My favorite holiday's almost here!

Hi all, Amanda here! I’m getting quite excited because we are fast approaching on my favorite holiday. That’s right, it’s that time of year to get out every flag you own, bake a delicious apple pie, fire up the BBQ, and spend the evening watching an awesome fireworks display.

While I am very proud to be an American, my patriotism is not the reason the 4^th of July is my favorite day of the year. I love it because it’s such a simple holiday that doesn’t require gifts, cards, and all of the stress and anxiety that so many of our holidays are accompanied with. It’s just a day to hang out with your friends and family, and celebrate our fine country by doing just about whatever pleases you.

The key ingredients that make my 4^th of July experience amazing are as follows: hot dogs, apple pie, one huge watermelon, a pool, beach, or any body of water(optional),  friends and/or family, and fireworks. That’s it! Pretty simple considering this is the day I look forward to all year!

What else makes this holiday so amazing? Super simple decorations; most of which nature really helps us out with. Look around you, or out your nearest window. I’m sure just by glancing around you might spot some beautiful things that are already red, white, or blue. Berries, flowers, candles, and maybe a gorgeous crystal blue sky. Ok, now throw all those things together, and you’re set!

Here’s a recipe for a deliciously American dessert that’s just as pretty to look at as it is scrumptious to eat, and it’s easy as can be!

http://bit.ly/N2ZtTO

Red, White and Blue Strawberry Shortcake

         1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix

         1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

         1 pint blueberries, rinsed and drained

         2 pints fresh strawberries, rinsed and sliced

If you’re like me and think that nothing says America like an apple pie, here’s a great recipe from allrecipes.com. It got a 5 star rating, so give it a try! I know I will!

 Grandma Ople's Apple Pie

         1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

         1/2 cup unsalted butter

         3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

         1/2 cup white sugar

         1/2 cup packed brown sugar

         1/4 cup water

         8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

For the baking instructions head to this link: http://bit.ly/NCd5X6

This year, I’ll be spending the 4^th at a friends parents house. So, of course, I’m wondering what to bring as a hostess gift. I could always just bring the pie, but after perusing around online I found a great idea for all-American hostess gift that’s perfect for an outdoor BBQ that I’d like to share.

One thing that will always put a damper on your holiday BBQ is the presence of pesky mosquitoes. I recently attended a BBQ that was missing one key element. Citronella candles! Leave the bug spray at home, and make your host some homemade citronella candles, just in case they don’t have any, or they can use them at the next outdoor fete.

I found this wonderful DIY project guide at designsponge.com. Check out the link!

http://bit.ly/QkRTIA

Here’s what you need to know:

materials:

1. old wax candles, or any type of safely melt-able wax (i used leftover soy wax from old candle projects)
2. crayons (for coloring the wax)
3. container for melting wax (a sauce pan with another heat safe container inside will be fine, or you can purchase wax containers at a craft store)
4. wicks (available at craft stores)
5. citronella oil (available at health food stores, online, or some specialty hardware stores)
6. stir stick or spoon (for wax)
7. thermometer
8. letter stickers (optional, these are found in craft stores and hardware stores – these are for signs and mailbox labels, etc)
9. old pickle or jam jars or tin cans (look for tins with cute labels, there are a lot once you start looking!)
10. hot glue

instructions:

1. clean out your jars and tin cans. dry completely. if you are making messages on your jars, carefully stick the letter stickers to the outside of your jars in an even line.

2. put your pot on the stove with some water and your other container inside it.

3. attach your wick bases to the bottom center of your jars and tins with a dab of hot glue.

4. when the water is 140 degrees, put your wax in. stir every once in a while as it starts to melt. add your crayons as well.

5. when all the wax is melted to an even liquid (it will look like the consistency of olive oil), add a few drops of citronella oil and stir (about one drop for a small candle, two to three for larger ones).

6. remove the container and pour into your containers, leaving about a half inch of wick exposed.

7. let cool. if you want to give your jar candles as a gift, cover the lid of the jar with some pretty fabric and screw back on to the jar. wrap the tin can candles with a little kitchen twine and finish with a bow.

