Why not create a for-profit, crowd publishing company which gives writers the opportunity to create best-selling books and do serious good for others all at the same time? Enter CausePub, short for Cause Publishing.

The idea behind CausePub is simple: Choose a cause, rally writers and artists to submit work, edit and publish a book, donate half of the proceeds to the cause, give contributing authors a portion of the profit. Repeat.

The first cause slated to receive funding from CausePub is Blood:Water Mission. CausePub co-founder , Griff Hanning, explains the reasoning behind CausePub's pairing with Blood:Wather Mission. "Clean Water is hot right now. People understand the need. The mission resonates with them. Since this is our first book project, we wanted to make sure everyone who visited the site would understand the goal of the project. Blood:Water Mission was small enough to approach with our idea and big enough to help us make an impact. Plus, Blood:Water Mission is an organization full of Couch Rebels both here and in Africa."

Couch Rebels? Yes, Couch Rebels.

Couch Rebels are people who work to create clean water for 45,000 (CausePub's goal). They embrace life, take risks, and respond in a positive ways to  negative circumstances. Therefore, the title of CausePub's inaugural book needed to represent rejecting the ordinary. Those who are willing to ditch the idea of living life from a couch.

Enter the book. Couch Rebels: Because Stories Like These Aren't Told by Potatoes. 

CausePub is searching for stories from people who have positioned themselves in uncomfortable places. Maybe uncomfortable has come about because of traveling to new places or maybe uncomfortable snuck into your life when you engaged with people different from yourself. Regardless, Couch Rebels are people who dare to live big and tell about it.

Couch Rebels aren't all professional writers (although watch for some familiar names to join in the fun).

"You don't know what kind of writer you are until you actually start writing. CausePub gives the good, bad, and ugly writers a chance to share something that means something to them," states Hanning.

Hanning encourages everyone to submit a story.

"So what if your story is not chosen to be published! At least you wrote it. At least somebody read it. At least you gave your story an opportunity it didn't have before. At least you learned something in the process and maybe your writing skills will have improved by the time the next CausePub project rolls around! Oh yes, we are going to do many, many more of these!"

Hanning goes on to tell us how CausePub is already impacting people and not just people in need of clean water.

"Abby Andrus wrote about her dad. She told me that she was so glad CausePub gave her a little push to do this. She had not let herself revisit the day her dad passed away and that it was very therapeutic to be able to reflect and write this down. If that's the biggest impact we make through Couch Rebels, I'm satisfied. Stories change lives. Everyone's got one. Just write it down."

4 Ways To Become Involved in CausePub's mission

1. Go read the stories people are cranking out and vote for your favorite.
2. Submit a story of your own.
3. Share about CausePub on social media.
4. Preorder Couch Rebels: Because Stories Like These Aren't Told By Potatoes

Your turn. Tell about a time when you rejected the couch and embraced living.

Amy L. Sullivan. Word lover. Book devourer. Music addict. Amy is a Northern girl who found herself living in the South. She drinks sweet tea, turns her nose up at okra, and attempts to tell her daughters “yella” isn’t a color.

The post Making a Difference by Crowd Publishing: CausePub appeared first on Mom it Forward.

Of course, we take on habits and characteristics of our friends. They are the people who blanket our lives and fill our days. Today, the idea of becoming more of who my friends are thrills me.

Why? Because my friends push me to live better. In a season of frenzied shopping and endless decorating, I have friends who stop, take in the needs of others, and then find ways to reach out to our community. One of my favorite friends inspired ideas to host a Christmas party for a nonprofit. Not only does this grow friendships, but it also encourages people to become more engaged in the community.

How to Host a Christmas Party for a Nonprofit

Here are six steps to hosting a Christmas Party for a nonprofit:

1. Chose a local nonprofit to gift. Call the nonprofit and find out about current needs and ask them to put together a wish list.

2. Gather friends. You know the girls who make you laugh hard and live big? Yes, call them.

3. Ask each party-goer to bring a gift for the organization. My friend asked her guests to bring toiletries to give a local shelter for sex trafficking victims.

