Levain Bakery’s Post

Please consider supporting this initiative and help unleash the inner voices of those who are non-speaking or minimally speaking. This population has been grossly under estimated and under served. They are BRILLIANT and deserve to be heard! Your donation = -Scholarships for local Nonspeaking & Minimally Speaking individuals to access alternative communication (i.e., spelling to communicate/letterboards) -Community building for Nonspeaking individuals and their families in NE Ohio -Public education on global Apraxia & helping to shift the inaccurate assumption that non-speaking means non-thinking https://lnkd.in/eztv7nZ5

There is more to consider than your final arrangements when thinking about your death. Who gets your comic book collection? Where do you want your clothes donated? There are so many small things to sort out that take away from your loved ones time to grieve. The kindest thing to do is to take time to consider these things and pick a hand full of people you trust to execute these plans for you. Give them one last chance to show their love for you.

HEY HEY HEY HEYYYYY … TODAY'S THE DAY!!! It’s MOVE-IN DAY!! Time to put #MiraclesInMotion and get our first scholar moved in at WILEY COLLEGE. First things first - to our AMAZING volunteers and INCREDIBLE sponsors - Y'ALL ARE THE REAL MVPs!!! Without you, this wouldn't be happening. Period. You're not just moving furniture, you're moving MOUNTAINS of obstacles out of our scholars' way! To our Move-In Day Mafia family - WE READY!!! 💪🏾🙌🏾 Today, we're not just moving scholars into dorms. We're moving them into their FUTURES! This is just the START! More move-in days coming, and we need YOU! Yes YOU reading this post.  We've got more move-in days coming up, and we need YOU! WHY? Picture this: A scholar, standing outside their dorm, everything they own in one small bag. They're scared. Excited. Very little to no support.  Figuring college life out alone. Then YOU show up with a smile, a hug, and a helping hand.  That scholar knows they're not alone. They've got a whole FAMILY behind them!  A MOVE-IN DAY MAFIA COMMUNITY! Every person that VOLUNTEERS , every DONATION, every share that spreads our message - it ALL matters! Because at the end of the day, we're furnishing rooms and furnishing DREAMS. We're not just unpacking boxes. We're unpacking POTENTIAL. So, are you in? Ready to put some #MiraclesInMotion ? Find the links on how you can DONATE -VOLUNTEER - PARTNER - SPONSOR Help us keep this Move-In Day energy going ALL SEASON LONG! #MoveInDayMafia #MiraclesInMotion #WileyCollege --- Who is  Move-In Day Mafia? #MoveInDayMafia is a, non-profit organization, founded by #TeeJMercer,  composed of a "mob" of #volunteers who descend upon #HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges & Universities) to provide #dormroom #makeovers and monthly care packages for 4 years primarily to #students who have aged out of #fostercare, are #unhoused, or grapple with #financial hardships.

Hello LinkedIn world and network of friends! I haven't been on in a bit but I have taken a campaign that I feel passionately about. The Presbyterian Ear Institute is running a Wine, Women and Shoes event in which they will have a pseudo Gala but I think a lot more fun. Simply put, women will bid on shoes, get a great spread of food and of course served wine. Now comes my part. I have been tasked with raising 10,000 dollars by September 6th. I have made a quarter of my goal already and I need your help to get me there. I rarely ask for donations and if you remember correctly I undertook and raised a copious amount of money from holding golf tournaments and corporate sponsorships. This particular campaign will have to be more of a grass root individual based contributions. If you can spare as little as 50 dollars and go up if you can, these add up and I will make my goal. I just know it and I've been blessed to have an overwhelming amount of friends but I need to use my FULL reach to make my goal. Please click on the link below and PLEASE share my post. The Presbyterian Ear Institute gives the children who newly acquired the gift of hearing, the ability to use this sensory item. They are able to learn to read, write and speak as the development of these traits is obviously stunted or slowed immensely if they remain deaf. With this schooling PEI offers, the students are able to join the real world and have a better chance of succeeding versus remaining deaf. Here a few facts about the statistics with the deaf community. -Only 8% of deaf people graduate college -The average reading level is that of a 4th grader -1/3 need assistance through another person for life -Only 1% of the world knows sign language These are harsh statistics and while many have been able to fluorish the ability to give a completely deaf child hearing is nothing short of a miracle. The efforts of PEI and the aftermath from the schooling is touching. What a time to be alive eh! Again, I feel passionate about this and this is why for the first time I have reached to you, my friends, to deliver on my 10,000 goal. Again, please click the link below. Give it a read and donate what you can AND share this post. Thank you as it's a blessing already to have the support you have given in any of my endeavors. https://lnkd.in/gRjUh3nB -Grant

MLILY USA supports veterans in a big way. 🇺🇸🛏️ Discover how their recent donation of 60 hybrid mattresses is making a difference for homeless veterans. Read the full story here: https://ow.ly/IT3o50S6Eke International Sleep Products Association (ISPA) #MattressIndustry #VeteranSupport #CommunityService #Mlily #BedTimesMagazine

Please don't buy anything right now to help you feel your feelings. I am alarmed at how many emails, texts, & posts I see asking for your donation to "fight," "fix," or "learn" something. What a vulnerable time to alleviate, sell, or resolve what's going on for folks. I am thankful to folks, orgs, and communities who are space-makers...creating sessions to be in #community. I am thankful to those folks offering words--yours or someone else's--to acknowledge you are not alone and the things you care about still matter. I hope you have someone(s) or places you feel cared for, seen, & heard. Please do what feels right to you...and trust IT...not someone else's paid for solution.

