Spoonfuls of Stories—How Cheerios Is Helping Get Books to Families
October 11, 2009 by Cheerios · 2 Comments
For the past 8 years, Cheerios has been helping parents make reading with their child part of their daily routine. They do this by helping to get great children’s books into kids’ hands, and encouraging families to read together, by distributing popular and award-winning books free inside boxes of Cheerios.
Starting this month, Cheerios is again distributing 6 million children’s books inside boxes. The books, which Cheerios had specially printed in both English and Spanish, are five different titles from Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. There is a cut-out window on the front of the box so you can see which book is inside and select the book you want. In addition, Cheerios is also making a financial donation to the nonprofit organization, First Book, to help get brand new books to children from low-income families—many of whom have no age-appropriate books for their children in their home. Over the past 8 years, Cheerios has distributed more than 40 million books free inside boxes and donated $3.2 million to First Book.
The Story About Kids and Reading in the U.S.
Here are some statistics about kids and reading:
- Children whose parents read to them tend to become better readers and perform better in school.
- Across the nation just under half of children between birth and five years (47.8%) are read to every day by their parents or other family members.
- Dr. Marilyn Adams (Beginning to Read) points out that a child with 15 minutes of read-aloud time each day from six months to six years benefits from 500 hours of “reading” exposure, three times what a first grade teacher can provide with an hour of reading instruction each day.
- 41% of fourth grade boys, and 35% of fourth grade girls read below the basic level, and in low-income urban schools this figure approaches 70%.
- For America’s poorest children, the biggest obstacle to literacy may be the scarcity of books and appropriate reading material. In fact, in a recent study of low-income neighborhoods, there was only 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children.
Why Is Cheerios Doing This?
Reading with your child can be the quiet moment in the day that you and your child both look forward to the most: the opportunity to snuggle together and explore the pages of a great book. Just as important as the bonding time that reading together provides, studies continue to show that read-aloud time is important to children’s reading development. Yet, for many families, books can be expensive or are not readily available. Cheerios is committed to helping parents provide their children with a healthy, nutritional, and educational foundation. They believe good nutrition and mental development work better together. With just 1 gram of sugar and 100% natural whole grain oats, Cheerios already is a staple in many households; it’s also the first finger food for many children. Through this program, Cheerios is using its place at the family breakfast table to help make books more accessible to families, both with books inside boxes, and through the annual donation to First Book.
What You Can Do?
To help get more books to kids and make reading a priority, you can:
- Pick up a box of Cheerios with a book inside to read with your child.
- Donate directly to First Book through www.firstbook.org.
- Learn more at www.spoonfulsofstories.com.
How OfficeMax Is Helping Erase Teacher-Funded Classrooms
September 19, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · Leave a Comment
What Is “A Day Made Better?”
“A Day Made Better” is a national cause founded by OfficeMax and nonprofit organization, Adopt-A-Classroom, to lead the fight to end teacher-funded classrooms. Annually in October, more than 3,500 OfficeMax associates surprise and honor more than 1,000 teachers at 1,000 schools across the country with $1,000 worth of classroom supplies. Nominated by their school, teacher recipients receive this honor for their exceptional contributions as an educator.
The name, “A Day Made Better,” is derived from the concept that OfficeMax and Adopt-A-Classroom can make at least one day better for teachers by providing them with essential classroom supplies. Through 1,000 simultaneous events, OfficeMax seeks to call attention to the issue of teacher out-of-pocket spending and motivate the public to take action by supporting local educators through Adopt-A-Classroom. “A Day Made Better” was first conducted in October 2007 and has since contributed to the funding of more than 10,000 classrooms.
Why Is OfficeMax Doing This?
“A Day Made Better” was founded in response to the fact that teachers are now spending on average $1200 out-of-pocket for necessary classroom supplies—collectively nearly $4 billion annually—to offset budget shortfalls, according to a 2005 survey by the National Education Association. Striving to erase teacher-funded classrooms, OfficeMax and Adopt-A-Classroom are working together to create awareness and generate widespread support for teachers nationwide.
