Procter & Gamble Give Back

Procter & Gamble is launching a new program that lets you save money and help children in need at the same time.

The program, called P&G Give Health, offers money-saving coupons for popular P&G products that, when used, also help P&G raise $1 million to give the gift of health to children in need.

When you use P&G Give Health coupons, money will be donated to three P&G-sponsored charitable programs:

* Pampers Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Global Campaign
* PUR Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program
* Always and Tampax Protecting Futures Program

For every coupon redeemed from the April 5, 2009 issue of P&G brandSAVER, P&G will make a donation toward the cost of water, vaccine administrations and puberty education for people in need around the globe.

You can visit http://www.pggivehealth.org for additional program information.

To find a newspaper near you that carries brandSAVER, you can click this link and enter your zip code.

Cycle 4 Survival Sponsorship

Two weeks ago I helped coordinate a sattelite event of the New York-based Cycle 4 Survival cancer fundraiser. My friends Jennifer and Dave Linn are the founders of Cycle 4 Survival and when they asked us to do a similar event in the Bay Area, I thought it would be fun to have goodie bags and a raffle for the participants.

We raised more than $7000 amongst 12 people with only 3 weeks of notice. Go us!

And, I used my connections with companies with whom I've built relationships.

Quirk Books
Swiffer
Clif Bar
NexCare

I asked these guys to contribute to the event by donating product for a raffle and for goody bags and they came through. Hooray!

The moral of the story is that it never hurts to ask. When bloggers are offered free product, why should they not ask for one for every family in their preschool, every participant in the bike ride they are organizing, or every women's shelter in their town. It will only result in MORE POSITIVE WORD OF MOUTH for the brand who has reached out to the blogger. And isn't that what they're after?

Three Mommy Bloggers Give Back

My BFF Heather sent me links to three mommy bloggers (sorry to whomever is offended by that label) who shared stories about paying it forward.

Christina, whom I've met in person, of A Mommy Story, received $100 in the mail anonymously and used part of it to buy diapers and formula for babies whose mama's are strugging. Rock on, Christina!


Christine and Jessica made Christmas magic happen with a Walmart giveaway that turned into an opportunity for someone else to put their Santa hat on. I love this because I think generosity is contagious.

Her Bad Mother did exactly what I was hoping to read about bloggers doing. Took a bunch of the stuff she had been sent for giveaway and promotional purposes and gave it away, not as reader prizes, but instead to Toy Drive destinations. And, she asked her readers to shout out their charities of choice.

Robeez Give Back and Let Bloggers Help

Yay for Robeez! Great product, first of all. Second, they are donating $5 worth of shoes to Kids in Distressed Situations (KIDS) for every e-card that gets forwarded from their holiday e-card program.

And, if a blogger posts about the program, they'll donate $25 on their behalf.

Travel Bloggers Give Back

Debbie Dubrow who writes Delicious Baby, a travel blog for parents, emailed me about her project Passports With Purpose.

This month I've been working on a blogger's benefit for Heifer International called "Passports With Purpose." It has been a really fun and rewarding project, and I've been absolutely amazed at the support we have gotten from both the travel blogger's community and the "travel establishment." So far we've raised over $2000.

What Is Passports With Purpose?
Passports with Purpose is a travelblogger's fundraiser for Heifer International. It's easy, and fun to join in. This is a raffle, where you buy tickets ($10 each) for a chance to win prizes that range from hotel stays to camera equipment and even luggage. You can find a complete list of prizes at http://www.Passport sWithPurpose.com. The money is collected by firstgiving.com, and all funds (minus a small fee to firstgiving) go the Heifer International. You can buy tickets online and pay with a credit card.

Why Heifer?
Heifer seeks to relieve poverty around the world, not by giving one-time assistance, but by providing needy families with animals that can sustain them for a lifetime. Even a small donation can make a huge difference in the lives of malnourished children. For example, $20 (the cost of two raffle tickets) can buy a flock of chicks whose eggs provide both food and income for a needy family.

How Does it Work?
- Browse through the list of prizes at http://www.passport swithpurpose. com
- Choose which ones you'd like to win for you or someone else
- Click on the FirstGiving link
- Buy one or more $10 raffle tickets for each prize you want by December 29th (11:59 pm PST) and specify which prizes you are interested in

Kid Related Prizes

• Flip Video Camera ($150) from MotherOfAllTrips
  
• $100 Gift Certificate towards any one of Ciao Bambino's family friendly properties
  
• Peg Perego Primo Viaggio Infant Car Seat ($290) from Cookie Magazine's Going Places blog
  
• Ergo Hands Free Baby Carrier and iPod Shuffle ($213) from DeliciousBaby
  
• Maclaren Techno XLR Stroller ($350) from JetWithKids
  
• Britax Boulevard Car Seat ($330) from JetWithKids
  
• Medela Swing Electric Breastpump ($150) from JetWithKids
  
• Sit-n-Stroll convertible car seat and stroller (sponsored by Lilly Gold), signed copy of Travels With Baby ($272)
  
• CARES Flight Safety Harness (sponsored by Kids Fly Safe), signed copy of Travels With Baby ($97) from TravelsWithBaby
  
• $100 Gift Certificate with Babies Travel Lite (sponsored by Babies Travel Lite), signed copy of Travels With Baby($122)
  
• Gift pack of Barefoot Books ($100+) from BackpackToBuggy"
  

Donation Made: Another Caring Corners dollhouse to the Ronald McDonald House

Heather, who blogs at Want What You Have, donated a Mrs. Goodbee Dollhouse to her local Ronald McDonald House. Read her donation story here

Donation Made: Crazy Bloggin' Canuck donates to Ralston House in Colorado

I'm so excited about this donation story because I feel like I had a very small part in it. I asked Amber from Crazy Bloggin Canuck and Mile High Mamas if she wanted to donate a dollhouse as part of the Project Dollhouse program I had organized for Caring Corners. She accepted my offer, and not only did she donate the Mrs. Goodbee interactive dollhouse
to a family in need, she donated another wonderful product to a charity.



The World Discovery Box is a collection box for kids that encourages scientific discovery by providing them a place to put all the goodies they find on hikes and exploratory adventures. (Looks like a great gift for my four year-old son, in fact!) Amber remembered reading about The Ralston House and set up the donation.

She wrote:

This non-profit agency provides services for sexually, physically or emotionally abused children and their families. This safe haven is a place where they can share their stories and begin to heal. I would donate the box to them.

World Discovery Box’s owner John Skowland was thrilled with the idea and we contacted Ralston House.
discovery box
John personally delivered the World Discovery Box from Durango and I got the tour of my life at the Ralston House. As I listened to the services and stories of the many battered children who are helped during this fragile time in their life, I was so moved.

What would be more appropriate by showing these precious children the world of The Discovery Box when so many of their worlds are crumbling?

And you know what? These simple gestures have made me that much more mindful of all that I have to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. Football games and all.

My challenge to you this Thanksgiving? Don’t just express your gratitude, show it. Whether it is extra time spent in meaningful activities with your children or if you are in a position to help someone in need.

Thanks Amber and John for making this donation happen, and thanks to the Ralston House in Durango, Colorado for offering services to children who need them.