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Hello everyone,
Since I came up with the idea of MBA Moms, I have come
across so many wonderful businesses started by smart,
energetic and courageous women. Regularly on my blog I
will introduce you to some of these women. They are an
inspiration to all of us, not just moms, who want to
balance their lives while doing great work, having fun
and making a difference.
Have you ever looked at a business or charity and
wondered how it got started? Perhaps you have identified
a need that you desperately wanted to address but the
road looked overwhelming. In this column, I am going to
introduce you to wonderful women who have stepped up to
the challenge. Some are businesses, some are charitable
organizations. Some started alone and some started with
friends. The common bond is that they figured out what
needed to be done and went for their dreams. Please
enjoy meeting them and visit their site to find out
more.
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Posted: Friday, December 1, 2006 @ 1:35 pm
Deborah Crane
Quoted from Website:
www.treatsfortroops.com
Deborah Crane, President and founder of Treats for
Troops, has more than fifteen years of experience in
cutting edge information technology. But it’s Deborah’s
years of experience as a wife, mother and cousin of
members of the U.S. military that inspired her to create
Treats for Troops.
Over the years Deborah carefully packed, wrapped and
sent hundreds of packages to members of her family. Her
husband often said her habit of including plenty of
goodies to share helped make him the most popular
soldier in his outfit. Doug is retired from active duty
now, but their son Philip is proud to be in the Air
Force keeping America’s F-16’s flying.
Many different programs that once gave civilians a way
to send packages to “Any Soldier” were discontinued in
the aftermath of September 11th. New rules and
regulations and heightened security now make it harder
to send packages to anyone in the military, and
impossible to send a package to someone you don’t know.
Deborah knows that in today’s world, security is more
important than ever. But she also knows that it’s more
important than ever for the men and women who’ve chosen
to serve their country to know their countrymen are
behind them. And their fellow Americans need a way to
show their support.
So instead of giving up, Deborah decided to find a
solution. She worked with the armed forces, consulted
many members of the active military, and did extensive
research on what items were on the average soldier’s
“most wanted” list. As she suspected, fresh-baked
chocolate chip cookies were right up there at the top of
the list. But even for Deborah, there were some
surprises. Ziploc bags, bungee cords, sunscreen, hand
lotion and shampoo, gum and drink mixes, even stamps and
stationery were some of the most-requested items. The
more people she talked to, the more convinced she became
that something needed to be done. She decided to found a
company dedicated to making it simple to send packages
to anyone on active military duty. That company is
Treats for Troops.
Today sponsors, family and friends send out hundreds of
packages every week through Treats for Troops. There are
thousands of soldiers from every state and every branch
of the service registered with their Foster A Soldier
Program.
©2006 Treats for Troops, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Posted: Thursday, November 30, 2006 @ 8:20 pm
Lorna Rigney
From Website:
www.genpolicy.com
Lorna Rigney is the Executive Director of the Global
Generations Policy Institute, where she oversees program
development and implementation, personnel, and financial
management. Ms. Rigney focuses on initiatives with
academic and corporate partners to drive awareness and
action that will prepare the country for the aging of
the baby boomers. She represented the Institute at the
2006 World Economic Forum annual meeting.
Unlike any other time in our nation’s history, unless
there are dramatic policy shifts, in terms of absolute
numbers, baby boomer women, most particularly minority
women, will find their elder years to be a “never
ending” struggle. After selflessly caring for their
children and aging parents, a significant number of our
country’s 40 million plus boomer women will not be able
to afford to retire, will fall below the poverty line
and experience financial insecurity and poorer health in
their later years with limited aid from traditional
safety nets.
To prevent this national tragedy, the Global Generations
Policy Institute (GGPI) has pro-actively conceived,
funded and led in the creation of the Women's Abundance
Leadership Initiative, a multi-dimensional national
initiative whose mission is to lead the United States in
the development and implementation of effective policies
which will ensure an abundant, secure and dignified
quality of life for our nation’s aging baby boomer women
and women of all ages in their increasingly vulnerable
elder years.