Education Facts
Fifty percent of teachers leave the profession within the first five years:
- Each time a teacher leaves the education system, the cost is approximately $11,500 to recruit, hire, and provide orientation and professional development for the replacement.
- Teachers cite a lack of support as the top reason for leaving the education profession.
- Education is one of the “top ten most important problems” facing the United States (Gallup Poll, 2007).
How You Can Help
To show support for “A Day Made Better,” the public is invited to do the following:
- Host your own “A Day Made Better” surprise for a local teacher.
- Join the Facebook Cause page at http://apps.facebook.com/causes/116541.
- Follow the cause on Twitter at http://twitter.com/adaymadebetter.
- Learn more about the cause at www.ADayMadeBetter.com.
- Adopt a local teacher through www.AdoptAClassroom.org.
- Purchase an oversized paperclip magnet at OfficeMax stores, which benefits the OfficeMax Charitable Foundation’s program supporting K-12 public school teachers.
Born to Fly International Announces Sept. 9 Twitterthon to Fight Child Slavery
September 7, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 5 Comments
A Florida-based journalist turned abolitionist recently named in Huffington Post as one of the “Top 10 Women Warriors of Twitter” has launched “09-09-09” – a one-day Twitterthon initiative on September 9, 2009, to raise funds to fight child trafficking.
Diana Scimone, a veteran journalist who has chronicled the $9.5 billion-a-year human trafficking industry for years, founded the non-profit Born to Fly International to help end child slavery. Scimone’s 09-09-09 Twitterthon goal is for 9,000 people to give $9 each – the $81,000 needed to start printing a new child-trafficking awareness book and curriculum by Scimone and illustrator Leah Wiedemer. “Each year more than a million children are lured into slavery around the world,” Scimone said. “Imagine what a dent we can make in the trafficking pipeline if we educate kids and their parents about the tactics traffickers use before they show up at their doorstep.”
While there are many reasons why a child may be trafficked (sadly, some are knowingly sold into slavery by their parents), Born to Fly works specifically to educate the millions of children and parents who are lured into slavery by false promises of “employment” and a better life for a child. The centerpiece of the Born to Fly project is a picture book – wordless so it doesn’t have to be translated into hundreds of languages – that teaches children to make wise choices. A companion curriculum will reinforce the important concepts in the book.
The curriculum and book illustrations are nearly complete. The final layout is scheduled for October. If enough funds are raised, printing will start in December. Born to Fly will then ship to a waiting list of schools, missions and aid organizations in North America and as far away as Ghana, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, India and Bulgaria. “Our goal is to give the books away without charge, of course. So we are counting on our crowdfunding to help get this done.”
Enter the 09-09-09 Twitterthon.
Crowdfunding 101
Twitter has become a major source of crowdfunding – raising funds by appealing to large numbers of ordinary people for small donations. The 09-09-09 project, which has its own special twitter account – @09_09_09 – was featured prominently in a recent article on Mashable.com entitled A Guide to Crowdfunding Success. The Mashable Twitter account has nearly 1.2 million followers, and Mashable.com is one of the most respected social media authorities on the web. Scimone says the attention should help Born to Fly reach its 09-09-09 goal: “Lots of awareness, lots of strong new relationships, and lots of money.”
Scimone, who regularly tweets as @dianascimone where she has 1,500 followers, says Twitter could not have arrived at a better time. “What I love about Twitter is the community,” explains Scimone. “Twitter connects me with people I don’t know, but should.” Many companies have even donated prizes to give away during the Twitterthon. Everyone who donates $9 will be eligible for a prize drawing. (The prizes include original artwork, handcrafted sterling silver jewelry and plenty more. Scimone is announcing a prize each day leading up to 09-09-09 on her blog – www.dianascimone.com.)
Children as young as pre-schoolers are lured into modern-day slavery all over the world, including in the United States, where they’re raped for profit—night after night. Scimone wants her followers to get angry about this and to do something about it. “Traffickers think kids are commodities,” said Scimone. “On 9/9/09, I challenge my twitter followers to tell kids they’re priceless.”
The Born to Fly Project 09-09-09 Twitterthon Challenge:
• Donate: Go to www.born2fly.org and use the orange Chip-in button to donate $9.
