(Disclaimer:  I am not receiving any monetary compensation for mentioning the charitable organizations or companies mentioned in this blog post.  I just arbitrary looked up these organizations and companies or thought about them as I am writing.)

Tuesday, December 1st, 2015-

It's #GivingTuesday and #WorldAIDSDay 2015 today!

According to Giving Tuesday website, this global day of giving is fueled by you and me through the power of social media and collaboration.  It's observed on the Tuesday following #Thanksgiving in the United States (US) and the recognized shopping events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  It happens that #GivingTuesday

Source: Giving Tuesday

kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving. Since its inaugural year in 2012, #GivingTuesday has become a movement that celebrates and supports giving and philanthropy with events throughout the year and a growing catalog of resources.


The world is in a cheerful mood today since it's a day designated to raise awareness of specific causes such as giving your time or something to someone or sending a monetary donation to some organization like a church, non-profit, charitable organizations such as Christian Healthcare Ministries, Samaritans Purse, National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), and American Cancer Society.  After all it's is giving Tuesday.  Since it's a timely story, the major news organizations here in America and I am sure the international media are covering this global awareness.  There's a good article from National Public Radio (NPR) on Giving Tuesday.  You can read it here.

Source: World AIDS Day

It's also World AIDS Day.  According to the official website, every year on December 1st "is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day, held for the first time in 1988."

In an article by ABC News, it says when the Centers for Disease Control published its first known report on AIDS in the 1980s, it looked at the five men who appeared to have a rare and virulent form of pneumonia and it killed two of them.  Fast forward to today, nearly 37 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide and about 1.2 million of them are living in the United States.

Since today's the day to raise awareness for these special causes (AIDS and #GivingTuesday), here are some things I came across on the web.  You can purchase these items if you like to show your support, but it's up to you.  I would like to say this disclaimer that I am not supporting or advocating these sellers or getting anything in return, just sharing the creative minds out there who want to show their support and/or cause so others can volunteer and/or show their awareness, too.. if you get my drift.

My objective is not to gain any monetary funds, but just to let you know -- I allowed my creativity run wild a while back with my masterpiece which is fitting on this #givingtuesday.  It is to raise awareness and support for a rare disease called Hirschsprung's Disease or HD. If you are interested, you can take a look at the rest of my collection about this rare disease here.



I call it "Crap That Matters!  Support Hirschsprung's Disease, because it has to do with the colon and intestine. It is hard to digest so that's why crap matters so much.  In addition, there are support groups for those suffering from this rare disease on social media.  Since my nephew has this rare disease, there hasn't been much support groups at the time when he was diagnosed back in the early 2000s.  So my sister started a group at Facebook called Awareness of Hirschsprung's Disease.  It's where she posted other information and resources.  However, you need to become a member of the group. It's an active group, if you want to know more about it and/or interact with those who suffer from HD.


I always wanted to try to create things to support various causes, but I noticed there's already a handful of artists and designers who already are doing it.  I need to creatively think of how to do it to make my designs and art different from the others.  I'll think about that and hope to get back to it since I already have so many ideas on other designs and art I want to do.  So stay tuned.

Now there are some designers and artists who already have made some great ones to raise awareness on this #GivingTuesday and #WorldAIDSDay.  Most of these designs, I came across in a simple search so I can meet my deadline to get this post published came from Zazzle.

Source:  Awareness Gifts

Source:  Shabaz Designs

Source:  Awareness Gifts

Source: giftsforawareness

'Tis the Season for Giving!  

I don't know about you but I'm usually a cheerful giver all year round supporting many causes and give my time that are dear to my heart.

One of them is Hirschsprung's Disease or "HD" for short.  You are like asking the obvious question, what is HD?

What is Hirschsprung's Disease?   
I did not even know or heard about this rare disease until it hit so close to home almost two decades ago.  One of my nephews, X-Zavier, suffers from it.

Many of you may not know what it is.  According to the Mayo Clinic. it is "a condition that affects the large intestine (colon) and causes problems with passing stool. Hirschsprung's Disease is present when a baby is born (congenital) and results from missing nerve cells in the muscles of part or all of the baby's colon.  A newborn who has Hirschsprung's Disease (HD) is usually unable to have a bowel movement in the first days after birth. In mild cases, the condition might not be detected until later in childhood.  Hirschsprung's disease is treated with surgery to bypass or remove the diseased part of the colon."

I can see how debilitating it is for my nephew.  Since people may have a bad reaction to him or that they don't want to hang around him because they simply just don't understand or willing to find out.  I see how it has made him inferior and how embarrassed and hurt he is.  However, we all empathize with him. Although, we take it for granted that we can just take a crap anytime we want to, and then there are others who have a difficult time to take one.  Society and popular culture say it's not cool and it's a stigma for HD people. Children and adults who suffer from HD, they are just like you and me -- normal human beings.  Let's show the humanity and harmony towards everyone.

I am hoping to raise awareness for Hirschsprung's Disease.  I used my creativity and words to describe about this rare disease.  I am hoping you like these designs and you'll be able to support and show your awareness of Hirschsprung's Disease.  You can check Crap That Matters! Support Hirschsprung's Disease at Zazzle.

Again, the objective of this posting is to raise awareness and support those suffering from Hirschsprung's Disease along with showing my creativity when I can.  My objective is not to get money, but it will be great if people buy.  Remember Crap That Matters!
If you are interested in learning more about Hirschsprung's Disease, you can check out some of these resources/links for additional information:

Awareness of Hirschsprung's Disease Support Group on Facebook

What I need to know about Hirschsprung's Disease

Hirschsprung's Disease Resources on Mayo Clinic