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Tuesday, June 18, 2013

UPDATE Daily Kos: Help Advocate for Children in Virginia!

Daily Kos: Help Advocate for Children in Virginia!:

Success!! At least temporarily!

There are only two things my beloved Leaves on the Current has regularly enjoyed drinking while on chemotherapy.
Unsweetened iced black tea lemonade with extra lemonade from Starbucks -  which they now offer in a size larger than Venti.
Canada Dry Bitter Lemon -  which first our local Harris Teeter stopped carrying, which then we found at a Wegman's about 40 miles away, but which they sadly informed us their distributor could no longer provide.
But today we got a reprieve.  Leaves went on Amazon, found some, and ordered it.
Just now 23 bottles were delivered.  That should last for more than a month.  It is a reprieve.
Today, the first day off on the two weeks on and one week off chemo, is always one of the rougher days of the 3-week cycle, as is tomorrow.
Right now Leaves is beaming, even as we wait for news from the neurosurgeon.
She is happy.
That makes me happy.


Help Advocate for Children in Virginia!

Today marks the kickoff of a statewide campaign by Strong Kids, Strong Virginia, which is an effort by Every Child Matters Virginia, the state effort of the Every Child Matters Education Fund.
This is a 501(c)(3) effort, which is non-partisan.  We are communicating to elected officials of both parties.
Perhaps these statistics from the website will help you understand why:
There are 1,847,182 children under 18 in Virginia• Children Living in Poverty (2009) - 253,000
• Mother-only Households (2008) - 406,002
• Children Not Covered by Health Insurance at Any Time (2008) - 167,000
• Share of Medicaid-enrolled children not getting dental care (2007) - 59%
• Additional Children Covered by Expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program - 79,500
• Total number of child abuse and neglect reports (2009) - 59,995
• Child Abuse Victims (2009) - 5,951
• Child Abuse Deaths (2001-2009) - 259
• 3-4 Year Olds Not Enrolled in a nursery school, pre-school, or pre-kindergarten education program (2009) - 122,000
• % of 4th Graders Scoring below Basic Reading Levels (2009) - 26%
• Home Foreclosures (2008-2009) - 101,138
• Kids Count Overall Rank (2009) – 16
Keep those statistics in mind as I offer a few thoughts below the squiggle.