• Twitter: Tweet about it. Follow @09_09_09. Add a Twibbon after you’ve donated.
• Email: Tell 9 people about 09-09-09 and send them to www.born2fly.org where they can donate via the Chip-in button.
• Blog: Post about 09-09-09. Include the logo and a link to www.born2fly.org.
• Facebook: Talk about 09-09-09; include a link to www.born2fly.org.
• Updates: Check Diana Scimone’s blog for the latest: www.dianascimone.com
For more about the Born to Fly Project, visit www.born2fly.org.
Diana Scimone’s Back Story
Born to Fly International founder and director Diana Scimone is a journalist who has traveled to more than 40 countries including Sudan, Zimbabwe, Thailand, China and India.
“As a journalist I’ve seen a lot. I’ve been to a refugee camp in Sudan, an orphanage overflowing with “throw-away” kids in China, and a home for AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe. Nothing, however, prepared me for what I saw in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India: cages that held little girls—some as young as 5 years old—smuggled in from Nepal.
“That’s when I first learned about the global child sex trade and began to write about it. On that trip I interviewed a young teenager whose boyfriend had drugged her and sold her to a madam. The stories did not get prettier. In Pattaya, Thailand, I remember a banner hanging over an intersection in the red-light district proclaiming this was “boys town.” In most areas where child sex slavery flourishes, girls are for sale, but this particular area specialized in young boys.
“I’ve stood at border crossings into Cambodia and Myanmar, knowing that children were trafficked across the border along with cattle, chickens, and rice. The real shock was to learn that child trafficking is not just across the globe but also across the street. The problem has grown so bad in my own city of Orlando, Florida, that we now have a human trafficking coalition as well as a prayer group that focuses specifically on the problem.”
This Summer’s Last SOS Challenge—Giving the Gift of Cleaning and Organizing!
August 29, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 31 Comments
Does your spring cleaning ever turn into fall cleaning? Or, do you feel that the housework is never done? This week is the last in 14 weeks of Summer of Service challenges and is sponsored by Dyson, because it is all about making this week—starting with today!—squeaky clean for you, your friends and family, and/or your community. Here are 10 ways to do that.
- Make time to clean or organize one area of your house/apartment each day this week no matter how big or small.
- Put the days of the week on a different piece of paper and have your children draw a different day out of a hat. On the assigned day, help your child clean his or her room, teaching the skills needed to do it on their own.
- Go through all the sock drawers in your house, matching up all the pairs and throwing out those without a match.
- Have a family cleaning party. One example is to play songs like “Whistle while you work!” and see who can pick up the most things or get the most accomplished before the song ends.
- Be a clean person by living according to your values. For example, be honest and fair in all of your dealings, be a person of integrity, etc.
- Identify a friend or family who is sick, having a difficult time, or who could use a break. Stop by their house unannounced and do their dishes, empty their garbage, sweep and mop their floor, or clean the guest bathroom. If you know this person well and have access to their house, do it anonymously!
- Take your children to a local park or cemetery and spend 15 minutes picking up the trash.
- Call a local non-profit agency or church and make arrangements to help weed, pick up trash, or clean the facilities. If appropriate, take your children along to help.
- The next time you are at a friends, family members, or in laws for dinner, offer to do all the dishes after the meal.
- Have a laundry folding party as a family and play games as you fold and put away the clothes.
How Will You Give to Others This Week?
- What other ideas do you have for being squeaky clean this week?
- What are things that get in the way of cleaning for yourself, your family and friends, or your community?
- What are ways to overcome these challenges?
- How has being squeaky clean this week made a meaningful difference for you? For others?
Remember to enter this week’s giveaway where 3 lucky winners will get a Dyson vacuum cleaner!
Make Today Unexpected
August 22, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 18 Comments
Do you ever feel that one day runs into the next without a lot of difference between them? This week’s Summer of Service challenge, sponsored by Famous Footwear, is about making this week—starting with today!—unexpected. Here are 11 ways to do that. If you have more ideas, please share them in the comments!
- Make today loud by screaming with excitement when good things happen.
