Every semester Kenneth Cole Productions' Interns participate in an intern day of service to support various charities. This time the interns volunteered for the charity Fresh Art. Fresh Art is a non-profit organization that helps special needs artists expand their artistic and personal development. Thirty-nine interns contributed by making hand sewn sock monkeys. We worked vigorously for four hours and created some great pieces. Although some (like myself) found it difficult, in the end they all turned out to be really creative designs.

Check out our sock monkeys at the Kenneth Cole Store on 95 Fifth Avenue at 17th Street from June 24 - July 25, 2009.

To volunteer or donate to Fresh Art check out their website.

CNN's "Inside Africa" is one of the best shows on television for getting a peek into the inner lives of sub-Saharan Africans who often live in repressive, closed regimes. Recently, the program has focused on Morocco and the effects of the 2004 Moroccan Family Law (Moudawana). After a 20-year battle women's groups in Morocco brilliantly persuaded King Mohammed VI to enact some of the most progressive family legislation in the Arab world. Although the law is not perfect, and there are reports of men circumventing it, the effects on the lives of Moroccan women have been incredible. For example: the minimum age for marriage is now 18 (up from 15). Also: Marriage now has to be certified by a judge, making it more difficult for men to simply abandon their wives. Could this be the model for the empowerment of women throughout the Muslim world?

My husband, Mark, has a briefcase that is older than I can admit, because - of course - it would age him and me! It is a source of contention for my fashion savvy daughters, who view a briefcase as a purse that should be updated regularly. I have unsuccessfully purchased several briefcases to replace the object of shame, but Mark rejected them all. He can be frustratingly sentimental at times.

This year I resorted to more manipulative tactics. I had to target Mark's weakness, and this was diabolically simple. He is putty in my daughters' hands. I feel somewhat guilty at how easy it was. The girls consider shopping a sport so, they were enthusiastically up for the game. The family knew that Mark would use the new briefcase for years to come, so we had to be strategic in regard to style.

The girls found a chocolate brown Kenneth Cole briefcase that looked more like a schoolboy satchel. It was made to carry a laptop but big enough for documents too. We loved it and, of course, he couldn't resist the gift with the girls oohing and aahing over him. It was a closed case - goodbye to old faithful.

Before I could toss the receipt, however, I remembered the sales clerk telling me to enter a contest online. It was the Kenneth Cole Make Your Presents Felt Sweepstakes. The money, I was told, would be directed to the non-profit of the winner's choice. I work for a non-profit organization, Family First, as director of their motherhood program, called iMOM. And I am acutely aware of the demand for our services and the never-high-enough supply of funds. Amazingly and thankfully, I won $10,000!

That $10,000 equates to 100 iMOM Morning program kits to be provided for free to 100 more schools. iMOM Morning is a program which provides an opportunity for moms and kids to get together once a month for breakfast at their child's school. The event includes lively discussion on topics relevant to school age children, fun bonding activities, and provides moms with valuable parenting tips they can take home and put to use immediately.

I am impressed that Kenneth Cole created a sweepstakes to create awareness of more than just fashion. I am also very thankful for the money, which I will have the privilege of seeing joyfully spent to impact the lives of mothers and their children everywhere.

In 1991, a 23-year-old man was convicted of killing a police officer in Georgia and sentenced to death. For the past 18 years efforts have mounted to exonerate Troy Davis as evidence has come to light that all but proves his innocence. On May 19th, a "a global day of action" inspired protests around the country and raised awareness about his cause.

Amnesty International reports that seven of the nine witnesses have recanted or changed their statements, and jurors on the case have also expressed concern about the fairness behind the verdict.

On June 29th, the United States Supreme Court postponed any further action until September, when the Court will return from summer vacation.

That leaves two months to produce enough evidence to free Davis, and while he will never regain the 18 years he's spent on death row, at least he'll still be alive.

In the two weeks since Michael Jackson died, I've felt like I'm living in a movie for which he alone did the soundtrack. Everywhere I go, I'm surrounded by the infectious, timeless beats of "Billy Jean," "Thriller," "Man in the Mirror" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough."

An open apartment window, a car driving by, the sound system at a bar or cafe. The King of Pop is the man of the moment, reminding me of when he ascended to stardom in the first place, when everyone seemed to know and love his songs and you could hear them wherever you went. But this time around, his ubiquity strikes a different chord: it's like a triumphant rebuke to all the scandals that came to define his life over the past 20 years.

In death, as in his youth, Michael Jackson is finally loved again. People who might have dismissed him as a freak three weeks ago are now listening to him with fond memories of when they, too, were die-hard fans. And those who grew up after he'd become more of a tabloid fixture than a musical icon are finally getting to see (and hear) the origins of Michael Jackson's unrivaled celebrity.

Michael Jackson will be remembered the way people choose to remember him, not by the way the media reports on his debts, his alleged child molestation, his whitening face, or even how he died. And the memories will go beyond the media spectacle that took place on Tuesday morning in Los Angeles, which has caused no small amount of debate.

From what I've been hearing all over town, Michael Jackson is being remembered by what made him great. And that is, quite literally, music to my ears.

[Image: Michael Jackson performing at the Superbowl in 1993]