Buy me a pig for my birthday. Seriously.


Here is why:

In my 50 years of planetary occupation (yes, I’ll admit it, I'll be 50 this May!) I have learned it is not about me.   I have met many people during this half-century, and I have discovered I am a very blessed person.  There are people who are without a home, so they do not have a warm, comfortable bed at night or the simple luxuries we take for granted like showering or washing our clothes when we want.  I own a car, so I do not need to walk or bike in difficult weather conditions in order to travel to work, to the grocery store, or to enjoy coffee with a friend.  And if I am hungry, I walk to my fridge and find something to eat, fix food in my kitchen, or hit the Wendy's drive-through and buy a grilled chicken sandwich.  When it comes right down to it, I have a nice roof over my head, plenty of food and clothes, and a cute, little red car that runs well and gets me where I want to go.  I am very blessed.

However, I am not blind to the fact that there are many who are not so blessed.  And after 50 years on this Earth and a brief fight with thyroid cancer, I know my days on this Earth are numbered.  As I think about celebrating this milestone birthday, I’d like to do as the Boy Scouts do and, “Leave it better than I found it.”  Please help me leave this Earth better than I found it.
Through some friends, I found an organization that is helping families in Africa who sometimes only eat a handful of food a couple of times a week.  On the “Africa Family Rescue” website it says, “Buying a pig for a widow or orphan-led family quickly leads to self-sufficiency. Manure for planting season. Pork for feeding the children. Breeding the pig brings an instant business and long term self-sufficiency. Our families are also coached to share their blessing by giving the first born pig to a widow who is not in our program.”

So forget all those “over-the-hill” presents you were planning to buy me for my birthday J please join me in celebrating my 50th “Buyin’ Bacon Birthday Bash” by purchasing a pig for Ugandan widows and orphans families.  My goal is to have 50 pigs purchased in 50 days.  Please visit the website (link below) and consider buying a pig or two in celebration of my planetary occupation!  Please feel free to pass on the link to anyone you think might be interested, and by all means, check back on my Facebook page to see how I’m doing with this monumental, half-century goal. 

I bought the first pig.  I plan to save money from avoiding those money-sucking Illinois tolls!  Even though it already takes me 35-40 minutes or longer to commute back and forth to work, if I drive an alternate route it will take a little bit longer but I avoid the tolls.  So, a little extra time on my part (and patience!) and I can save money and NOT donate money to the State of Illinois!  I am buying the first pig with my time!

And if you can’t do one pig—then please consider joining with someone, or a group, and purchase a pig.  Give up that Starbucks coffee or that Dunkin’ Donut for a month and pitch in to buy a pig.  If you really just want to send a few bucks, send it to me and I’ll add it to someone else’s or match it myself and buy another pig.

It’s all about the bacon.  To donate for the "Buyin' Bacon Birthday Bash" go to http://www.africafamilyrescue.org/ and buy a pig today! Go to the website and click on the "50 Pigs/50 Years" page.


I plan to celebrate on May 23, at the Penny Road Pub in Barrington, while kicking back and listening to the Black Roses play.  I hope you can join me!!

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