Good Causes

Virtual Food Blogger Bake Sale Linky

April 21, 2012 By speppel 1 Comment

Post a picture of baked goods this week and come back here to link up in support of the in-real-life Food Blogger Bake Sales going on nationwide on April 28, 2012. Help me reach our team's virtual goal of $1000 or more by donating now to this worthwhile cause.

Donate Now to Help End Childhood Hunger http://join.strength.org/goto/VirtualBakeSale

{Please add this link to your post:} Help end childhood hunger. Support Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale by donating online to the 2012 No Kid Hungry campaign via the Little Miss Muffin Team HERE. Buy a virtual baked good – calorie-free and help us reach our goal of $1000!

Support the 2012 Food Blogger Bake Sale http://join.strength.org/goto/VirtualBakeSale

{Disclosure: I received a Villeroy & Boch platter and a Little Miss Muffin doll for posting about the Food Blogger Bake Sale, in support of Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry Campaign. All thoughts and opinions are my own.}

Visit http://eshop.villeroy-boch.com/us/ – to purchase Villeroy & Boch products including the New Wave plate shown here. MSRP $47, currently on sale for $35.25. Click here to learn more about this elegant and modern pattern by Villeroy & Boch on Isabelle von Boch's "On the Table" blog- your source for recipes, entertaining ideas and beautiful tablescapes.

Filed Under: Contests & Giveaways, Featured, Good Causes, Product Reviews

Mom Inventors: This Post is for YOU (from Huggies Mom Inspired Grants)!

June 7, 2011 By speppel Leave a Comment

Mom inventors, you will want to read information below from Maria Bailey at Mom Select:

As I hope you know, I have a passion for helping moms build their business. For the last 3 years, I've been working with Huggies to create a program that empowers mom business owners with the money and information they need to build their businesses. My first success was talking Huggies into launching the Huggies MomInspired grant program, www.HuggiesMomInspired.com, which awards $15,000 grants to mom inventors.

In 2010, The Huggies brand introduced its MomInspired grant program, providing inventive moms with the resources and seed capital they need to help transform viable product ideas into successful new businesses, or take their businesses to the next level. In its inaugural round of submissions, the program solicited almost 400 applications and awarded $15,000 each to 12 inspired moms to help fund their business startups based on innovative baby or child care products inspired by motherhood. Grant-worthy examples include:

o Allyson Phillips – TILTY CUP

o Amy Baxter, Buzzy Pain Relief

o Michelle Staley, Busy

Round two of grant submissions is currently open through June 30, 2011 at HuggiesMomInspired.com. Twelve inspired moms will be awarded $15,000 each in the Fall of 2011, to turn their original, viable child care product ideas into a reality, or progress their already established small businesses - original, innovative and viable new business and product ideas designed to help make life easier for parents. Visit HuggiesMomInspired.com for more information on the grant program, eligibility requirements and details on the first round of grant recipients.

I know that there are lots of moms out there who can definitely use the grant money, but may not know about the program yet. I'm coming to you to ask you to please encourage moms to spread the word and apply. Any good idea could become the next big hit!

Thank you for your continued support.

Maria Bailey

If you are interested in participating in future MomSelect sponsored events and programs, register at MomSelect.com

Filed Under: blogging, Good Causes Tagged With: grants, huggies mom inspired, mom inventors, mom select

Start your own foundation with GiveBack – how cool is that?

December 16, 2010 By speppel 1 Comment

In honor of my birthday today, I am starting my own foundation to give back to others. Sounds ostentatious, doesn't it? When I think of foundations, I think of huge non-profits with stiff-lipped board members making massive financial contributions alongside high-profile celebrity endorsements and walks to raise money. I think of fancy brochures with glossy pictures of the poor and needy and you wonder where the money is really going since your $10 is only a drop in the bucket of the truly needy.

