FSO: What does "Home" mean to you?

I had done lots of charities.
The biggest two were raising funds
 for the deaf in Kenya for 16 years and
 to separate a pair of Siamese/co-joint
 twins from Nepal.
 These two monumental charities were
 operated from homes of my fellow friends and neighbours.

My church Mt Albert Baptist Church
 is digging wells in Thailand 
so homes in the hills can have clean water.

In New Zealand, I am connected with a group
 of selfless women and men
. We have a common thread.
 We lost our babies.
Last year, their charity involved 
inviting New Zealand into their lives
 and their homes in the Television Screening 
of "Its OK to Cry."
 I was interviewed and filmed
 in my home about my own experience 
as a bereaved mother and my book.

In June,  I was very happy to be associated 
with this  fund raiser,Pinafore Princess,
 a retail/shopping store which did an auction
 to raise funds for Manukau Sands. 
I donated 2 signed copies of my book, 
"Diary of a bereaved mother, goodbye my baby."

Right now, we have been invited to raise funds 
so that we can rent space for all the work 
the National Sands Office and Sands Manukau do. 

Sands Manukau are a registered charity (CC32638)
 set up to support parents and their families 
who live in the Manukau region 
and have experienced the death of a baby
 during pregnancy, at birth or up to a year 
following a full term birth. 
We also support parents
 facing the difficult decision following a poor prognosis.

Sands Manukau supports our local hospital
 – Middlemore – 
educating staff on the experience of baby loss 
and providing support items for them 
to give to parents. 
Our main service is the Care Bags 
we provide to bereaved parents.

Sarah Numan stays at home
 - "I run Sands Manukau 24 hours.
 I have 3 angels, Hope, Noah , Willow 
and 5 living living." 
What an incredible woman.

September 28: Home: 

What does  "Home" mean to you?

I am doing this theme with a twist:

 I am choosing the saying," Charity begins at home."

Here is an article where 2 actors 

are sacrificing their time away

 from home to raise funds for 

Cure Kids and how low can some idiots  be.

Actor's plea for stolen charity items

NEIL REID

Last updated 05:00 27/09/2012

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BROOKE GARDINER/ Fairfax NZ

CHARITY CALLING: Will Hall (left) with Cure Kids Ticket To Hope recipients Ashleigh Neal and Simone Lang, and fellow Shortland Streeter Robbie Magasiva.

Award-winning actor Will Hall has made a plea for the return of items set to be auctioned off for a Cure Kids charity fundraiser, as well as uniforms he and fellow actor Jordan Mauger were to wear in the upcoming $10 Queenstown Challenge.

Hall's car was broken into in the Auckland suburb of Balmoral on Monday night.

Thieves stole a suitcase containing items he had collected for the auction he and Mauger are set to host on Friday night, as well as their Team Moa Hunters uniforms for the three-day challenge which aims to raise tens of thousands for Cure Kids.

''If anyone has any information regarding the whereabouts of what was taken, that information would be great," Hall said.

''It is absolutely heart-breaking ... it is mind-numbing. On Tuesday I was like, 'I can't do anything'.''Hall's car was broken into after he had parked near Dominion Rd to get takeaways.

''I came out and saw a whole lot of glass on the road which I hadn't seen when I'd parked,'' he said.

''It wasn't until I went to get into the car that I saw that my two back windows were smashed in. I saw my bags were gone and was freaking out.''

The actor said he was not confident that the stolen auction items would be returned.

''Hopefully someone might also want to come forward to replace the items on our now dwindling auction item list. That would be nice.

''We could do with a show of support.''

The thieves also helped themselves to several of Hall's personal items, including his laptop which has on it film and TV scripts, footage of auditions and thousands of personal photographs.

Hall and Mauger have combined to form Team Moa Hunters, who will take on 34 other teams in the $10 Queenstown Challenge, starting on October 3.

The event is raising money for Cure Kids, dedicated to funding research to find cures for life-threatening illnesses that affect children.

The pair were set to be decked out in ''sharp black suits'' from sponsors Hallensteins for their 1550km journey.

Hall and Mauger had to withdraw from last year's $10 Queenstown Challenge when the event was rescheduled after a severe snow storm blanketed the South Island.

Hall told Sunday News on the weekend: ''It [the cause] is special to our hearts.

''Meeting the kids and seeing how much joy we can bring them is awesome.

''The money raised goes to the medical research to help them, to try and find cures to these life- threatening illnesses.''

Hall also spoke of how Team Moa Hunters had organised a charity auction to be held at central Auckland's Grace Bar & Restaurant, to raise funds for Cure Kids.

The event will still go ahead. Entry is free, with the auction and a donation from Moa Breweries helping to raise money for Cure Kids.

Competing challenge teams have to raise $7000 to make it to the start-line.

Since 2005, the $10 Queenstown Challenge has raised more than $2 million.

Anyone with information about the theft
 is asked to contact Cure Kids on  (09) 3700222, 
and Auckland Police on  (09) 302 6400.

Sorry, I am having formatting trouble again.

link to Mr Linky at the Friday shoot out link below.

http://mytownshootout.blogspot.com