Month: March 2020

Religious and Spiritual Resources (Updated 4/29/20)

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I was waiting to find resources for other religions, and I am still actively looking, Please forward anything that you think would be helpful and I will update this post as soon as I can. I do apologize for only having Christian sources at the moment. This post is meant to be multi-faith and interfaith.

I plan to share whatever reputable resources that I have for people self-isolating and quarantining at home.

Suggestions welcome. (POSTED/UPDATED 3/31/20)

Catholic/Christian

The Holy
Rosary 

Letter from Pope Francis plus 2 New Prayers (to say with the rosary this May)
We’re All Monks Now
What the First Christians Can Teach Us About Missing Sacraments and Still Growing

Spiritual Act of Communion Coloring Page
See Brother Mickey McGrath’s Facebook Page for several coloring sheets for both children and adults

Faith at Home Resources from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany (NY) (including listings for live masses)

Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana offers a Daily Office. I believe they usually begin at 10am, but they will post a video to their Facebook, which I’ve linked.

Morning Prayer and Song with David Haas on his Facebook, daily at 8am CST

General Absolution allowed during Coronavirus Contagion (Pope Francis) – article from the National Catholic Reporter

A Prayer for Spiritual Communion (from RC Diocese of Albany)

Prayer Resources for use during the Coronavirus Pandemic (from the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Ireland)Twitter

Give Us This Day – a monthly subscription with the daily prayers and much more. The Digital version is FREE during the coronavirus outbreak because many people cannot attend their daily/weekly masses.

Resources (several) on worship and prayer from Fr. James Martin, SJ

Fr. James Martin, SJ, Facebook, Twitter (He has a daily faith sharing at this time. See his Facebook for the exact time.

The Daily Examen with Fr. James Martin, SJ (podcast)

Brother Mickey McGrath, OSFS

A Gentle Suggestion for Lent (this is still so very good for our times now) from Brother Mickey McGrath, OSFS

Brother Mickey McGrath’s Art and Faith Chat (from March 26, 2020)

Prayer at Home

Celebrate Holy Week at Home

A Guide to Celebrating the Easter Triduum at Home

A Different Way to Have Liturgy at Home

Judaism/Jewish

Passover is in one weeks, and I’d like to add resources before then.

RUACH: Jewish emotional and spiritual support care providers

Everything You Need to Celebrate Passover in Quarantine (Chabad)

How to Do a Seder Alone

Quarantine Kaddish Service Contact Information

Coronavirus Resources and Inspiration (Chabad)

Chad Gadya (Jack Black)

Islam/Muslim

Ramadan begins April 24, and I would like to include Muslim resources before then.

COVID-19 RESOURCE UPDATE (UPDATED 3/26/20)

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There have been updates to the two new resource posts including new educational resources and where you can help from home. I plan to have a religious resource post later this evening.

Here are some shortcuts:

What to Do in Isolation/Quarantine (UPDATED 3/26/20)(NOW WITH EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES)
Where Can I Help? (UPDATED 3/26/20)

Religious and Spiritual Resources (UPDATED 3/26/20)

I hope everyone is keeping their distance and staying well.

My thoughts are with all of you.

Where Can I Help? (Updated 4/29/20)

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So many people already need help, and some of us are in the position to offer that help. I am personally not recommending any of the following groups. I do not know their charity or non-profit status. What I have done is taken the original poster into account and I’ve gone to the website to see that it appears legitimate. Use your own judgment, and do not give more than you can afford.

I will continue to add as new ones come to my attention.

Broadway Cares COVID-19 Emergency Fund for health care, emergency financial assistance, and counseling during this pandemic (onstage and behind the scenes)

Broadway World

CDC Foundation

City Harvest – NYC

Coronavirus Relief Fund – split between Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, No Kid Hungry, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Restaurant Workers Community Foundation, CDC Foundation, and Direct Relief.