4.  Instead of just collecting goods to dump, find a way to make your gifts personal. We wrote notes and cards of encouragement.

5. Go beyond what is expected. Instead of tossing our notes in envelopes, we framed them. We hoped the reminders we penned to the recipients would last even after the wrapping paper was picked up.

6. Deliver the goods. When needs have a face, they become more real. Don't just attend the party, but make a date to deliver the donated goods together. I find I am always on the hunt for news about the organization which received our goods. I am curious about the people we gifted, and even though the girls who received our gifts remain strangers, I think of them often.

What about you? Have you ever hosted an event (big or small) for a nonprofit?

Amy L. Sullivan. Word lover. Book devourer. Music addict. Amy is a Northern girl who found herself living in the South. She drinks sweet tea, turns her nose up at okra, and attempts to tell her daughters “yella” isn’t a color.
Featured image courtesy of Flickr.

The post Bettering Communities: Host a Christmas Party for a Nonprofit appeared first on Mom it Forward.

In the United States, girls' education is a given. Girls even have educational options: public school, private school, virtual school, and homeschool. However, the buffet of choices our daughters are given aren't choices for the 32 million girls shut out of classrooms in other parts of the world.

My daughter loves school. Maybe it's because of the teacher who belts out multiplication rap songs or maybe it's because my girl was chosen to be a square dancer in the Biking Through North Carolina History Performance (trust me, big deal), but whatever the reason, my girl thrives at school. My daughter's future is bigger because education births choices.

Tomorrow, we have an opportunity to better communities by bettering the lives of girls who live in places where the education of girls isn't valued (no traveling required!). We can unite our voices and show the world we believe every girl has the right to an education. Here's how:

• Tell the world about Malala using #IamMalala or share her story on social media.
• Sign this petition which asks Pakistan to deliver education to all of its children.
• Discuss Malala at dinner.
• Watch this video.
• Talk to your girl about the value of education.
• Visit this site.

Can you think of other ways we can celebrate Malala's courage?

Amy L. Sullivan. Word lover. Book devourer. Music addict. Amy is a Northern girl who found herself living in the South. She drinks sweet tea, turns her nose up at okra, and attempts to tell her daughters "yella" isn't a color. Amy writes for both online and print publications and is a member of the #globalteamof200.

The post Bettering Communities: Expecting Education and Malala Day 2012 appeared first on Mom it Forward.

I remained a smile-and-wave kind of girl because I wondered what people would think of the messy me, the one who leaves a pile of shoes at the front door and a heap of laundry in the closet. But then my daughter decided to host a Fun in the Sun Party.

Her idea was to invite a crew of neighborhood kids over for summertime water fun. Sounds good, right? I thought so, too. Well, it sounded good until the parents of all the neighborhood kids showed up. What? I thought the kids would hang out in the yard. Where did these parents come from?

I found myself staring at five smiling faces I didn't know who wanted to use my bathroom (It was dirty!) and craved a glass of water (The glass was spotted!) and hoped for a peek at our back deck (This required walking through the house!).

I took a gulp, and while kids raced down Slip and Slides, waded through kiddie pools, and tossed water balloons, I made peace with my mess, and I started conversations, which later bloomed into friendships.

I let go and became real. And you know what? I think the other moms appreciated my mess.

Why not consider forgetting about your mess and inviting neighbors over? Set up cheap, water fun for the kids, or try one of these 16 water games. 

When is the last time you invited your neighbors in?

Featured image courtesy of Flickr.

Can one beyond blessed family move from addicted to themselves to devoted to others? The author of this post shares honestly at Amy L. Sullivan about her family’s attempt to become less me, me, me focused and more others centered. Amy writes for print and online publications and is also writing a nonfiction book about serving others.

The post Building Community: Invite Your Neighbors In appeared first on Mom it Forward.

