Three Days a Week: October 27 - Dec 5

Quad Cities: The Salvation Army's Christmas Assistance Program - a community wide effort - is The Salvation Army's largest outreach event each year. Last year, for example, more than 4,000 toys and gifts were distributed to 1,935 children and more than 1,900 households received food.

Families who would like to receive assistance during the holidays must register and complete the application process before December 5th.

Registration Location in Scott County, IOWA:  3400 W. Central Park Avenue, Davenport 563-391-5325

Registration Location in Rock Island County, ILLINOIS:  2200 - 5th Avenue, Moline 309-764-6996

Registration Dates and Times for both Locations:

Mondays– 12:00PM to 2:30PM October 27; November 3, 10, 17, 24; and December 1

Wednesdays– 1:00PM to 4:00PM October 29; November 5, 12, 19; and December 3

Fridays– 11:00AM to 2:00PM October 31; November 7, 14, 21; and December 5

What to bring: (Applications cannot be taken without the items below)

1. Adults: a. Picture ID with valid date, b. Social Security card & c. Proof of address (2 pieces of mail)

2. Children: a. Social Security Cards or b. Medical Cards or c. Birth certificates for each child.

3. Proof of: a. Household Income & b. Federal or State Benefits.

The list of people being assisted is shared with other agencies in the area, so that there is no duplication of service and so that everyone who needs assistance will be able to find it.

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Many Americans are choosing to hold onto their money these days, a lesson learned from the 2008-09 financial crash.

It's good to have savings - but not to the point of hoarding, says entrepreneur and philanthropist Tim McCarthy, author of "Empty Abundance," (mindfulgiving.org).

Americans are saving at a rate of 5.30 percent, well above the record low of 0.80 percent in 2005, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The world's billionaires are holding an average of $600 million each in cash, which is more than the gross domestic product of Dominica, according to the new Billionaire Census from Wealth-X and UBS. That's up from $60 million the previous year, signaling that the very wealthy are keeping their money on the sidelines and waiting for an optimal investment time.

"All of us could invest part of our 'fortune,' great or small, on something that gives back on a deeper human level, such as non-predatory loans to individuals from impoverished communities,"

McCarthy diverts all of his business profits annually to his foundation, The Business of Good, which invests in socially conscious businesses and scalable nonprofit concepts.

He reviews what everyone has to gain from mindful giving.

•  Money buys you happiness - up to $75,000 worth. Life satisfaction rises with income, but everyday happiness - another measure of well-being - changes little once a person earns $75,000 per year, according to a 2010 Princeton study. Another widely published survey by psychologist Roy Baumeister suggested that "happiness, or immediate fulfillment, is largely irrelevant to meaningfulness." In other words, so many who finally achieve financial excess are unfulfilled by the rewards that come with that.

•  Remember the wealth disconnection to overall fulfillment. A Gallup survey conducted in 132 countries found that people in wealthy countries rate themselves higher in happiness than those in poor countries. However, 95 percent of those surveyed in poverty-stricken countries such as Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan and Sierra Leone reported leading meaningful lives, while less than 60 percent reported the same in wealthier countries.

"While more investigation to wealth, happiness and well-being is certainly in order, I think it's clear that while money is important, it cannot buy purpose, significance or overall satisfaction," McCarthy says.

•  Giving money reliably equals happy money. Two behavioral scientists, Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, explore in their recent book, "Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending," what makes people engage in "prosocial behavior" - including charitable contributions, buying gifts and volunteering time. According to Dunn and Norton, recent research on happiness indicates that the most satisfying way of using money is to invest in others.

In 2010, multi-billionaires Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates co-founded The Giving Pledge, a long-term charitable effort that asks the wealthiest among us to commit to giving more than half of their fortunes to philanthropy. Among the first to join, Michael R. Bloomberg wrote in his pledge letter: "If you want to do something for your children and show how much you love them, the single best thing - by far - is to support organizations that will create a better world for them and their children."  To date, 115 of our country's 495 billionaires have pledged.

•  Anhedonia, amnesia and the fallacy of consumption. Anhedonia is the inability to enjoy activities that are typically found pleasurable.

"After making my wealth, I found that I suffered from anhedonia," McCarthy says. "Mindful giving - intelligent and conscious giving to those who need it - turned out to be my best therapy."