Ms. Rigney has taken an active role in issues pertaining
to baby boomer women, leading in the launch of the
popular “Women and Investing” seminars at Schwab and
writing a column on financial advice for business
papers. While at Schwab, she also led the launch that
propelled Schwab into giving advice in its investment
centers. She is a frequent guest on both radio and
television and has been quoted in Fortune and other
publications discussing how investors, especially women,
should plan for their retirement futures. Ms. Rigney
received her BS from the University of California at
Davis and her MBA from the Simmons School of Management
in Boston.
Copyright © 2006 by the Global Generations Policy
Initiative, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Posted: Sunday, November 26, 2006 @ 4:30 pm
Annie Oneta Plummer, The Dictionary Lady
Website:
http://www.dictionaryproject.org/about_annie.html
Annie Plummer, The Dictionary Lady, by William H Honan,
One morning in 1992, Ms. Plummer was struck by the fact
that pupils were empty-handed while walking to the
Garrison Elementary School in Savannah near where she
lived. No books. It occurred to Ms. Plummer, who had
been an outstanding student in the late 1970's when she
returned as an adult to complete her education at the
Richard Arnold Community School in Savannah, that if
these children were given a basic book like a
dictionary, it would help stimulate their interest in
learning and could change their lives. Ms. Plummer
started the project modestly when she used $50 of her
own money to buy 30 pocket dictionaries. Borrowing a
slogan from the United Negro College Fund, she
painstakingly wrote in each book, "A mind is a terrible
thing to waste. I challenge you not to waste yours." She
later told a reporter, "I went to the corner and started
giving them out." A local newscaster publicized Ms.
Plummer's efforts and soon she began to receive
donations. To raise more money for the project, Ms.
Plummer began selling Dictionary Lady T-shirts for $10
each and helped organize a Dictionary Walkathon.
Churches and community organizations chipped in to buy
and distribute still more dictionaries. A shrewd
businesswoman, Ms. Plummer persuaded one dictionary
publisher to sell her a number of copies of the $5.95
book for just 65 cents each. By 1995, Ms. Plummer's
stated aim was to provide every third-grade student in
Savannah and surrounding Chatham County - about 4,000 in
all - with a free dictionary. She told a reporter that
by 1996 her informal organization had not only met that
goal but had distributed more than 17,000 copies of a
paperback dictionary. Gradually, the idea spread across
the country. ................Annie Oneta Plummer was
born on Oct. 17, 1936, in Sylvania, Ga., the fifth of 12
children of a truck driver and a housekeeper. She was
raised in Savannah and dropped out of school in the
ninth grade when she became a mother. As a single parent
seeking to provide for herself and her daughter, Ms.
Plummer went to work as a housekeeper. She soon became
involved in neighborhood campaigns like getting a
traffic light installed at a busy intersection.
ventually Ms. Plummer returned to school and received
her diploma in 1978..........Ms. Plummer was passionate
about black history. In honor of her vigorous lobbying,
a bill to foster the teaching of black history at state
schools now before the Georgia House of Representatives
has been named "HB 1492 - Annie Plummer Act"
©2004 The Dictionary Project. All Rights Reserved.
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Posted: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 @ 1:10 pm
Christy Sheidy
Website:
www.anotherchance4horses.com
A Love Of Horses For Generations
My family has had a love of horses for as long as I
remember ~~ so wanting horses around wasn't the
surprise. Operating a rescue was! We had no initial
plan for owning and operating a rescue ~ it just
picked us. First let me explain to you that we live
on 1 1/2 acre of land. With that said here we
go....we were on a family vacation in New York,
salmon fishing ~~ visited a petting zoo and brought
home our first rescue, Elvis! Elvis was a smooth
mouthed pony mare, blind in one eye. She was
replaced at the farm because of her blindness and
was going to auction! We traveled back to PA, I
stayed with our oldest daughter who was around three
while my husband, Rick borrowed a horse trailer from
our neighbors and went back to New York for Elvis a
round trip of more than eleven hours! (we also
brought home a pot bellied pig and a pigmy goat!)
Where did we keep her? My parents of course - thanks
mom and dad! Later on we were allowed to use 15
acres across from my parents and now have a 100 acre
foster farm that is an integral part of our program
as we are privately funded and simply cannot afford
to purchase and keep up with all the expenses! ~~
maybe in the future with grants and fundraisers :>)
and lots of help.