Olivia, Emma, Natalia, Caitlin, and Talia may look like average American girls, but don’t be fooled. These fresh-faced five have hearts that pound for more than material possessions and boys. They have hearts that beat for orphans.

I recently caught up with Olivia, one of the teenage staff members of Project 147, and she agreed to a short interview. Prepare to be inspired.

Question & Answer with Project 147 Staff Member

Q: Tell us about Project 147. 

Olivia: Project 147 is a website and blog started by five teenage girls who all have a common passion and mission: orphans and adoption. This blog is a place where we are able to raise awareness for the 147 million orphans around the world, and encourage people to speak up for those orphans. We started the project in February of this year, and with a lot of hard work and communication (and what felt like hundreds of emails!), we were able to launch in April. We're still a small website, but our dreams for the website's progress are huge, and we want to see people's opinions, thoughts, and misconceptions on adoption and orphans change!

Q: Olivia, you are so young, what do you know about adoption?

Olivia: I have ten brothers and sisters, four of whom were adopted from Ethiopia and have been home since December. A goal of mine in blogging is not to cover up adoption with a veil of happiness and perfection, because adoption is anything but. It's the hardest thing I've done in my life (so far). It's NOT easy, and there have been many days when I wish we never would have done it. That being said, we've hit the six-month home mark, and things are going very well! Now that summer is here, we are able to play together and bond even more. We have fun together, and we love each other. The first few months were hard, and so is every day, but at this point, I can't imagine life without them.

Q: Lots of adults consider today’s teens self-absorbed. Obviously, you work against this stereotype.

Olivia: In my opinion, the focus of today's teens is off, and that's exactly why the teen years are usually associated with partying, dating, and having fun. We have been told (silently, in an indirect way) that we aren't old enough, wise enough, experienced enough, to do things. So, over time, teens have resorted to surviving high school by having fun and wasting four years in a nonchalant attitude. The five of us (and many other teens like us) have done things that most teens aren't doing. And really, we just did it. We didn't think about what people would think about us. All we knew was that we had a message to share, and so we found a way to share it.

Do you know a teenage world changer?

Can one beyond blessed family move from addicted to themselves to devoted to others? The author of this post shares honestly at Amy L. Sullivan about her family’s attempt to become less me, me, me focused and more others centered. Amy writes for print and online publications and is also writing a nonfiction book about serving others.

The post Community: Teens Making a Difference in Local Communities and the World appeared first on Mom it Forward.

I know most people like to hear wind rustling through leaves or maybe even the sound of birds, but me, I like the sound of play. Play is missing from my neighborhood and my guess is play is probably missing from yours, too. According to KaBoom, a nonprofit dedicated to saving play of America’s children, The Play Deficit is a national problem.

I remember my favorite park as a child. A giant, pipe-like, jungle gym with faded out, colored pieces connected bars and hosted legions of climbers. Two metal slides stood on the tree line; one twenty-five feet high for the risk takers and a smaller version for the weak. Two wooden teeter-totters allowed me to assist the bossy, neighbor girl in accidentally becoming airborne. A saucer with the metal head of a smiling bear allowed riders to sail in endless circles.

Kids could spend hours at parks, and they did. But today, even with elaborate outdoor, plastic kingdoms, play is sparse.

Wooden play sets remain empty, trampolines underused, and bikes, well, it’s much too dangerous to actually ride bikes, so bikes take up space in garages. Parents shuttle kids back and forth to activities, technology remains on, and fear about safety often trumps common sense.

The results of less play for our kids means many things:

• Communities in which neighbors don’t know neighbors
• Childhood obesity
• Stifled creativity and stagnant imaginations
• Stunted social development
• Anxiety and depression
• Lack of connectedness with others

The bottom line: we need play. Play is necessary. Play is vital. Play enhances our lives and our communities.

KaBoom knows this and that’s why KaBoom has built over 2,000 playgrounds across the country. And guess what? Kaboom awards grants to playgrounds in need of a little sprucing up, tips on DIY play space improvements, and is working to map and rate local playgrounds across the United State.

