A Giveaway (The first!): We Need Help with a Name!

As I mentioned late last week, a friend and I have been working on a big project to help promote literacy and bring comfort to those in need with some awesome fleece tie blankets in our community.  We have been in the planning stages since before the holidays and are ready to forge ahead with our idea.  This is where we need your help:  we need a name!  Here's a little background information...

My end of the project is literacy.  Thus far, we've purchased about 100 books to be distributed to those who need to get a book in their hands and are looking to raise funds or receive donations of new books.  If your children are in school and their class participates in the Scholastic book order, you can get books for all ages for just $1!  While our biggest target initially will be young children, we are also looking to help tweens and teens as well.  Reading has always been such an important part of my life, that I want to do what I can to get some wonderful book titles into kids' hands.  I'm sure you all have some favorites from your childhood that you still are fond of today.  Wouldn't you feel great passing them along to others?

The other part of our project involves providing fleece tie blankets to those in need.  It would be awesome if our organization could provide a blanket for low-income children in schools and shelters, as well as those who are ill, and pair it with a book.  Our goal is to coordinate the blanket with the theme of the book to really tie it all together.  We will also be using a portion of our funds to purchase the materials to make the blankets, but this project is also wonderful for families and groups looking to help out in their community by making and donating new blankets or donating materials to make them.

We hope to someday make this an official non-profit, but that is a time-consuming process, so in the meantime, we're ready to get this project rolling.  It would be great to build our collection of books and blankets over the summer to help kick-off the school year on a positive note to those in need.  If you would like to help in any capacity, please let me know.  I'm sure we'll have a few fundraising activities and ideas to present soon, so stay tuned!  

Here's where you can help!  We need a name for this project and want to hear your ideas.  The winner of our contest will receive their very own book and blanket (or if you'd like we can donate the combo on your behalf).  Our contest will close on Saturday, April 27th, at noon, so get your minds working and leave us a name suggestion in the comment section below or on Facebook!  

We can't wait to hear your ideas!

A Big Project in the Making

Many posts ago, I talked about taking care of our corner of the world.  As horrific events have unfolded around us once again, I think we all realize that you can really never take a day for granted.  I am sure that many of us feel helpless and like we can't do enough, but if we take a step back and focus on our community, I know we could all make a difference.  I think the first step is to think about a few causes that you feel passionate about and channel your energy in that direction.  Set some goals, involve your family, and start taking steps to make a difference!

For me, I have two areas that I always come back to:  hunger and helping to promote literacy in children.  Today I am going to focus on promoting literacy in children.  I have spent a great deal of time over the past several months creating some goals to assist with this growing problem.  If you recall, I sent out a request for money to purchase books for a family service project at Christmas time.  Over the past five months, I have collected 100 new books to be distributed to those in need.  This is only the beginning!  It is my hope that we can continue to raise funds to purchase books or receive book donations from others.  

A friend and I have been collaborating on this project and we are beginning to contact school districts to reach out and find out how we can assist:  books for the classroom, providing a book for a child to take home, providing books for shelters, etc.  While my main focus is books, my friend's focus is on providing fleece tie blankets for those in need.  We have read some startling statistics about children in our area who have don't even have a bed to sleep on.  While we can't provide a bed, we would like to provide them with a book and a comfortable blanket to call their own.  We need to take care of the children in our community, as they are our future.

This project is definitely in the early stages of development.  It will take time to grow, but we are committing ourselves to making a difference for children in our community.  One of the wonderful things about this project is that it is child-friendly.  My kids can be involved in picking out the books and distributing them.  We can teach them the importance of helping others and they can see first-hand how beneficial it can be.  

I challenge you to come up with a family project, big or small, to make a difference in your community.  It's never to early to show children how to be compassionate citizens and the importance of helping others.  If your children are a little bit older, encourage them to come up with an idea and take the time to help them come up with a plan and follow it through.  I am sure they will be proud of their accomplishment and their eyes will be opened to the needs of others. 

If you would like to donate to this effort monetarily, please click on the donate button.  If you would like to help out in any other way, please let me know!