Geeky Moms, in conjunction with Opportunity Inc., is proud to present the first edition of “A Safe Place for Kaytlind,” a book detailing the life of a homeless child.  Lenore Wilson, Executive Director of Opportunity Inc., wrote the book after being inspired by a little girl staying at Opportunity Place, a shelter program in the panhandle of Florida.  Kaytlind Hale was seven years old when she went to Opportunity Place.  On her journey there, she wrote and drew an inspiring tale about her wonderful visit at Opportunity Place. 

Many people forget that children are often homeless, along with their families.  The basic necessities that many people take for granted, are deeply appreciated by children who have not had those securities.  “A Safe Place for Kaytlind” takes the reader into the lives of children who cope with homelessness, and the struggles they and their families face as they fight their way into a sustainable life.

Please help support Opportunity Place by downloading your digital copy today!  All profits go to Opportunity Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to creating an opportunity to end homelessness, through its emergency shelter for women and families, its veterans’ employment programs, and resource and referral offices in northwest Florida.

3.14 or a slice of applie pie?  Today marks a geeky tradition:  Pi day.  To celebrate the mathematical constant, geeks around the globe are talking over their meals about formulas and ending them with a slice of pie.  Ford is actually putting on a math formula contest to visitors of reddit.com.   Starting at 11 a.m., Ford engineers will post a new math problem every 3 minutes and 14 seconds, for a total of 42 questions in all.  The first person to solve each puzzle correctly will earn coveted "reddit gold," extended features for their reddit accounts.

How will you celebrate Pi day?

Check out the history of Pi Day here.

By engaging a million Americans with millions of mothers in the developing world around issues that directly impact pregnancy, childbirth and children’s health, the Million Moms Challenge will raise awareness and funds to help women and children everywhere survive and thrive.

The Million Moms Challenge brings together a coalition of more than a dozen world-class partners working around the globe to improve the lives of women and children. The Million Moms Challenge will focus on crucial issues that are a priority for all mothers, including access to proper nutrition to support healthy pregnancies, trained midwives to assist in safe deliveries, and vaccines that enable children to survive to their first birthdays and beyond.

Take the challenge!

It looks like Amazon is stepping up the ball in the online video streaming market share.  Hulu and Netflix are the other two big players.  Amazon is a versatile company, and it appears they are spreading their wings and keeping up with consumer demand. 

Give Amazon’s service a try and prepare to disconnect your cable/satellite service! 

Founder Jimmy Wales says administrators are busy simplifying what he called "convoluted" editing templates that may be discouraging people from writing and editing Wikipedia’s entries. He was speaking to the Associated Press on Thursday Haifa, Israel where the the website’s annual conference is being held.

In another effort to encourage volunteers to stay active, Wales says the site has introduced a new feature called WikiLove that lets users post positive feedback.

The nonprofit organization that runs Wikipedia announced it is encouraging professors in India, Brazil and Europe to assign the editing and writing of Wikipedia entries to students.

A Nielsen survey of 12,000 online interviews finds half of all Netflix users connect through gaming consoles, such as the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 or Nintendo’s Wii.

Eighty-nine percent of Hulu users  watch on their computers. Nearly three-quarters of Hulu users primarily watch TV shows, while only 11 percent of Netflix users watch TV shows.

Netflix users mostly watch video on their TVs rather on their computers, with only 42 percent watching on computers.

More than 15 billion videos were streamed in May, an all-time high.

The study found that 92 percent of working moms and 89 percent of stay-at-home mothers felt overwhelmed by work, home and parenting responsibilities.  Two out of three resent handling all the household chores even when they prefer their partners to stand aside

"Moms have an innate aspiration to do it all and a secret desire to be superwoman," said Carley Roney, editor in chief of TheBump.com.

The poll surveyed more than 1,200 women.  Seventy percent of working moms and 68 percent of stay-at-home mothers questioned said they feel resentful toward their partner because of all they have to do.

"It’s not just that women can’t ask for help; they don’t want to," said Meghan Casserly, a reporter for ForbesWoman. "She feels it’s damaging her sense of motherhood to ask for help. And it’s causing resentment."

Nearly 30 percent of working mothers said they do the bulk of the household chores and 31 percent said they are responsible for all of the parenting.

Much of this self-inflicted grief is encouraged by media images of a super working mom who looks glamorous while cooking, washing, babysitting and holding down a full-time job.

"Moms identify with these tasks. They make them feel like a mother. She wants to be the best parent with the best kids in the nicest house and look beautiful while she does it," Casserly said.

But in reality, "she’ll burn out and head toward relationship disaster," she added.

Mothers handle most of the parenting and household work, yet 79 percent of working moms and 71 percent of stay-at-home moms said their partners are equally responsible for discipline.

About 84 percent of stay-at-home moms don’t get a break from parenting after their partner comes home, even though 97 percent of respondents say they need at least an occasional time out from parenting.

In fact, 50 percent of stay-at-home moms said they never receive a "time out" from parenting, while 96 percent said their partner manages to get a "time out."

To clear up their resentment, which could lead to further problems, Casserly said women need to have an honest conversation with their partners about housework.

"It might take some swallowing of their pride. Open communication is the first step to divvying up those chores and warding off any resentment," she said.

Details of the survey are available on www.forbeswoman.com and thebump.com.

http://goo.gl/doodle/15lw

Geeky Moms is inspired by women who are building businesses and organizations which help others to lead better lives.  Stephanie McMinn, Executive Director and Founder of Be Generous Inc., is one of these women.  Be Generous Inc. is a non-profit organization who’s mission is to help supply families with food and living essentials.  Their current mission, in conjunction with Huggies, is to help cover “Every Little Bottom.”  Geeky Moms interviewed Stephanie McMinn about her mission and how she began her organization.

