Ruby Tuesday Pick of the Week: United Fresh’s A Salad Bar in Every School program
Why It’s a Gem: Early exposure to nutrition can equate to a lifetime of wellness.

With childhood obesity now at epidemic proportions, Michelle Obama has spearheaded Let’s Move, a program whose mission is to solve the crisis within one generation. Even if the timeline weren’t so ambitious, the First Lady would have her work cut out for her, especially considering the poor state of school nutrition. With frozen pizzas and fries dominating cafeteria menus, it’s no wonder that our nation’s children are developing poor eating habits that they bring home and carry with them throughout their lives. As places of learning, schools have a responsibility to also educate on nutrition, which we all can agree is far more important than algebra, no matter what your third-period teacher claims. (more…)

Ruby Tuesday Pick of the Week: WriteGirl
Why It’s a Gem: The power of the pen (or pixel) can empower high school girls

There’s a lot of rumbling about the collapse of today’s public education system, but very few voices have offered up solid ideas on how to fix it. The most successful tactics oftentimes seem to be undertaken by third-party organizations, rather than programs established and run by the schools themselves. That’s why Stewart and I have given our support to such programs, including P.S. ARTS and the Los Angeles-based WriteGirl, which has taken on the enormous task of “empowering [high school] girls through mentorship and self-expression.” (more…)

Just some of the people behind LA's first non-profit food truck, Cart for a Cause

First came Kogi, the irreverent Korean taco purveyor that started the whole food-truck phenomenon. Within a few months, the streets of Los Angeles were buzzing with all manner of culinary vehicles – the Grilled Cheese Truck, Indian wraps from the Dosa Truck, and a mobile version of the brick-and-mortar restaurant Border Grill, to name just a few. Each truck tried to top the next, with World Fare going so far as to convert a double-decker bus into a movable feast.

But no matter how original the menu, they’re all just a take on a concept that (more…)

Good morning, Lynda,

Greetings from beautiful Australia. I am a Canadian ex-pat who lives in Bendigo, Victoria. We have the only regional ice rink in Victoria, and I am a volunteer with the rink. We offer figure skating, ice hockey, curling, and recreational skating at the rink. Last year, we started a new under-13-year-old ice hockey team called the Wildcats. We are organising to host the first (more…)

Ruby Tuesday Pick of the Week: WomenOnCall.org
Why It’s a Gem: The Chicago-based organization makes it a snap for non-profits and volunteers to find each other.

In this week’s Ruby Tuesday, we’re deviating from our regular focus to highlight a not-for-profit organization rather than a for-profit business. With the economy in a perpetual swan dive, non-profit organizations are just as likely as for-profits to be floundering — or worse. (more…)

In this week’s Ask Lynda, a successful non-profit wonders about its future as the economy falters. Lynda’s advice? Don’t make website visitors work to make a donation, reorganize your boards so that people receive recognition but also contribute to their full potential, and, above all, tap into the sources already at your disposal: your current donors.

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As part of her mission to save small businesses, Lynda Resnick, author of the national best-seller Rubies in the Orchard, fields questions from entrepreneurs and non-profits and shares her business and marketing know-how.

In the first of her new series of Ask Lynda columns, Resnick responds to a letter from Ellen Parcell, who runs the non-profit Heart to Heart, a non-profit organization that supports homeless and abused women and children. (more…)