In July, 2009 I meet two delightful women, Korri BeVier and Michelle Wager, who told me about an outreach that they had organized to help children with serious diseases who were in and out of The Children’s Hospitals located in Denver, CO.

“How did your mission begin?” I had to know how and why they would organize such a beneficial program for children that they didn’t even know.

When Korri and Michelle first learned about children who were suffering from serious illnesses they decided to do whatever they could to help. Although neither mother has a special needs or seriously ill child they both felt heartbroken when they witnessed the need, firsthand, by several families who lived in their community.

After much soul searching, the two women began their mission to help by naming their company, A.R.K. (Acts of Random Kindness) Angels, LLC. They first began by organizing a book sale to help these children and their families.

“Deciding how to choose which families to help was the first major roadblock,” explained Korri. “We wanted to help every single one.”

After a lot of thought, they realized that narrowing down who to help and who to pass over would be a nearly impossible task. In order to help as many children as possible, they decided to create and deliver gift bags to hospitalized children—hoping to brighten the lives of as many children as possible. These gift bags came from donated books, stuffed animals, toys and small craft items. They held yard sales and sold items online to purchase additional items that they, in turn, gave to the children.

Then the women took their generous idea a huge step forward. Their first meeting with officials at The Children’s Hospital in Denver resulted in a partnership where the two entities began to work together to fulfill the vision of reaching out to children who were day patients at The Children’s Hospital.

As the word spread boxes of donated books began to arrive. The energetic women took on the job of paying for a storage unit and designing a website where hundreds of books are now listed and available for purchase.

“Making the community more aware of the needs of these children is only a part of our mission,” explained Michelle.

Seeing their amazing outreach along with the ability to help children I couldn’t wait to join forces with them. We began by listing my books on their site and soon we met with The Children’s Hospital directors of the children’s day treatment division.

The Children’s Hospital staff welcomed us with open arms and in January 2010 the A.R.K. Angels and I will begin the next phase of outreach: I will teach these groups of children to write a complete book through weekly classes held at The Children’s Hospital.

The A.R.K. Angels are working to provide the books that will be used for these classes. YOU can help! Tax deductible donations to provide teaching materials can be made two ways:
* Send checks made out to Children’s Hospital to A.R.K. Angels, P.O. Box 212, Parker, CO 80134 *Add A.R.K. Angels Project Fund in the subject line.
* Call the volunteer department and make a monetary donation to the A.R.K. Angels Project Fund by calling The Children’s Hospital at 720-777-6887.

Please consider ordering books from their site instead of other locations that keep 50 percent (or more) of the retail price. The A.R.K. Angels keep just 25% of the proceeds and use that amount to provide for the children!

We all want to make a difference in the life of a child. Sometimes, it’s hard to know how or where to start. In my opinion, helping innocent children doesn’t get much easier than this! To learn more about how you can contribute to Acts of Random Kindness with the A.R.K. Angels, please visit their site at ArkAngles.biz.

Yesterday I had the honor to attend the Cherry Creek Business Women’s Network luncheon, held at Elway’s restaurant.

If you haven’t heard of the Cherry Creek Business Women’s Network and you live in or near Denver you are like I was before yesterday! (missing out) This group of vivacious women is paving the road to success in the Denver area by helping those less fortunate.

YOU can learn more and help previously homeless single parents by attending the annual holiday book drive to benefit Warren Village on December 17, 2009.

Register here: CCBWN.org and plan to stop by and say Hi! I will be autographing my newest book, The Journey, Home from Autism as well as both of my children’s books: When I Was a Little Boy, by Jesus and Fire & Ice

I will donate 10% of the proceeds from every book purchased at Elway’s to the Warren Village.

To learn more or to donate books towards this worthy cause, please contact Lisa Voncino here: Lisa@SundanceConsulting.com

This pizza will fool even the pickiest eater! I doubt that you will even know that you are eating a wheat-less pizza! The dough is SO easy to prepare that I am beyond thrilled. I think you will be, too! Bon Appétit!

Mix together and set aside:
1 cup warm water (110°F)
1 package active dry yeast

Mix well together:
1 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup barley flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1/42 cup cornstarch
3 tablespoons Vances Dairy Free powdered milk
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup grated shredded mozzarella cheese
1 T garlic powder
1 T Italian spice mixture

ADD to yeast mixture and then add liquid to flour mixture:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large egg

Blend mixture together with a wooden spoon and with hands, if necessary, to incorporate completely. Let mixture sit for about 1 hour, until the dough springs back when it is touched.

With well floured hands (tapioca flour works well) take a large handful and pat down to about 1/2″ thick. Do this directly on top of parchment paper which is laying on top of a cookie sheet. *Sprinkle the parchment paper with cornmeal first.

Bake the pizza crusts at 500 degrees for about 10 minutes – until nicely browned on top. You can add pizza sauce, toppings and cheese first or do like I do – freeze the crusts until ready to use. I then add the toppings to thawed-out crusts and bake for an additional 5 – 10 minutes.

The boys had a two week break from school at the end of October. We were lucky enough to spend part of this break at my parent’s house in Texas where I was also able to share my writing program with a wonderful group of authors.

Since returning we had a huge snow storm that allowed them to stay home and play in the snow for three out of five days the following week. Talk about a vacation! Then… the fourth week (last week – a teacher work day on Friday!)

In between all of the playing I have been working hard on the roll-out of my next book The Journey, Home from Autism and have focused most of my promotional energies on my facebook site, facebook.com/RhondaSpellman.

On December 1st, 2009 I will have an online Autism Awareness program  My online program will focus on how I learned to Understand… Accept… Act instead of React and begin a mission to Reach, Teach and Inspire special children AND the adults who love them!

Please consider joining us here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=164622338417&index=1

Also, starting in January, I will have a monthly program that focuses on a specific topic, designed to help with the Autism journey.

Peace, blessings and love…

~Rhonda