The Daily Tell

Buffalo Grove Days are a Chicago-area summer tradition that typically kick off with a charity softball game the week before Labor Day. This year is no exception, but now a new addition is parked just off the field: a fleet of pink fire trucks.

The four trucks are part of the Pink Heals Tour, an initiative dedicated to raising awareness about cancers that affect women. The trucks, driven by a team of volunteer firefighters from across the country, began traveling in mid-August and will continue their journey until the end of October.

Buffalo Grove Fire Chief Terry Vavra said he has been in contact with Dave Graybill, the Arizona firefighter who started the program.

"The reason why he started this is that as men we need to respond to the people that mean the most to us, our families and particularly our mothers, because if you ever watched a sports player, he doesn’t say, ‘Hi, Dad.’ He says, ‘Hi, Mom,’" Vavra told the Daily Herald.

Buffalo Grove Trustee and cancer survivor DeAnn Glover, liaison to the committee in charge of Buffalo Grove Days, added that the trucks are meant to be an interactive and inspiring way to learn about how individuals can get involved in the fight against cancer.

"Kids can climb on them, and everybody can sign and leave a message of hope and honor for those who are fighting the battle or those who have lost the fight," she said.

The initiative isn’t restricted to women. Graybill has also discussed the creation of a Blue Heals program, which would use blue firetrucks to raise awareness about men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer.

Pink Heals also sells t-shirts, bags and other accessories to help raise money for the battle against cancer.

We mostly know them as the sexy, blood-swilling vampires on one of HBO’s most popular television shows – but now the stars of True Blood are working to leave an impression that doesn’t involve teeth marks.

Two of the show’s sexiest stars, Steven Moyer and Alexander Skarsgard, are competing to see who can raise the most money for their favorite charities in a series of online auctions.

Both actors have put personal items, props from the show and other memorabilia up for sale on eBay. The star whose goods rack up the least amount of money at the end of the contest has to be photographed wearing a t-shirt designed by the winner.

The "modesty sock" that Moyer wears to cover himself during the show’s steamiest scenes has so far been proving the most coveted of the items for sale, with a high bid reaching $545. (Skarsgard allegedly doesn’t wear a "modesty sock," even during nude scenes.) Another popular item is an autographed script, which has reached $900.

The money raised by Moyer will go the Gulf Aid organisation, while the cash that Skarsgard raises will benefit the SOS Children’s Villages charity, which aims to help orphaned kids in the Ukraine.

True Blood’s third season has averaged 4.93 million viewers per week, and was nominated for five Emmy awards this year.

The Fifth Annual Lake Wobegon Regional Trail Ride benefiting Catholic Charities’ St. Cloud Children’s Home and other participating faith communities will take place this year on the September 11 anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, according to the St. Cloud Times.

Chuck Rieland, the charity ride’s founder and director, was deeply affected by the tragedy in 2001. His employer, Morgan Stanley, had offices that occupied more than 50 floors of the World Trade Center. All 50 came crashing to the ground nine years ago when al-Qaida flew two airliners into the buildings, killing more than 3,000 people and injuring countless others. Rieland was inspired by the events to make a difference in his community and prevent the tragedy of the attacks from reaching other homes and families.

“After 9/11, I was getting letters from the children’s homes," Rieland told the paper. "They talked about the cutbacks they had to make because the corporate sponsors felt they had to take care of their own people first, and so it was very sad for me."

Rieland, a native of New Munich, Minnesota, approached the St. Cloud Children’s Home and Catholic Charities five years ago about creating a bike ride along the Lake Wobegon Region Trail where he had grown up.

"They were all for the idea," he recalls.

The first ride, in 2006, raised more than $55,000 for the organizations. Subsequent rides raised $61,000 in 2007, $67,000 in 2008 and $68,000 in 2009 for a total of almost $251,000 in the history of the event. Last year, about 215 riders participated in the fundraiser, Rieland told the paper.

The St. Cloud Children’s Home was founded by Benedictine nuns in 1875 as an orphanage. Today, it remains true to the nuns’ vision as a place where youth from all parts of Minnesota, ages 8-18, can come for support and help in dealing with hardships including abuse, neglect and drug addiction.

Stanley F. Druckenmiller has joined an elite but expanding group of billionaires who have stepped down from executive positions to devote more time and money to philanthropy.

Last year, Druckenmiller, a hedge fund manager worth an estimated $2.8 billion, transfered a quarter of his personal fortune – $700 million – to his family foundation.

Before the transfer, the foundation had assets of about $6.5 million, meaning that Druckenmiller’s contribution increased its net worth by more than 100 times. As a result, the Druckenmiller Foundation’s annual gift giving grew to about $26 million last year from $3.6 million in 2000.