- Make today pop by wearing bold colors.
- Make today frisky by… well, I’ll leave that up to you
. - Make today playful by flirting with your spouse.
- Make today lyrical by playing and bringing classical music to life in your home and making up and telling fun stories to your children about what the music means.
- Make today glamorous by being beautiful on the inside!
- Make today fearless by stepping outside your comfort zone to serve someone you may not know well or at all.
- Make today heroic by being someone’s hero in whatever way they need to be saved, served, or made to feel special.
- Make today huge by making a triple batch of cookies and surprising your kids with some when they walk in the door from school, sharing some with your neighbors, and giving some to your friends as a thank you just for being in your life.
- Make today electric by shocking someone. Call someone you haven’t talked to in a while. Drop in on someone unexpectedly just to let them know you care about them. Do something for yourself that you don’t typically do that will make you feel really good.
- Make today dangerous by taking a leap of faith. Only you know what that will be, but do it. You know you’ve been wanting to for a while. Don’t hold back!
These ideas were prompted by this fun video by Famous Footwear!
How Will You Give to Others This Week?
- What other ideas do you have for making today unexpected?
- What are things that get in the way of adding variety between the days in your week?
- What are ways to overcome these challenges?
- How has making today unexpected made a meaningful difference for you? For others?
How Else Can You Make a Difference This Summer?
Make a meaningful difference this summer by taking the Summer of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:
- Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
- Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
- Grab the SOS button in the sidebar and put it on your blog or social networking site.
- Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Click here to check out this week’s prize from Famous Footwear.
- Click here to join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.
10 Ways to Brighten Someone’s Day
August 16, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 67 Comments
This week’s Summer of Service challenge, sponsored by Crayola, is to brighten someone’s day by doing one or more of the following creative things. If you have more ideas, please share them in the comments!
- Run up to a loved one and give him or her an enthusiastic bear hug.
- Smile to those you pass on the street.
- Ask someone how they are doing, listen to the answer, and comment on it.
- Give others heartfelt compliments.
- Give someone a bouquet of flowers just because.
- Together as a family, identify another family whose day needs brightening, prepare some artwork (each person preparing something that is special to him or her)—even something as simple as coloring a page from a coloring book—and deliver it to the family together.
- For a date night with just you and your spouse, get some butcher paper and finger paint a picture for your children, hang it on the wall, and let them see it when they wake up.
- Kiss everyone in your family at least five times in a day!
- Gather your family together, turn on some upbeat music, and start dancing. Dance with each of your children, even if you have to do it while holding them.
- Give each member of your family a gift that relates to their favorite color (this can be store bought or homemade).
How Will You Give to Others This Week?
What other ideas do you have for brightening someone’s day this week?- What are things that get in the way of brightening someone’s day?
- What are ways to overcome these challenges?
- How has brightening someone’s day made a meaningful difference for you? For others?
How Else Can You Make a Difference This Summer?
Make a meaningful difference this summer by taking the Summer of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:
- Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
- Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
- Grab the SOS button in the sidebar and put it on your blog or social networking site.
- Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Click here to check out this week’s prize from Crayola.
- Click here to join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.
Ten Ways to Strengthen Your Relationships This Week
August 9, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · Leave a Comment
This week’s Summer of Service challenge, sponsored by Crayola, is all about building and strengthening your relationships and helping your children to do the same by doing one or more of the following creative things. If you have more ideas, please share them in the comments!
- Write a list of ten questions you’d like to know about a family member or friend and schedule an interview with them to get to know them better. Encourage your children to interview someone they’d like to get to know better as well. If they are younger, help them create the list of questions.
- Write a note to a family member or friend, telling them how much you appreciate, love, or admire them. Use your talents in drawing, painting, stamping, hand writing, letter writing, or your favorite form of creativity to put your personal stamp on the card.
- Involve your family in putting together a progressive dinner right within the walls of your own home. Assign each person to be in charge of a specific room and portion of the meal. Work together to make the meal and set up the rooms. Award prizes for most creative, yummiest, most colorful, etc.
- Welcome your spouse home from work or your children home from school with a picture or note on one of your windows or mirrors using Crayola’s window markers.
