Resources for You We partner with the nation's leading nonprofit organizations that provide trusted information on a variety of health and caregiving topics that may be helpful to your Community. Learn more by visiting one of them today. Create Free, private, Community web sites for organizing friends, family, and colleagues – a family’s 'circles of community' – during times of need. Coordinate activities and manage volunteers with our intuitive group calendar. Easily communicate and share updates using announcements, message boards, and photos. Safely store vital information. Create a Community. Share Lotsa Today! Finished reading the newsletter? Take a moment to share Lotsa with friends and loved ones.	Dear Friend, WELCOME TO LOTSA COMMUNITY WORKS Featured this month: Read Melissa’s Story and Resolution Lotsa Tips and Features Resolutions for Caregivers Webinar - Give and Get Help It is officially 2012, and for many of us that means talking about resolutions for ourselves. We reflect on the past and think about goals for the coming year. Eat healthier. Exercise more. Make time for hobbies. These are all familiar and certainly admirable. This year, we were so inspired by Melissa’s story—she wrote us to share her resolution for 2012. Have a look. I’ve participated in two Lotsa Helping Hands communities, most recently as a coordinator for a friend whose husband was diagnosed with cancer, leaving her caring for him and their three young kids. The experience amazed all of us – more than 100 friends came together – we helped with play dates, delivered warm meals, even shared household chores and laundry duties. My friend’s husband tragically lost his battle and this community continues to help our friend in her time of need. I am a mother of three, a wife, and a small business owner. My life is full and I am grateful. But, I have to believe that I just got lucky. Tragedy can strike any family. Helping one another makes a huge difference. My resolution this year is to keep helping: to organize help for my friend, deliver a meal, offer a ride, a hug or shoulder to lean on. This year, consider how you can reach out to help others and inspire friends and family to lend a hand. Create a new Community web site for someone who needs help or simply make a goal to spend a certain number of hours a month volunteering. Everyone has a story to tell. Whether you are a coordinator or volunteer in your community, we want to hear about it. Head over to our Story Project page and tell us yours. In the spirit of fresh starts and organization, read on for Tips and Features that will help you customize and organize your Community using photos, blogs and social networking tools. Thanks for reading and being part of our community.      From our community to yours,           Hal Chapel, Co-Founder & CEO Lotsa Tips and Features To help you organize and customize your Community, we have several exciting tips to share this month—remember, you can always visit our How it Works page for additional ideas on how to get the most out of your caregiving or volunteer coordination community. Add your Blog to your Community home page: If you’re a Coordinator and want to link to a pre-existing blog that you have through Tumblr, Blogspot or Wordpress, you can easily link your blog from your home page. Go to your Administration tab, follow the link for ‘Sections, Announcement and Emails,’ click ‘Add a New Section,’ choose Button and simply copy in the link to your blog. And don’t forget to save changes! Re-send Notification Messages: Got a few Members who have still yet to sign in? Community Coordinators can re-send the invitation ‘Notification Messages’ through the Administration tab in the link titled ‘Notify Members’. Here you can see an outline of Members not yet notified or signed in to ensure that everyone who wants to participate in your Community can. Change your Community name or add a new home page photo: Coordinators can go through the Administration tab, follow the link for ‘Site Options.’ From there you can change your Community name, add a new photo to appear on your Welcome Page, and add helpful resources from our Partners for your Community. If you have additional questions, contact us at info@lotsahelpinghands.com. Resolutions for Caregivers Webinar - Give and Get Help This January Lotsa Helping Hands is hosting a Webinar about resolutions for caregivers. Learn ideas for helping a caregiver in your life who is caring for a loved one or learn how to ask for help from your circles of Community. We will go over useful tips and features about Lotsa Helping Hands. Register today!
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