Practicing graceful simplicity

By Chris Armstrong

Photo by nicollazzi xiong from Pexels

You may be reading this at home and wondering, rather longingly (as I am), “When is TJ Maxx going to reopen?” That’s ok…we’ve been groomed since birth to be mass consumers. According to the marketing firm Yankelovich Inc., the average modern person is exposed to 5,000 ads per day. That’s almost 2 million per year. The science of implicit bias points out that it doesn’t matter if we remember those ads or not — our subconscious mind does, and it does most of the decision making for us.  Continue reading →

Spring Cleaning 2020

By Maka Boeve

April 22, 2020 – the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day is also momentous in that it is six weeks or 43 days since the coronavirus was declared a global pandemic.

The Earth is literally moving less due to decreased human activity, according to seismologists, and everything figuratively has turned upside down. As people have slowed down, many are reflecting on what they used to take for granted. Continue reading →

Giving to those most in need

By Shanti Argue

Photo by Skitterphoto from Pexels

In the last month, millions of Americans have lost jobs, been furloughed, or seen their customers disappear into social distancing. The ripple effects of this are being felt throughout the economy, and the fastest way congress can address the shortages is a supplemental check to millions of Americans regardless of their job status. 

This makes total sense – things have changed so suddenly that verifying people’s incomes and job status would waste precious time. The fastest way to get money to people who need it is by giving money to everyone, because many people have seen their income evaporate overnight, especially small business owners.

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Helping others touched by the gift of life through organ donation and transplantation

By Sharon Rosen

April is National Donate Life Month, a time to encourage people to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and honor all those who have saved lives through the gift of organ donation. Approximately 115,000 people nationwide are waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant – that’s enough people to fill the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis almost two times.  Continue reading →

Staff + volunteers + donors + community = meeting the challenge 

By Sharon Rosen

Channel One Food Bank is facing its biggest challenge in its 40-year history of serving southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, more people than ever are facing food insecurity, and many are turning to Channel One for the first time.  Continue reading →

Tiffany Piotrowicz sits down (in separate places of course!) with Emily over coffee to share a bit of history of TerraLoco and how her attitude of “crisis fosters creativity” is helping her create more opportunities. Continue reading →

By Gina Dewink

This past Saturday I saw J.J. Abrams’ living room. If you don’t know who he is, think back to LOST, the new Star Trek movie, Star Wars… tons of other stuff you know. He’s a writer, producer, composer and all-around Hollywood celeb. And because of the virus, I was able to donate $20 to the Red Cross and participate in an all-day digital conference about screenwriting with him and other huge names. It was unreal. Continue reading →

We find ourselves in a situation which is likely causing most of us more stress than normal. While we are unable to change the circumstances which surround us, there are things we can do to better cope. Continue reading →

Happy Trans Day of Visibility! Although we can’t be out celebrating, there are things we can do from home to recognize the trans people in our lives.

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