- Encourage your children to welcome their mom or dad (or both!) home from work or other outing by helping them write a love note using Crayola’s sidewalk chalk on the driveway.
- Have a family art gallery night where each of you prepares a drawing, painting, photograph, Model Magic sculpture, or other artistic project and showcases it for each other. Award participants with certificates or ribbons, indicating most creative, best use of color, best use of black and white, best use of emotions, etc.
- Encourage your children to get to know their grandparents better by having them record (through audio and/or video) an interview with them about what life was like when they were growing up. Help your children prepare the questions, get the recording equipment ready, and set up an appointment. Then help them put together the audio/video project and share it with the rest of the family, including their grandparents.
- Have a girls’ night out that’s a blast from the past with activities like finger painting, running through sprinklers, jumping on the trampoline, or other fun things you enjoyed as a child. Make sure to feature your favorite childhood snacks and drinks. Tang anyone?
- Have a “walk down memory lane” party with your family, your friends, other couples, or others where you all bring photo albums and share your favorite memories. One fun group date is to all bring your wedding photo albums and each take turns sharing favorite memories from your wedding and your newlywed years.
- Schedule a family coloring night, where you each choose a favorite page from a coloring book or your own coloring books and color together while chatting and enjoying your favorite snacks.
How Will You Give to Others This Week?
- What other ideas do you have for strengthening your relationships this week using creativity?
- What are things that get in the way of strengthening your relationships using creativity?
- What are ways to overcome these challenges?
- How has strengthening your relationships this week using creativity others made a meaningful difference for you? For others?
How Else Can You Make a Difference This Summer?
Make a meaningful difference this summer by taking the Summer of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:
- Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
- Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
- Grab the SOS button in the sidebar and put it on your blog or social networking site.
- Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Click here to check out this week’s prize from Crayola.
- Join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.
Take the Summer of Service Challenge This Week by Including Others!
August 2, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 5 Comments
10 Ways to Include Others This Week
Feeling included is a great feeling. Walking into a room—whether it be at an event, an activity, a conference, church, a school function, or otherwise—and not knowing a single soul in the room can be difficult. What a difference it makes when, in that same situation, someone extends the hand of friendship, reaches out and introduces themselves to you, takes up that empty seat next to you, starts a conversation, and helps you feel welcome. Taking a step outside of our comfort zones to help someone else feel included and a part of things is an amazing act of service. It is also an important skill and characteristic to teach our children, especially as they transition from summer activities to back to school, where they will meet new kids, join sports teams, etc.
You can take this week’s Summer of Service challenge, sponsored by Crayola, by doing one of the following things. If you have more ideas for including others, please share them in the comments!
- Invite someone new to an event you’ll be attending soon—a book club, scrapbooking club, school meeting, play group, a church activity, a professional club or organization, etc.
- When you attend an event, look around for someone who is sitting by themselves and sit next to them and introduce yourself to them.
- Invite someone you have recently met, but don’t know well, to lunch just to get to know him or her.
- Plan a girl’s night out activity with your friends and encourage everyone to bring someone new.
- Invite a family in your neighborhood or from your children’s school over for dinner.
- Write a thank-you note to someone who has made an impact on your life recently, but who you don’t know well.
- Identify five people you’d like to get to know better and determine what you will do this week to take steps toward doing that.
- Role play with your children the act of including others at school—inviting them to their lunch table, including them on their sports team, playing with them at recess, etc.
- Have a date night with your husband and invite another couple you haven’t done something with before.
- When your friends are successful in their endeavors, pour on the compliments and share the love publicly. A little affirmation and abundance thinking goes a long way to strengthen friendships!
How Will You Give to Others This Week?
- What other ideas do you have for including others this week?
- What are things that get in the way of including others?
- What are ways to overcome these challenges?
- How has including others made a meaningful difference this week for you? For others?
How Else Can You Make a Difference This Summer?
Make a meaningful difference this summer by taking the Summer of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:
- Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
- Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
- Grab the SOS button in the sidebar and put it on your blog or social networking site.
- Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Check out this week’s prize from Crayola.
