A New Month, A New Charity!

The first time I walked into my Public Library, I was really excited. They always have great displays outside. I could already smell the crisp paper inside each and every book, old or new.

When I first walked in, I could see books that were recommended inside a bin. I could see the check out register.

As I ventured to the kid’s section of the library, I saw people looking for movies, on the libraries computers and studying. Then I knew that I had hit the jackpot, BOOKS GALORE!

The whole back end of the Library was kids books. magazines, picture books, videos, tape books, chapter books and more. About every type of book you could think of was there.  Eventually, this became one of my favorite places to be.

Yesterday I called the library to ask if they take book donations. As many of you know, many libraries are in need of books or are underfunded. So, because I think that my library is really great, I want to turn my library into my charitiy for this month.

I think that it would be really cool if I started a book drive. For this month, I am going to turn my book drive into a neighborhood book drive. What I will do is make fliers requesting book donations and tommorrow I am going to distribute them on my neighboring streets. Later on, I will collect books with my sister using my wagon. Then, I’m going to donate them to my public library! If you know me and have books to donate, please let me know! You can also donate them to you OWN library–just call to see if they accept donations!

The person who donates the most books this month will win a twenty dollar donation to the charity of his or her choice! Please email me or leave a comment to let me know what you do to help libraries!

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Bake Sales and Lemonade Sales and Badges! Oh My!

A few days ago, Mr. Morris from Wetpaint asked me to think about helping the China Earthquake Relief Fund. This will help rebuild schools in China that were destroyed in the earthquake. The people working for the China Earthquake Relief Fund want to raise $50,000.00 so they can build safe schools for children in China.

So, this evening, at dinner, my mom dad and I talked about what I could do to raise money for this. I thought about doing a bake sale. My mom thought it might be a good idea to try to start a global bake sale or lemonade sale. On July 14, I will be having a huge bake sale and lemonade sale in my yard. We have a block sale that day, and all of the money I raise at my bake/lemonade sale will go to the China Earthquake Relief Fund. If YOU help out, we could raise even more money to donate together. You can participate as an individual, a family, or a classroom or school even. All you need to do is have a sale on your own and donate the money directly to the China Earthquake Relief Fund. I can’t accept any money from anyone myself, but you can send it right to them!

My dad thought about making badges for everyone who participates. If YOU decide to do a bake or lemonade sale to raise money to donate to the China Earthquake Relief fund in the coming months, you will receive a blog badge from me to put on your blog, if you have one. You will also win a magnetic badge too. And if you want, I will even Skype with classes to thank them. Magnetic badges will be sent in the mail. I am looking forward to making all of these. It’s going to be fun! In the future, I hope to support more global causes and to give away different badges for every cause I choose.

I really hope that some different people from all around the world will participate in this global bake sale for the China Earthquake Relief Fund. I hope YOU take on this challange! And if you aren’t able to bake or sell lemonade you could spread the word about this contest. Please consider blogging about it, using Twitter to write about it, or asking someone you know to take part.

DON’T FORGET TO LET ME KNOW IF YOU PARTICIPATE! I WILL SEND YOUR BADGES THROUGH EMAIL AND THE REGULAR MAIL!

And if anyone else has ideas to encourage people to participate, please blog about them too or let me know and I’ll spread the word!

  

Being a Cheerful Giver

 

Today I finally returned my pop bottles and pennies/loose change! I earned enough money to buy 12 gift bags!!! I was really excited about this! I will be donating the gift bags to Compass House on behalf of Cheerful Givers! I hope that the gift bags I made will make more kid’s birthdays happier and brighter, I know that I had fun shopping for them. This would make a great charity project for a group like the Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts. If you ever want to learn about how to support Cheerful Givers, just email me!

 

Please Vote for Me!

This winter, Twenty Five Days to Make a Difference was nominated for a Blogger’s Choice Award, and a lot of nice people have voted for me. I’m in first place for best charity blog right now! If you haven’t voted for me, would you please take a minute to create a free account here and vote for me? It only takes one minute. Thank you!