But, am I getting to cynical here on my birthday? Perhaps. Maybe I've seen too much need and too little matching that need; WHICH, brings me to a really cool new website called GiveBack that lets YOU create your own foundation online. The money you put in this account is considered 100% tax deductible and you can allocate the funds to any charity you choose (that's registered in the U.S).

Better yet, once the account it set up, you can shop at a wide variety of vendors (see my experience doing this outlined below)- what you would buy anyway – and up to 15% goes back into your foundation to once again allocate to whomever YOU chose! Usually, I simply give my donations to the Presbyterian church I attend and let them decide on the best causes and I am on that committee too so I can help decide. BUT, this way I can shop and give which I love. I get what I need, others get what they need. We are all happy.

I love videos and here's one that explains it better than me:

And, here's a more comprehensive description from their website:

The Give Back Foundation was established to allow any person to join GiveBack and set up their personal foundation account. The funds that accumulate in that account are part of the Give Back Foundation. Each member has the ability to direct the funds from their account to any charity in good standing with the United States Internal Revenue Service.

Together, all of the members’ accounts are gathered under one Give Back Foundation account awaiting the direction of each member. The members can give their money away whenever they choose, either as a single donation or as part of a group of people coming together to support a cause. 100% of the money that is directed to a charity is sent to the charity. The Give Back Foundation charges nothing for the transaction.

Any money that a member adds directly into their GiveBack account is immediately tax deductible. Any additional money that may be added, either by our corporate sponsors or other individuals, is not deductible by the member. At year end the Give Back Foundation will issue every member a consolidated giving statement that may be used as an IRS tax receipt.

Now, let's do this:

Entering the site now. Okay, I see I can connect with my Facebook account. Very cool. that increases the exposure to the causes I choose. I love how interactive Facebook has become. So very convenient.

Oh, hey, someone gave me $5 to start. Looks like Mission Skincare is listed as my first foundation donor. Now, I can add my own funds or I can go shoppping. I've already bought a lot of my Christmas gifts but I bet I can find something. Excuse me a minute whilst I shop.

{browsing the Internet} Okay, so I am seeing sites like Sears, Heels.com, etc which have the percentage listed below that will go back to your foundation if you shop there. Most vendors are running 2-9% that I have seen so far. Mission Skincare is really hopping on the bandwagon with a special of 30% towards your foundation which is awesome because my girls are just now learning to take care of their skin (12 & 13 yr olds that are just now developing acne, etc.). Reading further, I see that Mission Skincare was developed by and for athletes.

Hmmm. . . I see some great products for my sister, who has become a serious marathon runner in recent years. Oh, they support a lot of great charities too. Just purchased the $49.99 bundle of products. There will be a little bit for everyone! I can spread the joy. AND, I just used my Target Visa which means I get shopping points there too.

I am not seeing the credit right away but maybe it takes a day. Will check back. Oh, just read the fine print: "Shopping rewards may take several days to appear and will be 'pending' until confirmed by retailer."

Now to add a charity. Well, I love Compassion International. Okay, chosen. I love their international efforts because they actively work to match individuals around the world with children who desperately need our support and then you can write letters to each other and send special gifts. My daughter chose a girl her age in the Dominican Republic and it has been a wonderful experience.

Now, can others give to my foundation? Let me check. Here's my Compassion page. I will look into this furt
her but it also looks like the site is running campaigns with specific charities or you can choose several of your own.

Okay, I'm set up and I'll keep working on this.

AND, you can read other amazing experiences with GiveBack from these wonderful ladies:

Isabel Kallman of Alpha Mom

Gabrielle Blair of Design Mom

Allison Worthington of Blissfully Domestic

Rachael Herrscher of Today's Mama

Kim Orlando of Traveling Mom

AND, finally, the reason I learned about this awesome site is because the One2One Network is giving away the grand prize of a conference pass, travel funds and a room for the annual Blissdom blogging conference in Nashville, TN to one randomly selected participating blogger. Woot-woot. Contest runs through tomorrow – December 17th.