Geeky Moms: What inspired you to start Be Generous?

Stephanie:  I have always had a passion to help others and I knew early in life that it was my purpose.  In high school, I volunteered at St. Jude in Memphis where I’m originally from, along with fundraising events for other causes such as the Literacy Foundation.  A year ago, I made my "Bucket List" and as I re-read it I laughed, it read;

• Serve the community
• Habitat for Humanity, help build a house
• Extreme Home Makeover
• Travel to another country for mission
• Visit National Disaster and help clean up
• Visit and console women in shelter
• Sleep in a hut in BORA BORA!  A MUST OF COURSE!
• Work in soup kitchen
• Road trip in RV
• Play Hotel California by Eagles on guitar
• Adopt a child from Haiti

And so on, you can get the picture! Everything lead to helping others.  After one night at church, hearing Lisa Bevere’s powerful speech on her "Lioness Arising" book (Must Read immediately), I was FIRED UP!  My friend Courtney and I sat in the parking lot for an hour after talking about what was our passion and what really fired us up!  We both had always wanted to do charity and really get in it .  The fire was lit that night. The Lioness had ARISEN. Thanks Lisa Bevere!  I’m not one to sit on things once I get it in my head.  I do not wait for GO, I dive in!  That’s what I did. I shared with my husband and he said I could do most of bucket list, with the exception of adopting a child from Haiti. Let me make clear that is only because we have 6 children already.  That mission must be filled later.  With support of my best friend Courtney, we started brainstorming.  We thought of a food Pantry, but knew there were several in our area.  We thought of thrift stores, but I didn’t want anyone to have to buy something if they were truly needy.  Courtney suggested we just think about it. I prayed about it and prayed about it.  When you call upon his name he will answer you!  After watching The Ellen Show one day, it came to me! I absolutely love Ellen DeGeneres and her heart for others.  She inspires me each day I watch her. I thank her.  There it was, my sign.  Ellen Pompeo, which many will know from Grey’s Anatomy, is the Ambassador for Huggies’ promotion "Every Little Bottom."  I immediately jumped on line to check it out.  My heart was filled with a passion that hit home!  Being a young mother at 16, I knew what it was to struggle and how hard it was to provide diapers for babies even though I had a wonderful support system at home. It was hard for us to provide and still today with 6; we know about struggle.  I guess I really have had a lot of reasons and passionate hearts in my path that have lead me to this but ultimately God has set this mission on my heart and I am glad to fulfill my God given purpose.

Geeky Moms: How long has Be Generous been around?

Stephanie:  Really up and running for about 7 months but the word is spreading like wild fire. We are blessed by the seeds God has planted. 

Geeky Moms:  What can others do to help with your mission?

Stephanie:  Pray for success that we cover an abundance of bottoms, young and elder, and that we are able to continue our efforts to provide clothing, food, necessities, household items etc. to families in needy.  All donations are appreciated.  Our website begenerousinc.org has a list of items we collect.  We take anything and everything.  We have big plans and ideas and with generous monetary donations we hope to be mobile one day in the near future.

Geeky Moms:  How many volunteers or employees do you have?

Stephanie: No employees, however I have a wonderful support group (Advisory Board) that helps me in decision making, spiritual lifting and brainstorming ideas.  Volunteers are far and few, but I have many organizations stepping  up to offer help in the future.  I’m a one women and baby traveling show daily right now but my efforts are not made possible from just me.  Our community is awesome and it is filled with generous hearts that have donated items to keep me in the street.  I thank them because with out them giving I could not continue these efforts.  Many blessing to all of those who help provide.

Geeky Moms:  What advice do you have for other women who are looking to start a non-profit organization like Be Generous?

Stephanie: Follow your heart.  If you have dreamed a little dream, make it BIG!  Many people tell me I can not save the world, I say to them; "I may not save the whole world but I can save My Part of the World."

Thank you for your insight Stephanie!

Basic necessities, such as diapers, are difficult for struggling families to provide. Thanks to organizations like Be Generous Inc., children and families can be assured that there is help out there. 

Want to help?  Check out their website at http://begenerousinc.org for more information on how you can get involved.

Think you have the next big idea to transform the health of mothers around the world?

ABC News’ Be the Change: Save a Life and the Duke Global Health Institute are launching an open challenge for university students, designed to surface and celebrate emerging innovations in maternal health care, and to provide a launch pad to make those ideas a reality.

Around the world, 350,000 women continue to die each year of complications due to childbirth. In the vast majority of cases, they’re dying of preventable causes: severe bleeding, infection, obstructed labor and a host of other problems that can be averted with skilled care and improved technology. We believe that somewhere amidst the deep pools of knowledge, creativity and passion at work in today’s universities is a new social innovation to improve health care delivery, an innovative piece of technology designed for low-tech clinics and home delivery, or something altogether new and life-saving.

Whether you’re an undergraduate, a graduate student or a professional student, we’re inviting you to share a short video showcasing your idea, and how you plan to address one of the many causes that lead to high maternal mortality rates or lower quality of life for pregnant and postnatal women. And we’re challenging you to do it in 5 minutes or less.

All submissions must be received by midnight on April 29, 2011 to be considered. CLICK HERE for more on submission requirements, eligibility and judging criteria.

The prize? One outstanding individual or team will win $10,000 and the opportunity to work with experts to develop and test the design or idea in the field. The winner will also be invited to present his or her idea before global health experts at the Consortium of Universities for Global Health annual meeting in November in Montreal.

Together, we’ll help put an end to the countless unnecessary deaths of mothers worldwide, and introduce America to a new generation of innovators and problem-solvers.

For more on maternal health and Challenge FAQs, CLICK HERE. Please direct any questions about the Challenge or submission form to ABCSaveALife@Gmail.com.