Please Visit 17 Chances to Make a Difference

A few days ago I got a comment from Ari and Sarah from 17 Chances to Make a Difference. This is a blog that an entire class is keeping. I was really excited to learn that they did their blog off of my blog! I was also excited to see their blog because it is TOTALLY AWESOME!!!  Ari and Sarah are Jewish, and they are commanded to do good deeds make the world a better place. In Hebrew, this is called Mitzvot.

Please take some time today to go and visit their site, and bookmark it too to spread the word about the great things these kids are doing! Thank you so much for visiting my site Ari and Sarah! I will be visiting you all the time too. I’ve also added you to my blogroll.

An Interview with Karen Kitchel from Cheerful Givers! Plus, a Giveaway for Compass House!

This week I interviewed Karen Kitchel from Cheerful Givers. I got lucky because Ms. Kitchel answered each question with so much detail. Please read below to learn more about Cheerful Givers! I am creating gift bags this month to donate to Compass House on behalf of Cheerful Givers!

1.     What is Cheerful Givers all about?
The mission of Cheerful Givers is to provide toy-filled birthday gift bags to food shelves and shelters so that parents living in poverty can give their child a birthday gift. We believe this simple gesture boosts self-esteem, enhances self-worth, and strengthens bonds in families.
 
I think what’s important about Cheerful Givers is that we provide a way for less fortunate parents to recognize their child’s birthday and Cheerful Givers remains invisible to the child. Also important are the Givers.  We are able to give many people the opportunity to experience the joy of giving to others.
 
We focus only on birthdays because there isn’t another organization that is addressing this unmet need.  

2. Are there a certain number of gift bags you like to see donated each month? What was the most ever donated?
Our goal for 2008 is to provide more than 44,000 children with gift bags, so we would like to see at least 3,666 gift bags each month.  The most ever donated was last year when a group of volunteers from a company called BI (where I worked for 30 years) filled 3,765 birthday bags in less than two hours.  At the same time they held a silent auction and sold box lunches for us.

3.     What part to do you play in Cheerful Givers?
I’m the one (and only) full-time staff.  So I need to recruit and manage volunteers (last year we had 3,878 of them).  Here’s my job description:
·  Managing the day to day operations of Cheerful Givers (e.g. program services, financial and human resource management, publicity, grant management and reporting),
·  Serving as a liaison between the organization and the community,
·  Providing technical assistance to corporations, community groups and sponsored organizations,
·  Increasing the visibility of Cheerful Givers within the community, which includes implementing Cheerful Givers business, public relations and fundraising plans and serving as the Web site liaison,
· Reporting to the Board of Directors on Cheerful Givers’ activities, financial status, needs, new activities, etc.,
· Working with the Board of Directors to identify new opportunities to ensure the fulfillment of Cheerful Givers mission, as well as long term growth of the organization,
· Assisting in the development of the Board of Directors to ensure access to an array of talents and resources needed by Cheerful Givers to fulfill its mission,
· Assisting in the orientation of new board members, and
· Overseeing evaluation of organizational activities. 
 4.     When did you begin working for Cheerful Givers?In 1996 I met Robin Maynard, the founder of Cheerful Givers who quickly became a good friend. When I learned what Cheerful Givers was all about, I immediately felt that it was an organization I wanted to support.  Robin asked me to join her board of directors and I began introducing Cheerful Giver at BI where I worked. Employees got together once each month at lunch time to fill gift bags with toys they donated.  I thought that other companies could do what we were doing and started spreading the word.  In 2003, I did a lot of soul searching and decided to leave my 30-year career at BI to work full-time for Cheerful Givers. That was also the time when the board of directors had realized if the organization were to grow that we needed someone devoted full-time.  

5. What can people do to help Cheerful Givers beyond donating gift bags?
We need funds so that we can continue to sponsor the teens with disabilities and the elderly group and to cover general operating costs.  Aside from that, people can help spread the word about us and encourage others to visit our website.