One last thing folks, let’s all have a great day but let’s also be safe out there!

I just read a horrifying fact about backyard fires. Apparently every year barbecue grills on residential properties cause more than 1,500 structural fires, and 4,200 outdoor fires. Many of these fires occurred when a propane grill was used for the first time after winter storage.

Here’s a link to BBQ safety tips, and a safety checklist from the NYC Fire Department:

http://on.nyc.gov/OxyoiF

May you all have a wonderful 4^th of July! Let’s all have a great safe day, and relish in the awesomeness of our beautiful country.

If you have any tips or recipes for me, please share!

Happy 4^th of July!

Support Our Troops - Closing Blog

Before you read this, open your medicine cabinet and gloss over it. Done? Okay, now run to your living room and count your DVD’s. Back again? Now take a look in your pantry. Check. Now think about where it all came from - drug stores, superstores, grocery stores. Maybe you couldn’t find the exact product you were looking for, so you walked a couple of blocks and boom, there it was: your favorite brand of roll-on, non-flakey, extra-protection, shower fresh-scented deodorant. Whew, because you definitely could not live without it. I know, I’m the same way.

Now plop yourself in the mountains of Afghanistan. Sure you are in the US Armed Forces but you are still in Afghanistan. Where is all the stuff? The tissues with lotion, the cheese puffs with real cheddar, the movies with George Clooney. Good luck finding any of it.

Am I the only one who really didn’t give this serious thought? The first time someone mentioned in one of the interviews I was doing for these episodes that they were sending soldiers socks, I thought, socks? But think of the places where we get all of this stuff for ourselves. There is no megastore in the mountains of Afghanistan. So where is this stuff going to come from if not from us?

It is one thing to not be able to wrap my head around the reality of war, but I would have to be a complete space cadet to not comprehend what it might feel like not to have access to such basic necessities. So, think of a soldier as your neighbor. You’re going out to the store and you ask your neighbor if they need anything. Imagine that each time, your neighbor says “yes” about one item. Pick it up, put it in a box and at the end of the month, ship it off to an organization that sends care packages. Because, after all, we do care.

What You Can Do presents: Support a Soldier's Family

Action Link: http://www.soldiersangels.org

Starring: Julie Tortorici and Grace Tortorici
Written by: Karen T. Hartline
Shot, Edited and Directed by: Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistics Provided by: Soldiers Angels, http://www.soldiersangels.org

Special Thanks:
Toby Nunn and everyone at Soldiers Angels
Dennis Arinella

Support the Troops from the Road

Think there's nothing you can do to Support our Troops from the Road in 1 Minute?

Starring - Alicia Arinella & Jack Halaby
Written by -  Karen T. Hartline
Shot, Edited and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistical Information provided by: Support Our Troops, www.supportourtroops.org

Special Thanks: Martin Boire and everyone at Support Our Troops, and Dennis Arinella

For more information, please visit - www.whatyoucando365.com

Support a Returning Service Member

Think there's nothing you can do to Support a Returning Service Member in 1 Minute?

Starring - Tom Morwick
Written by -  Karen T. Hartline
Shot, Edited and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistical Information provided by: Veterans and Their Families, www.veteransandtheirfamilies.org

Special Thanks: Ted Reed and everyone at Veterans and Their Families, and Dennis Arinella

For more information, please visit - www.whatyoucando365.com

Support Deployed Soldiers

Think there's nothing you can do to Help Support our Troops in 1 Minute?

Starring - Rulie Noyola
Written by -  Karen T. Hartline
Shot, Edited and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistical Information provided by: Support Our Troops, www.supportourtroops.org

Special Thanks: Martine Boire and everyone at Support Our Troops, and Dennis Arinella

For more information, please visit - www.whatyoucando365.com

Support a Deployed Service Member

Think there's nothing you can do to Help Support a Service Member in 1 Minute?

