Making it’s return to being featured on My Monthly Charity, I know it’s been mentioned multiple times, is the American Red Cross as disaster strikes near home this time. Hurricane Irene recently made it’s way through New York, including Albany and it made an impression that won’t be forgotten. It’s surreal when you see all the damage to places you’ve been and recognize.

Hurricane Irene didn’t come through as violently as it could have but it rained on us for about 24 hours. Flooding became prevalent as rivers overflowed. The Hudson and Mohawk rivers hit record levels overflowing into towns and cities that I thought could never happen. Norman’s Kill near our warehouse was a spectacularly shocking site knowing what it’s like normally as I walked around Tawasentha Park as land became water and the river roared nearby.

Norman’s Kill

Mohawk River Lock 8*

Downtown Schenectady See more images at TimesUnion.com*

My business partner Adam was actually evacuated from his apartment for good reason as flood waters flowed in the complex displacing him for days now.

Damages in New York are suppose to top $1 billion dollars and NY Governor Andrew Cuomo says over 600 roads and 22 bridges have been affected.

Back to the heart of things, people have lost their homes or even love ones and they’re in need. The American Red Cross of Northeastern New York is out there helping those affected by the hurricane now like they have done for many, many years. Please visit http://www.redcrossneny.org/ to make a monetary donation or find out other ways you can help those in need.

*Credit images to TimesUnion.com

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My Monthly Charity for July 2011 is dedicated to a little girl named Rachel. All she wanted for her 9th birthday was a donation to her campaign for clean water projects in developing nations. Sadly to say Rachel was in a tragic car accident involving a 13 car pile up in the State of Washington. Her original goal of raising $300 was short before her campaign ended, but since then the campaign has been reopened and it has raised over $730k from over 20k donations. Those are some very impressive numbers and it shows the good will of people.

In Rachel’s words…

On June 12th 2011, I’m turning 9. I found out that millions of people don’t live to see their 5th birthday. And why? Because they didn’t have access to clean, safe water so I’m celebrating my birthday like never before. I’m asking from everyone I know to donate to my campaign instead of gifts for my birthday. Every penny of the money raised will go directly to fund freshwater projects in developing nations. Even better, every dollar is “proved” when the projects are complete, and photos and GPS coordinates are posted using Google Earth. My goal is to raise $300 by my birthday, June 12, 2011. Please consider helping me.

Thank you so much!!!

This is really a sad and amazing story at the same time. Rachel has truly done something amazing. You can read more about Rachel in a story from CBS here or visit Rachel’s campaign page to see how you can help.

One unselfish 9 year old girl made a big difference. She is an inspiration and in a way a hero to people that she has helped. Give to Rachel’s campaign before it ends. Take a step back and consider what you can spare to help those that are less fortunate.

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The organization that I’ve selected this month is TOMS shoes. With every pair of shoes purchased, TOMS gives a pair of shoes to a child in need.

In 2006 entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie started TOMS after traveling to Argentina and finding out his new children friends didn’t have shoes to protect their feet. TOMS shoes comes into play by matching every pair of shoes bought with a new pair for a child in need, this was his way of helping.

Why Shoes?

Many children in developing countries grow up barefoot. Whether at play, doing chores or going to school, these children are at risk:

• A leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted diseases, which can penetrate the skin through bare feet. Wearing shoes can help prevent these diseases, and the long-term physical and cognitive harm they cause.
• Wearing shoes also prevents feet from getting cuts and sores. Not only are these injuries painful, they also are dangerous when wounds become infected.
• Many times children can’t attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they don’t have shoes, they don’t go to school. If they don’t receive an education, they don’t have the opportunity to realize their potential.

This is a great example of social entrepreneurship where they are able to create a business that has a social or environmental goal in mind. Blake Mycoskie has started the “One for One” movement with TOMS shoes helping children in need.

The One for One movement is about people making everyday choices that improve the lives of children.

As of September 2010 TOMS has given 1,000,000 pairs of shoes to needy children around the world.

Buy some TOMS and help a child in need or visit http://www.toms.com/ to find out other ways you can help children in need.

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We recently redesigned our Daily Special newsletter email and I have to say it came out pretty dang good. We noticed that our Daily Special newsletter was pretty popular even though you get an email every single day and we wanted to utilize it. There is a thin line on how many emails you can send a person but this set of subscribers don’t seem to mind. The fact that it goes out everyday we wanted to take advantage of this newsletter as much as possible.

After some brainstorming and working with old school design methods (see why in my Designing for Emails post) we were on our way to a redesigned newsletter.

New Detailed Image Daily Special Features

• Daily Special Product Reviews
• Current Weekly Special
• Recent Ask-a-Pro Blog Posts
• Detailing Guide Navigation
• Prominent Call to Action Buttons
• Optimized Viewing for Images Off
• New Twitter and Facebook Icons

Now this email not only features our Daily Special product, it now includes content and other current promotions. You can now get everything you know about what’s happening at Detailed Image in a daily dose with the new email design.

See images below of the new design compared to the old design.

The Old Email Design

The New Email Design

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In honor of Memorial Day, remember the men and women who serve our great country to preserve our freedoms past, present, and future today and every day.

Here is a repost from last year featuring organizations that support our troops. Have a wonderful Memorial Day!!

In honor of Memorial this year for My Monthly Charity May 2010 is a collection of charities that I’ve written about previously featuring the great men and women that have served or are serving in the U.S. military.

• Cell Phones for Soldiers
• USO (United States Organizations)
• Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Charitable Service Trust

Support our troops and veterans through any of the organizations featured above this Memorial Day.

Happy Memorial Day!

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Below is a great analysis of the massive e-commerce beast that is Amazon.com. With entrepreneur Jeff Bezos leading the company from the beginning, see their evolution throughout the years and view the Hidden Empire. You may be surprised at what is part of the Amazon empire and the reach that they have. View the slideshow and find out how big Amazon really is and how they dominate.

I personally use Amazon.com all the time. They have a huge selection of categories and products, low prices, fast shipping with Amazon Prime, and much more. They really offer a fantastic e-commerce experience.

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