#FF Friday's Fabulous Finds: How A Woman Plumber Saved 2,500 Children

Thought for the Day: Usually on Friday's I share Fabulous Finds on various topics that I read over the week. This week I am sharing something a bit different. It came to me in an e-mail. I actually hate chain letters or e-mails imploring that you send them to 10 friends or more or else you will have bad luck. Usually I do not forward them, since I find them annoying.  This one felt different, however, I still felt funny sending off a mass e-mail. Instead, I decided to post it on the blog & hope that you will share it with others in any way you feel comfortable. It is the story of a brave woman who risked her life to save children's lives. I do not know who wrote this e-mail, but have heard the story before & know it is based on a real person. Last week in my psychology trivia question, I shared the fact that only 42% of people who find out that a friend is suffering from domestic abuse do anything to help their friend & insure their safety. The psychology of bravery is not well understood, but we all could learn from Irena Sendler who could not simply stand by & ignore the tragedy that was occurring in Warsaw Poland. I hope you will share this find with others as a role model of bravery to emulate when we learn that others are suffering. Have a wonderful weekend.

Remember this  Lady?

 Irena  Sendler

Died: May 12, 2008 (aged  98)  Warsaw, Poland

During  WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an ulterior motive.

Irena  smuggled Jewish infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried.   She also  carried a burlap sack in the back of her truck,  for larger kids.

Irena kept a  dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the  ghetto. The soldiers, of  course, wanted nothing to do with the dog and  the barking      covered the kids/infants  noises.

During her time  of doing this, she managed to smuggle out  and save 2500  kids/infants.

Ultimately,  she was caught, however, and the Nazi's broke  both of her legs and arms and beat her  severely.

Irena kept a  record of the names of all the kids she had  smuggled out,  in a glass jar that she  buried under a tree in her back yard.   After the war, she tried to locate any parents  that may have survived and tried to reunite the  family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster  family homes or adopted.

In 2007 Irena  was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was  not selected.  Al Gore won, for a  slide show on Global Warming.  

Later another  politician, Barack Obama, won for his work as  a community organizer for ACORN.

In MEMORIAM - 65  YEARS LATER I'm doing my small part by  forwarding this message.  I hope  you'll consider doing the same.  It is now  more than 65 years since the Second World War in  Europe ended.

This  e-mail is being sent  as a memorial chain,  In memory of  the  20 million Russians, 10 million  Christians, 6 million Jews, and 1,900 Catholic  priests who were murdered, massacred, raped,  burned, starved and humiliated! 

Now, more than ever, with Iran , and others, claiming the HOLOCAUST to be 'a myth', it's imperative to make sure the  world never forgets,  because there are others who would like to do it  again.

This  e-mail is intended to reach 40 million people worldwide!

Join us and be a link in the memorial chain and help us distribute it around the world.  Please send this e-mail to people you know and ask them to continue the memorial chain.  

Would You Stop Running a Race to Help a Competitor?

Seth Goldstein, Last Place Winner

Thought for the day: What would you do? Would you stop & help a competitor while running a race or run on like the rest of the pack? Are we running past people in need without even realizing it?

Today, I saw a story about a 17 year old Tennessee High School senior, Seth Goldstein, (pictured above) who was running a cross country race when he saw another competitor drop to the ground. He was the only runner in the race to stop to help the student from another high school. He called his parents & had them dial 911. He kept his wits when he saw that the boy was bleeding from the mouth & turned him on his side so that he would not choke on the blood. When the runner began to have a seizure he held him, told him he would be all right & reassured him that help was on the way. After the paramedics came, he stayed till he was sure the boy was all right. Then he asked if he could complete the race. The paramedics had not even realized that the young man was in the middle of a competition. He came in last, but he in my mind is the real winner of the race.

