This recipe is super easy and uses ingredients usually already in your cupboard. It’s so delicious you will love it.

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut milk or coconut cream
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 cup peanut butter, crunchy or smooth
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Method:

Bring coconut milk, curry powder, peanut butter, chicken stock, and brown sugar to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly until smooth and thickened. Remove from heat and stir in soy sauce.

Sometimes it’s the simple songs that really say the most. Gorgeous litte ditty by Stevie Wright.

Song: You
Artist: Stevie Wright
Album: Black Eyed Bruiser
Year: 1975

Now I’m not good at saying things
The words seem hard to find
But lately I’ve been worrying
And searching through my mind
I hope these words
Will say what I want them to
All I want is you

Now life don’t seem to good right now
The dream seems far away
But as long as life’s just you and me
I’ll take what comes my way

So hear these words
And know them like I do
All I want is you
All I want is you
You

All I want is you
All I want is you
All I want is you
All I want is you
All I want is you
All I want is you

I just seem to keep losing the battle against STUFF in my house. It’s EVERYWHERE. It’s doing my head in. STUFF STUFF STUFF!!! Oh how I dream for a house where everything has a place. OK so I have made a list of things I need to look at every day and FOLLOW THROUGH.

1. If something new is brought in, something old has to go
2. Give back all the things you’ve borrowed
3. Cull the coats off the coat rack
4. Cull the shoe rack at the front door
5. Go through your wardrobe put your hangers back to front, anything you don’t turn around because you’ve worn it a year from now give away or sell on eBay
6. If you have kids distribute their toys amongst three tubs, circulate them every week – same with books
7. If someone asks you to do something and you know you will never get time to do it, say no – otherwise it will be laying around forever in the way
8. Make up a list of big things around the house TO DO and tick one off each week (that big box of filing, the manchester/linen closet, the plastics cupboard etc)

If you have any more to add let me know below, I need all the help I can get! :)

I know, it seems like a tall story handed down generations about panthers that were brought over to Australia during the gold rush days as mascots and then eventually let lose and seriously I would not have believed it had I have not seen one with my mother with my very own eyes. It was around 2000 some time and I took my mother to a little town in the middle of a mountain range in Victoria called Walhalla. We stayed in a little B&B up above the small township and one night after having dinner we made our way back up to the accommodation.

The drive was a bit hairy because the road was only wide enough for one car at a time and there was pretty steep hill to the side. It was pitch black and I had my 4WD high beams on as well as my spot lights.

We were only creeping along very slowly and there before us, a pure black puma/panther (I’m not technical enough to know the difference) leapt down from the embankment onto the road and casually walked across. I stopped the car and we watched it cross, look directly at us and then go down off the road into the bushes.

We didn’t move a muscle and then when it was gone we looked at each other incredulously, we knew what that was and it was definitely not a large feral cat, not even close. Having been just meters away from it with four full beam lights glowing onto it.

In the morning we asked the B&B owner if they had ever heard of any big cats in the area and the guy tried to tell us it was “Molly” the neighbours cat. We both said straight out we didn’t believe him but he probably thought if the word got out people might be too scared to go there.

I don’t know to this day if there have been any other sightings of big cats in Walhalla, but I know what I saw and my Mum saw it too.

Today in 2012 there are still not enough caregivers for the amount of children unable to live at home for various reasons ranging from the parents death, physical illness, mental illness, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, mental abuse, neglect and more that the child is exposed to.

I’ve always had a passion for foster care and permanent care order children, well any child really who does not have loving caregivers in a stable and permanent environment. I learned much at University when I studied for my Bachelor of Arts in Youth Affairs, but there was still a lot we didn’t know 18 years ago.

If you’ve found this article because of a niggling desire to help a child then hopefully by the end you’ll be ready to pick up the phone and take the first step of what is going to be an adventure. Adventures are called such because of the nature of the unknown things we’ll experience; places we will go, what we might face and who we will meet. But adventures give us some of the most exciting experiences and victories we will ever face.

There is a big reason why we need to secure the futures of these children and it’s often never mentioned in the pamphlets and literature you read when you are looking into becoming a child’s primary caregiver.

By welcoming one these children into your home, heart and lives you (and your family/friends) are the ones who can help to undo the issues caused to a child when he or she is raised in a chaotic or abusing environment. You see, from birth, babies require repetitive loving and positive experiences which are required for them to develop normal brain and physical function. Lack of these experiences causes the brain to under-develop and also can cause physical issues as well.

Most of the children who come from these types of upbringings quickly find themselves in a cycle of negative behaviour, not because they are “bad” but because the lack of positive physical and emotional experiences meant their brain did not reach the milestones vital for proper development and they just don’t know how to cope with anxiety and stressful situations for example at school or home (this behaviour can be reversed).