Now that’s putting play first.

Is play happening in your neighborhood? Do your kids play? Do you?

Featured image courtesy of Flickr.

Can one beyond blessed family move from addicted to themselves to devoted to others? The author of this post shares honestly at Amy L. Sullivan about her family’s attempt to become less me, me, me focused and more others centered. Amy writes for print and online publications and is also writing a nonfiction book about serving others as a family.

The post Community: Get Out There and Play appeared first on Mom it Forward.

Ruby’s birth describes her wild-haired ways perfectly, and it also cemented my love for mothers; moms who struggle, not just with birth, but with life. Moms are the glue of most families; the sticky part that holds everything together. Moms, those people who in just a few short days have an entire Sunday created to celebrate their special ways.

Typically, Mother’s Day brings in homemade cards, candles, and maybe even an extra nap. But last year, I decided to ask for (and give!) the moms in my life something different. I decided to celebrate women by giving a gift that helps others.

See, even during my roadside delivery, I had access to more resources than many women in different parts of the world. In the United States, a clean and sterile place to have a baby is expected. However, in Papua New Guinea, this isn’t so. In fact, in Papua New Guinea, the maternal death rate is 1 out of 7.

This statistic demanded blogger Adriel Booker’s attention, and quickly Adriel hatched a plan to start the Bloggers for Birth Kits initiative.

Bloggers for Birth Kits encourages bloggers all over the world to unite and spread the word about an easy way to get involved and help moms of Papua New Guinea. Clean Birth Kits contain simple items that can be purchased at a local pharmacy, or for $10.00, five complete Birth Kits can be donated in honor of the special mother in your life.

What's in these Birth Kits? Take a peek.

So, if you are looking for an original way to celebrate motherhood, click here and read about inexpensive kits that change lives.

Does anyone else have a crazy birth story to share?

Featured image courtesy of Flickr.

Can one beyond blessed family move from addicted to themselves to devoted to others? The author of this post shares honestly at Amy L. Sullivan about her family’s attempt to become less me, me, me focused and more others centered. Amy writes for print and online publications and is also writing a nonfiction book about serving others as a family.

The post Mother’s Day: Donate Birth Kits to Help Others appeared first on Mom it Forward.

The answer to making memories, building community, and extending learning? A kid-centered book club. Last summer, our family invited several families we knew and a few we hoped to know better to a kids’ book club. The result?

How to Start Your Own Kid-Centered Book Club:

1. Make the Guest List

Have your child help create a list of about five friends to invite to the book club.

2. Decide on a Book

I recommend choosing a book that can be easily paired with memorable extension activities. Example: Not only did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory have a movie to accompany the book, but our book club participants enjoyed chocolaty fondue, chocolate milk, and chocolate kisses.

3. Send Invitations

Create an evite to help keep invitations free and attendance easy to track.

4. Choose the Venue

Decide on a place and time for the meeting. I’ve found an hour and a half to be the perfect amount of time.

5. Rotate Responsibilities

Take turns rotating book choice and hosting responsibilities between club members. Whoever picks the book is the next host. By rotating around, you get to visit new moms and kids in their own home.

Now, I know what you are thinking…

I’m not sure what books are right for my child’s grade level. No problem. Check out Kids’ Book Club Books has a recommendation page.

I’m just not creative enough to come up with fun ideas to pair with books. Not an issue. There are many creative types who have already put together recipes and activities. Consider making Fern’s Spider Cakes (from Charlotte’s Web) or Dandelion Juice (from Harry Potter).

I don’t know the kids (or the parents) my child wants to invite to book club. Even more reason to get planning. Kid-centered book clubs are a great way to build community.

I’m still in need of a little push. Fine, fine. Bounce around NPR’s Backseat Book Club: questions from kids, answers from authors, and endless encouragement to keep reading.

I'm not sure what my kids will find interesting. Perfect! It's a great time to push classics from your day on them. What about Super Fudge, Bridge to Teribithia, or Diecy's Song?

