Do Something More Melissa Draper

Summertime for many of us also means vacation time! In this episode I’m sharing some of my own reasons for why service on vacation is a great idea. I also have some simple tips for how you can make service happen: some of them you can do with little to no planning, and some take just a little planning. I hope after this episode you can see how easy and fun it can be to incorporate service in your travel plans.Links mentioned in episode:Just ServeFollow the podcast on social media:Do Something...

When she was a freshman in high school, Meg Busing was in a tragic car accident with some of her friends. She ended up with a traumatic brain injury and as a teenager had to learn how to navigate life with a distinct set of new challenges. She was able to successfully graduate high school, but a few years later in college, she had her first seizure and was diagnosed with epilepsy. She managed to achieve her dream of graduating with her degree in nursing, but then a few years later during a pr...

Jen Simonic and Masey Kaplan are both crafters at heart and have been friends for over 30 years. After having their own experiences with finishing crafting projects for other friends and loved ones who had passed away, they started tossing around the idea of a nonprofit where they could create a community of crafters who would be available to finish projects families and individuals would like finished that their loved ones had started.Now their nonprofit, Loose Ends, has a community that spa...

It’s Mother’s Day coming up this Sunday here in the United States…so this episode is dedicated to all the good women out there and the good service they do with their own families and those around them. First, I'm sharing some pretty personal thoughts about a conversation I had years ago that gave me a shift on my motherhood and navigating the challenges of life. And I’m also sharing a fun poem I wrote a few years ago that highlights all the good daily work Mother’s do. My goal is that when y...

Melanie Rodger lost her first son just 32 hours after his birth when she was 20 years old. That loss prompted her to want to seek community and not feel alone as she navigated the grieving process. During that time, she learned about 'Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep', a nonprofit that provides remembrance portraits to parents experiencing the death of a baby. Melanie had known she wanted to be a part of other families' stories in a way that others had been there for her, and when she was ready she...

Several years ago Krysti Wright felt nudged to more intentionally start using her gifts and talents to make a difference in the world. She had always loved doing long-arm quilting and decided that was where she could make her contribution. She started off with a small group of women who worked together making and donating quilts to different causes. But then she started having other groups reach out to her who wanted to help or needed service projects to do, and that’s when she realized what ...