Keeping up with the Joneses

Merry Christmas

Aunt Donna spotlight's American Diabetes Month

This November, join the American Diabetes Association in a national movement to Stop Diabetes.

November is American Diabetes Month®—a time to shine a spotlight on a serious disease that leads to potentially life-threatening complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, and amputation.

This year, we need to take a bolder, more audacious approach to American Diabetes Month. Consider that:

24 million children and adults in the United States live with diabetes
57 million Americans are at risk for type 2 diabetes
1 out of every 3 children born today will face a future with diabetes if current trends continue
Join the American Diabetes Association in launching a national movement to Stop Diabetes – help confront it, fight it, and most importantly, stop it.

Here's how you can become involved:

Share. Inspire others to join the movement by sharing your personal story. Visit stopdiabetes.com and join us on Facebook and Twitter to learn about all the exciting ways to be a part of the Stop Diabetes movement. Invite your family, friends, and co-workers to join this effort as well.

Act. Whether you want to walk*, bike* or simply tell a friend, there will be many ways to help build momentum for the Stop Diabetes movement.

Learn. The American Diabetes Association has many resources throughout the country to help Stop Diabetes. If you, or a loved one, already have diabetes* or are at risk* for developing it, ADA can provide medical, lifestyle and motivational information to prevent this disease from taking control of your life and the lives of those around you.

Give. Sign up with your local American Diabetes Association office to help raise money for diabetes research, federal and state advocacy and public education.

Aunt Donna supports Until There's A Cure

During Hispanic Heritage Month, Until There's A Cure Foundation is proud to observe the seventh annual National Latino AIDS Awareness Day -- an occasion that brings both attention to the disproportionate effect of HIV on American Latinos and renewed hope in the fight against AIDS. NLAAD is an opportunity to meet the challenges HIV and AIDS represent for the Latino community in the United States.

To help you prepare for NLAAD in your own community, here are several facts about HIV/AIDS among young Hispanics and Latinos in the United States:

In 2006, Hispanic and Latino teens aged 13 to 19 accounted for 19% of new teen HIV infections in the United States, up from 17% in 2005.
23% of children under 13 living with HIV/AIDS are Hispanic or Latino.
The rate of decline for Latino youth HIV infection has declined slower than the rate of infection among non-Latino white youth in the United States

Until There's A Cure Foundation is pleased to recognize this important awareness day during Hispanic History month, and hope that it inspires productive conversations on how to educate young people, prevent against infection, and treat those afflicted by HIV and AIDS with dignity and respect.

You are encouraged to share this information with your friends and family. Aunt Donna hopes that you will join her in making AIDS a memory. Remember to wear The Bracelet, Until There's A Cure.

Until There's A Cure® Foundation

http://Until.org | http://Facebook.com/Until.org | http://Twitter.com/Until_dot_org

Gettin' They Grub On

Sleepover Pix...Coming Soon

Merry Christmas from the DFGs!!!

The Gangs All Here!

Barack Obama wins Presidency!!!

Barack Obama scored a barrier-breaking victory becoming the first black president of the United States. At age 47 and still serving his first Senate term, the Democrat cleared a historic hurdle.

Speaking to 125,000 supporters in Chicago, Obama said, "If there is anyone out there who doubts that America is a place where anything is possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer." "It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America,"

The historic day was studded with several key events:
National voter turnout broke records, with several states reporting long lines at polling sites.

Many States had waits of up to four hours in places like Harlem where lines began to form before dawn.

Economy was the No. 1 issue for a whopping 62 percent of voters in exit polls - a topic that overwhelmingly favored Obama in the campaign.

Gettin' Tatted at the Pumpkin Patch

DFGs do the Pumpkin Patch

Aunt Donna's Quick Candidate Bio

Barack Obama is the junior U.S. Senator from Illinois and the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee. Barack Hussein Obama was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Obama’s parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced, his mother re-married and the family moved to Jakarta where Obama attended schools. In Jakarta, classes were taught in the Indonesian language. Four years later when Barack (commonly known throughout his early years as "Barry") was ten, he returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents.

After high school, he studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, graduating in 1983 with a degree in political science. Obama moved to Chicago in 1985. There, he worked as a community organizer with low-income residents. Obama entered Harvard Law School in 1988. In February 1990, he was elected the first African–American editor of the Harvard Law Review. He graduated magna cum laude in 1991.

After law school, Obama returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer, he also taught at the University of Chicago Law School. He published an autobiography in 1995 Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance and he won a Grammy for the audio version of the book. Obama’s advocacy work led him to run for the Illinois State Senate as a Democrat. He was elected in 1996.

