There’s a lot of space weather because the sun burps [NASA]

Old letters are fun to see [Roberthuffstutter on Flickr]

A Red Cross pin board [Liz Le Dorze Pinterest]

Things I would do during a zombie apocalypse [Graph Jam, hat tip to Michael Windle]

Volunteer Emily is headed to South Africa [Carolina Piedmont Red Cross blog]

First stop, the American Red Cross Store. Here are my five favorite items for sale at this online shop:

- Solarlink F360 Eton Emergency Radio (ON SALE for $53.96) The Red Cross sells a number of emergency radios, but this one is my favorite. I love the color (I’m partial to anything red), the four power sources, the auxiliary output, and the USB compatibility.

- 2012 One Red Cross Calendar ($9.95) What better way to ring in the new year than with a Red Cross calendar on which to keep track of all of your volunteer commitments! I’m particularly partial to Red Cross calendars as both of my kids have made appearances in the past. (They’re not in this year’s calendar – sorry.)

- Baby Vintage Onesie ($18.50) I love all of the Red Cross vintage clothing, but this onesie is one of my favorite pieces. Both of my kids sported Red Cross onesies at one time or another, but that was before the vintage option came out. I’ll be purchasing the vintage style for friends who are having babies in the next few months.

- Stainless Steel Water Bottle ($24.95) We’re all trying to live a little greener, so why not pick up one of these army green water bottles? They’re perfect for home, the office, the gym, and travel.

- Vintage Field Bag ($25.00) I LOVE this bag. It’s great for toting everything from Red Cross teaching materials to my laptop to diapers, and it goes with nearly everything.

There’s also plenty of Red Cross apparel, pins, first aid kids, and emergency kits and radios available, should those things be more in line with what your family and friends would like for the holidays.

Second stop, the American Red Cross Holiday Giving Catalog. If the family and friends for whom you’re shopping already have everything they need, consider purchasing a “gift” in their name for someone in need. Here are my five favorite options from the Holiday Giving Catalog:

- Hygiene Kits for 3 Homeless Veterans ($30) Approximately 1/3 of our country’s homeless population are veterans. This gift provides these heroes with personal hygiene items like a razor, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, lotion, and more.

- Emergency Water Containers for 6 Families ($30) Water supplies disrupted by disasters can threaten community members with dehydration and disease. This gift provides families with containers to collect and store clean water.

- Vaccinations for 25 Children ($25) Measles still kills an estimated 450 people – mostly children – every day. This gift provides children with a lifetime of protection against this deadly disease.

- Swimming Lessons for 5 Children ($50) Many children don’t have access to swimming lessons that could someday save their lives. This gift helps increase safety around the water and prevent drowning.

- Gift of the Month ($300) Though a bit expensive by my holiday gift giving standards, this gift makes a powerful impact all year long by providing one item (infant care kit in January, hot meals in February, blankets in March, etc.) to someone in need each month.

Well now, that should cover just about everyone on your list, right? Happy shopping!

Anne Marie Borrego:
Hi Charlotte. First, I have to ask, what exactly is Serve?

Charlotte:
Serve is a new product from American Express that allows you to send and receive money from friends and family. You can access Serve online or through your mobile device or use your Serve card to make purchases everywhere American Express Cards are accepted.

To put it simply, we’ve all been in situations where we need to settle up with friends, go in on a gift, split the check or raise money for a cause – Serve makes it easy to move money wherever you are.

Anne Marie Borrego:
That’s helpful. So you’ve set up this special widget for the Red Cross. How does it work?

Charlotte:
We’ve developed a Serve Red Cross Charity Widget that can easily be downloaded to any web site, blog or social media page so that our customers and their friends can donate to the American Red Cross in just a few clicks.

As part of this partnership Serve will match contributions made through the Widget throughout the holiday season.

Anne Marie Borrego:
I should pause here and say thank you. Matching gifts like this help us stay out there with our shelters, show up when a house catches fire and do all of the good work that the nation relies on us to do.

Charlotte:
You’re very welcome. We, at Serve, are thankful and excited to partner with such an important organization to help make a difference this holiday season.

The money raised will fund critical needs like shelters, hot meals, and relief supplies to those affected by hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, earthquakes, and floods.

Anne Marie Borrego:
One last question-After making a donation, I might want to share the widget with my friends. Can I do that?

Charlotte:
To help us spread the world and encourage your friends to participate, download the American Red Cross Charity Widget on your blog, Facebook page or any of the social networks you hang out, or simply go to the Red Cross Site to donate and help us reach the maximum goal this holiday season – every dollar counts!

Have you used the Holiday Giving Widget? Did you share it? Please leave a comment, letting us know what you think.

People across the country are ordering holiday cards, printing holiday cards and mailing holiday cards. Cards to friends, cards to colleagues, cards to far-flung family members. So many cards, in fact, that they can feel like a chore rather than an inspiring part of the season. What about including someone special who you may not know on that list this year? There’s no better way to get into the holiday spirit than to extend a word of thanks to someone who has honorably served our country.

In this series of posts, we’ll be sharing new ideas to celebrate the holidays with help from some of our closest partners. First up is an easy way to support the troops, veterans and their families. All that’s needed is paper, something to write with, and an appreciative heart.

Our own Anne Marie Borrego recently interviewed Les Morris, spokesperson from Simon Property Group:

Anne Marie Borrego:
Thanks, Les. The Red Cross has collected and distributed greeting cards for members of the military, veterans and their families for the last five years through its Holiday Mail for Heroes program. These cards—from individuals across the country—thank these honorable men and women for their commitment and sacrifices. This year, Simon Malls is joining us in the effort. How are you making it fun and easy to get involved?