Starring - Shirley Heller
Written by -  Karen T. Hartline
Shot, Edited and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistical Information provided by: Soldier's Angels, www.soldiersangels.org

Special Thanks: Toby Nunn and everyone at Soldier's Angels, and Dennis Arinella

For more information, please visit - www.whatyoucando365.com

An Interview with a Cause-USA Volunteer

Jonathan is a senior in high school and a volunteer at Cause in the digital entertainment library program (C-DEL) as well as the Massage Marathon Team. He organized a fundraiser at his school that raised over $1200 and generated a significant amount of awareness about Cause and their programs to help veterans.

Below is my interview with him about his experiences volunteering with Cause.

What made you join an organization like Cause?
I originally heard about Cause through my sister, who has been a devoted Cause volunteer for many years now. The idea of helping wounded soldiers was very appealing to me.

What is the most difficult reality that you have had to face through your work with Cause?
I would have to say, that the most difficult reality I faced came when I was just getting started. You can see war scene after war scene in the latest Hollywood film, or replay the most emotive parts of Pearl Harbor to yourself countless times, yet seeing soldiers barely a year or two my senior in the physical situation they were in was quite a pill to swallow. The first time I saw a soldier waltz through the Mologne house sans leg, I didn’t know what to say, what to do or how to act. I was in shock. Then, over time, I realized that the only element missing from the care-loaded patients’ day was possibly the most vital: the human aspect - be it a smile, a joke or random anecdote. The most humbling realization was that the most effective thing we could offer is a sense of normality in a very abnormal environment.

What results have you seen due to your work with the organization?
I truly believe that as a result of volunteering, I have grown as a person. I have found a whole new appreciation for what these soldiers do and what truly remarkable men and women they are. Prior to volunteering, I may have had a basic understanding of the situation soldiers were in after war, but volunteering has really brought it home. Soldier’s appreciation for what seems like such little work on my part is quite incredible.

How do you think, in general, people can best pay tribute to the military and all that they do for our country, even if they only have a moment to spare in their busy lives.
Too many volunteers is never really a bad thing, however, I believe the best way the general public can pay tribute to military personnel is by devoting a little bit of time out of their day to the military. They could put together a gift pack, share a simple anecdote, or even just saying “thank you for your service.” Human interaction can be the most effective catalyst to recovery.


If you'd like more information about volunteer opportunities at Cause, please visit www.cause-usa.org for more information. We'd also like to send out a special thank you to Kara Johnson at Cause for all of her help with facilitating the interview!

Support a Native American Family

Think there's nothing you can do to help a Native American Family in 1 Minute?

Starring - Alicia Arinella & Dennis Arinella
Written by -  Jessica Arinella & Julie Tortorici
Shot, Edited and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistical Information provided by: Adopt - A Native-Elder Program, www.anedler.org

Special Thanks: Mary Phillips and everyone at the Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program, and Dennis Arinella

For more information, please visit - www.whatyoucando365.com

Protect our Forests

Think there's nothing you can do to Protect our Forests in 1 Minute?

Starring - Alicia Arinella & Jack Halaby
Written by -  Jessica Arinella & Julie Tortorici
Shot, Edited and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistical Information provided by: American Forests, www.americanforests.org

Special Thanks: Sarah McVicar and everyone at American Forests, and Dennis Arinella

For more information, please visit - www.whatyoucando365.com

In Honor of September 11th

Although today would normally be our closing blog for Go Green Back To School, today is September 11th and we all felt it was an important day to acknowledge. Recently, we asked writer, Tommy Casatelli, a retired firefighter with the FDNY if he would serve as a guest contributer. His firehouse - 226 - was called to the World Trade Center that day. Tommy has begun writing a book about his experiences in the aftermath of September 11th and has kindly written a personal essay for us, available below.


Words I'll Never Write, in a Diary I'll Never Keep

Six years ago today, I drank Guinness Stout and Jameson's whiskey in O'Hara's Bar, a low ceilinged place with brass rails, checked tile floors, yellowed white walls, and stools with worn green fake leather cushions. O'Hara's is tucked neatly on the corner of Cedar Street in the shadow of the Liberty Street firehouse, directly behind and one half block from where the World Trade Center once stood.

