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International Volunteer Day Today

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:35:45 +0000

Today is the big day, International Volunteer Day, Friday, December 5, 2008! Leave a comment or link to share what you have done or plan to do today to celebrate! Still looking for ideas? Click on the International Volunteer Day and Breastfeeding 1-2-3 Challenge to learn 20 breastfeeding-related ways to volunteer in honor of International Volunteer Day.

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International Volunteer Day Tomorrow

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:52:39 +0000

Here is my last reminder before International Volunteer Day, Friday, December 5, 2008! It’s not too late to join the Breastfeeding 1-2-3 Challenge. Click on the International Volunteer Day and Breastfeeding 1-2-3 Challenge to learn 20 breastfeeding-related ways to volunteer in honor of International Volunteer Day. How will you further the cause of breastfeeding education and support?

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Show You Are Thankful

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:31:30 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving to all those in the United States! Remember that one way to show you are thankful for what you have in life is to give back to your community. Click on the International Volunteer Day and Breastfeeding 1-2-3 Challenge to learn 20 breastfeeding-related ways to volunteer on International Volunteer Day Friday, December 5, 2008. Let me know what you commit to do, and spread the word about the Challenge!

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Twenty Breastfeeding-Related Ideas for International Volunteer Day

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:12:42 +0000

In conjunction with International Volunteer Day December 5, 2008, I challenge all Breastfeeding 1-2-3 readers and their breastfeeding advocate friends to choose a volunteer activity to support breastfeeding. Start thinking what you would like to do between now and December 5 to celebrate International Volunteer Day. I’ll remind you again over the coming months, and check in on December 5 to see how you decided to volunteer to support breastfeeding! I have come up with 20 ideas to get you started. Leave a comment with more ideas, or share a link to your own post on International Volunteer Day and the Breastfeeding 1-2-3 Challenge!

20 Ways to Volunteer to Promote Breastfeeding

1. Join your state or regional breastfeeding coalition or task force.

2. Investigate whether you qualify to donate breast milk through one of the non-profit milk banks.

3. If you are qualified to do so, offer to speak about breastfeeding at a birth or parenting class or even the local high school.

4. Donate your pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and parenting books (see Five Ways to Pass on Your Breastfeeding Books). Take up a collection from your friends!

5. Create breastfeeding related crafts to sell, such as t-shirts, cloth nursing pads, slings, nursing covers, bumper stickers, or buttons, and donate the profits to your favorite breastfeeding-related charity.

6. Talk to an expecting mother about your breastfeeding experience.

7. Post in support of other breastfeeding mothers on breastfeeding forums and bulletin boards.

8. Distribute International Breastfeeding Symbol stickers for display in local stores and restaurants.

9. Write an article for your local newspaper on a breastfeeding support group or recent World Breastfeeding Week event.

10. Create a breastfeeding awareness video to enter into next year’s World Breastfeeding Week video contest (assuming there is one) or upload a video to YouTube.

La Leche League Related Ideas

11. Investigate becoming a La Leche League Leader.

12. Take on a non-leader job in your local La Leche League group. Mothers are needed for all different sizes and sorts of jobs such as greeter, snack coordinator, librarian, new mother packet distributor, and treasurer.

13. Submit your breastfeeding story to NEW BEGINNINGS magazine.

14. Start planning for next year’s World Breastfeeding Week.

15. Write a thank you note to one or more of the companies or organizations that sponsored World Breastfeeding Week Celebration prizes in 2008 and encourage them to donate again next year.

16. Coordinate a holiday-related fundraiser (think holiday party with cookie exchange and silent auctions). Hold it on the actual Friday night December the 5th, or any other time!

17. Plan a theme basket and sell drawing tickets at the next local LLL conference. Popular basket themes include a gift card tree (with cards donated by local merchants and/or mothers), pregnancy and birth, day at the beach, and chocolate.

18. Work with your local La Leche League leader to distribute LLL brochures, meeting notices, and business cards to area obstetricians, midwives, pediatricians, and libraries.

