Now having stepped both feet into the New Year hopefully those resolutions haven't fallen by the wayside just yet. Speaking on a personal level I have decided to complete twelve selfless acts over the next twelve months. The first one being a bit of a physical transformation; donating more that a foot of my hair to "Locks of Love" on January 5th, 2011. For some of you not familiar with this organization they accept donated hair to create a wig for children so they can have the hair that nature has not allowed them to have. Today, (Sunday 16th) I walked into Indy Metro Church's service and removed the coat from my back and donated for an upcoming journey down to Guatemala where along with three more bags of my winter clothes will be handed out to the people of Magdalena who need a little bit more warmth this season than I do. To some this may seem like a silly act, but I am hopeful that this year like Andy Warhol who said, "I think everybody should like everybody", this will spawn a little bit of inspiration to look outside of the boxes we sometimes find ourselves dwelling in and give someone a much needed hand.

As I watched my coat disappear out of sight I found myself standing in the Haiti Gallery Show at the Athenaeum (401 E. Michigan Street) that I wrote about in the last issue. One main reason that I mention this show is because what makes it interesting to me is that it's not just about the art, but about art that is helping a country that has been so displaced after the disaster that hit Haiti a year ago this month; still today over 1.5 million Haitians are homeless. 300,000 of these people are orphans. "Some of our kids have no families at all, some have lost a father or mother & the remaining parent is not able to care for the child. Some of our children have come from abusive situations or poverty stricken homes..." Kids Alive said. This organization provides not only medical care, but nutritious meals and an education. Kids Alive has also began the construction of a Children's Village to serve the needs of these orphans. One simple way here in Indianapolis we can help these children is by checking out the gallery show that is currently showing and selling paintings created by the children in Haiti. For the $35 donation to purchase a child's painting this will feed, clothe, provide shelter and education to a child for an entire month in Haiti. The art show "A New Year to Haiti" will be in the ArtSpace at the Athenaeum until January 31st, 2011.

What was inspiring about this day was seeing a clothing drive for Guatemala and a fund-raiser for Haiti all in the same space. Seeing people here in the city realize how fortunate they are and wanting to help out those in need takes this one step farther from being just a resolution, but a better way of life.

I read a quote this week from Lillian Casillas, director of La Casa, that stuck with me; "People quickly forget or move on to other topics, but we need to keep Haiti in the forefront of their consciousness." Feeling the need for some inspiration to be a part of the movement of helping others? Well here is one more chance, Bloomington is hosting its first Haiti Film Festival on Sunday, January 23rd, 2011, at the Buskirk Chumley Theater. The Haiti Film Festival will feature several short films from 1-7:30 p.m. along with Q-and-A sessions. Indiana-based organizations will staff booths providing information about their service work in Haiti before and since the earthquake.

For more information on the festival, including an updated film schedule and ticket prices, visit bloomington4haiti.wordpress.com/events or email bloomington4haiti@gmail.com.