I'd been there six, maybe seven hours when I ordered a tenth Guinness and fifth whiskey. Neon shone above me and I remember raising my face to bask in the gaslight, enjoying the charming buzz only men who'd quaffed nine beers and four whiskeys could know.

It was a perfect drunk---one that slowed time, yet allowed me to remain sharp and bright as that neon. It was not the kind of sloppy drunk that encouraged men to piss their pants or fall off bar stools.

And even if it had been, I wasn't worried---I'd never been that kind of drinker.

The pants I did not piss that day were what I called “buffet” pants: itchy black polyester with a band of elastic at the waist. A proper fireman's uniform required quartermaster issued dark navy blue trousers with a crisp crease and loops for a real belt. My official trousers lay crumpled in the bottom of my closet or buried in the backseat of my truck.

My uniform jacket fit, as long as it remained unbuttoned. The jacket's left chest bore medals I'd collected during my nine and a half years on the job, all won the summer of 2000 when a blown pilot light and an innocent flick of a switch took down three floors of a Brooklyn brownstone yards from my firehouse on State Street.

Three people died.

I'd found a fourth, alive, in the cellar---an old man mumbling, “Miles, Miles, where is my Miles?” His hair was snow white and stood pin straight from his bloodied head. “Where is Miles?” he asked. I'd laid my hand on his arm and remember wanting to tell him something-anything---when Miles appeared over the old man's shoulder. He was doing dishes in a pristinely cluttered kitchen. And brushing his teeth in a white tiled bathroom. Or was he walking a dog in Prospect Park?

I saw Miles never hearing the explosion that knocked dishes off the wall in my firehouse half a block away.

A great fireman from Ladder 110, one I'd always admired, bulled through the rubble from the rear into the cellar. I smiled at him and thought about Miles reaching for that light switch but never about the brick, wood beams, pipe, beds, clothes, doors, knives, forks, plates, and cantilevered floors that balanced over our heads. The fireman from 110 lifted the old man then carried him into the safety of hundred-year-old Brooklyn elms in the yard. Other firemen began wading into the debris.
I remember thinking that I should move, that I was in their way or that I might be standing on Miles. I pictured him flat as a pancake with jaunty cartoon X's for eyes. I began searching for Miles when something, or someone, grabbed my leg. I tried to scream. Gas from the leak coated my tongue. I was afraid to look down. When I did, I saw that a gray tomcat had curled himself around my black leather fireman's boots.

Weeks later I learned the cat's name was Miles.

Six or seven years ago, I'd sat on that barstool and looked at the medals on my chest. They were washed green and red and neon blue and I drank more and tried to ignore the ghost of my Marine Corps drill instructor screaming insults every time I sat, stood, or stretched in my ridiculous pants. An angry red stripe had cut tight across my lumberjack belly despite the elastic. The bartender tossed a wet, sour rag on the bar in front of me. I picked it up by the corner and dropped it on the floor. I didn't want to stain my pants. They had served a purpose. The jacket, too. They were part of a costume. They were the scuffed black Keds poking out of the bottom of a small boy's plastic Superman costume--- the kind of shoes never shiny and red enough to make a boy truly believe he was a superhero.

O'Hara's was packed with firemen from all over the globe that day. They drank like moonshiners and fawned over a spattering of FDNY firemen holding court in the corner. When I looked at my brother firemen, I imagined we looked like the random few native New Yorkers who reveled in Times Square on New Year's Eve, necks stretched skyward like wide-eyed science teachers from Ohio or stay at home moms from Wichita, Kansas.

I'd buried my nose in the black stuff and did my best to ignore the party hats and noisemakers I saw shimmering in the barroom haze. Fire company patches from California and Spain and Minnesota were ripped off uniform sleeves and stapled to the low ceiling and the crowd roared every time like it was the first time.

The harried bartender had pretended he didn't hear me when I asked about the old man who'd been working the bar on the 11th. Ignoring him ignoring me, I'd waited for someone to inform him that six or seven or eight years ago, I was there too.


