When you register your MVP Food Lion Card, not only will you receive discounts on your purchases, but you will also assist us in our fund raising efforts.  Each time you shop at Food Lion and use your MVP card, a portion of your total grocery purchase will be donated to your non-profit organization.

To register your card, please click on Food Lion's logo:

Article Courtesy of www.jibaros.com

TEXT 2HELP

The national Text 2HELP Initiative is a partnership between the American Red Cross and The Wireless Foundation that allows customers of participating wireless carriers to send a text message to the Red Cross and make a donation to support the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. This Fund enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, cots, counseling and other assistance to victims of U.S. disasters.

Subscribers of participating wireless carriers can donate $5 to American Red Cross disaster relief efforts simply by text messaging the keyword "GIVE&" to "2HELP" (24357). Donations will appear on customers' monthly bills or be debited from a prepaid account balance. Message and data rates may apply. To opt-out, send "STOP" to 24357.

Participating Carriers:

Alltel
AT&T
Sprint-Nextel
T-Mobile
U.S. Cellular
Verizon Wireless

Text 2HELP Frequently Asked Questions

Privacy Policy

You can help people affected by disasters, like the recent snow storms and flooding, by donating to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. On those rare occasions when donations exceed Red Cross expenses for a specific disaster, contributions are used to prepare for and serve victims of other disasters. Your gift enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance to victims of all disasters. You may also call 1-800 RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or mail your donation, to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.

Information obtained at: american.redcross.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=ntld_nolnav_text2help

The Senate vote was 68-31 to confirm Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court nominee.

The 55-year-old daughter of Puerto Rican parents was raised in a South Bronx housing project and educated in the Ivy League before rising to the highest legal echelons, spending the past 17 years as a federal judge.

A majority of Republicans lined up against her, arguing she'd bring personal bias and a liberal agenda to the bench. But Democrats praised Sotomayor as an extraordinarily qualified mainstream moderate and touted her elevation to the court as a milestone in the nation's journey toward greater equality and a reaffirmation of the American dream.

Obama, the nation's first black president, praised the Senate's vote as "breaking another barrier and moving us yet another step closer to a more perfect union."

Minutes before the vote, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the Senate's lone Hispanic Democrat, said, "History awaits, and so does an anxious Hispanic community in this country."

"When she places her hand on the Bible and takes the oath of office, the new portrait of the justices of the Supreme Court will clearly reflect who we are as a nation, what we stand for as a fair, just and hopeful people."

The Senate chamber was heavy with history as senators took the rare step of assembling at their desks on for the vote, rising from their seats to call out "aye" or "nay." The longest-serving senator, 91-year-old Robert Byrd of West Virginia who has been in frail health following a long hospitalization, was brought in in a wheelchair to vote in Sotomayor's favor. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., suffering from brain cancer, was the only senator absent.

Sotomayor replaces retiring Justice David Souter, a liberal named by a Republican president, and she is not expected to alter the court's ideological split.

Still, Republicans and Democrats were deeply at odds over confirming Sotomayor, and the battle over her nomination highlighted profound philosophical disagreements that will shape future fights over the court's makeup as Obama looks to another likely vacancy — perhaps more than one_ while he's in the White House.

 For more infor go to www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32312026/ns/politics-white_house//

Fotogalería: Imágenes del despegue

Informacion obtenida de www.elnuevodia.com 

	National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas 77058
Biographical Data

JOSEPH M. ACABA
NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA:  Born in 1967 in Inglewood, California and raised in Anaheim, California where his parents Ralph and Elsie still reside.  Enjoys outdoor activities such as camping, hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, and scuba diving.  Also enjoys reading, especially science fiction.

EDUCATION: Esperanza High School, Anaheim, California, 1985
                    B.S., Geology, University of California-Santa Barbara, 1990
                    M.S., Geology, University of Arizona, 1992

ORGANIZATIONS:  International Technology Education Association and Florida Association of Science Teachers.

EXPERIENCE:  United States Marine Corps, Reserves.  Worked as a hydro-geologist in Los Angeles, California.  Primarily worked on Superfund sites and was involved the assessment and remediation of groundwater contaminants.  Spent 2 years in the United States Peace Corps as an Environmental Education Awareness Promoter in the Dominican Republic.  Served as the Island Manager of the Caribbean Marine Research Center at Lee Stocking Island in the Exumas, Bahamas.  Shoreline Revegetation Coordinator in Vero Beach, Florida, planning, designing, and implementing a mangrove revegetation project.  One year of high school experience at Melbourne High School, Florida and four years of middle school experience as a math and science teacher at Dunnellon Middle School, Florida.

NASA EXPERIENCE:  Selected as a Mission Specialist by NASA in May 2004.  In February 2006 he completed Astronaut Candidate Training that included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training, T-38 flight training, and water and wilderness survival training.  Upon completion of his training, Acaba was assigned to the Hardware Integration Team in the Space Station Branch working technical issues with European Space Agency (ESA) hardware.  Currently he is assigned as a mission specialist on the STS-119 mission, targeted for launch in February 2009.  The flight will deliver the final pair of power-generating solar array wings and truss element to the International Space Station.

Joseph Acaba: Boricua en la Luna

By Marcelo Ballvé  Updated Thursday, February 19th 2009, 1:17 PM

An old Puerto Rican tune, "Boricua en la Luna," seems almost tailor-made to describe the cosmic destiny of Joseph Acaba.

The 41-year-old schoolteacher is readying to become the first astronaut of Puerto Rican heritage.

By all accounts, the California-born Acaba, who lives in Houston, will feel Boricua even floating above planet Earth, swaddled in an orange spacesuit.

"He’s very proud of his heritage," said Shane Kimbrough, an astronaut and spaceflight veteran who trained with Acaba.

Barring delays, Acaba will launch Sunday as part of a seven-member crew on the space shuttle Discovery.

The mission: Fly to the International Space Station and deliver power-generating components.

Among relatives attending the launch will be Acaba’s 90-year-old paternal grandmother, Jovita.

"We all feel very close, very happy, and support him in everything," she said in a phone interview from Gardena, Calif.

Asked if there was anything in her grandson’s youth that hinted at his future in space travel, she thought for a moment and said, "He always liked those action movies."

In a NASA preflight interview, Acaba was asked what he thought it would be like to float out the shuttle hatch for his spacewalks.

"I hear the views ... are incredible, so I’m looking forward to that and trying to fit a little bit of work in there," he said.

Acaba taught math and science to middle- and high-schoolers in Marion County, Fla. He was also a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic.

He was among three teachers NASA selected for astronaut training in 2004.Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, a science teacher in Washington state, was also selected. She said Acaba’s steadiness, organization and selflessness make him an ideal crew member.

When the Houston area was evacuated during last year’s hurricanes, Acaba made sure everyone else was out before making his own plans, she said.

Despite stressful training, which included jet piloting and survival tests in Wyoming’s Wind River Range, Acaba always kept a level head.

That’s an important quality, noted Kimbrough, because in space, "when things start going wrong, things can get bad pretty quick."

Metcalf-Lindenburger, who is scheduled to go to space next year and shared an office with Acaba, said she was struck by his habit of making 3x5 cards to learn technical terms or Russian vocabulary.

“Sometimes we’d borrow his flash cards and review too,” she said.

Resource: www.nydailynews.com/latino/2009/02/18/2009-02-18_joseph_acaba_boricua_en_la_luna.html