Today I am forgoing my usual morning routine to focus on a topic that is too closely tied to child health and nutrition, poverty. It can be overwhelming to think about the number of children going hungry today, in our own community and around the world. But there are also many organizations and great leaders working to combat the problem, and small steps you can take to help make a difference in just a few minutes. Here’s my own “Power of 8″ formula:

• Average trip into coffee shop for morning latte and pumpkin muffin: 8 minutes
• Average cost of latte and pastry: $8
• 86.1 million people in 80 countries rely on World Food Program assistance

In the spirit of “eating locally, acting globally,” I am contributing today to both a domestic and an international cause. Locally, I am supporting Share our Strength, a national organization supporting community programs to end child hunger, where $8 will provide a child three meals a day for a week. Globally, $8 will buy 32 school meals through the Friends of the World Food Program. Blog Action Day’s purpose is not just to spend a day highlighting the issue of poverty, but to “change the conversation” and create action. I will be revisiting my contributions on the 8th of each month, setting aside my coffee change to change the world. Oh, and for the rest of my 8 minutes, after donating to those two sites, I’ll be playing Free Rice.

Are you participating in Blog Action Day? Share your link below!

Blog Action Day 2007 post: Eat Organic. Save the Earth.

I saw the saddest story on the nightly news last week, about Salvation Army stores pulling all toys from their shelves because they can’t keep up with all the recalls. While it’s nice on the one hand that they are making sure dangerous toys aren’t just unloaded on the less fortunate, it’s awful that they have no or fewer toys available. The Marines’ Toys for Tots program has brought in extra staff just to check donations against recall lists. I picked up an extra wood non-Chinese toy this weekend during our holiday shopping for a local drive — please think about doing the same when you shop!

If you haven’t already seen it, a new site lists toy test results: www.HealthyToys.org. They test for multiple chemicals in addition to lead, like arsenic and mercury. (Why is there arsenic and mercury in toys?!?) I’m relieved to see a Melissa & Doug product on the “best” list (many of their products are made in China) — and disturbed to see Circo shoes on the worst.