6. What can kids do to help?
 Kids can do a lot of things – fill gift bags with toys and take them to a shelter or food shelf, they can conduct a fundraiser for us or just help spread the word. ===============================================================

Just a reminder: We have a gift basket to giveaway this month!

What to do to enter?

Make a donation that’s more than $5.00 to Compass House and you will be entered to win an April Showers gift basket with all of this stuff in it! The drawing will be on March 25th, so if you donated, please let me know!

THANKS!!!!

Using MySpace in Good Ways! Visit the Compass House MySpace Page!

As we all know, sometimes kids and adults don’t use MySpace in good ways but the people at Compass House do! The people at Compass House set up a MySpace page so that they can also spread awareness there too! I think that they are very smart for doing this!

First, I want to thank everyone for wishing me a happy birthday! I had a really nice one and everyone helped to make my birthday special! Thank you so much for your comments. They were a great surprise!

I would really like to thank Coco for

1. Leaving me a funny comment

2. Writing about me on her blog

and 3.  DONATING $25.00 TO CHEERFUL GIVERS!

I also want to remind everyone that I have a giveaway this month for COMPASS HOUSE!!!! It is a gift basket for everyone in the family!! If you make a tiny five dollar donation, you will be entered to win! I’m also going to give you another way to be entered to win! If you work in a SCHOOL in Western New York and you are willing to hang a Compass House poster in your CLASSROOM or in the hall, please let me know! I will make sure we get the poster to you and enter you to win my contest! If you work in any other place where young people are, and you would like a poster, just let me know. I also have fliers and wrist bracelets for anyone who might like to give them to kids and teenagers! If you leave me a comment or send me an email, I will get them right to you.

The more awareness we can spread of the good that Compass House does, the better.

Donations for Compass House, the Pajama Project, and Project Linus

This week, several people made donations to causes that I really care about, and they emailed me to let me know. So, I wanted to pass this along to all of you.

First of all, I want to thank Leslie for running her Haiku contest this month online. I offered a $15 donation to one of the winners of her contest, and when the winner was announced, she donated this money to Compass House, in addition to two other donations! So, because of Leslie, Compass House received a $45 donation already, and it isn’t even March yet!

I also received a great email from someone who asked that they not be recognized on my blog. This person donated $50 to the Pajama Project! This is the same person who sent me the anonymous tip about the Pajama Program way back in December, which is why I chose to help this cause. Thank you!!!!!

And I have a lot of bottles in my garage right now. My neighbor, Mr. Jung, also has bottle receipts for me too. All of my bottle return money will be donated to Project Linus this month. I will be updating the total amount earned this weekend, after I return all of those bottles. I have to count them yet!

Announcing the Winners of the February 25 Day Challenge

This month, I helped the Pajama Project and Project Linus! There were a lot of surprises during this month’s challenge, but one of the nicest surprises was hearing from Erin from West Seneca! Erin is a teacher, and she collected some pajamas with her students! I just found out about this last week, and it made me really happy.

Erin is the individual winner of this month’s challenge! She will be able to pick any charity or cause, and we will be making a twenty dollar donation to it! Just let us know where you would like your donation to go, Erin.

Lindbergh Elementary School won the group prize for this month. I am going to talk with my principal, Mrs. Parsons, about where this twenty dollar donation can be sent. I want to say thank you to all of my friends and the teachers at school for helping with this. I also want to thank Mrs. Parsons, too. It was fun doing a pajama drive!

My mom has spoken with Mrs. Cardena from the Pajama Program about collecting the pjs and books. And I actually got to meet and work with Christene Lewandowski from Project Linus. What was REALLY cool was visiting Compass House this month and SEEING all of the blankets there that Project Linus has donated in the past! That was really neat.

In March, I am going to be supporting Compass House and Cheerful Givers. I am really excited about doing all of this. I have some ideas for new contests too and some neat prizes this month, so please keep reading. A new month is starting!