Direct Relief – disaster relief

Feed Albany (NY)

Feeding America

Feed the Front (Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick)

Food Banks Canada

God’s Love We Deliver – non-sectarian. Food tailored to medical needs of clients.

Homeless in Wisconsin

Homeless Shelter Directory – to help those in your community, look up shelters near you and donate directly.

Invisible Hands Deliver – NYC & some environs, some NJ

Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation

Meals on Wheels

National Domestic Workers Alliance

National Low Income Housing Coalition

No Kid Hungry

Project Angel Food – meals and nutrition help for people who are battling illness.

Restaurant Workers Community Foundation

WHO Solidarity Response Fund (World Health Organization)

World Central Kitchen

What to Do in Isolation/Quarantine (Updated 4/29/20)

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We’ve got our milk, bread, toilet paper, and kids home. It’s only been a few days, and we are in it for the long haul: two weeks, four weeks, six. We just don’t know right now. What can we do from the sanctity of our homes without risking our health or the health of others? Here are a few suggestions.

Imagineering in a Box – Free online course where you will “go behind the scenes with Disney Imagineers and complete project-based exercises to design a theme park of your very own.” (In collaboration with Khan Academy.)
Good Night with Dolly Dolly Parton will read weekly bedtime stories beginning on April 2 at 7pm ET. The first book will be The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper. The rest of the ten weeks of books will be: There’s a Hole in the Log on the Bottom of the Lake by Loren Long, Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney, I Am a Rainbow by Dolly Parton, Pass It On by Sophy Henn, Stand Tall Molly Lou Mellon by Patty Lovell, Violet the Pilot by Steve Breen, Max & The Tag-Along Moon by Floyd Cooper, Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña, and Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton

Children’s Book Authors Read-Aloud

National Aquarium in Baltimore – Livestreams of The Blacktip Reef, Jellies Invasion, Pacific Coral Reef

New York Public Library – (for NYC residents with a library card) (CONTACT YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY ABOUT THEIR E-BOOK PROGRAMS)

NASA makes their entire media library publicly accessible and COPYRIGHT FREE

33 National Park Tours You Can Take Virtually

15 Broadway Plays and Musicals You Can Watch on Stage from Home (best filmed and where to find them)

FREE Coloring Books from 113 Museums

Virtual Field Trips – including San Diego Zoo, Yellowstone National Park, Mars!!!, Animal Cameras, Virtual Farm Tour, US Space and Rocket Museum in Hunsville AL, Discovery Education, The Louvre, The Great Wall of China, Boston’s Children’s Museum

12 Museums Offering Virtual Tours – including British Museum (London), Guggenheim Museum (NY), National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), Musee d’Orsay (Paris), National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul), Pergamon Museum (Berlin), Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam), Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam), The J. Paul Getty Museum (L.A.), Uffizi Gallery (Florence), MASP (Sao Paulo), National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico City)

14 Beautiful, Dramatic Waterfalls in North Wales (this is primarily a travel article, but they’re still pretty to look at! And Wales!

Metropolitan Opera offering Nightly Met Opera Streams – see the link for details and limits.

Five Gardens You Can Virtually Visit – Waddesdon Manor (Waddesdon, England), Claude Monet’s Garden (Giverny, France), Chicago Botanic Garden (Chicago, IL), Hawai’i Tropical Botanical Garden (Papaikou, Hawai’i), Kew Gardens (Richmond, England).

Hogwarts Digital Escape Room

Ivy League Courses Online for FREE

How to Be Happier in Your Daily Life (popular Yale University course – ONLINE FREE (Source: Business Insider)

Tour New York State Parks (virtual)

Activities at The Spy Museum

Twitter for Voice Actors Read. There are many voice actors reading books aloud to you and your children.