I'd stroll outside the bar from time to time to take phone calls, real or imagined, or to look up and down the block with narrowed eyes as if searching for a tardy friend. I'd leaned against the scaffolding surrounding the still damaged building and breathed great mouthfuls of second hand smoke until my eyes watered. Then I waited, red faced and coughing for someone to nod solemnly, to know the cough was from the ash and smoke and grit and sweet baby Jesus who knows what else I'd swallowed that day.

I'd spat in the gutter hoping the smokers knew it was from the cancer I prayed wiggled through my body like termites.

The glasses piled up. By 10pm, I believed it really was New Year's Eve. I'd traded the 226 memorial bracelet, the one I took off only in the shower, for a sweat stained London Fire Brigade hat. I'd rambled about the men memorialized on the small bracelet, how they were more than tiny scratched names on a black metal band. I told the English fireman about the old bartender I'd seen that day six or seven or eight years ago, how we were now sitting in that very bar and how the old man's face was covered in dust, streaked wet with sweat or tears as he struggled to close the heavy door and metal gate.

I pointed through the bar's window to the back of the firehouse across a street that was really more alley than street and told how I'd pulled crying civilians and one damaged fireman from the broken back window of the firehouse.

I remember the fireman from England, or was it California or Wichita? nodding politely before gushing about how brave we were. I nudged my pint to the floor reaching for the second or third whiskey he'd bought me. The sound of shattering glass made me jump and I'd wished I hadn't switched positions that day and I drank more. I knew the Englishman wanted to be involved, wanted to really know. He yearned to touch me so he could touch that day--- to be part of it--- and I'd point to the bracelet on his wrist, not mine, and say no, no they were the brave ones, they charged into those buildings I stayed outside doing my job and they went up those stairs and I'd twist his arm and point to the bracelet and say you see this name right here? that's the man I switched with, the man who saved my life, and my shoes ground the broken pint glass into the checked tile floor and I would have went up too I swear I tried to go up but it was my job to stay and pump water into the building but they were in the building and I ran when they came down but I never left, I never left my friends and then I retired and then my stomach fell into my shoes and my balls crawled into my fat goddamn belly and I hated the Englishman for wanting to know for wanting to touch me to be me to have my medals and my FDNY patch and memories and I'd drink and try to raise hell to remember/honor my friends and I ran for the door barreled through the visiting firemen random bagpipers and bikers wrapped in American flags clogging the street that was really more alley than street and sometimes I'd get the bracelet back and sometimes I wouldn't and sometimes I'd stay and sometimes I'd leave and always I raged broke windows teeth small bones in my hand and I'd try to remember how many bracelets remained from the handful I kept wrapped safely in felt in the top drawer of my dresser at home a thousand miles away.

That was six, or seven, or maybe, just maybe eight years ago.
I don't know. It's hard to remember.
It's even harder to forget the things you remember.

Last year, I didn't go to O'Haras. I locked my door and pulled the shades.
I busied myself reading a thin book about men carrying things in Vietnam.
I didn't drink stout. I didn't sip whiskey.

The pants with the elastic band? Stuffed in a black plastic trash bag.

A girl who'd refused to let me hurt her also refused to let me to crawl under my bed. When I wept, she ran sweet, soft hands over my ugly knuckles.

She is a wonderfully freckled southern girl and she smells like sunlight and I thought she might be my love. She whisper-cooed in my ear when I tried to run into the street, run to O'Hara's or a place that wasn't O'Hara's in the shadow of where the World Trade Center once stood.

The girl held me tight when men in the book died and held me even tighter when the author of the book about men carrying heavy things in a jungle a thousand miles from home spoke of watching men die.


This year, I don't want to go to O'Hara's. I don't know where I'll be. Maybe under my bed, alone, or in the mountains of upstate New York with the girl. Maybe I'll run a trail through the woods. Or fall asleep in the girl's arms.
Most likely I'll read.
Maybe I'll cry.
Wherever I am, I will try not to think of my friends.

