The holidays are approaching quickly, and there’s much to do! For those who still have presents to wrap, decorations to don, and cookies to bake, the time crunch can lead to an impending sense of doom. It can feel overwhelming having so many things to do and people to see.

Your body and mind need time to rest. It’s important to keep your health in mind; yes, even over the holidays! So, I recommend using the holidays as a time to rejuvenate before getting back to the boring routine of everyday life.

• If you enjoy helping others, volunteer at a soup kitchen or donate to your favorite charity.
  
• If you like being in the kitchen, bake a batch of cookies to give to the neighbors or family.
  
• If you favor the crisp winter air, take a stroll down the street or the local park.
  
• If the lights of the season bring you joy, consider a drive through the neighborhood with a cup of hot cocoa and holiday music.

Whatever it is you like to do, take a moment to enjoy it, and be mindful while you’re doing it.
However, it’s also important to rest and take time for yourself. If you have a hard time being around the chaos of family celebrations, find a quiet corner to isolate for a minute, put on those headphones, and listen to your favorite artist. Remember, your health and happiness is the best gift you could give or receive. I wish everyone a happy, holistic holiday!
-Mollie Hopper, Stormcells Intern

Delivering stuffed animals with matching books to one of our own community preschools—Collins—was especially thrilling this past month.  The Preschool teachers worked diligently to get their new facility bright, colorful, safe, and inviting for their children on September 28th. As the bags of plush lions and puppies entered their classrooms, their eyes brightened and big smiles appeared. 

This year, when the children arrive, they will be greeted not only by the teachers and staff but a matching plush animal and book of their very own.  Each of the teachers providing on-site learning will present their children with one of the following:  A Plush Beekle UnImaginary Friend with book; a Lion Cub with a book containing three stories from the Little Golden Book Collection--How Do Lions Say I Love You, How Do Penguins Play and How Do Giraffes Take Naps; or a Plush Poky puppy with a book containing The Poky Little Puppy, The Shy Little Kitten, and the Saggy Baggy Elephant--a total of 143 plush animals and books.

The above gifts, which have become an ongoing charitable program within Stormcells, have become a favorite with teachers, parents, grandparents, and the children throughout Kentucky preschools Moreover, the gifts, purchased at a discount through the Kohl’s Cares Program, provides not only the immediate joy for the children involved but the cost of the items goes forward through Kohls to support other charities for children—thus making the purchases twice blessed.

Watching the teachers accept the gifts was so heartwarming.  As they hugged and played with the cubs and puppies, we realized that on our next trip, we will need to take extras for the faculty and staff—they deserve that and far more as they serve the precious children within our communities.
Roy and Dorothy Miller
​Stormcells Team

Our Stormcells Team returned to Eastern Kentucky for the first on-site visit to the Owsley County Head Start Program.  Loaded in the back of our SUV were school supplies (crayons, pencils, paper) but, by special request, toothbrushes and toothpaste.  Given our own passion to bring smiles to children, there were also stuffed animals for loving and books for taking home to “read” to their families. 

The Owsley Head Start program has 90 three and four-year old children; however, we also learned they have Early Head Start with approximately 50 children—three months to up to three years.  On-site classes are scheduled to resume in September; meanwhile, in-home and online programs are fully operational and all staff have returned to work.
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Owsley, one of Kentucky’s smallest counties, has limited community resources so any outside help is highly valued and greatly appreciated.  The teachers stress their greatest need is for age-level books that the children can take home as their own—these books become their cherished treasure.  

At Stormcells, we believe the power of children’s picture books can open new worlds of thought and change the future of a child, the community, the state, and the nation—one small county—one small child—at a time!  To learn more about Head Start, you can visit their website at https://headstartky.org/about/

If you would like to learn more about how Stormcells supports the Head Start programs of Kentucky, or if you would like to donate any items, please contact Amanda at [email protected].