- Join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.
Is Service Sexy? Take This Week’s SOS Challenge and See!
July 19, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 17 Comments
10 Fashionable Ways to Make a Difference This Week
Service doesn’t have to be stodgy! Make service sexy and “in” by taking on this week’s Summer of Service challenge, sponsorsed by Lifetime TV. How? By doing one or more of the 10 ideas listed below!
- Buying or making some beautiful stationary and writing a thank-you note, congratulations card, birthday greeting, get-well wishes, or other thoughtful sentiment and delivering it to a friend or family member.
- Planning a date for your significant other and getting all dressed up for it.
- Taking care of yourself inside and out: Treat yourself to a new hair-do, mani/pedi, spa treatment, or makeover. Pay attention to your overall health and well being.
- Have your family pictures taken.
- Treat your daughter(s) to a spa day. Paint their nails for them, wash their hair, help them try on different outfits, and have a special luncheon just for them
- Decorate the table beautifully for a special family dinner you plan.
- Go through all of your closets and give any old or unused clothing to charity.
- Comment to one person each day during this week’s challenge on how beautiful he or she looks. Watch the difference it makes in their countenance.
- Have a family activity where you share the things that make each of you beautiful on the inside. Share with your family the importance of internal and external beauty.
- Encourage your children to take care of their outward beauty by eating well, exercising, getting enough sleep, and taking care of their health!
How Will You Give to Others This Week?
- What other ideas do you have for serving in style this week?
- How has serving in style made a meaningful difference this week for you? For others?
How Else Can You Make a Difference This Summer?
Make a meaningful difference this summer by taking the Summer of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:
- Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
- Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
- Grab the SOS button in the sidebar and put it on your blog or social networking site.
- Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Check out this week’s prize from Lifetime TV.
- Join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.
Touch Other’s Hearts by Going Through Their Stomachs!
July 12, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 24 Comments
10 Delicious Ways to Make a Difference This Week
Service doesn’t have to be bland or boring! Spice it up. Sweeten the pot. Make it delicious. Think of people that need a little love and touch their heart by going through their stomach during this week’s Summer of Service Challenge, sponsored by Campbell’s. How? By making and sharing a tasty treat, including one or more of the 10 ideas listed below!
For more ideas, join us for a great Girl’s Night Out (#gno) on Twitter this Tuesday night. And, please share a comment on this post with other ways to serve others by sharing a tasty treat.
- Make some baked goods—cupcakes, cookies, bread, muffins, etc.—and take them to a neighbor.
- Take a meal to someone in your community that is sick or needs a night off from kitchen duty.
- Spend one-on-one time with your children by having a cooking class with them to prepare dinner for the family! For a special treat, do a craft activity beforehand to make paper chef’s hats.
- Have a family activity where you make a tasty treat together, such as suckers, decorated sugar cookies, chocolate-dipped strawberries and pretzels, etc.
- Have a couple’s night in! Invite your closest friends over with their significant others for a fondue party. Play the newlywed game no matter how long everyone has been in their relationship.
- As a family, choose another family that needs some love or an act of kindness/service. Drop off an anonymous treat on their doorstep with a nice card telling them how much you love them.
- Organize a girl’s night out with your closest girlfriends and have a progressive dinner where you rotate houses during the meal, starting with appetizers, moving on to salad, heading to the main course, and ending somewhere else for the dessert.
- Treat your spouse or close friend to a dinner at his or her favorite restaurant!
- Make your family’s favorite meal and decorate the table special just for them. Devote the evening to family time by turning off phones, TV, etc.
- Make your children’s favorite cookies, making a different batch once a week until you’ve made all of their favorites. Don’t forget to include your favorite as well!
How Will You Give to Others This Week?
- What other ideas do you have for sharing a tasty treat?
- How has touching other’s hearts by going through their stomach made a meaningful difference this week for you? For others?
How Else Can You Make a Difference This Summer?
Make a meaningful difference this summer by taking the Summer of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:
- Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
- Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
- Grab the SOS button in the sidebar and put it on your blog or social networking site.
- Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Check out this week’s prizes from Campbell’s.
- Join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.