19. Design and maintain a website with your local LLL group’s meeting times and locations, contact names/phone numbers/emails, events, and fundraising opportunities. If your group already has a website, see if the group needs someone to maintain and update it on a regular basis.

And last but not least:

20. Spread the word about this challenge to your friends, LLL leaders, and blog readers! Feel free to grab the Breastfeeding 1-2-3 Challenge image shown above for display on your blog with a link back to this post! (Email me if you need help).

Any more ideas? Decided what you’re going to do? Leave a comment with your idea, volunteer commitment, or link!

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The Breast Cancer 3-Day 60-Mile Walk

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:15:52 +0000

Yet another study recently showed that breastfeeding helps fight breast cancer by reducing a breastfeeding woman’s risk of developing certain types of breast cancer. Still, it remains critical to fight breast cancer through the funding of breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment. I am proud to say my sister Jill McNabb has committed to the cause by agreeing to participate in the Breast Cancer 3-Day — a 60-mile walk over the course of three days — and raising at least $2,200 in donations in the process (her goal is actually $3,000 and she’s raised $1,800 so far!) Jill will be part of the Washington, D.C. event starting on October 3, 2008. She explains why she feels so passionate about supporting breast cancer awareness:

I am walking in support of every woman I know, and in memory of a friend who was younger than I am now when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. She found her second recurrence herself (which her doctors first told her was just scar tissue) when she was pregnant with her second son. They waited until 6 weeks before his due date so the baby was healthy enough to induce labor so she could start chemotherapy again. I watched her endure another battle with chemo with a toddler and a newborn baby, always with strength and dignity, providing as “normal” an environment as possible for her family. We lost her at age 38, brilliant, beautiful and strong until the very end. Stacey was my mentor and friend, and I miss her terribly.

You can help fight breast cancer too by making a donation to benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and National Philanthropic Trust. Click here to donate. I’ll be sure to let you know how much Jill raises and how the walk goes!

Once you make your donation, you might be interested in reading these articles on breastfeeding and breast cancer:

Leaking Breast Milk after Surgery for Lumpectomy
Breast Self-Exams in Lactating Women
Video Demonstration of Breast Self-Exam
Promising Anti-Cancer Powers of Breast Milk
Breast Cancer Testing: X-rays, Mammograms, Ultrasounds, Cat Scans
Breastfeeding after Chemotherapy, Radiation and Lumpectomy
Breastfeeding Reduces Cancer Risk
One-Sided Nursing with Full Supply

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Support Breastfeeding through LatchOn.org

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:07:52 +0000

So far thirteen breastfeeding advocacy projects have been funded through the new breastfeeding resource marketplace LatchOn.org.

LatchOn.org is an online marketplace and community for people supporting and promoting breastfeeding as a foundation for the development of babies and families.

LatchOn.org connects people with resources to share (funds, time or materials) with people undertaking projects to promote, support and protect breastfeeding, optimal nutrition and parenting.

Projects featured in LatchOn.org are sponsored by organizations with nonprofit charity status in their respective countries. A donation to a project in the marketplace is a donation to the organization providing fiscal sponsorship for that project. By donating to projects you help make them a reality.

La Leche League International is a founding sponsor.

There are lots of ways to get involved with LatchOn. Volunteer your skills and time, submit a project of your own for funding, or make a donation! Still have questions? Visit the Frequently Asked Questions.

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How to Become a Volunteer Breastfeeding Counselor

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:35:23 +0000

If you are a breastfeeding mother who enjoys talking about breastfeeding and passing on the support you received as you started out with breastfeeding, consider becoming a volunteer breastfeeding counselor! Volunteer as a leader with La Leche League worldwide or become a peer counselor through the Women, Infants and Children programs in the United States. Check out these resources from LLL and WIC respectively: Thinking about LLL leadership? and Interested in Becoming a Peer Counselor? (note that this resource is from the WIC offices in New York — each state will have its own, but similar, WIC programs and procedures).

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