Sadly still in our society this little known fact often escapes many members of public, educational institutions and GP health professionals. Children can sometimes be labeled incorrectly with ADHD etc.

You could be fooled into thinking that taking in a foster care child or permanent care child is “too hard” but it isn’t. We’ll never change the whole world but for one child (or maybe more if you’re willing!) you can change the reality of the future they face and make a big difference to them.

You create a positive cycle for them to follow for generations to come, long after you have left this earth – that is what is so brilliant about caring and loving people like you standing up for these kids changing their experience within a family and creating skills for them to be successful parents themselves when it is their turn. Even older teenagers who have suffered years of neglect can heal with time, patience, nurturing and love. They just need a chance.

As a society we need to get out of the mentality that these kids are “someone elses problem”. Or worst of all we just don’t think about them at all. These kids are everyone’s responsibility. If you’ve ever lamented while watching the news and seen the kind of world we are living in, I can tell you absolute certainty that the majority of it is a result of upbringing.

In fact, it was the whole reason Merv started Breakaway Camps, he was working in a prison over 20 years ago and seeing these men of all ages and hearing their stories, it was there he realised he was working at the wrong end of the scale, he had to go back to the other end and provide positive experiences for children and young people from at risk backgrounds. They now provide positive role models and long term mentoring through recreation and have seen massive results in the kids they have worked with over the decades because of their efforts.

I could wax lyrical here for eternity but the bottom line is this: People don’t start off their lives as children and think to themselves “When I grow up I’m going to become an alocholic and bash my child” or “When I grow up I’m going to be addicted to drugs, have a baby with some random fella, neglect the baby and have it taken away from me”. People are a product of the experiences they have. I hold no grudges or judge the parents of these kids, they are just as broken and dis-functional as the children who are at high risk of becoming without proper intervention.

But you can break the cycle.

If you’re still reading and you want to understand a more about compelling reasons why you should get involved (step out of your comfort zone and see some miracles :) then there is a book called The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog by Bruce Perry. It’s a fascinating read about what we can learn about children who have suffered trauma early in their lives, how it affects their development and how it can be overcome with various types of therapy, patience and nurturing from loving caregivers. The physical book can be ordered online within Australia from Angus Robertson here or the eBook here.

You can also find some feedback from others regarding Permanent Care in Victoria in this article in the comments.

These simple and clean registration contact form templates are going to prove invaluable for capturing your customers contact information at events, seminars and even in your print and marketing materials.

Fully customizable you can change all headings, text and the color. There is also an area to include your own images.

You can incorporate the form sections into your existing print marketing design and save yourself a lot of time.

If you’ve ever needed to capture contact information on paper one of the biggest issues can be interpreting various handwriting styles. The individual box and separated markers are perfect for ensuring you get the spelling right on a customers information.

International versions are included to meet the size needs for different countries (U.S/CAN 8.5×11in & AU & U.K 210×297mm), including localized title description names and address and postal code formats.

There are five styles available for each country of use, countries currently include America, Australia, Canada and the U.K

Print ready with 3mm bleed
Easy to use Paragraph Styles to replace with your own fonts
YouTube video tutorial to change the color
File formats include: Illustrator CS3 and above .AI & .EPS vector and .PDF

Purchase now for just $7.00

4 whole chicken breasts (or 5 chicken thigh fillet), diced and cooked

1 420g can of Campbells Cream of Chicken Soup

1 300g tub of Sour Cream

1 stack of Ritz Crackers crushed (just in hand in chunks is fine)

1 stick butter (around 20/30g) melted

1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 160C. Cook chicken. Mix Soup mix and sour cream and chicken in bottom of greased casserole dish and spread. Melt butter and add crackers and mix. Sprinkle over chicken mixture. Sprinkle poppy seeds on top. Bake at 160C for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Serve with steamed vegetables. Serves 6 (or 8 with extra sides).

Adapted from recipe in the Best of the Best from Kentucky Cookbook 2005.

Meeting new people is an enjoyable experience and if you want your venture or organisation to succeed it’s going to require mingling with your local community and the wider public. The following are some points that will make every networking opportunity count. These points are also just as important for businesses as well.

The elevator pitch

The elevator pitch is a quick, succinct summation of what your organisation does.

Develop, rehearse and adapt your pitch – review it regularly to ensure it is reflecting the current place where your organisation is at.

Don’t make it too wordy, remember it’s the lead in you need to entice an invite to share more about what you do. Not everyone will want to know more however this is the best way to connect your cause with new people without boring them with a long speech.

Business cards

One of the other biggest tools you can have in successful networking is a business card ready at hand. Wherever you go make sure you have some in your pocket, wallet or purse and some extras in your car too.