Chaught Making a Difference (and much much more)

Laura R. is from Australia but lives in Japan. She works at an international pre-school and she has also been reading my blog too. This week Laura sent me a big box of things including notebooks for my sister and I, two pencils, origami paper and a whole lot of card making supplies like stamps and paper and stickers. I was really surprised! The label on the delivery box was really cool, too, because it was written in Japanese.

These card making supplies are going to be put to good use too! On Monday, I had a short meeting with our friend Kristen and one of the great ladies who runs Suneel’s Light. Her name is Cheryl. They are planning a huge card-making event and a lot of kids are going to be taking part in it, including me! We will be making cards to send as thank you gifts to those who make donations to Suneel’s Light. I am really excited that they asked me to help out. I am planning to donate a lot of what Laura sent to use at this event.

Thank you SO MUCH Laura! I was really surprised by your generosity. I want you to know that I plan to pay it forward too!

I also heard from a teacher named Erin this week. She teaches in West Seneca, and she has been collecting pajamas for the Pajama Project this month! I was so excited to hear about this. I plan to write a lot  more about this as soon as I talk with her and find out more about the work that she has done!

There are only a few more days left of this 25 Day Challenge! If you have done ANYTHING to make a difference for The Pajama Project or Project Linus this month, please let me know. Those who make the most difference this month can win a donation to the charity of their own choice!

National Make a Blanket Day: Helping Project Linus!

Today, I went to National Make a Blanket day to make blankets for my local chapter of Project Linus. In the picture above, I am holding the first blanket that I made, and the chairperson of our Project Linus, Christene Lewandowski, is standing with me.

I liked Christene a lot. She was really friendly and she made me feel really happy and relaxed. I was kind of nervous going here, because my mom and I didn’t really know anyone, but she made me feel less nervous. I was still kind of shy though. I also met Karen Weisharr, and she helps Christene. She sat with me and talked to me for most of the time that I was there.

This day was so much fun. In the beginning, they introduced themselves to me and gave me a packet of great information about Project Linus, which I will share below, in case people want to help. There was a raffle too! I won a Crayola gift basket. There was great food and pop and cookies too. It was kind of like a big party! I didn’t know how to sew, but I made a tied fleece blanket, and it was really easy. I plan to do this again next year too. For more information about how you can participate in something like this, look here.

I learned a lot about Project Linus today too. Last year, these women donated 2,644 blankets in our area to children who have needed them. Many of these children have been badly hurt in some way, and these blankets help them not to be so sad. Today, these women made over 200 blankets! I made three with my mom. It was a lot of fun.

I plan to donate my bottle returning money to Project Linus this month, so if you have bottles, please let me know. I am also planning on making more tied fleece blankets at home this month and all year now too.

There is a lot that you can do to help too!  If you want to help, make a blanket or a quilt for a child ages newborn through teenager. You can also donate fabric, yarn, or batting. The chapter also accepts donations of postage stamps, gift cards to craft stores, and monetary donations too.

You can donate the blankets you make or material at any of these drop off locations in Western New York:

AC Moore in Blasdell or Amherst

Carriage Quilt Shoppe in East Aurora

Embraceable Ewe in Hamburg

Heartland Quilt Shop in Lockport

Jo-Ann Etc. in Amherst, Blasdell, or Williamsville

Marie’s Sewing Center in Lockport

Pine Grove Quilt Shop in Kenmore

Shear Satisfaction in Hamburg

Donations can be made to Project Linus of Erie and Niagara County NY, care of Christene Lewandowski 5445 Columbia Avenue, Hamburg NY 14075.

And guess what? If you want to know more about Project Linus and our chapter, you can also read Roger Carr’s Everyday Giving Blog. He recently interviewed Christene Lewandowski! Thank you!!!!!!

If you are making a difference for Project Linus this month, please let me know! The person who makes the most difference will win a donation to his or her favorite charity at the end of the month.

Books and Pajamas Galore!!!

