Mom it Forward » http://feedingamerica.org

Topic Talk—Chatting for Charity!

Jyl Johnson Pattee — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:09:00 +0000

I am choked up writing this. I just jumped off of Twitter after nearly 6 hours of tall tweeting, trying to keep current with the short, but speedy conversations. In the flurry of excitement, I observed more than 100 women and a few men, stepping past mere socialization into the realm of service. 100+ people—most of whom have never met IRL, who were gathered for a greater cause than conversation…

…who were gathered to find a cure. A cure to help families facing hunger this holiday season. A cure to provide as many families as possible with a Thanksgiving dinner. And, in these few hours, with little preparation beforehand and less marketing, #GNO Guys and Gals raised more than $1200 for Feeding America. And, that is just from tonight. Who knows how much more we can raise by Friday, November 21 when the charity ends!

So from us…

Your #GNO Gal Pal, @CarissaRogers (with her daughters)

And your #GNO Gal Pal, @jyl_mommygossip (thankful for her two boys!)

…thanks to everyone who participated and who may still participate—who gave with their hearts and their hands, who encouraged, who participated, who made GNO GIVES a success!

Here’s your chance to get to know just a few tweeple from the wonderful group that is #GNO! Check out their blogs to learn more about them!

Deanna at The Gratitude Circle.

Renee at Cutie Booty Cakes.

Mommy Wizdom.

The Gratitude Circle writes about Taylor Fitch, Miss Teen America, and how she gives gratitude for helping children with special needs. Deanna, in a personal note to #gno, writes:

The holiday season for me really starts in November (which did you know is actually National “I Am So Thankful Month?) We love thanksgiving. My husband and I love to prepare the meal together and spend the day with my family eating traditional food and watching football (our favorite family activity)! We always use the Thanksgiving weekend as the kick off to decorate for the holidays, too. We enjoy doing this early so that we can thoroughly enjoy our decorations all through the month of December.

I will be hosting Christmas Eve and a small Christmas Day at my house this year. My Christmas Eve will be really special this year. My grandmother passed away this year at the tender age of 90. Christmas Eve was always her holiday—a traditional polish Christmas Eve. In tribute to her, I am hosting dinner this year in her memory with my aunt, uncle, cousins and my family. It will be very meaningful to all of us.

The holiday time can be so stressful…it has become quite commercial and a bit demanding of our time. It’s important to reflect and think ahead of time how to spend your time and with whom. What will make it special for you? How do you want to feel (or not want to feel)? What can you do to go out of your way for someone in need to help them to have a grateful and fulfilling holiday?

Cutie Booty Cakes shares this sweet picture of her mom, snuggling with her grandson. In this post and the one below it entitled, “Gratitude,” she shares her grateful spirit with us.

Mommy Wizdom talks about the temptation to indulge and reminds us of the people all around us who may be less fortunate and ways in which to help them:

There are people in the world who are starving! And I don’t mean the children in Ethiopia that our parents taunted us with… I mean children in our own neighborhoods (yes, yours too!) who can’t afford to buy lunch at school on a daily basis. Whose parents work 3-4 jobs just to make ends meet.

My friend’s daughter goes to school with a girl who cannot afford to buy lunch. My friend packs two lunches for her daughter to take to school. This may very well be the only meal this girl gets all day.

Hunger is very real. Please, don’t discount its existence.

If you don’t believe that it can be happening in your neck of the woods, click here, type in your zip code into the food bank locator on the bottom right. There you will see hunger statistic for your area. I guarantee you’ll be surprised. I was surprised about mine!

Thanks to today’s featured GNO Gals for extending the topic of service, giving, and gratitude beyond GNO and into our week.

Wanna be featured? Please comment here or e-mail us at mommygossipgno AT gmail DOT com and provide your BLOG URL, linking to the post you’d like to contribute.

RSVP for Tuesday’s GNO GIVES BACK

Jyl Johnson Pattee — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:25:00 +0000

Join us on a virtual food drive in partnership with Feeding America to help provide Thanksgiving dinners to families facing hunger this holiday season.

Chitchat with us about charity, giving, and service at 6 p.m. Pacific Tuesday, November 18 at Twitter.

Participate in our LIVE AUCTION (see items in post below).

DONATE to Feeding America through GNO’s PayPal (see sidebar).

PROMOTE this fundraiser by tweeting about it and placing a button on your blog (see center sidebar for button and code).

Win one of our many DOOR PRIZES (scroll down to see post)!

