season of giving — MomStart

Season of Giving Day 13 Soap Hope

November 13, 2011 By Momstart 6 Comments

I don’t know about you guys, but I know that I’ve really enjoyed reading about all of the different giving opportunities. It’s Day 13 and today’s giving is a review and how the purchase of Soap Hope has Good Return!

By Summer:

Soap Hope is a for-profit company with a non-profit mission. Soap Hope is different than other companies, even other “giving” companies Mom Start has introduced this month, because with your shopping trip ALL (yes, 100%) of the profits from any purchase go to provide opportunities to empower women in poverty in the United States and around the world. Soap Hope wants to help lift these women out of poverty using resources such as healthcare, education, and opportunity (such as starting a business with a low-interest loan). Soap Hope calls these efforts Good Returns^TM.

Soap Hope sells amazing products. Soap Hope’s products are either all-natural, eco-friendly or socially conscious though many are all three! Mom Start got a little sample kit of Soap Hope products and they were all great products for my body and clothing. Soap Hope offers soap, cosmetics, face, bath, body, and home products. I received Biokleen Laundry Liquid, Pangea Organics Balancing Oil, two mini soap bars – Indigo Wild’s Zum Bar Soap in Oatmeal Lavendar and A Wild Soap Bar in Sassafras, Acure Day Cream, Zum – body and wash – liquid soaps, and Mahya blush. My one complaint was the soaps are VERY fragrant, so be sure you like the scent you’re ordering!

Soap Hope is for smart shoppers who care about high quality products and about helping other people. Soap Hope is another retailer you can really feel good about purchasing from this holiday season and year round as they practice Good Returns^TM. Soap Hope helps women as they are the key in ending the cycle of poverty as moms/women typically save more, invest more, and are most likely to use their earnings to educate their children thus break the cycle of poverty.

Don’t only shop at Soap Hope, but Like them at Soap Hope Facebook and follow them on Twitter @SoapHope. All methods show your support for their mission.

Disclaimer: Samples were provided.

About Summer:

Summer is very active in our Local MOMS Club chapter, she is the mother of two adorable active boys, and is always thinking of ways to help others. She is a friend, a wife, and always busy as all mommies are. She is very active on Facebook, addicted to Geocaching and very interested in organic and green living while cooking up a storm.

Season of Giving Day 6 Host a Diaper Drive

November 6, 2011 By Momstart 7 Comments

You might have noticed that yesterday I used the wrong phrase for this series. I called it the Season of sharing, but whatever you call it, Season of Giving, Season of Sharing Spirit of giving, we here at MomStart hope to encourage you to find a way to give this year.

By Summer,

Calling all parents! Quick, look in your bag, stroller, child’s closet, bathroom, car – chances are you’ve got some “leftover” diapers from a stage your child is no longer in just lying around. You know the stragglers you can count on one hand. You may know they’re there and just haven’t known what to do with them, or they might be sitting there waiting to be discovers, but I have a solution for you. Check with your local food bank to see if they accept “open package” diaper donations. My local food bank, Maltby Food Bank, happily accept diaper stragglers to help their patrons as diapers are so expensive! There is also a local support for single moms-to-be in my neighborhood called Special Delivery and they will take your open diaper packages too. Mom Start worked with Pampers and Johnson’s earlier this year to help support Special Delivery.

My local organizations also accepts other diapering and baby supplies such as open packages of wipes, diaper cream, pacifiers, bottles, and cans of formula (including samples received in the mail). Check with your local organization when you’re looking to get rid of these items. Remember, product donations to your local non-profit 501(c) are tax deductible.

If you want to make a bigger impact, ask your friends to search their homes to find their straggler diapers too. If you’re donating to the food bank add some non-perishable food items. Organizations in need of diapers will also gladly accept cash donations and gift cards to purchases items needed by their cliental.

Feeding America is a group of food banks and Feeding America can help you find a local food bank in your area if you don’t know where one is located. Feeding America can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

About Summer:

Filed Under: charity, Summer Tagged With: charity, Diaper Drive, feeding america, giving, Maltby Food Bank, Miracle Mission, pampers, season of giving, Special Delivery, Summer

Season Of Giving Day 4 Fill A Box for Operation Christmas Child

November 4, 2011 By Momstart 7 Comments

It’s Day Four of our Season of Giving here at MomStart. I just realized that my family and I are doing something that I wanted to mention and it fits perfectly here in Summer’s monthly theme. So I gave Summer the day off. Here is My Day Four Season of Giving post:

Operation Christmas Child National Collection Week (Nov. 14 – 21) is almost here! But it’s not too late for your family to join the fun! There is still time to bring hope to suffering children overseas. Our family has a lot of fun putting together the boxes. We did this last year and we’re doing it again this year.

A kids-helping-kids project of international Christian relief and evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, Operation Christmas Child hand-delivers shoe boxes packed with school supplies, toys, necessity items and often a hand-written note of encouragement.

