Be an "Angel" to a needy child

When you are out doing your Christmas shopping, look for Salvation Army's "Angel Trees" - stop by and pick a child to shop for. (Let your children help shop for the child - they'll love it and want to do more).

If you can't find a tree, have your children put some money in the Salvation Army kettle - and tell the kids what the money is used for.  (see their website:  Angel Trees

(Note:  Some of you have complained that you can't find the Angel Trees in your area.  Good News! 
J C Penney has made it easy for you.  You can select your angel online! ) Go to jcp.com/angel  

"Give a Day, Get a Disney Day"

Breaking news…as announced on Good Morning America, if you give a day of volunteer service to a participating organization, you’ll get one day of free admission to a Disney Park. It’s a first-of-its-kind program called “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day.”

And yes, it’s that simple — a free one-day ticket to a Disneyland or Walt Disney World theme park for guests who volunteer a day of service to a participating organization. They’re celebrating you and the good things you do for your communities.

The program officially begins on January 1, 2010. When it’s live, you’ll be able to visit www.DisneyParks.com or http://www.disneyparks.ca/ and search for an eligible volunteer project. After completing the volunteer work, an e-mail will be sent from Disney with a link to print out a voucher to redeem at a theme park for a free one-day, one-park admission. And if you’re unable to use the ticket, it can be donated to a charity designated by Disney.

They are looking for 1 million people with a passion to make a difference. And they are working with HandsOn Network to do it. They’re helping make sure you find the perfect volunteer work. And many of the program’s volunteer opportunities will be for the family.

Family Christmas projects

Nothing feels more like Christmas than helping to brighten someone's day. Sit down with your family and discuss things you could do to spread a little joy in your neighborhood. Here are some ideas to start you off:

1. Go Christmas caroling to your neighbors.

2. Bring a basket of homemade goodies to a widow or someone who could use a visit.

3. Call a local charity that might need helpers during the holiday.

4. Call a local nursing home, or hospital and ask if there is someone who could use a visit.

5. Participate in the Salvation Army Angel tree program by buying a toy for a child.

6. If you live by a military base, call to see if any service men would like to join you for Christmas dinner.

Drop in and Decorate: Bake, Decorate, and Donate Cookies!

With the holidays approaching, many of us will be knee deep in flour, sugar, icing, and sprinkles making scores of holiday cookies. Of course, many of us make scores of cookies year-round because cookies just make us happy. Well if you're a cookie lover and love to make people happy, then you should know about Drop In & Decorate, a year-round, nonprofit organization, created by food writer, Lydia Walshin of The Perfect Pantry.

Lydia founded Drop In & Decorate in 2002, and before the end of this year, the 10,000^th cookie will be decorated  and donated . Here's how Drop In & Decorate works:

1. Bake some cookies.

2. Gather a group of family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. to decorate them

3. Donate the cookies to a nonprofit agency serving basic human needs in your own community.

If you’d like to host your own Drop In & Decorate event, Pillsbury and Wilton would like to help. Pillsbury has donated 50 VIP coupons, worth $3.00 each, off any Pillsbury product -- including sugar cookie mix, icing and flour -- to be distributed, first come, first served, while supply lasts, to anyone who plans to host a Drop In & Decorate event (max. 5 coupons per person). And Wilton will throw in a Comfort Grip cookie cutter, while supplies lasts. Write to lydia@ninecooks.com for more information on how to get your free coupons and cookie cutters.

Now, let's bake some cookies!

p.s.  You don't have to be a part of the Drop in and Decorate program - this is something you can do on your own.  Have your children help make, bake and decorate cookies and go with you to donate to a local rest home or neighbors who could use some cheering up.

Thanksgiving Food Drives

Don't forget to participate in local food drives for the holidays. (Have your children put the cans in the collection box so they can feel the spirit of giving)

Some grocery stores are asking for turkeys and they'll match your donation.

Here in San Diego we feed 480,000 people  (10,000 homeless, the rest are families in need). Our local rescue mission and the Salvation Army provides meals, but they depend on donations to help them do it.  Each meal costs less than $1  so if you make a donation of only ten dollars, you'll feed eleven people.

Donate a Laptop to "One Laptop Per Child"

The One Laptop per Child association develops a low-cost laptop— The "XO Laptop" (shown in photo)—to revolutionize how we educate the world's children. Their mission is "to provide educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning."

The laptops cost $199 each.  If you would like to donate one, go to: 

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/The_OLPC_Wiki

How Can I Donate Quilts to the TROOPS?

phrogster1 answers:

There are a couple of very reliable places that send quilts to those in military service and to veterans.