This year, I pray to honor these men by ignoring them.

An Interview with HandsOn New Orleans' Executive Director, Kertrina Watson Lewis

When we were researching our week to honor New Orleans, we found some wonderful organizations. One highlight for us was our video with HandsOn New Orleans. Please read on for my interview with Executive Director Kertrina Watson Lewis.

---

Please tell us a little bit about HandsOn New Orleans and how it started?
When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast, HandsOn Network made an immediate and serious commitment to address the devastation and support Gulf relief and recovery efforts through targeted volunteer action. With a Challenge Grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service, HandsOn New Orleans and HandsOn Gulf Coast (in Biloxi, Mississippi) were launched to serve the vast needs of communities directly impacted by the storms. The focus, then and now, was utilizing our project management expertise to more effectively deploy volunteers eager to help.

Can you talk about some of the programs you offer?
Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, HandsOn New Orleans has evolved from a disaster response project into a thriving volunteer action center for grassroots service projects, providing local and visiting volunteers with the tools, housing and training necessary to strengthen and revitalize their communities. HandsOn New Orleans continues to transform communities through volunteer service and leadership development. We offer: a Tool Lending Library, Volunteer Bunkhouse, Volunteer Leadership Training, Annual Days of Service, a Network of Committed Volunteers, a Flexible Calendar of Volunteer Projects, Non-Profit Partnerships/Resources, and a Corporate Projects Program/Hands@Work.

If someone wanted to volunteer what should he or she expect?
Volunteering with HandsOn New Orleans is as simple as 123. First, search our online project calendar for a volunteer project that piques your interest(s). Next, register for the volunteer opportunity online. Then, follow the instructions provided in a follow-up email, detailing the time, date and location of your volunteer opportunity. We even include what to wear, what to expect and information related to the impact area you’re addressing.

If someone had more time and wanted to help HandsOn New Orleans what should he/she do?
Contact our Volunteer Coordinators at (504) 483-7041 ext. 107 or volunteer@handsonneworleans.org for more information on long term volunteer opportunities in New Orleans.

How is New Orleans recovering 5 years after Katrina?
We’ve come a long way but there’s still plenty of work to do. Donations and volunteers are welcome.

Is there anything else you would like people to know about either New Orleans or your organization?
Much of the progress that has been made since Hurricane Katrina would not have been possible if it were not for the hard work and dedication of our volunteers, donors and friends from around the world—representatives from varying racial, religious and socio-economic backgrounds—who stood shoulder to shoulder with us to rebuild this great city. The impact that we have made together is nothing short of incredible.

---

For more information, please visit, HandsOn New Orleans

Help the People of New Orleans

Think there's nothing you can do to help the People of New Orleans in 1 Minute?

Starring - Amanda Kay Schill
Written by -  Julie Tortorici & Jessica Arinella
Shot, Edited and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistical Information Provided by: The Greater New Orleans Foundation, www.gnof.org

Special Thanks: Marthan Landrum and everyone at the Greater New Orleans Foundation, and Dennis Arinella

For more information, please visit - www.whatyoucando365.com

Help New Orleans Rebuild

Think there's nothing you can do to help New Orleans in 1 Minute?

Starring - Josh Zitomer
Written by -  Julie Tortorici & Jessica Arinella
Shot, Edited and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistical Information Provided by: Common Ground Relief, www.gnof.org

Special Thanks: Thom Pepper and everyone at Common Ground Relief, and Dennis Arinella

For more information, please visit - www.whatyoucando365.com

When I think of New Orleans...

