Supporting a cause

The act of giving is a great thing all the way around. The charity receives much-needed support, and you feel great about being involved and making a difference. I've advised my stressed-out brides to find a little something to do as a way to Give Back. It might be a $10 donation to a charity or volunteering at a 5K on a free Saturday morning.

A colleague of mine asked me to participate in her fund drive for MDA, and that request brought back such great memories of my childhood days. My sister, brother and I planned and carried out big carnivals in our backyard...my Dad made one of those wheels that you spin to win a prize [I'm sure he still has it in his workshop.] We set up all kinds of games, had movie showings of 'Jason and the Argonauts' in our garage with the movie projector and provided little baggies of popcorn to those who paid 15 cents to see the film. And I was the fortune-teller in costume, up in the tree house with fabric on the walls and little crystal ball for effect. [I had event-planning in my blood even then!] We had gone to Nabisco to ask them for a donation of goodies as prizes, and they gave us a giant case of Oreos. I don't remember what we raised, but I do remember how much fun it was to work together for a great cause.

Since then, I've become very involved in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (www.lls.org), speaking at one of their events and continuing to raise funds, supporting my brother in his marathon fund-raiser, writing to politicians about medical research funding, and I also sponsor schoolkids at a Lakota School in North Dakota. Last year, I received a letter from a few of the graduates, and that was incredible. Even a two-minute effort for a cause returns such great emotions. And that's exactly what a bride and groom need now.

Getting involved in a cause now, even when you're stressed with the wedding, removes you from your little world [in the grand scheme of things] and connects you to something so much bigger. Which is always a great thing.

So great work, Toni and Steve, for your efforts now, and I hope that you all find a way to give a little something back to the world.