Obama decided to run for the U.S. Senate open seat vacated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald. In 2004, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, after winning with 70% of the vote to his opponents 27%, the largest electoral victory in Illinois history. He became the only African-American serving in the U.S. Senate (and the fifth in U.S. history). And only the third African American elected to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction.

Aunt Donna's Quick Candidate Bio

John Sidney McCain III was born on August 29, 1936, at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone, the second of three children born to naval officer John S. McCain Jr. and his wife, Roberta. He attended Episcopal High School, a private preparatory boarding school in Alexandria, Virginia, graduating in 1954. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, McCain graduated (fifth from the bottom of his class) from the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1958. He also graduated from flight school in 1960.

With the outbreak of the Vietnam War, McCain volunteered for combat duty and began flying carrier-based attack planes. On October 26, 1967, during his 23rd air mission, McCain´s plane was shot down during a bombing run over the North Vietnamese. He broke both arms and one leg during the crash. McCain was moved to Hoa Loa prison, nicknamed the “Hanoi Hilton,” on December 9, 1969. McCain eventually spent five and a half years in various prison camps, three and a half of those in solitary confinement.

McCain was first elected to political office on November 2, 1982, winning a seat in the House of Representatives. In 1986, after the retirement of the longtime Arizona senator Barry Goldwater, McCain won election to the U.S. Senate. Although he emerged as a solid challenger to Governor George W. Bush of Texas, for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, his large electoral deficit forced him to “suspend” his campaign and formally endorse Bush. McCain officially entered the 2008 presidential race on April 25, 2007, during an announcement in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Aunt Donna's Women's Equality Day Proclamation

Women in the United States were given the right to vote on August 26, 1920 when the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution was signed. The amendment was first introduced many years earlier in 1878. Every president has published a proclamation for Women's Equality Day since 1971 when legislation was first introduced in Congress by Bella Abzug. This resolution was passed designating August 26 of each year as Women's Equality Day.

Full text of resolution
Joint Resolution of Congress, 1971 Designating August 26th of each year as Women's Equality Day
WHEREAS, the women of the United States have been treated as second-class citizens and have not been entitled the full rights and privileges, public or private, legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States; and
WHEREAS, the women of the United States have united to assure that these rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally regardless of sex; and
WHEREAS, the women of the United States have designated August 26th, the anniversary date of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, as symbolic of the continued fight for equal rights: and
WHEREAS, the women of United States are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, designate that August 26th of each year is "Women's Equality Day," and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote, and that day in 1970, on which a nationwide demonstration for women's rights took place.

Aunt Donna celebrates 112 years of NACWC

"Lifting As We Climb" - A Legacy of Strength
The National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, (NACWC) was organized in Washington, DC on July 21, 1896 by the merger of the National Federation of Afro-American Women, the Women's Era Club of Boston, and the Colored Women's League of Washington, DC. The NACWC is the oldest African American secular organization in existence today.

The objectives of the NACWC are as follows:

1. To promote the education of women and children
2. To raise the standards of the home
3. To improve conditions for family living,
4. To work for the moral, economic, social, and religious welfare of women and children
5. To protect the rights of women and children
6. To secure and enforce civil and political rights for the African American race and
7. To promote interracial understanding so that justice may prevail among all people

National Headquarters Address
National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, Inc.
5808 16th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20011

Aunt Donna promotes HIV/Aids Awareness

About the Day
June 27 is National HIV Testing Day. The National Association of People with AIDS is the lead for this day.
The Facts
An estimated 250,000 people in the United States have HIV and are not aware of it. National HIV Testing Day is an opportunity for people nationwide to learn their HIV status, and to gain knowledge to take control of their health and their lives.
Resources
Posters:Download and customize these posters to promote your National HIV Testing Day events!

Events, Posters, PSAs, and other Materials:Find or register events, order posters, download public service announcements (PSAs), and other materials for National HIV Testing Day.

Fact Sheets:Download these fact sheets, post them on bulletin boards, share them with local newspapers, and distribute them at events!

You can also click here to order free copies of these fact sheets.

Aunt Donna's Cinco de Mayo History (May '08)

Cinco de Mayo ("The Fifth of May" in Spanish) is a national holiday in Mexico which is also widely celebrated in the United States. It commemorates the victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin over the French occupational forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. See main story: Battle of Puebla

It is a common misconception that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day, which is celebrated on September 16th ("Dieciseis de septiembre" in Spanish), but actually it is a celebration of the battle.

Word Search: http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/cinco/word/word1.gif

The DFGs do DC.