Runner-Up prize includes a conference pass or $350 Visa Gift card which would be REALLY nice since I am not sure I can fit in going to the conference itself since I am running an area-wide prayer retreat myself that Saturday. Lord knows what needs to happen and where I need to be and I am praying about what HE wants of me in January. If I won by some random chance, I would have to fly back Friday night and scoot into the prayer retreat on Saturday morning with LOTSO coffee in my system. I truly praise God for the Internet and cell phones.

Filed Under: blogging, Contests & Giveaways, Good Causes Tagged With: blissdom contest, giveback, mission skincare

Home Farming with Triscuits

July 2, 2010 By speppel Leave a Comment

Now, I love Tricuits but I LOVE even more that they are promoting home farming through including plantable herb seed cards in over 4 million boxes! How fun and what a great activity to do with the kids.

Tricuits has also joined with Urban Gardening, a non-profit, to create a website HERE to provide information to beginning and seasoned gardeners through forums, crop guides, expert advice and more!

Joining the fun, we received one box of original Triscuits and one box of reduced-fat Triscuits. (One had dill seeds and one basil and we did receive a $20 Visa card as a part of the blogging promotion to cover our planting expenses.)

I carried the whole project on vacation to my parents' farm in N.C. where my dad has always enjoyed growing produce. This year, he grew beans, tomatoes, corn, cantaloupes, watermelon, squash and ocra. And now, we have herbs!

Below are pictures of our progress. First step was to soak the seed cards so that they could peel open and reveal the seeds. I had to plant the seeds in a to-go food box so I can close it and carry it with us as we head back home to PA next week. There I will put the dirt in a deeper box and watch as pretty green shoots grow.

Can't wait!!

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Good Causes Tagged With: triscuits home farming, urban gardening

Taking the Bloganthropy Pledge

December 20, 2009 By speppel Leave a Comment

Bloganthropy is challenging individuals to take a pledge to use social media for a good cause.

Here are the basic pledge rules from the Bloganthropy website:

Will you join us in our three steps to a better world pledge? Promise to:

Choose one charitable project, organization, or cause.
Spread the word on at least two social media platforms (your blog, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Whrrl, Flickr, forums, etc.) about the charitable effort of your choice.
Volunteer at least three hours of your time to the charitable effort of your choice.

When you pledge, you will not only be making a commitment to your community and yourself, you will also be using your social media influence to make your message viral.

And we’ll help you spread the word, too–just end us your links on Facebook or Twitter (@bloganthropy use the hashtag #bloganthropy). We will also hold a carnival of philanthropy on the last Friday of every month, starting in January 2010.

Lend a hand and inspire others and together, we can build a better world.

Again, click here to take part in this celebration of helping others!

I first heard of Bloganthropy when Debbie from Mamanista invited me to go with her tomorrow to deliver a car load of toys to Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania down in Philadelphia. I told her I would be happy to go and tweeted it to her too. I saw she was using the hashtag #bloganthropy and I had to go check it out. What a great idea! If I had thought of it first, I would have loved to start a blog committed to philanthropy. I am an avid believer in volunteering and helping our community with our time.

Which is why I am hoping to make my volunteer commitment to the Phoenixville Area Time Bank. I just wrote an article about it on my other blog DIYFrugal. Check it out HERE.

There are Time Banks nationwide but there is a really active chapter near me. While I plan to earn some hours to bank and receive services back, I can also volunteer hours to donate to the PA Helping Fund that gives help to others who can't give back right away.

Now, go take your own pledge!

Filed Under: Good Causes Tagged With: bloganthropy, pa time bank, timebanks.org

Disney shows their commitment to recycling through electronics

October 13, 2009 By speppel Leave a Comment

We will be at the Wachovia Center this Wednesday for the opening of Disney on Ice Celebrates 100 Years of Magic and now we have a good reason to bring old electronics!

But guess what, even if you aren't going to the show, you can help too! I'll even bring your old electronics with me if you want me to.

Help Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years Of Magic collect 100,000 lbs of Recyclable Electronics!

