“Where did the time go,” is usually something you hear old people say. But even for me, I wonder where this whole year went too. It seems like it was summer not too long ago and that I just started high school last week.
With Christmas right around the corner, I just finished my 2nd Annual Teddy Bear Fundraiser for Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, California. Through the support and generous donations from people all over the country and even a few in Japan, I was able to raise $1,475, including my own money, to buy 500 teddy bears for the kids. Although we didn’t reach last year’s amount, I know each bear will make a difference in someone’s life.
Bears of all sizes, colors and shapes have been ordered and should arrive by the end of this week. They get unpacked from their boxes, sorted, and then my parents and I will tie a donation tag on each and every bear with the name of the person that donated. After each one has their special name tag around their neck, they are neatly packed again in larger bags ready for their trip to San Diego on December 18.
500 bears will be fill about 10 large bags. Since we don’t have a mini-van, we contacted our local Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Temecula, California. They were generous and offered to give us a half-price deal on a rental and said they would check to see if they could make a full donation. So hopefully, by the time the delivery date comes, they will be able to do that. Either way, I appreciate their support and help toward this effort.
Thank you to every person who donated to this great cause. I couldn’t have done this without you. To see a list of the supporters, please visit Pencil Bugs. After we deliver the bears, I will post a short video and update to this story. The video is now online on my YouTube Channel.
Charity should not be just at Christmas. Since I started my business, I have been donating to help kids in various ways throughout the year. There are so many good causes and people that need help in different situations. 2011 may be the start of something new in my charitable efforts. Stay tuned.
This last bit of Christmas trivia is good to remember all year long since it is health-related. It is estimated that 400,000 people become sick each year from eating tainted Christmas leftovers. I read this on several websites but couldn’t find the actual source to verify it but if you’re like most families, there was lots of food set out during the holidays. Everyone seems to take more time eating holiday meals than regular meals any other day of the year so food sits on the table or counter a lot longer. Then there are the people who like to keep eating all day long so some munchies sit out for hours. But how long should food be left out before it starts to go bad?
This was a real surprise to me because I thought Christmas was always an official holiday in the United States but it wasn’t until 1836 when Alabama was the first state to declare Christmas a legal holiday. Other states followed and by 1907, Oklahoma was the last state to make Christmas a legal holiday. More fun facts from the 
When someone says berries, we think of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc and they are all really good to eat. But there are many berries that are poisonous. One of them is the holly berry that we associate with Christmas. Eating more than three holly berries can cause severe and prolonged nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, as well as drowsiness.
Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that grows in trees and shrubs. Mistletoe basically means “dung-on-a-twig.”