Redistribution Ariel's Way!

Ariel and Perrie with the croc shoes.

Ariel's Dad Roy

Ariel is a dear friend and roomate of my Sister Melissa's when she lived in England for college. She has also become a great friend to our entire family and is such a warm loving person. She heard about our project from Melissa and quickly sprang into action. Here is a little about her and how she has managed to help out even being a grad student doesn't stop her.

" A bit about me..grad student at Univ of Miami--spanish language journalism track ("periodismo"). GO CANES! Hmm...some things I love...God, my family, dogs, the arts, writing letters, cooking, kicking back with a good book (note: book, not TEXTbook), playing listening and singing--anything music related (just ask melissa--i can be pretty goofy about it. at newbold I was constantly begging and working to borrow a guitar--even used to walk with a pik in my wallet), volunteering where I'm needed... and traveling when I can afford it! <> :-)

I think the crocs project is easy for people to strive towards because everyone knows someone with kids who will outgrow or have outgrown their crocs. Or you know someone who knows someone... For our personal donation, our family decided to scale back on Christmas and take on a couple missions projects instead. (If we gave presents, they were homemade). So some of the extra cash went towards some pairs of crocs for the kids.

As for a student budget..well yes, grad students typically don't have a lot of spending cash, but I personally found ways to scale back too. Small & simple things can offer a lot for donations. For example, instead of occasionally buying Papa Johns, I'd go buy a generic supermarket pizza, and the 10 bucks you save, you can go buy two pairs of imitation crocs from Target or Walmart. The food actually tastes better when you know you're making a contribution to something important. I don't go to Blockbuster or movies, just wait for the library to get the DVD... the 7 or 10 bucks there can go for a donation also.

So I haven't made revolutionary changes to my lifestyle--just a little "redistribution". Also any spare change I collect I've been keeping in a jar and when it fills up I'll count it out and donate it also(I call that one "Change for crocs" ;) still in progress....might be more exciting if I had a smaller jar that filled up faster!) I hope that some of the other students I've asked will also find creative ways to contribute as well.

This pic is me with my poodlemix Perrie (formerly a scrawny stray, yet remarkably photogenic) and some of the crocs we collected. (Perrie has a habit of crawling into a lap if its within reach--so this picture without her was not an option) The other pic is my daddy, Roy, with the last set of crocs on the day we went to post them. I have a picture of the lady at UPS too, who boxed them (for free!! Last time the manager said she charged extra for that. :P) and asked all kinds of questions. She thinks its super and wants to know if there's a need for clothing as well."

Ariel is truly an inspiring giver. You do not have to be rich to enjoy helping others and although Ariel is modest and feels that her changes to her lifestyle aren't "revolutionary" but are instead "redistribution" I think that she is REVOLUTIONARY!!!! and just think if we all did a little "redistribution" in our own lifestyles we are truly going to change the world and ourselves in the process.