One is Quilts of Valor and the local group gave out two quilts today at the Veteran's Day program I attended. They have organizations in many states so you should be able to contact someone locally about your quilts.

The other is Operation Quiet Comfort. They would accept the jeans quilts. They also accept quilt squares from jeans that have messages on them and sew them into quilts that are then sent to wounded troops. I also know this group is reliable because of past experience with them through Girl Scouts. Many Girl Scout troops send quilt squares to them. They also have a Yahoo! group that they ask people to join so they can share information about the quilts that are sent.

http://www.qovf.org/
http://www.operationquietcomfort.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/operationquietcomfort/
http://www.persimmonquilts.com/QuiltsofValor.html

Donate to Charity by shopping at Amazon.com

This holiday, you can donate easily to leading charities with Amazon Payments. Amazon Payments gives you a simple and trusted way to donate online using the information in your Amazon.com account. Choose the charity you want to support and complete the donation on the charity's website without sharing your credit card information. According to Amazon, its new Holiday Giving with Amazon Payments highlights organizations such as American Red Cross, UNICEF, Greenpeace, Nature Conservancy, Feeding America, Heifer International, Autism Society of America, International Federation for Animal Welfare,  and Children's Miracle Network, who will accept donations using Amazon.com accounts.

So when you do your on-line Christmas shopping, make a contribution to your favorite charity.

Macy's "Feed America"

Macy's wants to provide 10 million meals to feed families in need.  Here's how YOU can help:

1.  Macy's National Charity Shopping Day is OCTOBER 17th, 2009.  You can purchase a $5 shopping pass at any Macy's store between now and then.  The entire $5 goes to your local food bank. Then shop at Macy's or Macys.com on October 17th for great savings.

2.  Participate in Macy's All American Dinner Party.  Pick a date, host a party, set a fundraising goal, and invite your friends to contribute.  Macy's will match your contributions.  Money goes to feed local families in need.

For more information, go to Macys.com/cometogether

(Note:  This is an annual event, so if you missed it this year, look for it next year.)

"Save Our Children's Sight"

The "Save Our Children's Sight" program effectively addresses and overcomes the transportation, language, cultural and financial barriers that face most disadvantaged populations. They have successfully reached out, through their EyeMobile, to 140 preschool and Head Start locations in San Diego County with the necessary vision care that will prevent long-term vision problems and blindness. Since January 2000, they have screened over 20,000 low-income preschoolers for serious eye disorders. Over 4,000 children were referred for complete eye examinations and were provided glasses, and/or specialist eye-care, as necessary.

If you would like to donate to help fund this program, Click HERE.

Cell Phones for Soldiers

Donate your used cell phones to the troops.  go to  http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/

Donate your old camera to charity

Do you have some old digital cameras lying around that you don't know what to do with? Why not let someone else use them?

Global Classroom Connection accepts donated digital cameras for use with children ages 5 to 19 years. The program pairs classrooms in countries across the globe to promote learning and cultural understanding.

Donate your hair to charity

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics.. The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers.


The minimum length required for a donation is a 10” pony tail . So if you have LONG hair and are planning to cut it, consider donating it to Locks of Love.

If you only have an 8” pony tail to donate, The Pantene Pro-V Beautiful Lengths campaign collects hair donations from throughout the United States and Canada and turns them into wigs which are distributed free to women suffering from the loss of their hair due to the effects of chemotherapy needed to fight the cancer that is ravaging their bodies.

Donate your car to charity

Thanks to generous car donation donors like you, over 1 million automobiles (cars and trucks), boats, trailers, RV's, motorcycles and other vehicles have supported non-profit charitable causes across America

Donate My Car – will quickly arrange pick up of your vehicle donation in all continental states and Hawaii

Your vehicle donation will be towed away by a professionally licensed, bonded and insured towing company - so that it's hassle free

They handle the entire car donation process from start to finish - saving you the headache

Have the proceeds from your car donation go to the charity that you want to help, including the American Red Cross, American Diabetes Association, United Way, American Association for Cancer Research, United Breast Cancer Foundation, Humane Society & SPCA, Boy Scouts of America, USO, and many more

Donate your car and you'll not only receive a tax deductible car donation receipt and feel good about supporting a worthwhile cause, you'll also receive a fabulous travel gift entitling you and a guest to Three Vacation Certificates!

Donate shoes (old or new) to Soles 4 Souls

We need the 'gently worn' shoes taking up space in your closet. It is estimated that Americans have 1.5 billion pairs of unworn shoes lying in their closets. We can use each and every one of these pairs to make a tangible difference in someone's life.

