How Important is Giving Back to You?
~ We are teaching our kids to “Live to Give” ~
I was raised by my parents to always look to help others, especially ones that might need more help and resources than others. I grew up in the DC area and I remember collecting items to donate to people in need. We even had a friend in the neighborhood I remember that made extra Thanksgiving dinner plates wrapped in foil and distributed them to homeless people on the streets. I will always remember the kind acts she did, and I hope I am raising my kids to see those type of actions as well.
One of the most important things that has come out of my blogging career is that I have been lucky enough to work for a company called Social Fabric. They have teamed with another company, Champions for Kids (CFK), which provides bloggers the fabulous opportunity to work on missions to help people in the community. These are my absolute favorite missions to get from Social Fabric. Through CFK I have been able to provide families in need with food, teach kids about eating healthy, and purchase school supplies for kids that need them this coming school year! I know they have also provided kids with used sports equipment and dental care products. It’s such a wonderful thing to be a part of!
Here are the three SIMPLE Service Projects I’ve been lucky enough to work on with CFK! They truly have been a blessing to have my kids get involved and see how fantastic it feels to help others that need it. In order to “Pay It Forward” you need to do good things in life and for others on a continual basis. When we dropped off the cereal at the donation center for the #PostCFK project my daughter looked at me and said, “Mom, it makes me feel good to help other people.” This was just the beginning! She constantly asks how she can help others now!
Project #1: Jennie-O Turkey
Mission: To provide kids with knowledge about nutrition and healthy eating. We decided as a family to cut back on red meat and eat Jennie-O turkey products for overall better health. We switched out many of our normal meat dishes and tried new ones with the turkey substitute! We loved all the Jennie-O products we tried, and in fact we still buy them and use them today! It feels so much better to eat healthier. The Jennie-O products are so yummy too!
Favorite Part: My favorite part was going into my son’s preschool class to do a lesson about eating healthy. It’s a cooperative preschool that provides tuition for low income families. We talked about switching out red meat to turkey, eating more fruits and veggies, and eating less treats and sugar. I brought in some Jennie-O turkey samples for snack. I also sent every student home with a pack of Jennie-O turkey sausage to try with their families, and a flyer challenging them to “Make the Switch” at home too!
Project #2: Post Bowls of Hope
Mission: To collect Post cereal brand products to distribute to those in need for the summer. Kids that usually are provided with healthy breakfasts and lunches in schools during the school year most likely do not eat as healthy during the summer months. Some parents just can’t afford to buy extra food/healthy food that is not in their budget. I decided I would do this project with my Brownie Troop since I am a Brownie Girl Scout leader. I thought that this would be a nice service project to be a part of and to teach the kids to give back to the community. “Pay It Forward” always and to “Live Life to Give to Others” is what I wanted to show them. I did a lesson with the girls about hunger issues in the United States and what we can do to help. CFK challenges people to “Buy Two, Give One” so the Brownies each brought in a box of Post cereal to donate. We also had a Post cereal ice cream party to celebrate using the cereals as toppings! The girls loved that!
Favorite Part: My favorite part was when I asked the girls what else we could do to help! They loved that we were giving cereal to people, but they thought we could give more than what we collected. They decided to make signs to put up around the school, ask the principal for permission, and try and collect boxes from other students in the school and teach them about hunger issues! We collected 50 boxes total for our donation. We donated to The Sharing Locker, which is a local charity that collects food and non-food items to distribute to needy families. They were so appreciative of our donation, and they even sent the Troop a personal card thanking us for the donation.
Project #3: Bag It Forward
Mission: To provide kids in need with school supplies for the coming school year. This is a great time of year to buy supplies, because places like Walmart have great back-to-school sales and displays with affordable items, so why not buy a couple extra to donate to those in need? The Elmer’s display also had a wonderful “1st Day of School” app you could download on your phone to take pictures with. For every picture you take and share, Elmer’s will provide a kid in need with a school item. How great is that?
Favorite Part: I loved that my kids got so involved with the project. I told them we needed to get some things for kids in need and they loved helping out. They each decided to choose a backpack (one for a girl and one for a boy) and fill it with school supplies. I was so proud of them. I also filled a huge bag of supplies to donate as well, and we took our items to the local charity, The Sharing Locker, to have them distribute the items to kids in need.
And Our Bonus Donation…..
My daughter was so excited that we were going to make our school supply donation to The Sharing Locker, that she asked me if we could get a couple more boxes of cereal to give to them as well. Donating the Post cereal had a big impact on her, and of course I said YES! When we were buying our school supplies donation she picked out some cereal to donate as well. She knew from the note they wrote us how much they appreciated it and she wanted to do more. That to me is truly PAYING IT FORWARD! She is 7-years old and thinks about helping others on her own. I love instilling that in her. The Sharing Locker was excited to get the cereal as well. They said that people love getting cereal!
What are you doing in your homes to Pay It Forward? What are you doing to teach your kids to be kind and giving? We can only keep good going if every participates, even just a little. Not everyone may have resources to buy things, but they can help in other ways as well. Just a kind gesture to help some or kind words to one another can keep good going. “Live to Give” ~ whether it be food to the needy, school supplies for kids, lending a helping hand to others, or offering kind words and actions. We can all be part of making this world a kinder and better place. All small actions add up to make a huge impact. Do your part! Live to give to others and keep good going by paying it forward!!!
To see our shopping trip where we purchased some school supplies and extra cereal for The Sharing Locker, please check it out on our Google+ story.
I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. #CBias #SocialFabric
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