These beautiful people are the reason behind our efforts. These are the foster girls about to “age out” and be on their own.
Our NonProfit Effort
After 14 years of working with children and some adults, we’ve learned simple ways we recover. We decided to write this down in a book and use the proceeds to support these beautiful people without a Mom or Dad.
I can only give you a glimpse of all the beautiful people living in a foster group home. These foster girls (and many boys not in the photo) live all around us. These children are in every school, doctor’s office, and “children’s home”/ aka orphan home across the world. Our statistics show there are more than 400,000 in the U.S. and over 10 Million in the world.
Today, as I join a Social Worker and enter this Foster Group Home, I gasp at how many beautiful people. Of course, I get the “Oh Ms. Mandy!” response, but it is true. There is so much beauty and hope.
Where some folks may see a bunch of orphans or more carefully called foster kids, I see such incredible beauty. With so much misinformation on the web, I want to burst the stereotypes and share with you these kids are such beautiful people. When I bring more goodies (clean make-up, real food samples) it is such an empowering and fun visit. I’m able to do this because of my book. The children always ask how I afford to do what I do. When I share how we hit “Best Seller in Children’s Health” category, everyone cheers. It’s pretty amazing how resourceful it is selling a few nonprofit books every month.
What Happens When Beautiful People Recognize Their Power
Each person must understand that they may not have power over their circumstances but they absolutely have power over what they put into their body. Then I begin to share how we recover children in our home. Somehow we always get through to the heart of the matter.
Our nonprofit (of the same name as our book) “Real Food Recovery” also makes the process simple. I’m busy with 4 children, so if I can do this, plus write it down myself in a book, you can recover your health too. If you want to see our authentic process, encouragement, and recipes, you can buy it here, and support our efforts. But I want to share WHY we do this.
Food Matters
What I find alarming is the number of people I meet that have no idea that food is what makes us strong. Another trend I notice is the diminished value of preparing food. Society doesn’t place a high value on food. If I could change that perspective; our bodies are much more important than our cars, homes, and material needs. When you lose your health, it’s difficult to appreciate anything else. So, I want to challenge that perspective.
At book signings and parties, the question most asked is “what to eat and how to prepare it?” Somehow, we have lost touch with the value and connection between our body’s health to the food we put into our mouth. We realize taking a pill helps an indication, but we forget that the food we eat is also impacting our indications and it is a more absorbable, consistent means of nutrients. And the simple fact is that eating at home is much more affordable too.
We All Need Recovery
Our lives will constantly be bombarded with great fun, healthy places, but we live in a sometimes toxic environment. Chances are that we will also get sick and possibly get food poisoning if we eat out a lot. To go deeper, many of us will deal with a chronic illness, such as; allergies, diabetes, autism, thyroid dysfunction, etc… are all on the rise statistically. As our family partners with incredible health practitioners to compliment our knowledge base; unity is certainly a priority.
Teach, Build, Feed, Empower…Repeat
And as we build unity, we have a process in place to teach, build gardens, cook, and eat at more foster group homes. We start with a little garden at home. It is a great start towards empowerment, plus your palate gets to have a variety of fun seasonal foods.
We hope you find fun ways back into your kitchen and we certainly appreciate your purchase, shares, and reviews of our book.
If you want to watch us make a difference with this system and these children, please join our Operation Real Food Recovery by: subscribing to our emails, donate for a tax deduction, follow, love, tweet, and like us on; Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Many thanks and blessings! ~Mandy
- No Sunburn Watermelon Shake - June 11, 2022
- Foster Care is Not What You Think - January 9, 2021
- Egg Nog for the Whole Family - December 23, 2020
[…] One more neat thing: Recently a director at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where her first foster child received cancer treatment, asked Mandy to help with their food plan initiative. Of course she said yes! Grab a copy of Real Food Recovery: The Busy Mom’s Guide to Health & Healing. Proceeds benefit orphan, foster, and group homes to build gardens, offer empowering classes on what and how to eat healthfully, and by funding the purchase of nourishing food. Some of the beautiful young people who will benefit from sales are shown in this photo at left. You can read about Mandy’s nonprofit organization here. […]
[…] One more neat thing: Recently a director at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where her first foster child received cancer treatment, asked Mandy to help with their food plan initiative. Of course she said yes! Grab a copy of Real Food Recovery: The Busy Mom’s Guide to Health & Healing. Proceeds benefit orphan, foster, and group homes to build gardens, offer empowering classes on what and how to eat healthfully, and by funding the purchase of nourishing food. Some of the beautiful young people who will benefit from sales are shown in this photo at left. You can read about Mandy’s nonprofit organization here. […]