check. Maybe it is praying or meditative breathing or switching to cloth napkins. We acknowledge what's difficult, do the things we can, and then try to let it go.

And here's another thing, even though there are so many difficult things happening, there are lots of great things happening, too. I believe it is okay to feel joyful even in difficult times. Maybe especially in difficult times.

We can choose to do good things, try to shine our light into the dark places in front of us, make our ripples positive ones...

As many of you know, when I started fundraising for this year's March for Babies, I emailed pretty much everyone I know to ask them to contribute to our cause. Shortly after I sent the email my friend, Liz, (who I met in high school, TWENTY years ago, old much?) responded with a fantastic idea for a way to raise money.

Liz is creative force (and workhorse) behind FrayBabyBibsandMore and she makes adorable clothes for little ones as well as other goodies like environmentally friendly reusable sandwich bags. She is, in a word, awesome.

Liz offered to make two special March of Dimes dresses and sell them with 100% of the proceeds being donated to Michael's team. And here they are(!):

I love the dresses! And I love that she used purple themes - a perfect fit for March of Dimes dresses. Here are some of the nitty-gritty details:

The dresses are available in sizes Itty Bitty (newborn) through 4T. Any sizes 5T and larger will be made as tops. If you want smaller sizes as tops I can absolutely do that as well. The houndstooth dress is a fit and flair dress - the top part of the dress is narrower and more fitted and the bottom part of the dress flows out. The pillowcase dress is a uniform width, with sizes 24 months and smaller being narrower for a nice fit.  The dresses are $20 each with 100% of the proceeds going back to the March of Dimes in your team name.

Liz will take orders for the March of Dimes dresses until April 1st. The best way to view and order these dresses (and her other work) is on her Facebook Fan Page. Don't worry, you don't have to have a Facebook account to view the page. Once you are there you can use the "Contact Us" button or email her directly to order.

Please help us spread the word. Link to this post from your blog or send friends to Liz's Facebook Fan Page. If you're on Facebook you can share a link to the March of Dimes dresses.

Now those are some good ripples!