Donate the shoes in your closet to: soles4souls.org

Clean Water Campaigns

Roughly one sixth of the world’s population does not have access to clean drinking water. (1.1 billion people)


Nearly two million children die each year from preventable disease due to unclean water and inadequate sanitation. (5000 deaths per day)

Forty billion working hours are spent carrying water each year in Africa.

Rural African households spend more than 25% of their time fetching water. This burden generally falls upon women and girls.

The Voss Foundation has partnered with Virgin Unite and singer-songwriter Jewel (and her Project Clean Water charity) to promote what they call “Give a Drop”,

If you care, GIVE A DROP now. (you can donate as little as $2)

Or go to charitywater.org 100% of your donation will directly fund freshwater projects in developing nations. Each $20 can give one person clean, safe drinking water for 20 years.

Recycle!

Recycling is important for the earth. In fact, the energy saved by recycling one aluminum can is enough to power a TV for three hours. Recycling aluminum cans each year saves enough energy to light Washington, D.C. for 3.7 years.

Have a special container for your aluminum cans. Take the kids with you to the recycling center. (You get paid for the cans, and you are protecting the environment. It's a win, win.)

(You can put the money you receive for recycling into your coin jar to donate to charity. See following blogs)

Clean Up the environment

When you take your children to the park or beach, end the outing by cleaning up the area around you. Hand each child a small garbage sack, or, you hold the sack and let the child/children put the litter in the sack. If there are aluminum cans, put them in a separate sack. (Be sure to stay with the children at all times. Don't let them get out of sight. Don't forget to bring a hand sanitizer to clean their hands after the activity)

Plant Roses that donate 10% to charity

Pope John Paul II Hybrid Tea Rose

$19.95

10% of net sales donated to the poor of sub-Saharan Africa. (More than $121,751 donated to date).  Pope John Paul II /White /Ovoid,Pointed buds / Blooms 5" / 50 petals / 16"-20" stems / Dark Green foliage / Strong,Citrus fragrance / Full Sun 

Nancy Reagan Hybrid Tea  or Ronald Reagan Rose

$19.95

10% of the net sales supports the work of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. (More than $232,962 donated to date). Nancy Reagan /Apricot /Ovoid buds / Blooms 5" / 30 petals / 16"-18" stems / Dark Green foliage / Light,Sweet fragrance / Full Sun  OR, the Ronald Reagan Rose.


All three available at:

http://www.rosemagazine.com/articles02/rosecatalog/rosecatalog2/

Help the Children

Help The Children is building a hospital in Northwest Guatemala where over 300,000 people are currently without medical care. The hospital will provide much needed medical care for seven Provinces in Northwest Guatemala. Help The Children would like to have the hospital completed by May 2010.

Help The Children is looking for 5,000 people to commit to donating $20 a month, for six months ($120 total) , to help continue funding the Love Carton Food Box Program and to complete the construction of the Guatemala Hospital Project.

Go to helpthechildren.org for more information

Every $1 plants a tree!

Help plant trees to restore areas damaged by wildfire, where critical wildlife habitat has been lost, and to clean our air and water.  Go to: http://www.americanforests.org/

Buy Concert Tickets and Donate to Charity

Is there a foster home in your community? * Teenagers LOVE going to concerts. The hottest ones these days are Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, and the American Idols.
.

Call the home and ask how many would be interested in attending and be sure they have a way of transporting the kids to and from the concert before you purchase tickets.

.

*Five Acres, in Pasadena, CA and the San Pasqual Academy in Escondido, CA are two that I'm aware of that would love your donations.

Buy Jewelry "for Charity"

Yes. If you purchase cetain items of jewelry, 100% goes to charity.

for $3,250 you can have Jennifer Meyer's 18 k-gold and diamond Star (or get without diamonds for $750) and the total amount goes directly to "Stand Up to Cancer.(https://su2c.thegivingbridge.com/necklace.asp )

For $550 you can have Temple St. Clair's 18k-gold Harvest pendant and the total amount goes to "Services and Food for the Homeless." (buy it at templestclair.com)

For $600 you can have Jennifer Fisher's 14k-rose-gold Leaf pendant and 100% goes to REST to help chemotherapy patients relieve pain and stress. (buy it at jenniferfisherjewelry.com)

We love this "Lovebird necklace."  Proceeds go to changing the lives of women in developing countries. $53 at shop.buildanest.com (put "lovebird necklace" in search bar).

For 30 Euros (about $50 including tax) you can buy this beautiful "clear drop of water" by Swedish designer, Karl-Oskar, and 10% goes to UNICEF for helping to supply clean water in Ethiopia,

To purchase, click  HERE  (and click on "art glass", then "jewelry")

for LOTS more choices, go to:  http://peaceofmindjewelry.com/charity.htm