Double Your Donation to MAU this Mother's Day!

Double Your Donation to MAU this Mother's Day!Mothers Acting Up (MAU) inspires and mobilizes mothers* to advocate on behalf of the world's children. MAU believes that when mothers lead, generations of global citizens will follow.
In celebration of all of YOU, an anonymous donor has graciously and beneficently offered to match every dollar you contribute to MAU between now and Mother's Day. Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity and double your donation in honor of all the mothers ACTING UP in your life; together we are Reclaiming Mother's Day.
Make a donation in honor of your favorite mom and we'll send them a Julia Ward Howe Mother's Day card on your behalf.

2008 year of the Strategy Mom

Dearest Joy Warriors & Apron-string Revolutionaries,

As MAUs continue to design the top ten ways to Reclaim Mother's Day, we humbly offer the second MAU Principle to incite some new ideas:
Follow the money: Every dollar spent, each tax dollar collected is a vote. It's time to get educated about what we're funding with our budgets - from personal products to the government policies our tax dollars support. If anyone knows how to shop, balance a budget and make sure everyone eats, it's mothers. Make sure your dollars vote for a healthy future. If all mothers embraced this principle today, tomorrow the world would be vastly more just. In the US, women spend 83% of the money. Good gravy!!
Let us be empowered and flex our economic muscle…Girlcott: use your dollars to create social change by supporting businesses and corporations with just trade and labor practices. Spending money never felt so good…
Buy Local, buy Fair Trade:
When possible, choose local foods, supporting regional agriculture and reducing the environmental impact of mass transport. Perhaps even throw a few seeds in the ground of your own backyard! Fair Trade Coffee (and other goods) are widely available, the purchase of these commodities allows for livable wages to be paid, directly supporting a higher quality of life for farmers and their children.
Know your federal budget:
It only takes a few minutes to see with your own eyes what your tax dollars are buying. Over half our federal discretionary budget is spent on "security" without any significant percentage allocated for preventative measures like funding for education and development, including our promised share of the UN Millennium Development Goals (eight international targets to end extreme poverty).
Vote:
Speaking to the importance of mothers in the coming election, Lorelei Kelly (a mother acting up) has designated 2008 the year of the Strategy Mom. She recognizes the importance of mothers voting, and the possibility that we can be the ones to bring the well being of our human family to the forefront of this pivotal election.Share how you Follow the Money by dropping us a line. If you visit the federal budget website we'll send you a FREE MAU BUMPER STICKER!

In most spirited partnership, Paige, for the MAU Mavens

In Boulder, Dr. Karambu Ringera led school children in a lesson on the importance of education for all. All eyes were on Dr. Karambu as she spoke of dirt-floored classrooms, distances walked and how few students know whether they'll return to school next year in Kenya.It's not too late for teachers to join The World's Biggest Lesson on April 23rd at 9 am!

Reclaiming Mother's Day

We are holding our first annual Bend MAU Reclaiming Mother's Day Event!
This year on May 11th at from 2pm-4pm we will be having a picnic at Harmon Park.
MAU's Mother's Day events are inspired by the life, words and actions of Julia Ward Howe. After the Civil War, Julia called for a day when mothers would unite across boundaries - of nationality, race, religion or political affirmation - to protect our global family.
The picnic is still in the planning stages, so all help is welcome. Please contact Kate at bend@mothersactingup.org if you have anything ideas to share, media contacts, groups I should invite, or you want to participate as a facepainter, stiltwalker, bellydancer, cupcake maker, or whatever you can imagine!

Be Exuberant!

