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Vetted fundraisers to support:

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@emanabosedo / Help Eman Rebuild After the War in Gaza / fundraiser / $1,7k raised of $50k goal (3.2%)

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@ahmedhells-blog / Helping the Ahmed Fathi family achieve a better future / fundraiser / €23,9k raised of €80k goal (29.9%)

@hala-15 / Please donate for my baby / donate

@yasermohammad / Help my uncle's family / fundraiser / €39,7k raised of €45k goal (88%)

@mohamadabujbara / Help me support my family / fundraiser / $7,7k CAD raised of $150k goal (5.1%)

@heba-baker / Help Heba and his family survive their life / fundraiser / €7,6k raised of €60k goal (12.7%)

@hadeelmekki / Help My Two Daughters Escape from Gaza War / fundraiser / €28k raised of €35k goal (80%)

St. Anne is the mother of the Virgin Mary, and the grandmother of Jesus. She gave birth to Mary very late in her life, and taught her all about the Christian way of life. She is often linked with books, and is the patron saint of grandparents.

Patron saint of Brittany and Canada, St. Anne has been venerated by Catholics in Canada since the first settlers' arrival and before. Voyageurs in the fur trade would pray and offer tokens to St. Anne for a safe passage through the wilderness to the trading posts, and for safe passage across the Great Lakes. She has also been adopted by some Indigenous cultures, notably the Innu of Labrador and Quebec (Nitassinan). She serves as a grandmother figure, and is known for her healing powers. As such, she is placed highly in Indigenous culture for those that practice elements of Christianity.

In 1650, Breton sailors experienced a nasty storm near Quebec. They vowed that if they made it to shore safe and sound, they'd honor St. Anne with a sanctuary. Landing safely, they build the shrine of Beaupré. This expanded into a basilica later.

In Brittany, St. Anne's Feast Day is celebrated with torch-lit processions. She is the patron saint of sailors and Canadians at sea, fishermen, seamstresses, miners and the subterranean world, crafters of brooms, cabinetmakers, carpenters, pregnant women, childless people, lace makers, equestrians, vintage and second-hand clothes dealers.

Ways to celebrate her feast day include:

-offerings of chamomile tea, wine, flowers, and white candles

-dedicate a journal to her

-do something that heals you. Have you taken time to slow down and take care of yourself recently?

-take time to meditate on the subterranean level. Ground yourself and learn about the earth around you.

-learn about the ocean history around you (living in Nova Scotia, it's a bit easier to do, and she was well-loved by my Acadian ancestors)

-reach out to your grandmother if you haven't yet. She misses you. Or offer a candle for all your matrilineal female ancestors who passed away.

-sew something in her honor that day, perhaps an apron with red, green and white embroidery. Really make it for her.

-Offer roses, Queen Anne's lace, chamomile as flowers on your altar.

-Pray to St. Anne's Chaplet. This has a Saint Anne medal, and three groups of five beads, with each grouping separated by one larger, or distinct bead for a total of eighteen beads. The single larger beads may be in the shape of a rose.

"Root and shoot habit of prairie plants of eastern Washington." Plant Ecology. 1929.

Internet Archive

a 1954 Hungarian stamp depicting apricots

fig banana bread

fig cake, with cream cheese frosting

fig cookies

fig cornmeal cookie bars

fig crumble bars

fig jam

fig honey jam

fig loaf cake

strawberry fig newtons

unripe fig jam