When: Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Where: Wachovia Center Parking Lot D (enter on Broad Street)
Time: 6:00am – 9:00am

Join FOX 29's Good Day Philadelphia as they co-host an electronics recycling event along with Disney On Ice Celebrates 100 Years of Magic. Our goal will be to recycle 100,000 lbs of electronics as Disney is committed to recycling. Philadelphia residents will be invited down from 6am-2pm to drop off their old electronics (TV's, computers, stereos, etc.) to be recycled, those residents that recycle will receive a discount offer to attend one of the nine performances.

Filed Under: Books, Good Causes

Healthcare Needs Discussed, Debated, Deliberated,

August 18, 2009 By speppel Leave a Comment

I am not a lawyer or career politician so I will share what I know about the healthcare debate in stories of people I have known.

When I was in graduate school, part of my job in the office included overseeing the affairs of two Russian scholars. They had barely arrived in our country in the Fall of 1991 when the Russian coup crumbled communism and irrevocably changed the lives of their families and comrades. Concerned, one gentleman would stay long past our closing hours to hit the fax button over and over again until one piece of paper slid through the machine and through the wires across the ocean. It was often after midnight that he succeeded. As time passed, faxing got easier and he would send letters to his wife about his life here in the U.S.

In the spring of 1992, the Soviet Union was officially gone and we were able to bring Vladimir’s wife over to visit. In her broken English, she told us that what made her cry were the letters detailing the feasts of ice cream Vladimir enjoyed in our school cafeteria while she stood in line to get government rationed potatoes while their economic system stabilized – a system mimicking our capitalist, free market based on private enterprise fueled by supply and demand NOT the interference of central government which FAILED.

See the rest of this post over at Philly Moms Blog today.

Filed Under: Good Causes, Health, politics

Blog It Forward to Fight Hunger: ShopRite's Partners in Caring

August 11, 2009 By speppel 4 Comments

This month, General Mills and ShopRite are donating one box of cereal to a food bank in ShopRite's trading area for the first 30 people to comment on THIS post. Please comment now so that food banks will receive this valuable donation.

Here's the scoop on this awesome program:

The ShopRite organization recognized the pervasive problem of hunger experienced by so many people right in the neighborhoods served by their stores. It’s a problem that not only exists during the holiday season, when attention is focused on charitable giving, but it also exists throughout the year. ShopRite had already been helping to fight the problem of hunger for more than 20 years through its support of the Feeding America network (formerly America’s Second Harvest) and through participation in the Checkout Hunger program, but wanted to do more.

In 1999, ShopRite conceived and began its ShopRite Partners In Caring program, a year-round, community based hunger fighting initiative. With the help of more than 50 manufacturers, the program is committed to helping to feed and meet the nutritional needs of families and the elderly who may otherwise go without. These generous companies are a major reason why ShopRite Partners In Caring has been such a success.

Today, the ShopRite Partners In Caring program supports 23 regional food banks and more than 1,400 charitable agencies with food or meal components. With a $2 million annual donation, more than $20 million has been donated since 1999 in the fight against hunger.

How It Works

Companies that have joined ShopRite in the fight against hunger are marked in stores with the ShopRite Partners In Caring shelf label. By choosing these products, ShopRite customers support manufacturers who contribute to the program.

Each of the 217 ShopRite stores in the six states that ShopRite serves (New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland) selects qualified local organizations to benefit from the program. These local food charities use their designated funds to acquire supplies at a food bank.

Who Is Served

More than 36 million Americans go to bed hungry every night – 12 million of them are children. They could be your neighbors, people you know in the community or maybe somebody you said “hello” to this morning. ShopRite is committed to making a difference in the lives of its neighbors. That’s why ShopRite Partners In Caring dollars ultimately service a variety of organizations with feeding capabilities including emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, child care centers, battered women’s shelters, senior programs, drug rehab centers, programs for the mentally and physically disabled, after school programs and other organizations that support those in need in ShopRite communities.