The world today is nothing that we have seen before.  Companies are navigating the uncertainty and ambiguity with the future of work and the future of their company.  In the pursuit of solutions to this new way of working and to help leaders move their organizations forward, the design thinking process can be an incredibly useful tool.  Jodi Brandstetter and Amanda Hopper will present a free, interactive webinar on Tuesday, July 7th.  This webinar will help participants:

1. Identify the basic principles of the design thinking methodology
2. Use design thinking to create the question framework to facilitate idea generation
3. Explore case studies of how other companies have utilized design thinking during Covid-19 pandemic

In this webinar, hosted by the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, groups will explore design thinking methods including questioning, brainstorming and prototyping.  Jodi and Amanda will utilize breakout rooms to facilitate discussion and polling to help find solutions.  Participants will apply the methods learned to real-world scenarios that organizations are facing right now.  Finally, Jodi and Amanda will provide practical resources that participants can use in their personal and professional lives.

This webinar is for anyone looking for new ways to improve their personal and company processes. This can help people who are in career transition or simply desire new tools for making business decisions.  

The two presenters, Jodi and Amanda, have diverse perspectives on the design thinking method.  Jodi, the chief Talent Strategist for Lean Effective Talent Strategies provides over 17 years in talent acquisition.  She has knowledge in both developing a strong recruitment strategy and building relationships with leadership to ensure the hiring process is compliant with laws and regulations.  Amanda, founder and director of Stormcells Incorporated, is a librarian by trade but recently left the library sector to work full-time with Stormcells.  Stormcells is a nonprofit organization with the mission of supporting nonprofits and small businesses through creative problem solving.  

When asking Amanda and Jodi why they utilize design thinking, they said:

“Design Thinking gives us a way to find out of the box or creative solutions to today’s challenges.  I love using this method to bring teams together to develop products, services and experiences that are human focused and provide a return on investment for their company” - Jodi Brandstetter.

“Human-Centered Design, and Design Thinking, are ways to put empathy into action.  I love placing people at the center of the equation and finding creative ways to help them solve problems!” - Amanda Hopper.

This short webinar will be fun, engaging, and thought-provoking.   It also fulfills SHRM and HRCI Credits!  Please register through the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce website. 

​https://northernkentuckykycoc.wliinc14.com/events/Introduction-to-Design-Thinking-Rethinking-How-Your-Organization-Finds-Solutions-3505/details

We hope to see you there.
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“Children are our most valuable resource.” — Herbert Hoover
 
For a number of years, the Stormcells founding members assisted children from several Northern Kentucky elementary schools through the local Family Resource Centers.  While supporting these children, our group discovered the additional needs of children ages three and four in the Head Start programs.  The appeal and potential of these children made it simply impossible to resist reaching out to them, as well as the staff who serve them and their families. 
 
Head Start programs promote school readiness of children ages birth to five from low-income families by supporting the development of the whole child. (https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ohs) The staff and programs provide not only school readiness, but they also nurture the special needs of those children most vulnerable within our communities.  Stormcells, a charitable organization founded to serve those who serve the needs of their community, have found it an honor to help supply these children with some of the basic necessities—as well as some delightful pleasures. 
 
For years, our members have especially enjoyed giving gifts of picture books and stuffed animals to each child with various programs, including Head Start programs, of Boone, Kenton, Campbell, and Pendleton counties.  Beginning in 2019, members expanded our tradition by taking books, stuffed animals, underwear, and socks into more rural counties of Easter Kentucky.  They traveled to Breathitt, Lee, and Wolfe Counties.  The genuine appreciation and heartfelt thankfulness of these centers were utterly overwhelming.  The staff and children appreciated all the essential items, and the children were delighted to receive the books and stuffed animals.  Perhaps more appreciated than these tangible items, however, was the gift of caring.
 
As schools reopen, Stormcells members will provide help to at least three more county head starts by the year’s end.  At times, it appears these children are “the least of these” and the last served within our communities.  Yet, they inherently hold such great promise for the future of their communities.  Stormcells members believe every child is the single most previous treasure a community is given.  Therefore, our goal is to plan, seek opportunities, and support every single Head Start program in all 120 counties of our state. Having  reached over ten counties, there are only 110 to go!! 