Dearest Joy Warriors & Apron String Revolutionaries,From all over the country, people are taking the MAU Pledge to bring the security of the world's children into the forefront of all discussions - from conversations with family and friends, to our wider communities and certainly with candidates and elected officials.How to do this effectively? To answer that, let's begin at the very beginning, with the MAU Principle #1:Be exuberant: Since we're ACTING UP for the rest of our lives, our activism has to be joyful. No one wants to rally around anger; studies show that negative advertising causes women to politically disengage. This movement is about the JOY of standing up for what you believe & publicly declaring your priorities. Let's gather in the streets, not with bullhorns, but singing.With its roots in the lavish abundance of growing and being fruitful, the quality of exuberance smacks with the juicy goodness of mother nurture, Mother Nature and Mothers Acting Up.Exuberance in practical application means saying, for instance: "Thank you, Delta, for revising your policies in support of breastfeeding families," instead of, "Hey, Frontier, you messed up and breastfeeding moms are angry!" or by saying "Children Deserve a Bigger Piece of the Pie," instead of "Bush Hates Kids." But this is not about being sunny for sunny's sake. This is about focusing on WHAT WE WANT rather than looking back at what we reject. It's moving towards, rather than against.While perhaps Pollyanna in part, this primary MAU principle is neither easy nor simple. Sustaining exuberance is a tough row to hoe, a perennial crop whose nutritive value staves off depression, indifference and offers a real life solution to overwhelm and fear. Kind of like mother's milk for the great human family itself, exuberance promotes real security.Go forth and be exuberant mamas. Live in liberation of what others think of your choices. Model this joyful abundance because it feels good, because your kids will enjoy it far more than staying holed up in fear and loathing, and because you're likely to inspire others to sing along.Try sowing seeds of exuberance by sharing this email with two friends and asking them to declare themselves Mothers Acting Up. Try bolstering your own activism by writing YES on a mirror with lipstick so you see it each day; the affirmation a reminder of your call to duty and your sheer brilliance in carrying out your mission.In awed wonder at your beauty and power, Paige, for the MAU MavensPS. Click on the words in RED to link to more information. To respond to this email, click on Paige or email beheard@mothersactingup.org.

Spring Bend MAU

Febuary 14th girlcott at Thump Coffee 9:30
Come support and enjoy fair trade chocolate, coffee, and conversation. To find out more about girlcotts or for Thump's location go to:
http://mothersactingup.org/level3/recipes_girlcotts.html
http://www.thumpcoffee.com/location.htm

March 1st, Saturday
10am-noon
Westside Village school hosts MAU community meeting.
Meet at the cafeteria for food, art, and inspiration.
1101 NW 12th street

MAU Bend Spring 2008

Valentine's Girlcott. Lets give a big high five to a local buisness that supports fair trade chocolate. Email me at bend@mothersactingup.org if you have a favorite spot you want to nominate! We will meet there enjoy a humane treat, and give them a MAU Girlcott certificate of appreciation.

Meet and greet at Westside Villiage School the first week of March. The exact dates and time will be posted closer to the event. Come gather, take action to work toward improving the lives of children all over the world, and paint a banner for the first ever MAU Bend Mother's Day Parade.

Eat, drink, and reflect

Changing the Story: YES!
It’s time to shop, reflect, give thanks, eat! During the upcoming feasting and holiday celebrations, may we celebrate in particular the individuals who are changing the world’s story with the strength of their commitment; a story in which currently every other child lives in poverty, almost half of all war casualties are children, and global warming threatens every child’s future.

Let’s take time to honor mothers like the late Dame Anita Roddick who said, “I want to connect with people who share my outrage … But I also want to tell — and hear…stories that lift our spirits, that celebrate how glorious our planet is. Outrage and celebration — let's run this gamut together.” Inspired leaders like Greg Mortenson who says, “When I look into the eyes of the children in Pakistan and Afghanistan, I see the eyes of my own children full of wonder. I hope that we each do our part to leave them a legacy of peace.” Mamas and community builders like Tiffany Bellah, who says, “Having a baby changes everything. Since that wonder-filled day 6 years ago when Grace entered this world, I have been reaching out of my comfort zone. She has made of me a responsible revolutionary, and my role as her mentor and mother has propelled me to take an active part in forming the world she will be inheriting.”
People who, when our common family is threatened, find the courage and strength to change the story. This holiday season, Mothers Acting Up* cheers, stomps, whistles and in every other way honors the individuals around the world who are taking action on behalf of our future generations. YES!!!!
Purchase the 2008 MAU Handbooks for tales of story-changing individuals,
information and actions: www.mothersactingup.org
*mothers and others, on stilts or off, who exercise protective care over someone smaller