When I think of New Orleans…

New Orleans has long been one of my favorite cities in America. I am a New York City girl, but there is something about the atmosphere, texture and ambiance of New Orleans that intrigues me. You walk around the city and you can feel it.
When Hurricane Katrina hit, I remember feeling so helpless. What was there that I could possibly do to help the city and the people living there?
It took five years, but I was so happy to devote a week of What You Can Do to helping the Big Easy continue its rebirth.
In closing I wanted to share some of the things our friends and fans say they think of when they think of New Orleans….
Jazz
Beignets
Music
Mardi Gras
The indomitable spirit against adversity
The Food!
The forgotten but strong
The fleur de lis
Café du Monde
Voodoo
Being in love!
Bourbon Street
The Saints
Pat O’Brien
The Big Easy
Preservation Hall
Creole
Pralines
Gumbo
Faulkner
The heat!
Emeril
John Besh
River boats
Ann Rice
Wynton Marsalis
The King Cake
Louis Armstrong
The French Quarter
Marie Laveau
The World War II Museum


If you have anything to add – please feel free!

Help Rebuild the City of New Orleans

Think there's nothing you can do to help New Orleans in 1 Minute?

Starring - Iliana Inocencio
Written by -  Julie Tortorici & Jessica Arinella
Shot, Edited and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistical Information Provided by: Hands on New Orleans, www.handsonneworleans.org

Special Thanks: Ketrina Watson and everyone at Hands on New Orleans, and Dennis Arinella

For more information, please visit - www.whatyoucando365.com

Help Fight Hunger in New Orleans

Think there's nothing you can do to help fight hunger in New Orleans in 1 Minute?

Starring - Wilton Yeung
Written by -  Julie Tortorici & Jessica Arinella
Shot, Edited and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistical Information Provided by: The Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana, www.no-hunger.org

Special Thanks: Linzy Cotaya and everyone at the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana, and Dennis Arinella

For more information, please visit - www.whatyoucando365.com

Help the City of New Orleans

Think there's nothing you can do to help the City of New Orleans in 1 Minute?

Starring - Alex Marshall-Brown
Written by -  Julie Tortorici & Jessica Arinella
Shot, Edited and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission

Statistical Information Provided by: The Greater New Orleans Foundation, www.gnof.org

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Diary of An American Shopper - New Orleans Edition

Diary of an American Shooper - New Orleans Edition

New Orleans has always intrigued me. How could it not? It's a city with so much history. It invented a style of architecture, a style of music and a style of food. To me that's up there with the big boys - New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. I had always wanted to visit the city - I remember back in high school while working on our spring musical and bored with rehearsing, I tried to convince a friend of mine to drive with me down to Mardi Gras. He refused. So I waited.

Last summer, we finally got to visit and I wasn't disappointed at all. New Orleans is one of those cities that keeps it's past fresh within it. I felt the same thing when I visited London for the first time. It made sense to me that this was the city that spawned Charles Dickens, Jack the Ripper, the Clash, Alfred Hitchcock and Ian Fleming . New Orleans' history made sense to me too. This city housed Truman Capote, Anne Rice, Stephen Ambrose, John Besh, William Faulkner, Lee Harvey Oswald, Louis Armstrong, Wynton Marsalis and James Booker just to name a few -for a full list visit. There is this overwhelming vibe of "cool" that hangs in the air. The balconies drip with the ghosts of culture. It seems that this city is built upon remembering it's history. One legend leaning on another to bring us to today.

If you get the chance to visit this city, you won't be disappointed (word of advice - try to avoid it in the summer if you aren't good with the heat). Listen to some music, sample some pralines, eat some beignets and have some chicory. Take home a piece of art to remember this great city. I'm sure you'll find it as welcoming as I did.

There are local candy artisans, coffee roasters, musicians, painters and writers all selling treasures for you to take home. I found an awesome painted panel for my friend. I found it right off of Jackson square in the French Quarter. We turned the corner and there were a bunch of Jazz musicians singing and selling their cd - a great gift for jack. We sent home pralines from Southern Candy Makers. And of course we sampled some beignets and chicory at Cafe Du Monde.

And who can forget this is the land of Tabasco. We also found an amazing autograph store called Vintage 429. It was amazing. They had autographs from presidents ranging from Thomas Jefferson to Obama. They had a flag signed by all the Apollo astronauts, not to mention the countless celebrity and sports stars. There were so many autographs they were running out of room.