The donation landed Druckenmiller at No. 1 on the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s ranking of largest individual charitable contributions in 2009. That year, Druckenmiller and his wife, Fiona, also donated $100 million to New York University’s Langone Medical Center to create a neuroscience institute.

Druckenmiller, 57, announced earlier this month that he plans to shut down his hedge fund, Duquesne Capital Management, which oversees $12 billion, to spend more time on charitable causes – chief among them the Harlem Children’s Zone, to which he donated $25 million in 2006. Druckenmiller has also given to Teach for America, Human Rights Watch, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Robin Hood Foundation, among others.

For a while, it was all the rage in Los Angeles to carry a tiny purse-sized dog, such as a Chihuahua, Pomeranian or Yorkie. But, like all trends, this one faded – leaving hundreds of small dogs homeless, unwanted and alone. These pups quickly filled Los Angeles-area shelters, and many were euthanized when suitable homes couldn’t be found in time to make way for a new wave of abandoned pets.

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away in quiet Utah, families and apartment-dwellers looking for a small dog were having trouble finding such a pet at the shelter. In Utah, lap dogs are a rarity in shelters and must usually be purchased for exorbitant prices from private breeders.

Then Robin Harmon, the adoption manager for Best Friends Animal Society in Los Angeles, and Jessica Almeida, rescue and transfer coordinator for the Humane Society of Utah, figured out a way to save hundreds of dogs and provide families with the companions they were looking for. The duo founded Pup My Ride about two and a half years ago to shuttle small homeless dogs between the two cities.

"It’s senseless to have dogs euthanized in one area when dogs like that are in demand in another area," Almeida told Tonic magazine. "You have these little dogs and you can’t imagine why no one would want them. And to imagine you can make someone’s dream come true, for a dog who had no future, is amazing. It is a fantastic feeling."

Pup My Ride has so far saved more than 3,500 small dogs from euthansia in California by making twice-monthly van trips to Utah. And the program has some major backing: actress Katherine Heigl and her mother, Nancy, fund the effort through their Jason Debus Heigl Foundation. In addition, Denise Richards is a regular volunteer.

Pup My Ride also rescues dogs from puppy mills – cruel operations where dogs are often left neglected and starving in their own waste, often in wire cages suspended feet from the ground. Dogs in such conditions can suffer horrible injuries, including amputation of the paws by the sharp wire of the cage.

A country ham has fetched a record-breaking $1.6 million in a charity auction last week in Lexington, Kentucky.

The winning bid, which comes out to $100,000 a pound, was placed by two Louisville businessmen – Bernard Trager, chairman of Republic Bank and Trust, and Dr. Mark Lynn, of Dr. Mark Lynn & Associates and owner of Dr. Bizer’s Vision World. Each contributed $800,000 to the purchase of the meat produced by Broadbent B&B Foods of Kuttawa at the 47th annual Kentucky Farm Bureau Country Ham Breakfast.

Bids on the ham go to a charity of the bidder’s choosing. Dr. Mark Lynn & Associates indicated it plans to donate its bid to the University of Louisville, Visually Impaired Preschool Services and Eastern Area Community Ministries. Republic Bank and Trust did not specify the recipients of its donation, but said most would go to local healthcare and education, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

The ham auction takes place each year at the end of the summer. It has humble beginnings – in 1964, $124 won the very first country ham to be auctioned off – but it has grown exponentially in recent years. Over the last decade, the average price of the auctioned ham has increased to a respectable $462,048.

Although no official fundraising goal is set, the event has raised more than $5.6 million for local charities and educational and philanthropic groups over its nearly half-century-long history.

The $1.6 million price tag for the 16 lb. porker – whose meat will also go to charity – shattered a previous charitable-food record. In 2007, billionaire Stanley Ho paid $330,000 for a 3.3-pound white truffle, proceeds from which went to nonprofits including the Consortium for Street Children in the UK, the Telethon in Italy and Caritas in China, according to Tonic.com.

When we think of religious persecution, we often think of events that took place centuries ago – the crusades, or the Spanish Inquisition, to name a few examples. Unfortunately, however, religious persecution is still part of everyday life for religious minorities around the world. A charity called Global Women is working to put a stop to religious intolerance, especially in Kazahkstan.

Anara Nessipbekova, a Global Women ministry partner from Kazakhstan, has spent the last month in America helping to translate Christian materials into the Kazahk language. The nation of Kazakhstan, which sits in central Asia and is surrounded by a community of predominantly Muslim nations, is home to approximately 16 million people, only 15,000 of whom are Christian. These Christians can be subject to heartbreaking religious persecution.