​--Drs. Roy & Dorothy Miller, Stormcells Founding Members
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(This post is written by Ignite Institute student--Mollie Hopper.)

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks of a song in a specific way. When I hear a song, I immediately try to look for what it makes me feel. Does it remind me of a certain topic? Is there a mood that matches it?

Finding your meaning behind a song can make it so much more enjoyable.  There is always an intended message behind a song, but it can be perceived in many different ways. The key to really enjoying a song is how you perceive this message. Look behind the lyrics and the music notes and into the soul of a song. Victor Hugo grasped the same idea when he said, "Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent."
 
Everyone wishes they knew how to express their feelings in a way other than talking, right? Music is perfect for helping people express what is going on in their lives. Whether someone is putting together a new song or just listening to one, there will always be a message that connects with personal experiences or hardships. My challenge to everyone who reads this blog post is to find one song each week that connects with how you are feeling. This can help to make sense of emotions that we often have trouble understanding.
 
Music also shows that people are not alone in their problems. According to the article, How Music Bonds Us Together, There is something about music that seems to bring us closer to each other and help us come together as a community.  We realize that there must be other people that feel the same way I feel, or why would the music connect to me so deeply. 
 
It seems that there are many purposes for music (mental stimulation, emotional release, and social connection) other than just sounding nice.
 
Mollie Hopper, Guest Blogger
High School Sophomore, Ignite Institute
 
References:
 https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_music_bonds_us_together

“How do we start a conversation about something that no one wants to talk about?”  This was a question asked by one of our very first Women’s Think Tank supported charities. 
 
In 2019, Stormcells approached Family Nurturing Center, a nonprofit with the mission of ending the cycle of child abuse, and asked how the Women’s Think Tank could support the important work they do.   The answer quickly given by Paul Miller (Director of Donor Relations) was “that’s easy, how do we get people talking about a topic that no one wants to talk or think about.” This began our three-month journey with Family Nurturing Center and this difficult task.
 
To accomplish their mission, Family Nurturing Center offers wonderful resources to support children, adults, and families.   Parenting programs are provided to guide caregivers through the different stages of their child’s life.  These programs help strengthen the relationship between parent and child and help the parent address the needs of the child.  If a child or adult has unfortunately experienced trauma in their life, Family Nurturing Center also has services to help them cope with those events and move forward to more healthy habits and relationships.  According to familynurturing.org, “96% of the children completing individual counseling demonstrated improved coping skills.”
 
Family Nurturing Center also offers community programs to spread awareness and prevention of child sexual abuse.   One in ten children will experience sexual abuse before their 18th birthday.  This statistic is the very reason it is important for all adults to understand the problem and know about the services our community offers.  One of our Women’s Think Tank members commented:  “I had no idea that Family Nurturing Center was right in our backyard and offering such amazing services.  I would have donated, helped….something!”
 
So, what happened to solve the question?  The Women’s Think Tank provided a myriad of solutions to the Family Nurturing Center--most centering around marketing and promotion.  Hashtags were created, contacts were made, and ideas were shared.  But even bigger, Family Nurturing Center engaged twelve ladies in a broader understanding of the problem and their services to combat it.  The ladies attended fundraising galas, became a voice in the community, helped with social media, and volunteered for projects. 
 
The American writer, Margaret Wheatley, said, "Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters."  So in the end, we talked about child sexual abuse.  We spread the word in our community. We had the tough conversations and researched the horrible statistics.  We were uncomfortable, but we created a discussion where there was once silence.  Please consider breaking the silence, in support of a child in your community.  You can follow Family Nurturing Center on facebook , twitter, and ​instagram.  You can donate to through their website at www.familynurture.org or speak with someone about their  programs and services by calling (859) 525-3200.