November gets a lot of weight put on it besides the impending Thanksgiving feast and Black Friday consume-a-thon. There's the recently-defunct NaNoWriMo, where people were challenged to write 50,000 words in a single month (something I'd often hoped to do but never really had time for). Then there's the weird "No-{blank} November", in which the blank could be filled with many other things like shaving. My former church used No-Shave November to raise money for adoption funds, for instance. So with this theme in mind, I was feeling severely unchill about the state of the world at the beginning of October and picked "No-Chill November" for my personal theme.

When I say No Chill, I mean I'm not going to be chill about things that negatively affect my community. I'm not going to shrug my shoulders and say, "at least I'm doing okay" while I move on with my life. I'm going to do something. But rather than the opposite of "chill" being anxious, uptight, or irritable, I'm going to choose warmth.

The main goals of this are to do things that are financially challenging (not endangering my family but giving up money I could spend on books or clothes for myself), emotionally challenging, and physically challenging. The timeline is to do one big thing a week, one small thing every day, and one lifestyle change that only has to last the month. Tied to this but not specifically service-based, is my goal to invite one family/couple/acquaintance/group-of-randos a week over for dinner that I'd like to get to know better, especially people from different areas of my life like church, theater, the coffee shop, or our service group.

Finding specific, practical things to do in a small town, it turns out, is not easy. We know the need exists, but the various services that help you find and assist people with needs don't exist here. The Food Bank of Iowa stocks a pantry in this town, but the actual service location for donations and such is in Des Moines, the big city. I don't object to helping in Des Moines, but my goal is to focus on this little town adn the surrounding countryside.

Today, with a few ideas but no good leads on local needs, I recalled an acquaintance I'd met a year ago (we were both judging the county fair talent show) who specializes in rural poverty alleviation, so I sent her an email. Her response was rapid and longer than I'd expected. She had good suggestions for things I could do personally, but her knowledge of the larger needs of the community are something I really want to chew on with my service group (we call ourselves the Serve Mercs, informally, and I'll explain about them sometime).

While a description of the larger needs of our town will have to wait for a different blog post, I have been able to choose things I'm going to do this month for service projects.

1. Financial Goals - things that cost money: We have a grocery budget of $150/week for our family of 6 and it is enough. We don't eat steak but we have plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and meat at every dinner. In November, I want to feed the family on $120-$130/week and set aside the extra money to donate to the local Food Pantry. Additionally I want to buy a few high-needs products like baby formula and feminine hygiene products for them. My friend recommended I call and ask what their greatest needs are and that's what I'm going to do.
2. Emotional Goals - things that take me out of my comfort zone:
   a. Two homeless men have taken up residence in the park by the library. My friend's husband is the head librarian and they have both spoken to the men to see what their needs are. I want to bring them a treat every week like hot coffee or pastries from the café, and talk to them to find out more about their needs and goals, especially as the weather is getting colder and our winters here are bitterly cold.
   b. I am going to reach out to the local elderly care center to see what their residents' needs are. There is one woman in particular who used to live near me that I'd like to check on. A stretch goal with this is to set up music recitals there, coordinating between the home and the local music teacher studio, but also other local musicians.
3. Physical Goals - things that probably aren't that difficult but I have to do them: Writing to my state congresspeople to support ongoing care for the homeless, the food-insecure, mental health needs, and healthcare reform. I might even make... phone calls. Spooky. Additionally I want to look into sewing mittens and hats for a local organization that provides these things. I have lots of extra fleece that I've been storing for years and years after making a bunch of sleep sacks for my own babies when they were little. This could easily be turned into things that other people could use, though I'll need to double it up to make it really warm.

Finally, the reason I'm sharing all of this publically, which I usually don't do when I help others, is for accountability and encouragement. By putting it here, hopefully it will make it easier to follow through. I'll update this blog with what I do, how much money I save and am therefore able to donate, how the guys in the park are doing, how the sewing is going, etc. In turn, I hope you will help me stay on task, and feel encouraged to do something small yourself. We can be drops in the bucket of need together, and two drops is 100% more than one drop!