According to Anara, being a Christian in central Asia can mean the loss of family, friends and employment. She knows from experience: When her brother became a Christian, his wife divorced him and will no longer allow him to have any contact with his four children.

Global Women works to provide Christians in Kazahkstan and other central Asian countries with the emotional and financial support to persevere in their faith even in the face of enormous adversity. The organization, based throughout the Southern U.S., is a nonprofit charity that aims to help followers of Jesus Christ be safe in their faith.

Hundreds of nuns, bishops, children, tourists, locals and volunteers crowded today around the grave of Mother Theresa in the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, the order of nuns she founded in 1950 in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta. Some brought flowers or candles, others offered prayers and blessings.

The selfless nun who dedicated her life to serving India’s poor was born on this day one hundred years ago. Her birth is being celebrated around the globe with masses and vigils dedicated to remembering her legacy as a hero to the underprivileged and an inspiration to philanthropists the world over.

"Her life and work continue to be an inspiration for the young and the old, the rich and the poor, from all walks of life, religions and nations," Sister Mary Prema, the nun who now heads the Missionaries of Charity, told the Associated Press.

Pope Benedict XIV spoke at a mass dedicated to the nun, who was on this day in 1910 to Albanian parents in Macedonia. The Pope described Mother Theresa as an "inestimable gift" and added that "this year will be for the church and the world an occasion of joyful gratitude to God."

Mother Theresa, born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, came to India in 1929 and spent the next 68 years caring for Calcutta’s impoverished, destitute and homeless, regardless of their religion or creed. In 1979, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and was beatified upon her death in 1997 by Pope John Paul II.

The nun’s legacy is not free from controversy, however. She has been criticized by numerous groups for her strong stance against contraception and abortion and the proselytizing nature of her work, among other concerns. Regardless, the massive turnout to mark the centennial of her birth proves that, differences in beliefs aside, Mother Theresa made an enormous impact on the lives of people around the world.

Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina left the houses along New Orleans’ historic streets in ruins. Once grand mansions and cozy family residences were reduced to little more than piles of kindling. Now, a charity called Make It Right is working to restore the area.

Two years after the cataclysmic storm, actor Brad Pitt was appalled by how little had been done to rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward – a low-income area that had not been the focus of much government funding. Pitt, a Louisiana native, founded Make It Right in 2007 to address the needs of the community. Since then, the charity has raised $31 million and enlisted 21 architects to build 150 homes in the Lower Ninth.

The construction is focused on designing homes at a modest cost that are tall enough to stand above potential floods but sturdy enough to withstand another hurricane – all while preserving the traditional New Orleans spirit, which has centered on intricate wrought-iron designs and brightly-colored tiles that serve as a reminder of the city’s liveliness.

A documentary detailing the effort to rebuild and repopulate New Orlean’s most devastated areas, directed by Spike Lee and entitled "If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise," aired earlier this week on HBO. Pitt appears in the feature, discussing the charity’s work and stating that it has thus far "exceeded expectations."

Bloomberg Muse architecture columnist James S. Russell expressed his guarded but genuine appreciation for the projects headed by Make It Right.

"Make It Right has proven psychologically and symbolically invaluable," he wrote. But, "despite the project’s enormous success, you don’t have to walk far in the Lower Ninth to find dozens of empty, weed-choked blocks."

Earlier this summer, celebrity chef Art Smith – known for his role on the hit reality competition Top Chef – and his fiancee, artist Jesus Salguerio, offered companies a chance to sponsor gift bags at their summer nuptials.

A flier distributed to top public relations companies offered commercial underwriting to the tune of $2,500 for the privilege of donating 350 items for guest gift bags. In addition, a donation of $20,000 and 350 products would get four tickets to the celebration, whose invitation list included the Obamas, the Bidens, Oprah Winfrey and Jessica Simpson.

According to the flier, part of the proceeds would go to Smith’s charity Common Threads, which teaches healthy living to impoverished and disadvantaged children. The charity helps more than 750 children and served 2,000 healthy meals in 2006.

Smith got the idea of using his wedding for charity when another important milestone – his 50th-birthday party – raised $1 million for Common Threads, he said, including a $250,000 present from Oprah. The talk-show guru is a friend; he was once her personal chef, and he now regularly contributes to O magazine.

"We’re not accepting gifts," Smith told the Washington Post in July, about a month before the wedding. "We’re only asking that our guests think of the charity, if they wish to."

The ceremony took place this previous weekend in Washington, D.C., less than a year after the city approved same-sex marriage. Guests who watched the two long-time partners tie the knot have contributed more than $20,000 to the charity so far.

"So far, we’ve received $21,800," Linda Novick O’Keefe, executive director of Common Threads, told the Post. "We’re expecting more to come in the next few days, even weeks."