I’ve also found purchasing some of the small clear business card holders from an office supplies store useful, keep a few in the car so if the opportunity presents itself and you find yourself in a place that provides a complimentary product or service to your organisation, you can always ask if you can leave a holder of cards there.

Don’t forget to note down where you left them and add it to your calendar to replenish them regularly. If they start to disappear quickly you can look at leaving other marketing materials.

If you are meeting someone for the first time and you find they have a product, service or skill that might come in handy to your organisation one day, ask for their business card!

Manage your contacts

When you get back to the office, input their information down in your contact management software (vital to any successful organisation: check out Daylite for Mac, ACT! For PC or SalesForce on the web) and also note down when and where you met them and anything you can recall about your conversation that you could use later down the track to jog their memory of your introduction.

If you use your contact management software as one of your most important office tools personalised to your organisation requirements you will soon build up a database of useful contacts. Cross reference contacts so you can track who is connected to whom.

Social networking

The term ‘social networking’ is the new buzz word but don’t drive yourself crazy trying to be everything to everyone, everywhere.

Research the different types of websites included in the social networking phenomenon (Facebook, LinkedIN, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ etc) and find out how best to use each you decide on to maximise your visitor to donor conversions.

Often when an organisation signs onto many social networking sites they usually find themselves posting the same content on each site, usually word for word. My advice is to mix it up a bit, avoid being bland and posting the same information on each site or you will quickly alienate people who follow your organisation on multiple networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

LinkedIN www.linkedin.com has often been touted as the “Facebook for grownups” and it’s definitely worth getting your profile up online for both yourself as an individual and as an organisation.

Not only will it help your networking but also you can stay up to date with the latest news and information related to your organisation focus by joining the various groups available.

Value for money goes deeper than simply how much money ends up in the bank account after the transaction.

When accepting donation money for your not for profit (NFP) organisation it really does pay to research the method of which you choose to use. By understanding the fees involved you can still offer your donors a variety of popular methods while retaining more for your organisation. Depending on the volume of income you could be saving thousands of dollars which could be better used towards your cause.

Services that are provided, accessibility and ease of use for the donor are all things that need to be taken into account when comparing which option is going to suit you and your cause. Some questions include: Do they have a mobile version of their website? Do they offer a smart phone application? Do they accept recurring payments? Can they process donations from bank accounts? How often are donations released?

How do they market themselves? If they advertise broadly this will factor into a higher percentage. Look at how many other organisations are using the service.

It’s also worth road testing them too, pick up the phone and call them; what is their customer service like? Drop them an email; does it take them long to reply, is the response what you required?

Word of mouth is also a good way of getting reliable feedback about any product or service so if you have people in other nonprofit networks, ask for a recommendation on the services they use. Also, don’t be afraid to look up a few charities already using the service and give them a call and ask how they find the service, it will only take a few minutes but you’ll get personalised feedback.

In Australia there are a number of donation options available.

Let’s take a look at what you get with some of the more popular ones (prices correct at 17/07/12).

My Cause: 6.5% of total donation amount

PayPal: 2.4% + $0.30 AUD for donations up to $5,000

Everyday Hero: It’s not really made clear in their terms but they operate like this:

A member of the public sets up a campaign to raise money for your charity: Everyday Hero takes a service fee of 6.5% plus GST of the gross amount PLUS a payment processing fee at current market rate per transaction (ranges from 1% + 0.23c for Visa/Mastercard to 2.45% + $1.70 for Amex. Varies depending on the payment type).

For charities, if you select Everyday Hero as your main donation processing provider you pay $30 + GST a month (increased each year at CPI or 4%, whichever is greater) PLUS a service fee 1.1% + 0.30c + GST PLUS a payment processing fee at current market rate per transaction (ranges from 1% + 0.23c for Visa/Mastercard to 2.45% + $1.70 for Amex. Varies depending on the payment type). For some campaigns the service fee can be as high as 8%, I spoke to their office who said some high profile campaigns are charged at a higher rate because they offer more personalised customer support.

GiveNow: 0.99% for Visa and Mastercard and 1.43% for Amex

Other options include a personalised Online Merchant Service through your bank and direct deposit into your bank. Merchant Services are more often than not difficult to obtain, you need a long term established relationship with the bank and proven high income turnover before they will even look at offering your an online merchant facility and then there is also the cost of having someone integrate it into your website.

Direct Deposit has no fees but can be difficult to track, with donors often not articulating their details in the reference fields you could miss out on the opportunity to follow up the donation with a thank you or receipt because there is no contact information to cultivate a relationship with the donor. The other issue is that the destination for the donation is more often than not unknown and so there is the risk of a donation being made which never reaches its intended destination within your organisation.

If you know of any other donation processing websites worth mentioning, feel free to comment below.