What book first ignited your interest in reading?

Featured image courtesy of Flickr.

Can one beyond blessed family move from addicted to themselves to devoted to others? The author of this post shares honestly at Amy L. Sullivan about her family’s attempt to become less me, me, me focused and more others centered. Amy writes for print and online publications and is also writing a nonfiction book about serving others as a family.

The post Community: How to Build Readers with a Kid’s Book Club appeared first on Mom it Forward.

Unfortunately, not knowing your neighbors is common in today’s world. We have kids to run and dinners to make and calendars to fill. Neighbors, shneighbors. Who has time?

Three years ago, a Wisconsin man came up with a great idea: he would build a library. No, not a brick-and-mortar and staffed with employees type of library, but a Little Free Library. Todd Bol’s Little Free Library was a handmade, waterproof box he filled with books, and then placed in his front yard. Todd’s idea was to honor his mother, a former teacher and to encourage his neighbors to take a book and then return a book.

The idea caught on. Big time. Neighbors came filing out of their homes and soon, Todd’s neighbors weren’t the only ones noticing the Little Free Library. In fact, today, there are Little Free Libraries in 40 states and 20 countries. Little Free Libraries can be found in front of homes, offices and even perched at bus stops.

In addition to promoting literacy, these Little Free Libraries build community. People are talking and not just about books, but about life.

Here’s the fun thing about the Free Little Library: you can take part.

On Todd’s website, he gives plans and tips for building your own library or if creating a library isn’t your thing, you can even buy a ready-made library. Don’t have the cash to build or buy? Todd doesn’t want that to be an issue. There are underwriters and Give It Forward team members who will assist with decreasing the financial burden.

So, what are you waiting for? Little Free Libraries are a great way for you to learn the name of the lady with two dogs who always works in her yard, and perfect time to move beyond the smile and wave mentality.

Click here for a video clip about Free Little Libraries.

How do you actively engage your neighbors?

Featured image courtesy of Flickr.

Can one beyond blessed family move from addicted to themselves to devoted to others? The author of this post shares honestly at Amy L. Sullivan about her family’s attempt to become less me, me, me focused and more others centered. Amy writes for print and online publications and is also writing a nonfiction book about serving others.

The post Community: How to Build a Library and Build Your Community appeared first on Mom it Forward.

My daughter has been planning her birthday party for the last six months. Sometimes she bursts into her very own “Happy Birthday to Me” song. She’s pondered the flavor of her cake and birthday theme. She’s even created her own invitations, but the thing my daughter is most excited about in regards to her birthday party is hanging out with her friends.

One of the reasons kids love parties is because they get to be with their friends. Heck, it’s one of the reasons I love parties. That’s why throwing a party with a purpose is such a great idea. You choose an organization your kids are interested in. Teach your kids to be more others focused, and then gather your friends to garner support.

Last fall, we participated in an national event called The Almost- Sleepover. The Almost-Sleepover was a party held on the same day by kids all across the United States in honor of a local nonprofit in their hometown. Fifteen pajama-clad kids showed up at my house. We baked, made up dance routines, created art for a new children’s wing, wrote letters to sick kids, brought games to donate to sick children, and most of all, had fun.

Our Almost-Sleepover was a way my daughter could see how service and fun can (and should!) be combined. The result of our Almost-Sleepover was more than a couple crates of donated books and toys. In the end, the girls toured the local facility we donated to, and now, a couple families volunteer there regularly.

Changing the world? Not yet. Changing little hearts. For sure.

 What kind of party with a purpose could your family become involved in this year? How can you make your kids' party filled with purpose?

Can one beyond blessed family move from addicted to themselves to devoted to others? The author of this post shares honestly at Amy L. Sullivan about her family’s attempt to become less me, me, me focused and more others centered. Amy writes for print and online publications and is also writing a nonfiction book about serving others.

The post Raising Giving Kids: How To Host and Throw a Party That Has Purpose appeared first on Mom it Forward.