Les Morris:
There are two ways to get involved. First, we have holiday cards available to sign at the guest services counter in our mall locations. Also, we’ve got a club called the Simon Kidgets Club. Its a program offered to children ages 3-8 and their parents. At this time of the year, there are several different types of family and holiday activities. One of the activities being offered is creating holiday cards for the troops using markers, glue and construction paper. The children love this heart warming activity and it is in support of the American Red Cross’s Holiday Mail for Heroes program.

Anne Marie Borrego:
It’s got to mean so much to our troops and their families when they get those handmade cards. What do people do if they can’t get to the mall for a card-making event?

Les Morris:
You can drop off a card up until Dec 11 at a guest services booth in any Simon Mall.

Anne Marie Borrego:
Great. And I believe that you also have a great gift idea that helps out the Red Cross.

Les Morris:
Simon Property Group is pleased to offer customers the chance to donate to the American Red Cross by purchasing a Simon Amex Candy Cane gift card. $1 of $3 will go to American Red Cross. You can also buy the cards online .

Anne Marie Borrego:
That discount is only being offered to Red Cross supporters on the Red Cross Website and blog, right?

Les Morris:
Absolutely!

Anne Marie Borrego:
That’s excellent. Thanks, Les, for all you do for the Red Cross and for our troops this holiday season.

Red Cross volunteers will be at many of the Simon Malls card-making events. If you see them, say hello, and if you make a card, be sure to share photos of your handiwork on our Facebook wall.

Starting on November 9, you can bid on one of Katy Perry’s concert dresses (pictured above). If you win, you’ll also get 2 tickets to a Katy Perry concert on November 22 in Los Angeles at the Staples Center. If you can make it to LA, Katy will hand deliver to the dress to you.

Proceeds from the auction will benefit the American Red Cross.

Do you want to create an auction to benefit the Red Cross, too? Try out eBay’s Giving Works.

Want to bid on other items that benefit the American Red Cross on eBay? Check out our page.

This episode, and another airing on November 7, will feature the building of a custom motorcycle that DEKALB, a subsidiary of Monsanto, is auctioning as part of its DEKALB 100 anniversary celebration.

100% of auction proceeds will benefit the Red Cross. A Red Cross volunteer and client will be featured in tonight’s episode. While watching American Chopper, visit DEKALB on Facebook to test your trivia knowledge and win prizes!

This is a picture of my daughter, Annie and me. Now Annie is 21 years old, and in college, and last year for Hanukkah, we lit candles together via Skype. In addition to her presents, I gave her a gift each of the eight nights of Hanukkah from the American Red Cross Holiday Gift Catalog. She was delighted that a blanket, comfort kit, a measles vaccine, and other gifts were given in her name to people in need. And I was delighted to give them because if there’s one thing we don’t need in our house, it’s more stuff.

We buy a lot of stuff during the holidays. A lot of meaningless stuff. Is it just me, or does it bother you, too?

On September 4, I was privileged to travel with President Obama to Paterson, New Jersey, to survey the damage from Hurricane Irene.  On September 16, I visited Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, with Vice President Biden to see the recovery efforts, not only from Irene but Tropical Storm Lee as well.   In both places, I saw debris-littered streets, flood-damaged homes and devastated people.

While I was in Pennsylvania, wildfires were raging in Texas. Those fires destroyed over 1,700 homes. Heartbreaking is the only word I can use to describe it.

All of the people in these disaster-affected areas needed food, shelter, cleaning supplies and someone to share their burdens. The Red Cross Holiday Catalog, which launched this week, gives me an opportunity to buy just those items for people in need.

Through the catalog, I can purchase meals, blankets and hygiene kits for people in our shelters. I can sponsor caregiver training for the families of wounded soldiers. I can buy swimming lessons and vaccinations for children or purchase an emergency radio for a school.

These are meaningful gifts that provide safety, comfort and encouragement to people who just might have lost everything. To me, that’s priceless. These gifts will never just be stuff. They’ll be small messages of hope that can’t be stuffed into drawers or piled on the curb a year from now.

I’m so proud of our Holiday Catalog. I hope you’ll consider slowing down your “stuff buying” this year, too, and flex your credit card for an American Red Cross gift.

This year Annie is studying abroad, and we won’t be able to celebrate the holiday in person again. But we’ll celebrate over Skype, and she’ll be receiving…Well, I don’t want to ruin the surprise. I’m sure you can figure it out.

Interview with Carter Gibson [Community Organizer 2.0]

 The Zombie Map of the World [Guardian]

TP to the Rescue! [Louisville Red Cross]

Contagion movie catches some truth, doctors say [USA Today]*

Will it Shake? [Totally Unprepared YouTube]

* Tom Kirsch, quoted in this article, is a member of the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council

Which got me to thinking, “We’re no Shakespeare, but we sure have a lot of weird terms and acronyms. I wonder how many phrases might we owe to the Red Cross?”

ERV

DOSR

We do have a small dictionary to explain some of our idioms, but we could use your help to add to it. Add your favorite Red Cross term or acronym in the comments.

50+ top blogs of all time favorite recipes benefits us [thanks blogger friends]

Riskland board game for Red Cross [for the Philippine Red Cross, but cute!]

Good news for your preparedness kit? [Fresh Food Could Last for Years via Telegraph UK and @RedCrossPDX]