Tag: holiday

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Put The Pause On The Shop-Shop, Today Is #GivingTuesday

We all know about “Black Friday,” and “Cyber Monday.”

But more important, today is “Giving Tuesday.” Instead of shopping for holiday presents, today charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give.

It’s not about how much you give. It’s about the act of giving and celebrating that.

I’m sure many of you have your organizations of choice where you like to drop your donation dollars.

To help out today, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite charities to consider either today or this holiday season to help those who help others. Feel free to click on the links below to explore new possibilities for your Giving Tuesday.

• As I mention often here on The Randy Report, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is and has been near and dear to my heart for over 20+ years. BC/EFA is the premier Broadway organization to help those affected by HIV/AIDS, and I always like to point up the great work they do.

• The Ali Forney Center in NYC is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive shelter and services provider for homeless LGBT youth. Once homeless, they face higher incidences of violence, HIV infection, mental health issues and suicidal thoughts. In a single year, The Ali Forney Center connects with over 1,400 LGBT youth and serves over 150,000 meals to those who find themselves homeless. Medical and mental healthcare, career and educational counseling, job placement and training services are just a short list of important services provided. Click here to donate to their current crowd-funding campaign.

• Dogs rule at The Randy Report, and so it’s a no-brainer to make sure The Humane Society of the United States gets my shout out. You all know the impact HSUS makes on so many. The HSUS is the nation’s largest and most effective animal protection organization. Become a Humane Hero and consider donating to the HSUS here.

• It is incredible to me that in the greatest country in the world, people can go hungry.  Feeding America works to end that deficit. Their mission is to feed America’s hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger. And Feeding America is highly rated by the Better Business Bureau and Charity Navigator.

You can’t go wrong with any of the organizations listed above. OR, if you have a charity close you already, I’m asking that you make some donation – any donation large or small – today and celebrate the true spirit of the holiday season.

Thanks for reading.

Forward.

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CBS Christmas Special To Feature Gay Couple For First Time

CBS’ annual Christmas special – Home For The Holidays – will feature a gay couple and their family for the first time:

Home for the Holidays aims to promote awareness of the need for adoptive families for more than 400,000 children in foster care. This year’s telecast, set for Dec. 19, will highlight the story of Rich Valenza, who adopted a 5-year-old and 4-year-old brother and sister shortly before he met his now-partner Jared Gee.

The special produced in association with the Children’s Action Network features adoptions stories mixed with musical performances. This year’s lineup includes Jennifer Hudson, Train, Earth Wind & Fire, Rixton and Katharine McPhee.

This year marks the 16th edition of the popular holiday special.

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Holiday surprise on the 50 yard line

Master Sgt Joseph Martel returned home from deployment a month earlier than his son thought he was coming home. As soon as he got off the plane, he joined his wife and made a road-trip to Belgium to see his son play in his high school football game.

Great moment on the 50-Yard Line of a football field. His son is at first stunned, then breaks down in tears.

Sweet holiday moment.

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Christmas ad – “The Bear and the Hare”

Ok, so we’re not to Christmas yet, but you’ve got to see this holiday ad going nuts on YouTube today – an ad from Britain’s John Lewis department store chain.

Watch the new John Lewis Christmas TV advert and see Hare give his best friend Bear a Christmas he’ll never forget.

Set in a beautiful forest, poor Bear is the only animal that never gets to celebrate Christmas because he has to hibernate every year. However, this year is different. This year Hare has a brilliant idea.

The commercial uses a unique animation style that combines traditional 2D hand-drawn animation, stop frame, and 3D model made sets. The story is set to a cover of Keane’s ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ performed by Lily Allen.

(h/t JMG)

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Cyndi Lauper & Friends: Home for the Holidays Concert – December 7th

Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Fund today announced the 3rd annual “Cyndi Lauper & Friends: Home for the Holidays” benefit concert on Saturday, December 7th at New York City’s historic Beacon Theatre to help raise awareness about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth homelessness and funds for the organization’s Forty to None Project.

Cyndi Lauper will be joined on stage this year by P!nk, Josh Groban, Susan Sarandon, Nelly Furtado, the Indigo Girls, Rosie O’Donnell, Ingrid Michaelson, The Hives, Matt & Kim, Hunter Valentine, The Cliks, and returning host Carson Kressley. Additional guests will be announced soon.

Tickets will be available at Ticketmaster.com starting Friday, October 25th.

“Home for the Holidays is once again going to be an amazing night of music and comedy in support of a cause close to my heart, homeless gay and transgender youth,” remarked Lauper, co-founder of the True Colors Fund. “I’m proud that we have built a show that not only sells out every year, but has become well-known for bringing together a stellar array of artists to help change the world through an evening of incredible performances. This year’s concert will help us to continue to move our Forty to None Project’s work forward to help these young people live happy, healthy and productive lives.”

For more info go to the True Colors Fund website

Via press release

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Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta answer your questions on LiveStream

Fun Q&A with Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in December 2012 while promoting their holiday CD “This Christmas.” I was at the studio during the event, and afterwards both Olivia and John remarked that it had been one of their favorite promotional appearances. Said Travolta, “We actually got to take all the time we wanted to answer questions fully, and laugh and enjoy it.” I’d never heard of LiveStream before, but I think it’s a great way for people to interact with fans. The “live” aspect made being there exciting, and the fact that it’s available to be watched again later is a big improvement over Google Hangouts. (For the life of me I can’t figure out how to watch a Hangout once it’s over…) You can order their holiday CD “This Christmas” on Amazon by clicking here. p.s. and, of course, you know this isn’t Olivia’s first trip to the Christmas music rodeo…

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Life of a Wal-Mart greeter

Story on Facebook today:

“Two hours into my first day of work as a Wal-Mart greeter, an ugly woman came in with her two kids. Hearing her swear at them, I said, ‘Good morning, welcome to Wal-Mart. Nice kids, are they twins?’ The mom answered, ‘Hell no, they ain’t twins. The oldest one’s 9, and the other one’s 7. Why would you think they’re twins? Are you blind or stupid?’ I replied, ‘I’m not blind or stupid. I just couldn’t believe someone slept with you twice. Have a good day, and thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart.’ My supervisor said I probably wasn’t cut out for this line of work!”