Well, with Elvis at home both my daughters, Lara and
Selina learned to lead line western style and the
next generation of horse lovers began. Lara became
old enough to want to ride on her own and I began
looking for a horse to take on trails with her. We
borrowed a horse from a summer camp program and when
we returned him we saw a foundered mare. We learned
she had been purchased at an auction in the fall
given to a family on a free lease until time to use
her in the program and she was turned loose on a
large amount of grass all by herself- so she
foundered. She was purchased in August, foundered
shortly thereafter, and we first saw her in January-
so from August to January she had no treatment and
was in great pain! We asked the business owner
permission to bring her home and get her treatment
and took her home. After her vet visit, pulling her
shoes and a couple months of rehab she was much
better and was able to be ridden and we trail rode
all over the place and we were in love! We were also
broke and needed to raise the money to buy her ~ so
our first fundraiser started and with the assistance
of Omni and many prayers and most of our mortgage
money we were able to purchase her. We then had a
call from my father, Bill Cipolla, who knew someone
with a baby horse that needed a home ~~ so of course
we gave him a home! This is how the rescue started.
Lara and Selina both have a huge part in our program
and are the biggest helpers!
Now almost a decade later and many happy stories and
some sad we are here growing and finding more ways
to help both horses and people in our rescue process
and have put in place several programs for the
community. We have some very dedicated and helpful
volunteers, who we appreciate greatly! And have met
a lot of wonderful people and horses along the way.
We hope to continue for many, many more.
We are headquartered in Pennsylvania and specialize
in rescue (see
What do we rescue them from? ) intensive care
rehabilitation rescue and placement. Please take a
look at our work in progress Horses In
Rehabilitation and also available horses Horses &
Drafts
Ponies & Mini's and Foals & Yearlings. Because we
own a small parcel of land and use it for our
intensive care patients, we also rent several farms
and often use the assistance of foster farms for
horses in our care.
How
It All Began
We also help horses through placement. We do not own
these horses such as pmu's and also those owned by
kill buyers or brokers in an effort to rescue more
there is a markup/donation to cover costs and
additional proceeds go to our local rescue efforts.
We also have a consignment page for privately owned
horses looking for new homes.
We hold annual events to educate horse owners,
travel to grade schools and participate in community
service with local high schools and other groups to
educate our children who are the future. It is our
hope that through educating horse owners on proper
care, nutrition and providing a network of resources
regarding knowledge and readily available
information that we can assist in solving problems
that lead to the need of our services prior to it
ever happening.
We also assist disabled riders through the "McLean,
Hearn, Lloyd Fund".
We would love to introduce you to our equine
friends, please make an appointment to come visit
and meet them.
Contact/Directions
©2006 Another Chance for Horses - www.ac4h.com. All
Rights Reserved.
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Posted: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 @ 7:50 pm
Planet Mom Founded by Moms Like You
Website:
www.planetmomtshirts.com
 We've
been friends going on 20 years, having met at
college. After graduating, both of us moved to NYC
where Elise became a television news producer and
Eileen learned a thing or two about marketing. After
getting married, the lure of motherhood was too
intoxicating, and we now have five children between
us.
During yet another phone call discussing our
mind-numbing laundry piles, the magic of soy and how
we were officially "off the market" thanks to our
recent minivan purchases, we got an idea. Most moms
feel the way we do. Most moms like to laugh. And
every mom likes good quality clothes. Thus, Planet
Mom was born... right there on the phone, between
breaking up sibling fights, checking homework and
getting dinner on the table.
This has been a pretty big undertaking for us. But,
we knew we were on to something when we'd wear our
Planet Mom apparel around town, and strangers would
stop us to talk and laugh at the phrases on our
chests and, uh, backsides.
Here's to any idea that good friends cook up. We
hope you'll get as much enjoyment from our apparel
as we have and a sincere thank you for your
business.
Eileen and Elise
Photography by Kristin Burke/Peter Baker Studios
Note: This article is listed for informational
purposes. Planet Moms are not clients of Jill
Roy or MBA Moms and More Consultants.
©2005 and 2006 Planet Mom. All Rights Reserved.
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