nonprofitshoppingmall.com, everyday giving starts here. Choose from three easy ways to shop and give

Mother’s Day – it’s really a shame that it’s only once a year because there are just so many great ways to show mom how much she means to you. One extraordinary and very funny mom I know also happens to be a Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Ambassador and graced our inaugural People Who Care feature last October. This would be, of course, Good Enough Mother author, René Syler.

Scheduled to appear on NBC favorite, The Today Show on Friday, May 9, you can catch her segment and help support Susan G. Komen for The Cure® by shopping for mom or any woman in your life this Mother’s Day right here on www.nonprofitshoppingmall.com.

We’ve tried to make it easy for you by adding a Shop For The Cure category but rest assured — you can choose any retailer, any product — and still give a great gift that gives back.

And while we’re on message for Susan G, Komen for the Cure®, I was genuinely surprised to find an email from American Airlines outlining its 20-year relationship with the organization and its Miles For The Cure campaign. Since supporting the first race in Dallas in 1983, American has become an Official Race Series Partner of the Susan G. Komen

Race for the Cure® team. Twenty-five years ago, when there were less than 50 events across the country, American was named the official carrier of the Races and has been a member of Komen’s Million Dollar Council since 1992. For those of us who are AAdvantage® members, we can earn an additional 5 AAdvantage® Bonus Miles for every $1 donated directly online to Susan G. Komen For The Cure® through the 31st of May. There are some pretty tight Terms and Conditions to this promotion but I thought I’d go ahead and post them so you could make an informed decision. By making a donation directly to the organization through American’s Miles For The Cure program, we can all share a role in supporting Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and its vision of a world without breast cancer.

• Offer valid on contributions made online at www.komen.org/aa
• Minimum $25 donation required
• Promotion dates are April 16 through May 31, 2008
• Mileage cap for a 12-month period is 50,000 for U.S. members; 60,000 for international members
• Bonus miles do not count toward elite-status qualification
• Donations are tax-deductible minus the value of benefits received. Please allow up to eight weeks for the bonus miles to be posted to your account. Donations can only be accepted in U.S. dollars. All gifts are welcome; however, miles will only be earned for donations of at least $25 USD. Donations are tax deductible less $.022 per mile earned.
• Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and Miles for the Cure™ are marks of Susan G. Komen
• American Airlines reserves the right to change the AAdvantage® program at any time without notice. American Airlines is not responsible for products or services offered by other participating companies. For complete details about the AAdvantage® program, visit www.aa.com/aadvantage.

In this month’s blog, we cover a rather difficult topic – that of rape, sexual abuse and incest. Until we started working on this piece featuring Christina Ricci, the national spokesperson for RAINN (Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network) – the country’s leading anti-sexual assault organization, I wasn’t truly aware of the staggering numbers associated with these heinous crimes, their ongoing psychological effects and where public policy issues currently stand with respect to reporting, prosecuting and DNA testing. I was also sadly ignorant of the wide range of personal violence that often goes hand-in-hand with sexual assault. While disturbing on many levels, the wealth of information available on the RAINN website is an invaluable tool and I hope you’ll take the time to read through and learn from its hugely important messages.

The timing on this is especially crucial with schools letting out soon for summer and with graduation holidays just around the corner. RAINN is the go-to site for first-time freshman going away to college, anyone planning to move out on their own or those getting that first job away from home. On April 14, 2008, RAINN launched its newest outreach program, a safe, secure, anonymous place for victims to get help online. Using an instant-messaging style format, the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline allows sexual assault victims to communicate directly with trained crisis support volunteers available on www.rainn.org Together with its tele-based National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE), the organization will be able to provide a lifeline to victims trapped in situations where their only safe and secure link to the outside world may be through the Internet.

According to Scott Berkowitz, president & founder of RAINN, somewhere in America, someone is being sexually assaulted at the alarming rate of every two minutes. Almost half of these victims are under 18 and 80% are under 30. The new National Sexual Assault Online Hotline provides the services these young victims need, using the technology they embrace. In addition to providing support to victims of sexual assault, the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline provides information about recovery, medical issues, the criminal justice process, and local resources for family and friends of victims.

We hope you find this month’s feature a worthy one and that you’ll shop online to support RAINN programming now and going forward. We want to especially thank Christina Ricci for her participation in bringing this to our and your attention and before signing off, encourage you to become a RAINNMaker to support the organization’s ongoing initiatives.

We’ll have more on RAINN with our regular features in our May newsletter – coming soon.