If you have any questions about the information listed... just E-mail Monica.

COMMUNITY MINUTE 12/30/07 - 01/06/08

Mon. 12/31/07
Happy Monday to You! Today is the 6th day of Kwanzaa called Kuumba. Kuumba means creativity. We should all use creativity to do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Kwanzaa is an Afrocentric centered institution that is celebrated by people of African descent in North America, the Caribbean and other parts of the African Diaspora. The celebration of Kwanzaa is a means for Black people to reaffirm their commitment to themselves, their families, their community, and the black struggle for equality. There are seven days of Kwanzaa (The Black Cultural Celebration of the holiday season) December 26th thru Jan 1st. Each day focuses on a specific principle, so there are seven principles.

Tues. 01/01/08
Happy New Year Family – hope your celebration was a good one...and that you have great plans for prosperity in 2008....As we continue our Kwanzaa celebration – Habari Gani – What's the word? This is our last day of festivities – the principle for today is Imani – meaning faith! It means that we should enter this new year believing in the good in people, our family, dedicated leaders and our community....

That also says if we know our neighbors we should treat them better, let's keep our communities safer, cleaner and make them more prosperous ...

Today is a good day to eat again, some of our foods for good luck – Remember... they were black eyed peas, and any other of your favorite fruits or vegetables....Kwanzaa is celebrated on the last days of the year...however it's not a bad idea to act on the principles of Kwanazaa throughout the year....especially we as a people, should exhibit Umoja, which means Unity....Happy New Year, Happy Kwanzaa - STAR Cares about our community.

Wed. 01/02/08
January is National Mentoring Month and every year STAR 94.5 partners with the Orange County Public School system to encourage the community to take time out of their schedule and share your self with a student. You'd be surprised at the difference you'll make.

A great education system builds stronger communities, provides better future employees and attracts new businesses to the area. Mentoring is all about sharing with youth people sharing your life experiences, knowledge and wisdom.

Overall – let's say we hold one another accountable for getting ourselves and a colleague to give one hour even, a month for the rest of the school year to a child in our community...our students are our future...STAR Cares about our Community. Thurs. 01/03/08
Have you heard the news? The felony charges have been dropped on State Senator Gary Siplin.

Fri. 01/04/08
Hopefully this cold snap will soon be behind us, but in the meantime I thought I'd give a warning about the potential for carbon monoxide poisoning...Many of us are using all kinds of things to heat up our homes or apartments and some things are just not safe and could cause fire hazards and exposure to carbon monoxide poisioning...Remember from science, that carbon monoxide is an invisible, odorless and tasteless gas but believe it or not causes more than 2 thousands deaths each year....So whatever you do, don't use kerosene heaters in small spaces, stoves, ovens or burn charcoal inside your home asyou would to grill...it sounds funny, but desperation makes us do certain things...

If you have a fireplace, make sure the ventilation is clear – meaning chimneys, flues and vents and if you are using a space heater – don't sleep with it on and make sure to turn it off when you leave the room... If you have been exposed to c-o it may make you feel dizzy, weak or nauseus..some people have headaches and may even vomit..open windows immediately and if it's severe – dial 9-1-1 - STAR Cares about our community

COMMUNITY CONNECTION
Sun. 01/06/08
Monica will speak with the African American Chamber of Commerce and will be discussing their new plans for 2008, to broaden their reach in the black community to provide free workshops on doing business with company's like Disney and LYNX, and developing more members.