Everybody has experienced the limits of consumption, the economic law of diminishing returns. One cookie is nice and so, too, is your first $1 million. But at some point, your ability to enjoy eating cookies or earning millions diminishes more with each successive one.

"Everyone learns this lesson, yet the horror is that so many of us succeed in forgetting it," McCarthy says. "I think that, in every moment, we need to remind ourselves that continually reaching for the next 'cookie' is not in our best interest."

About Tim McCarthy

Tim McCarthy's first business, WorkPlace Media, eventually built a permissioned database of 700,000 gatekeepers who reach more than 70 million employees with incentives for clients such as Coca-Cola, Lenscrafters and McDonalds. He sold the company in 2007 and recently bought it back. In 2003, he partnered with his son, Tim Patrick McCarthy, to open Raising Cane's of Ohio, which had 13 stores with over $30 million in revenue in 2013. McCarthy, author of "Empty Abundance," (mindfulgiving.org), earned his bachelor's in political science and MBA from Ohio State University. In 2008, he received the Fisher Alumnae Community Service Award and was named an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

The Salvation Army Announces the 2014 Project Bundle Up Collection Event

Quad Cities, USA: As families find it harder and harder to make ends meet, The Salvation Army asks the community to step in and help children stay warm this coming winter. The Project Bundle Up Event hosted by KWQC TV-6 makes donating easy. This heart-warming event is sponsored by Floor Trader.

WHERE: KWQC TV-6 at 805 Brady Street, Davenport, IA

WHEN: Thursday, October 16, 2014

HOURS: 6:00am - 6:30pm

The Salvation Army will deliver thousands of cold weather clothing items to Quad Cities' elementary & middle schools to fill the needs of students who arrive at school without these essential items. School teachers are on the frontlines watching for children who come to school without mittens & gloves, hats, socks, underwear, and scarves, and Project Bundle Up fills this need.

"The need increases every year. Last year's delivery to 27 schools was over 7,000 items, and that was a really cold winter - we know they were put to good use!" stated Patty Mixdorf, Event Coorindator at The Salvation Army.

Donations can also be mailed, marked "Project Bundle Up," to: The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 3972, Davenport, IA 52808. A gift of any size by October 31, 2014 will greatly help!

October 8, 2014

IA/IL QUAD-CITIES- In its 9^th year, the 2014 KJ's Mustache Challenge is a local event where participants toss out their razors for four weeks in an effort to raise funds for preventive programs provided by the Quad Cities Child Abuse Council. This year the Challenge will occur one month earlier in hopes to enjoy a warmer 'growing season'. The Challenge begins on October 23^rd and culminates in a Mustache Bash Pub Crawl in downtown Moline on November 22^nd.

New this year, too, is a Ladies Night Event celebrating those women who are 'Stache Enablers', at this event ladies can sign up their husbands, brothers, fathers and friends into the Challenge. This new 'Stache Enablers' event is October 16^th at Refresh in downtown Moline from 6p to 8p featuring fun mustache prize giveaways.

"The Mustache Challenge is for everyone," says longtime Challenge committee member, Tracie Veto. "We encourage our sister Challengers to support the men in their efforts to grow a mustache, yes, some Challengers look a bit different for a few weeks but it's for a great cause. The women have just as much fun with the Challenge as the men do!"

The Mustache Challenge committee is hosting the Official Challenge Kick-Off Party at Pints on Utica Ridge Road in Davenport on October 23^rd from 5:30p to 7:30p, this officially begins the 'Growing Season'. At the Kick-Off Party you can sign up for the Challenge, participate in a prize winning raffle and win mustache merchandise.

For a minimum donation of $25 Challengers will receive the commemorative t-shirt, eligibility to compete in the Best Stache competition and to win prizes during the Mustache Bash Pub Crawl on November 22^nd in Downtown Moline.

This fundraiser is in memory of Mustache Challenge participant, Kyle John of Moline, who at age 27 passed away in 2008 after a courageous five year battle against Ewings Sarcoma. His close friends have continued the Mustache Challenge in celebration of his spirit and charitable heart.

For more information about KJ's 2014 Mustache Challenge and the QC Child Abuse Council visit www.kjmustachechallenge.org and www.childabuseqc.org. KJ's Mustache Challenge is also on Facebook.

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