We all would like to think that we would stop & help someone in a similar situation, but don't really know until a situation arises. As I thought about this incident, other less obvious situations came to mind. Several of my posts have addressed the psychology of bullying & bi-standers who do not step forward to help someone being bullied, even when they disapprove. Our lives at times become like races. We run from place to place, taking care of work and family obligations. In this day & age, when people are anxious about their jobs or unemployed, the race becomes even more hectic. As we run the race of life, do we sometimes pass by those in need of assistance? When we hear about a charity or a worthy cause, do we feel too poor or too busy, with our own troubles to help someone with greater needs than our own. Working with the nonprofit organizations featured in my book and others I have been supporting since writing my book, I know that many nonprofit organizations are struggling to raise funds in these tough economic times.

Over the past few months, I have written about some of these amazing organizations that help people reach for their dreams. Most recently, I posted "It Takes A Cell Phone To Raise a Child," a call to register your cell phone to help keep children, disabled & elderly citizens safe from harm when they go missing. A Child Is Missing has facilitated the safe return of over 1,000 missing people. It does not cost a penny, just some time to give them your number. Did you stop your race to register your cell phone? In another post I raised the question of whether social media is leading to social inaction. Another post talks about two organizations using dolls as therapeutic tools for homeless children & children struggling with Cancer.  In another post I wrote about, Simon's Fund, another organization featured in & benefiting from my book, helps screen children for otherwise invisible heart conditions that can be life threatening if they are not detected. Voices Against Brain Cancer is working to try to end a disease that is taking so many people. My list goes on & there are many others.

I hope you will be inspired by Seth's selfless act of caring for someone in need & stop to take some time to read about these organizations & find a way to help them. If you can't afford to donate money, donate some time. I am building teams of volunteer interns to help. Let me know if you would like to help with social media or other activities.

Simon's Fund: To save a child’s life . . . and then another...

Thought for the day: 'Save a life, save a whole world' The Talmud
     I decided to share another video with you. This one was part of why I chose Simon's Fund to be included in & benefit from my book. I was touched by Phyliss Sudman's candid story of a mother trying to do everything for her children unaware that a silent killer lurked in her own home. The story could have ended with a family's sorrow & mourning, but it did not.  Phyliss & her husband Darren founded Simon's Fund. By saving lives of other children & preventing others from the sorrow they have had to bear, they are truly helping to save a whole world.
     I googled the origin of the saying 'Save a life, save a whole world.' I learned that in the beginning Adam was all of humanity; therefore, we need to consider every human being as if he or she was the whole world.  I believe we all have a responsibility to try to save the world & protect one another. That is what the Sudman's are doing.
      Who do you know who has overcome a loss & found a way to make the world better for others?  What organizations do you know that The Wake Up And Dream Challenge might support in the future? I'd love to hear about them.

How One Woman Has Helped Save Over 1000 Missing Children & Adults

Thought for the day: One woman's dream has led to A Child Is Missing helping in over 1,000 safe assisted recoveries.  


In the summer of 1996 Sherry Friedlander did not have a relative go missing, she simply had two high speed computers that no one was using & she decided that the computers could help find missing children. By chance she leaned about rapid telephonic response, heard about how a missing child was found too late & started A Child Is Missing. Her story is an inspiration to anyone wondering what one person can do to improve the world & make dreams come true. Her dream & a lot of hard work has helped save over 1000 lives of missing children, elderly & disabled adults and college students who have gone missing across the United States. That's why the story about how A Child Is Missing was founded & how it has grown is included in & benefitting from my book.
     There will be a press conference in Fort Lauderdale, Wednesday Jan 11, @ 11:00 AM  @ the Broward County Sheriff’s Office with Sheriff Lamberti, ret. &  Congressman E. Clay Shaw, who first recognized the importance of the program that the nation should have the use of it to help save children and the elderly.
      What equipment do you have that is not being used? What talents do you have that might help make a difference? Do you know someone like Sherry who simply did the right thing & made a difference? I'd love to hear more stories about them.