Yesterday, I collected all of the books and pajamas from drive for The Pajama Program at Charles A. Lindbergh Elementary School. I want to thank the students and our wonderful principal, Mrs.Parsons for helping me!!!! We collected 25 pairs of pajamas and almost 200 books!!! I was really excited about this because my dad is doing a book and pj drive at his office, but it isn’t over until the end of this month. I have a feeling that I am going to end up with more books than pj’s to donate, but with what Lindbergh students collected and my dad, we will end up with a good amount.

We took a picture of some of them this morning!

Thank you everyone!!

If you live in our area, please consider doing a pajama drive yourself! You can do one at your school or at work too. Right now, the local need is 850 pair of pajamas per month. Mrs. Cardena really needs help spreading the word about her great organization and getting new pajamas to give kids who need them in our area. And if you live outside of my area, there is probably a chapter near you. Check this page to see!

Lindbergh Elementary Supports the Pajama Program

For the next two weeks, students at Lindbergh Elementary School will be donating new pajamas of all sizes and new books to Western New York children who are in need by supporting the Pajama Program. My principal, Mrs. Parsons, has been really helpful in making this work, and my friend Julianne Cairns has been a big help too! Thank you! I am excited to see how much we are able to help Ann Cardena, who is the head of the Buffalo chapter of this organization.

I also want to remind everyone that my February giveaway contest has started already! If you do anything to spread awareness of my blog and help me increase the number of people who are reading (and hopefully supporting my causes too), you will be entered to win handmade Valentine greeting cards. The deadline for doing this is February 7th! You can read more about all of this by clicking on this link!

Tomorrow, I will be writing about my friend, Sarah Wakefield! She sent me a really cool button to put on this blog to help animals! I think it is really cool that she suggested this, and I can’t wait to tell you more about it.

Ways to Win Free Cards or a Charitable Donation

Already, I have several people entered in my first weekly giveaway contest. You can win too, by doing ONE thing to help spread awareness of my blog. Find out what you can do here. Those of you who have voted for me on the Bloggers Choice Awards you are automatically entered!! Voting is open until almost the end of the year, and I have been in a tight race for first place, so I really appreciate all of your votes!

Tomorrow, I am starting my pajama drive at my school to support the Pajama Program. I would like to say THANK YOU TO MY PRINCIPAL MRS.PARSONS for helping me. THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN ENTERED IN THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE TOO!

Also! I am still collecting bottles this month! So far, I know that our neighbors, the Jungs, and my Aunt Kate and Uncle John have bottles for me. All of my bottle money this month will be donated to Project Linus!

Remember that there are chapters of the Pajama Project and Project Linus all over the place, and whether you support the Buffalo chapters with me or your own local chapter in some way, please let me know! You could win this month’s 25 Day Challenge!

Your Turn to Make a Difference: Win the February 25 Days to Make a Difference Contest!

This month, I am helping to support our local chapters of The Pajama Project and Project Linus! There is a lot that you can do to support your local chapters as well!

If you live in my area, you can organize a pajama and book drive, or fundraise and donate money directly to their organizations, or even simply SPREAD AWARENESS! Mrs. Cardena said that because her chapter of the Pajama Project is so new and the demand for pajamas is so high, she really needs to get the word out in our area about what she is trying to do! This is a great service project for groups, families, and even just one person!

If you don’t live in my area, there are local chapters of the Pajama Project just about everywhere! You can help your local chapter out too and still be entered to win a prize in my challenge.

This works the same way with Project Linus! You can help our local chapter by making and donating handmade blankets for babies, children, and teenagers. You can also make a donation directly to their organization! And there are chapters of Project Linus all over the USA!

The individual who makes the most difference for one of these organizations in February will win a $20 donation to any charity of your choice!

The group that makes the most difference for one of these organizations will also win an additional $20 donation to a charity of their choice!

I will also link to you on my site and list you on my sidebar too, so everyone who visits this page can see how you are making a difference too!

If you want to join in this 25 day challenge, please email me or leave a comment on this site so I know this!