It's heartbreaking that this city and region keeps getting pummeled with hardship after hardship. It doesn't seem fair. Don't let the history and culture fade, visit this region. Support the people of New Orleans. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Our Beaches Then and Now - Diary of an American Shopper day 295

Our Beaches Then and Now - Diary of an American Shopper Day 295


As many of you know, I grew up in Massachusetts. I still consider myself a New Englander through and through. There is an unwritten rule for those of us who grew up in the tiny six. No, not our cynicism! We summer at the beach - either the Cape, New Hampshire or Maine. Not to neglect the Connecticut shore, but it doesn't have the same weight as the other three. Moving on....

When Jess and I were wee youngin’s, my parents packed our towheads in the back of the car - put Stevie Wonder on the tape deck, and off we went. Now, I'm bound to make people upset with this, BUT us yankees (not the team, gross! GO SOX) are very particular about what constitutes the Cape. Technically, Cape Cod is the eastern most part of Massachusetts – you know the part that looks like a body builder flexing. However, like anyone with a homebound sense of pride, there is an attitude of my Cape is better than your Cape. We break the Cape into who's on it, and who pretends. For most of us, the Cape doesn't start until the middle - sorry Woods Hole. That being said, my family summered in Wellfleet, which is two or three towns from the tip (depending on if you categorize North Truro as it's own town). Needless to say, when we were growing up - we vacationed on the CAPE. No question about it, Jess and I made the National Seashore our home.

Wellfleet is a great town because not only does it have the ocean, but it also has lakes made from old tide pools - great for kids. If my neurotic mother was feeling particularly anxious, she didn't have to worry about us getting whisked out in the undertow or eaten by a shark (Jaws was based on a fictional Martha's Vineyard after all), we could practice our swimming on the peaceful waters outside our cabin. We could sun ourselves on the dock and swim back to shore. Wellfleet had it all.

Jess and I's favorite activity was going to Marconi beach - or as we called it Macaroni. (Side note, I didn't realize it wasn't named after pasta until a few years ago. Oh what a child's memory will create. You should hear how I remember our first house - it rivals Hogwarts).

One thing that we always loved about Marconi was the dunes. They're so high and so soft. They're fun to play in. It was so easy to imagine giant castle walls springing up to protect us. Perfect for the budding thespian in Jess and filmmaker in me. We found horseshoe crabs, quahog shells and the occasional starfish.

The National Seashore was our playground and we were spoiled. It shaped our love of the ocean and our ideas of summer activities. We would collect shells, make sand castles, body surf, and bury each other in the sand. Our picnics would inevitably include sand in our watermelon, but we didn't care - it made it crunchy. After a long day, we would dump sand out of our shoes, and go to Serena’s for dinner followed by PJ's for a fudge nutter bar. Life was good.

Around my tenth summer, my parents decided that the Cape was getting too crowded, so we started going to Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. It had a whole other slew of activities - golf carts, skeeball, make your own sundaes, and alpine slides, but Jess and I missed our wonderland. After a few years of begging and pleading, we took a weekend trip to the Big Linguine. But it wasn't at all like we remembered.

There were beer cans left from a late night party, and the whole beach had turned into a giant ash ray. It was so depressing. The pristine place that we revered was tainted and it was hard to imagine that it could ever be the same. Why would people be so selfish? For a long time, I didn't go back. I found it too upsetting. It was as if someone were stamping all over our childhood.


A couple of years ago, I felt the Atlantic pulling me out, so I decided to take Atticus (my pooch) to the Cape for a week. Inevitably, we stayed in Wellfleet. (I'm nostalgic what can I say). This time, the beach was restored to its former glory.

Was it because I was visiting in September, or was a massive beach clean up underway? I hope it was the latter. I would love to share the Cape with my kids and show them what I grew up with - a magical playground instead of a giant trashcan.

I have visited many times since them - and I am happy to report that Marconi, Nauset and Coast Gaurd are all beautiful and clean.

To ensure that fact, I'll leave the beach cleaner than how I found it. What about you?

I mark day 295 a hopeful improvement.