I wanted to write up a quick post as a follow up to the one I posted last week about how my emotions over Angel and her situation in Shattered Angel suddenly overpowered me in the middle of my kickboxing class. In that moment, I realized that I had to find a way to work through my emotions.
It was a new experience for me, and I wasn’t sure how to move forward. I’ve had a strong bond with all the characters in my various books, and not all of them have had an easy life. Sarah had the loss of her family. Elijah suffered at the fate of a genetic disease. Marcus struggled with building a present under the uncertainty of his future. Each of them touched me in different ways.
But Angel. Somehow she transformed something inside of me, and her story affected me deeply.
The first step to moving forward was to allow myself to feel, really feel, the emotions I had bottled up—pain, anger, frustration, sorrow. While it was difficult, I’ve started to heal through the process of accepting my feelings.
As the weight of my feelings began to lift, I knew I still needed to do more. I did some research and came across the organization Gems: Girls Educational and Mentoring Services.
I’ve decided that this is how I can help make a difference. There are many ways to get involved with Gems—I’ll tell you where I started (with links), but there are other things you can do as well.
The first thing I did was like their Facebook page.
The next thing I did was go to AmazonSmile and mark Girls Educational and Mentoring Services as my charity of choice. Now, anytime I purchase something on Amazon, a portion of the purchase price will be donated to my selected organization. Wow! I had no idea this opportunity even existed. Here’s the link to AmazonSmile—I encourage you to do the same. This is a way to contribute that will only cost you a few seconds of your time. In the future you just have to make sure you’re shopping through smile.amazon.com rather than just amazon.com.
Then I decided to help with some of the items needed for crisis supplies (items such as toothpaste, deodorant, diapers, etc.). Last year I earned $100 in my Healthmiles account. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with it. Well, it’s all about to be spent on items to send to Gems. There is a wish list on Amazon, and when I check out it will automatically ship to Gems. Easy peasy. Bonus—remember I signed up for AmazonSmile so any eligible items on their list will also send Gems a donation!
Going forward, you will see some things from me from time to time on my Facebook page, or in a blog post. I’ll share different things from Gems, either stories or ways you can get involved.
This is not to pressure anyone to donate to Gems. I know many of you already donate to many different charitable organizations. For my own needs, I decided to support Gems and become an advocate. Please use the information I share based on your own heart—contribute, share with others, or simply pray for those who are suffering.
~Carrie
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