We’re lucky enough that our church provides everything we need to get started right down to the shoe box. We just fill the box with our own goodies and blessings. You and your family can pack a shoe box gift with school supplies, toys, necessity items, candy and a letter of encouragement. Step-by-step shoe box packing instructions are available at Samaritan’s Purse.

Pick Boy or girl, since I have one of each we picked one boy and one girl. The ages depended on what I had to put in the box. So I ended up with a Boy age 5-9 and a girl age 2-4. We filled them with arts and craft supplies, games, toys, candy and some toothpaste and toothbrushes.

Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has hand-delivered shoe box gifts to more than 77 million hurting children in more than 130 countries. Staff and volunteers use whatever means necessary ships, trucks, buses, trains, airplanes, boats, camels, even dog sleds to deliver the boxes.

Samaritan’s Purse uses tracking technology that allows donors to “follow your box” to the destination country where it will be hand-delivered to a child in need. To register shoe box gifts and find out their destination country, use the EZ Give donation form found at www.samaritanspurse.org.

You can help by filling your own box OR help spread the word about this project by enlisting other families, churches, scout troops, community groups and businesses to take part in impacting a life. To volunteer or learn how to pack and send an Operation Christmas Child shoe box gift, call (800) 353-5949 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org.

Filed Under: charity Tagged With: charity, OCC, Operation Christmas Child, Samaritans Purse, season of giving, Spirit of giving

Season Of Giving Day 2: Corporate Matching Options

November 2, 2011 By Momstart 5 Comments

Today is day two of our month long segment on Season of Giving projects, we want to encourage everyone to get into the Spirit of Giving. For Day 1 Summer showed us what to do with all that extra Halloween Candy. Today she’s showing us how some corporations and businesses match your personal donations. Be sure to look into it.

By Summer:

Spirit of Giving Day #2: Matching and Giving at the Work Place

Check your company’s policy on matching donations to non-profit organizations. Different companies have different policies and parameters. For example some companies will only match a certain type of organization, like only educational programs; this may sound weird, but it’s true! Other company’s like my husband’s require a minimum $25 donation in order to match; I learned this after giving $20 to an organization and trying to have it matched. Also be sure you’re giving to a registered non-profit or the company won’t be able to match your donation.

If your company doesn’t have a giving campaign, request to human service that this become a part of your company’s annual routine. This will help others you know get involved with giving and match.

In that spirit think of doing things like a silent auction or raffle in the coffee room with a donated item. Your co-workers could collectively pool a nice chunk of money for a choice charity. Check with your company’s policies on conducting a raffle or auction in the work place. For donated items ask local businesses or restaurants if they’d like to help out. Baskets of smaller collected items make a great collective item – movie tickets for two from the local theater, a dinner gift card, and a bottle of wine for a night cap at home. If you’re planning to have such an event, also ask your company to match the funds from the auction or raffle.

About Summer:

Filed Under: charity, Summer Tagged With: charity, season of giving, Spirit of giving

Season of Giving: Send Halloween Candy To Operation Gratitude

November 1, 2011 By Momstart 16 Comments

Summer and I both share a passion for giving to charity. So she’s decided to spend November helping our readers find ways to give to others. Since yesterday was Halloween you might need an idea for all that extra Halloween Candy……Here is Day one of Season of Giving by Summer:

Each year I buy my kids’ Halloween candy from them; we literally pay them for each piece collected. I separate the candy in a pile of keeps and not keeping. The keeps we ration throughout the year with our at-home movie concession stand which I use to teach my children about the value of money. For the past three or four years we’ve had family or a close friend’s family deployed overseas serving our nation as in the military or civilian assisting the military, and the other pile is sent to them to boost their morale and share with their friends over there with them. These man and women long for the comforts and familiarities of home; so my family does our part by sending our unwanted Halloween candy and who doesn’t love a little treat, right? Plus in some of those places you just can’t get the same stuff we’re use to here.

This year, I have organized to give our candy to Operation Gratitude. Operation Gratitude is a non-profit organization with supports people serving in the US Armed Forces through morale support gift packages. Gift packages are sent year round and can contain personal hygiene items, edible treats, stuffed animals and lovies, homemade knit and crochet items, and hand written letters of thanks.

Operation Gratitude takes your unwanted Halloween candy and ships it in care packages to our Armed Forces men and women. All they ask of you is that you separate your chocolate from non-chocolate candy and send it in separate cartons which are labeled accordingly. This is a great opportunity to get your community – neighborhood or school – involved in giving. You can also get your dentist or pediatric dentist involved though Operation Gratitude’s “Candy Buy Back” program.

To show your support you can “Like” Operation Gratitude’s Halloween Candy Buy-Back Program on Facebook. You can also “Like” Operation Gratitude on Facebook. You can also keep up with Operation Gratitude on Twitter @OpGratitude.

About Summer:

Filed Under: charity Tagged With: charity, Halloween Candy, military, Operation Gratitude, season of giving