Every once in a great while, a new fashion trend comes along that appeals to nearly everyone, regardless of age, gender or class.  These days, I would have to say that the latest products to earn this kind of distinction are rubber bracelets, also called wristbands.  You can see these brightly colored accessories gracing the wrists of people from celebrities in Hollywood to average folks in small towns and big cities all across the country.  The trend started a couple years ago with the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s hugely popular “LiveStrong” bracelets, and has really exploded from there.  Now rubber bracelets are commonly available in a variety of colors that support a whole range of causes.

If you are thinking of putting together a fundraiser for a school or a charitable cause, then selling rubber bracelets would be a sure fire way to quickly generate some cash.  These are perfect items to sell because they are very cheap to manufacture and therefore purchase, in large quantities.  There are many companies out there that will customize these wristbands for you, meaning you can get them imprinted with any logo or slogan you want and in any color you want.  So if you need to raise money for your high school, you can get rubber bracelets made in your school colors with your mascot, year of graduation, or school name on them.  If you want to raise money for a charity, you can get the wristbands in colors typically associated with the cause.  For example, you’d choose pink for breast cancer awareness, red for AIDS awareness, etc.

Rubber bracelets are obviously very simple products, so there aren’t many things that can go wrong.  You should keep an eye out for a couple of things before placing your custom order.  First, check the dimensions of the bracelet being offered by the manufacturer.  Although these products are designed on the “one size fits all” principle, there are youth and adult versions available.  Obviously you’ll have to choose the size that best meets the needs of your target audience.  In addition, not all of the rubber bracelets out there have the same material thickness.  Some are very thin and flimsy, while others are thicker and sturdier.  The LiveStrong wristbands that I mentioned above are about 2mm thick, which is the standard that you should aim for.  Anything less than that would likely end up snapping in half after being stretched repeatedly.

A second thing you should do is ask the manufacturer if you can see a sample of one of their finished products.  That way, you can check the item for things such as shape, clarity and readability of the logo or slogan, and whether or not there are visible seams.  Quality rubber bracelets are manufactured from a single round mold and should not have any seams present.

Depending on the quantity that you order, you can get custom rubber bracelets for as little as 40 cents a piece, or even less.  And when you consider that they routinely sell for anywhere between $1 and $5, you can that you’ll be able to raise a great deal of money for your cause.  So get a catchy slogan ready and order your own wristbands today!

There’s a new kind of retirement community in Boston, Massachusetts that just might revolutionize the way we approach senior living. Many seniors dread the day when they’ll have to sell their homes and move into some sort of assisted living or artificial retirement community. They love the neighborhoods where they live, and their first choice would be to remain there. But until now that has not been possible for many. Extended families do not care for their aging relatives as they once did, and that makes it very hard for people who need help with shopping and other basic needs to stay at home.

Some experts in the field argue that seniors are better off in well managed communities, where they have meals in a common dining room three times a day, housekeeping at least weekly, many activities on site, transportation to doctor’s appointments, and regularly scheduled outings for shopping and other cultural activities. This is better than staying at home along and going without food, human contact and basic medical care.  Many chafe in the confines of these highly organized facilities that often run on a shoestring budget, with underpaid staff, and rigid requirements about what can and cannot be done to fulfill many government guidelines and  to make the place livable for a large number of people. Often they promise more on tours for prospective residents than they actually deliver.

A group of creative thinkers in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood have come up with a very appealing alternative. They’ve formed an organization called Beacon Hill Village where seniors from age 50 on up, can become members for about $750 per year for a couple or $550 a year per person, and low-income members pay just $100 a year, the balance being paid through fundraising. And what do they get for this. All kinds of things.

They have a weekly car service that ferries members to the grocery store for free. They also invite notable Bostonians to lead monthly discussions in the neighborhood. Plus, they can call up the Village’s office and ask for help with all kinds of things, and they pay discounted hourly fees, some as low as $15 per hour. These services could be anything from helping a senior take a dog or cat to the vet all the way up to 24-hour-per-day nursing care. The intensive nursing care might end up costing as much as a nursing home, but the advantage to the seniors is that they are at home getting cared for, not in an institution.

So far, the members of Beacon Hill Village are very happy with the services they receive and a small paid staff has gotten many community organizations to provide discounted services, including some health care providers. And other communities in the country are considering adapting this model to their own circumstances. A very positive development indeed.

Are you looking for a great way to reduce the clutter in your closets and to reclaim some of your storage space?  If so, then you should consider donating any clothes that you don’t wear anymore.  Doing so benefits both you and the charity that you choose, so you’ll actually be motivated to donate as much as possible.  Before running off to your closets to fill several trash bags full of your old clothes, here are some clothing donation guidelines you should consider.

First of all, the items you donate are going to be worn by other people.  So they should be clean, in fairly good condition, and free from holes, rips, or tears.  Be sure to inspect each piece before you put it into the donation pile.  Any items that don’t make the cut should simply be thrown away.

Second, you should call around to make sure that your clothing donation would be welcome.  Many people are mistakenly under the impression that churches and charities will accept any amount of clothes at anytime.  They then show up at the organization unannounced and expect to be able to unload several bags of clothes on unsuspecting volunteers.  It’s important to be aware that not all charities operate in this fashion.  While they certainly appreciate the generosity behind your clothing donation, they might not be equipped to handle it at the time.  There could be storage problems or other logistical issues that you haven’t thought about.  So if you don’t phone ahead and get approval for your clothing donation, don’t be surprised or offended if it’s not accepted.  Of course if there is a 24-hour drop box on the premises, then that means that you can simply put your clothing donations in there at any time without having to ask for permission first.

Third, if it’s at all possible, you should do a bit of research into the charity that you intend your clothing donation to benefit.  The reason you should do so is that not all charities spend their money in the same way.  Some places have higher overhead costs, which means that fewer resources actually end up helping underprivileged people.  When you donate clothes, charities will do one of two things.  They will either distribute the clothes to the needy through homeless shelters and the like, or they will sell the clothes in a second-hand retail setting.  If they sell the clothes, then you’ll definitely want to know how much of the money is earmarked for charitable purposes and how much is used for salaries and so forth.

Clothing donations are a wonderful, easy way to help your favorite church or charity.  I encourage you to follow these guidelines before doing so in order to ensure that the experience is as beneficial as possible to all of the parties involved.