Sock Rocket was born 8 years ago out of a combination of boredom with my then-freelance-based web development business, and a desire to marry subscriptions and social enterprise to see what was possible. Turns out A LOT was possible. In our first year of business (2016), Sock Rocket donated 280 pairs of socks to 1 organization (shoutout to Hull Services) and handed out 100 or so more in person on the streets of downtown Calgary. I ran the business entirely in 3-4 days of work each month as I focussed on my web development company and my golf game. A humble beginning and very much a hobby project. 7 years later this is my full time job + some, we employ several people, and we sling custom merch to some of the biggest companies in Canada. So far this year we’ve donated 128,000 pairs of socks to 70ish organizations, and it’s very likely we’ll hit 200,000 pairs donated this year alone by the time Christmas rolls through. Thank you all for your love and support. Thanks for believing in Sock Rocket, but mostly thanks for believing in social enterprise. Spoiler alert - it’s not really about socks, y’all. Socks are a vehicle to tell a bigger story - It’s about the power of social enterprise. Sock Rocket is a very simple application of a social enterprise, and I’m just here to prove that if we can do it, that means YOU CAN DO IT BETTER! There is so much potential good to be done out there, and I really believe that businesses hold a ton of power to be able to enact change. Thanks again for believing in me, humans. It means a ton. I hope we’ve made you proud so far - there’s plenty more where this came from! 500,000 down. On to the next 500,000!

I promise I'll post about my actual job (we have a new video to share about Mainframe mod and GenAI!) but as summer winds to a close I wanted to share a charity opportunity related to Golf: https://lnkd.in/g2i6mqfG Ultimately this is about helping kids lead healthier lives and is related to the amazing work that Jack and Barbara Nicklaus have done across the world to help kids heal and thrive with their Play Yellow initiative. My Wife Ashley and her colleague Kelli are going to play 72 holes of golf in one day and they are going to make it rain birdies. If you have a bit of a gambling mindset, you can make a donation based on the number of birdies they're going to make. You can also make an up-front donation. Note that this is focused on Colorado - ask your local pro if something is happening near you! Why is this on LinkedIn? Two reasons - first - this is really the only social media I do. I do so little I don't know if this actually counts as social media. Second - having married a professional golfer I've learned a lot about golf that has surprised me. Watching Ashley and her friends and colleagues navigate a male-dominated world (5% of PGA professionals are women. 5%!) is in many ways a clearer lens to the same challenges we see in technology. The backlash we've seen in some pockets of the world against fostering inclusion - one person's opinion here - ignores the reality that a diversity of thought and opinion makes teams better. Here's a golf example - when you're taking a golf lesson, you are incredibly vulnerable and it can be intimidating - no single approach works for everyone. Finding a coach that resonates with you (and this can be especially hard for women coming to the game, or children wanting to learn) is critical to your experience. There is not a long line to draw between this phenomenon and what we see in technology as leaders, mentors and peers. Also, golf is fundamentally a game of integrity - I've seen remarkable examples of leadership and integrity on the course (look up "Sahith Theegala penalty" for an unbelievable example recently) and again it reminds me of all the things we try to do as leaders and professionals in business. I've always liked the phrase "integrity is what happens when no one is looking" and if golf can help me and others to model that, there's more to the game than I thought. Let me close by saying - for those in the Northern Hemisphere - enjoy the last gasps of summer, whatever brings you outside to do so!

📚UPDATE📚 Thank you for everyone who has donated so far however we are still very short on funds and time….please continue to share as we still need about $7,000. The Book Worm received a beautification grant to enhance our outdoor area. We plan to create an amazing story garden for things like storytime, workshops, community reading, a place for teachers to reserve for field trips, and so much more. The bad news is that it is a matching grant and the project needs to be completed by April 2024 to receive the funds. Even matching, the grant does not fully cover what is needed to complete the project and keep The Book Worm running. This time The Book Worm needs your help. We have found a great family-owned local business that can help bring this vision to life. Not only will they be able to help us meet our deadline to receive the grant, but they have graciously agreed to donate the labor and materials to create an outdoor book nook in memory of Aaliyah Marshall-Douglin who passed away last year. Before the bookstore, there was Julia the author. Author of the I Love ME! Book Series and with that a journey of I Love ME! Ambassadors. Aaliyah Marshall-Douglin was one of the original I Love ME! Ambassadors and the I Love ME! team have wanted to honor her memory and love for literacy. The book nook is our way of doing that. Here is where we need your help. We need to come up with a minimum of $8,000 to get things started and to be able to begin the work all while keeping The Book Worm running. We also could use some help when it comes to demolishing the existing structure. Any labor we can take care of, will help reduce our overall costs. https://lnkd.in/et4CY-Tn

The challenges facing young people today are tough. 1 in10 are disengaged from education, training and employment, 1 in 4 have mental health challenges and tragically, more young people die from suicide than any other cause. Young people need our help! That’s why on Friday, 6 September I will be joining TRACTION and 30 other business and public sector industry leaders at the CEO Bike Build to support early intervention support programs for 12–15-year-olds in our community. TRACTION builds powerful pathways for young people to reach their full potential. They deliver evidence-informed, hands-on learning and mentoring programs, to help young people engage in education and build the resilience and skills they need to thrive. I am asking for your support to raise funds for the TRACTION CEO Bike Build and build awareness for the challenges facing young people in Southeast Queensland, and the impact early-intervention programs can have in changing the trajectory of a life. Please help support this great cause, and support more young Queenslanders by donating today: https://lnkd.in/gZUCWEfD