You know as well as I do that cleaning house can be difficult on a good day. The bending, stooping, and reaching can be exhausting. The cleaning products can overwhelm your senses. Imagine how difficult housecleaning can be for a cancer patient!
Fortunately, there is an organization that will supply a free professional cleaning service once a week for women who are fighting cancer. It’s called Cleaning For A Reason — and I think it’s a pretty darned good subject for Only The Good.
Jamie had gotten a forwarded e-mail about it and, being a skeptic, she checked it out on Snopes to make sure it was legitimate. It is! This organization, which originated in Lewisville, Texas, has a 501C3 (so if you want to donate, it’s tax deductible). Since 2007, they have offered $500,000 in free cleaning services to over 3500 women. Wow!
There is good news and bad news about this wonderful charitable service:
- The GOOD news is that it is available in many cities in every state and in Canada.
- The BAD news is that the demand exceeds the supply! They do not use volunteers for the cleaning services, but use insured and/or bonded professional agencies who volunteer their time.
From the looks of the website, it isn’t easy to get into the program, because they simply don’t have enough resources. On one of the pages, it states:
“The application process opens at 12noon Central Time Monday through Thursday and accept a maximum of 50 applications each day Monday through Thursday.
The demand is such that we accept approximately 8 applications a minute once activated. Therefore, the application process is open for approximately 6 minutes. ”
Though the odds of getting accepted aren’t good, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pass this information along! You should, although I don’t know if the viral e-mail is the way to go. If you know a cancer patient, definitely send them to the list of Frequently Asked Questions that will help them find out if the service is available in their area and how to apply. You might even want to mention it to your medical doctor, so s/he can pass the information along to other patients.
What it means, is that maybe we should be doing what we can to help such a worthy cause!
How?
- First of all, if you use a cleaning service (or know someone who does) suggest that they might want to give back to their community by participating in Cleaning For A Reason.
- If you do not use a cleaning service, but are thinking about it, check the list for services in your area who do participate in this program (they will probably have the logo on their promotional material). Hire them, and tell them why you did!
- Use GoodSearch as your search engine of choice. Make it your homepage on your browser. Every time you use GoodSearch to find something on the internet, a donation is made to the charity of your choice. Choose Cleaning For A Reason! It will not cost you a dime. So far, they haven’t earned a lot on it, but you can watch their progress. Let’s see if we can make that grow!
- I know the dollars don’t stretch very far right now, but if you are feeling especially generous, you can give a donation in memory of a loved one, or find other options for helping on the Donations page.
A clean house is soothing to the spirit. It might seem like a little thing, but it might make all the difference in the world to a cancer patient’s outlook on life. Cleaning For A Reason is one of the finest charities I’ve encountered in a long time, and it’s one I would like to support. Can you think of any ways that we could get out the word to get them more donations?
I’ll be thinking about that in the coming weeks, and you be sure to give me any suggestions. Meanwhile, sign the Mr. Linky if you have an Only The Good post this week (leave me a comment, too, or I might not know you are there). Y’all have a lovely weekend filled with only the good!
Other posts you might enjoy:
{ 18 comments }
I almost feel bad doing an Only The Good Friday post on a topic that you already addressed so well. But I justdiscovered your party today and I wanted to join. I promise to bring fresh clean topics to the party in the future whenever I can attend.
Thanks for hosting. This is such a good idea for a blog party.
You do a lot of memes, Troy, so I won’t be offended if you miss now and then. I’ll just be delighted when you participate
. And, I certainly don’t mind you posting about the same things. You have different readers, and sometimes it takes several of us to get a message across. Happy Weekend!
What a great idea and a good cause. A clean house is a blessing.
.-= #1Nana´s last blog ..Peeps for Only the Good Friday =-.
Isn’t it now? If they let volunteers do the work, I’d jump up and join. But, I’m not going to start a cleaning business in order to help out. Maybe we can just “pressure” people? Gently, of course.
Cleaned up yesterday, exhausted today. Sigh.
.-= Joy´s last blog ..COOKING’S THE MINT =-.
At least you can do your cleaning? Does that work to make it good?
Relax, drink some mint tea, and enjoy your weekend.
That is a wonderful Only the Good. I know when Mom was so sick (she has Lupus) before she died, we paid for housecleaners twice a month since she couldn’t do it herself anymore. It made her feel better mentally, emotionally, & spiritually to have a clean house which does affect your physical well being too.
.-= Elizabeth´s last blog ..Only the Good – Vacation Bible School =-.
I’ve watched family members with cancer, Elizabeth, and I know how important it is to have a good mind set. That was wonderful of y’all to make sure Momma’s house was clean, and I know it meant a lot to her. I just wish that this particular program had the funds to really meet the need!
Blimey they’ll put me out of business!
Laurence, you are in the UK
BUT, you should perhaps participate in something like this across the pond? Start your own if there is not such an organization. Think of the goodwill it will bring you!
I actually quite like the concept! Yes I am UK based and can’t see that anything like that exists over here…yet!
Well, get after it, kiddo! And, let me know if you start something. I’ll post about it and Tweet the heck out of it.
I just knew that you and your cohort of followers would do what was right with this information. They do this for the women with cancer. If there is a major uptick in donations, maybe they might consider relieving the caretakers of those with cancer. Sometimes all you need is to come home to a clean home to get the will to start over the next day.
.-= Jamie´s last blog ..Five On Friday =-.
Thank you so much for giving me this information, Jamie. They would need a “major uptick.” Right now, they turn down so many requests that it is heartbreaking. But, if you have a cancer patient in your life who can’t get into the program, at least you know a great idea for a gift to give them: pay someone to come clean their house!
First, let me say that I really enjoy your blog. Cleaning for a Reason (which we are proudly partnered with!!!) started in Texas by a BRILLIANT, WONDERFUL, KIND, and GODLY woman, Debbie Sardone. Like you, she lives in the great state of Texas, too (I live in the pretty-good state of Florida).
We have been part of Cleaning for a Reason for about a year and half. We love being partnered with them! Sure it eats up a lot of our resources but Cleaning for a Reason give heart to our cleaning company! We can’t say enough about how wonderful the organization is. Thank you for writing about it.
Thank YOU for donating your time to it. Such a worthy cause.
Yes, I am part of Cleaning for a Reason also…for the companies that donate their time and resources..C4R also asks these companies to donate $20 every month…I think this may be offputting for cleaning companies that are already donating services and supplies…I love the program…but I think if I donate a minumum of $200 a month in manhours, I should not be asked to kick in and additional 220/year.
Just saying.
Hey Britt,
I felt the same way as you at first… then I thought about it and I realized that running any business takes a lot of money (something I wish all the politicians understood). The phone companies, electric companies, the hired staff, etc….they all cost money. Forgive me for stating the obvious… but after thinking about it I now understand why they need the monthly fee from us.
Comments on this entry are closed.