Tour The Winchester Mystery House (virtual tour)

Tour the Paris Catacombs (virtual tour)

I Love NY Landmark Coloring Pages

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
The Parents’ Guide to Google Classroom

What to Do with your Kids When Schools are Canceled

Harry the Dirty Dog read by Betty White

The Very Hungry Caterpillar read by author, Eric Carle

Outdoor Scavenger Hunts from Buttonwood Park Library

Easy Toilet Paper Roll Crafts (when you use up your stash of toilet paper!)

Outdoor and Indoor Scavenger Hunts from Leicester Library

Home Safari at the Cincinnati Zoo

50 Ways to Keep Kids Engaged at Home During the Coronavirus Shutdown

Miniature Bookshop DIY – cost $36.99

NASA Space Station STEM Activities

Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY (Safe at Home Program)

Virtual Tour of Auschwitz

Blog and Personal Update

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I wanted to update my readers on what’s been happening since my last post.

We’ve been taking this pandemic seriously for some time in our house. I had been forcing my family to wash their hands when they returned from school or shopping or outside of our home for a number of weeks. Our church had eliminated handshaking for the sign of peace, and receiving communion from the chalice. I told my daughter that she couldn’t go to her friend’s birthday party, which I truly hated doing. (The mom ended up postponing.)

Continue reading

COVID-19 – New Information and Resources (March 13, 2020)

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I have been trying to leave politics out of my posts regarding COVID-19 out of an abundance of respect for all readers, but I find that it’s not been as easy as it sounded two weeks ago when my family began our precautions. I did my duty as an American and watched the President’s address live on Wednesday. As I said to a cousin when we disagreed politically, while I have trusted sources that I have already vetted, I still prefer primary sources, and will use them whenever I am able. Watching the President live was one way to do that. He did NOT instill in me a lot of confidence, especially when less than five minutes after he finished, there were no less than three corrections to his “planned”, “well-thought out”, “vetted” speech.

I do not say this lightly, but when getting your information about COVID-19, please do NOT listen to the President and/or the Vice President. I would also include Senator Mitch McConnell, Representative Kevin McCarthy, Representative Tom Cotton, Senator John Kennedy (LA), and the head of the CDC, Dr. Redfield as they have all continued to pass on misinformation and lied about the extent of the virus and where we stand on a vaccine, mitigation, and flattening the curve. I am sad to include the doctor in this list of unreliable people, but they are truly that: unreliable. If they refuse to tell the truth in small things, how can they be trusted to tell the truth in the big, important, controversial ones.

I will continue to get my information from Dr. Anthony Fauci of NIH. He has said in his Congressional testimony that this virus (COVID-19) is ten times more lethal than the flu. It is nothing like the flu, and people should stop downplaying it. I will also be checking in on Ron Klain and Dr. Celine Gounder’s podcast, Epidemic where they talk to experts. I have a few new resources to add to my main Coronavirus post that is included below.

There may be up to 1.4 million new tests next week, and 5 million by the end of the month, according to reporting from NBC News. The President declared a national emergency this afternoon which frees up about $50 billion for states and the federal government to get a handle on this pandemic. It is expected that there will be widespread drive-thru testing with results coming within 36 hours. There will be a Google form to fill out if you have symptoms and you will be directed to a testing place. THIS IS INCORRECT. I DON’T KNOW IF THE PRESIDENT LIED AGAIN OR IF IT WAS JUST WISHFUL THINKING. We’ll see how that works out. I am hoping that it does.

Information:

Rachel Maddow’s show transcript from March 11, 2020 or listen to the same on her podcast

Rachel Maddow’s show from March 12, 2020

Cancel Everything (Social Distancing) from The Atlantic

Flattening the Curve, Isolation, Quarantine (from Vox)

How Fox News Misled Viewers about Coronavirus – important to keep up with and recognize the misinformation (CNN Business)

How Trump Set Up his White House to Fail (relates to information access) (The Atlantic)

9 Charts that Explain the Coronavirus Pandemic (from Vox)

Podcast:

America Dissected: Coronavirus with Dr. Abdul el-Sayed. New pods will be broadcast on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Twitter:

Dr. Abdul el-Sayed