Be featured on TOPIC TALK by submitting a giving or gratitude post to mommygossipgno AT gmail DOT com.

RSVP on Mr. LINKY with your Twitter ID and URL.

To participate in the auctions or to win a door prize, visit the donating sites and place your bid or enter to win. See auction items below. You do not have to participate in the auction to join in on the virtual fun!

After RSVPing, check out our awesome Auction Items and our Door Prizes!

Amazing Auction Items for GNO Gives Back

Jyl Johnson Pattee — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:41:00 +0000

What could be more fun than celebrating the holidays GNO style? Helping others have the opportunity to celebrate the holidays as well!

Join us this Tuesday, November 18 for a Thanksgiving pre-party where GNO Gives Back!

Here are ways you can join in on the virtual fun and giving:

Chitchat with us about charity, giving, and service at 6 p.m. Pacific on Twitter.

Participate in our LIVE AUCTION (see items below).

DONATE to Feeding America through GNO’s PayPal.

PROMOTE this fundraiser by tweeting about it and placing a button on your blog (see sidebar for button and code).

Win one of our many DOOR PRIZES (see post below)!

Be featured on TOPIC TALK by submitting a giving or gratitude post to mommygossipgno AT gmail DOT com.

RSVP below on Mr. LINKY with your Twitter ID and URL.To participate in the auctions or to win a door prize, visit the donating sites and place your bid or enter to win. See auction items below.

Connie over at Mickey Fanatic has offered up Two Disney items!

First: Tink hat starting value at $19.99! It can be used for grown up ‘So Not a Princesses’ and young as well!
Her second item is a pair of little boy toddler Buzz Lightyear pajamas starting at $9.99.
Connie also blogs at BrainFoggles and you can follow her on Twitter @conniefoggles.

Our second awesome auction is being hosted by:

Melanie over at StraightToYourHart who has created a fabulous necklace!

She describes it as Toddler proof! She says even a two year old grabbing at it will not break it!
The starting bid is $25, she promised there is a surprise included, but she was all secretive about what that was!

You can follow Melanie on Twitter @Sabrie. She’s a big help to all the Twitter newbies!

I’m excited to present the amazing Julie of LeeLouBlogs!
She is auctioning off a Holiday premade Blogger layout. Here’s the one I would choose:

You will be able to choose from all of the Christmas templates, starting bid is $15, Great Price!

(While you are there…tell Julie we’d love to have her along for our Twitter GNO–talk her into figuring out twitter while you’re there!)

You will love the artwork created by Gretchen. See her work over at her etsy shop Chichiboule. I am in love with her style! She joins us from France… is that cool or what?

She is offering you a choice between three prints! Here’s my favorite!

Bidding starts at $20 and I think that’s an amazing deal for her art!

Gretchen also blogs at BoulieBlog and can be found on twitter @chichiboulie

How would you like professional editing help with your blog posts?
Gina LaGuardia of Gina LaGuardia Editorial Services, Inc. is offering 3 hours of editing time and teaching to the winning blogger! See her blog Confessions of a Content Pimp for more details, I am so going to be jealous of the winning bidder here.

CB Teen Magazine
Gina LaGuardia served as Editor-in-Chief of CB Teen, a national publication dedicated to teens’ academic advancement, from 1996-2006. Many of her current associates are former CB Teen editors, writers, and designers.

The starting bid for 3 hours of writing and content coaching will be $50.
Gina LaGuardia can be found on Twitter @GinaLaGuardia.

Kristie over at 4SpicyGrapes has offered up two of her very tasty and very natural Herb Blends.
She says they work really well for dips and for recipes!

The starting bid is $6 for two 1 oz jars.
Kristie’s other items can be found on her WildTree site. And her ridiculously scrumptious recipes can be found at KristiesWildTreeCooking. She can be found on Twitter @3_diva_girls.

Stay tuned! We have more!!

Get in on the Goods—GNO’s Got Door Prizes!

Jyl Johnson Pattee — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:00:00 +0000

NOTE!!::::: DOOR PRIZES ARE CLOSED! Auctions open til 8:30PM Pacific time, hurry!

Can donate through paypal til Friday Nov. 21st!

These amazing prizes were donated by awesome people!

Wanna get in on the goods? RSVP on Mr. Linky (first post on home page). Then, look at the door prizes below and register to win them by visiting the various sites and commenting there. Make sure to include the name you used for Mr. Linky and your e-mail address.

Duong over at A Cup of Tea is giving away two fabulous books. Check out her blog to comment!

NYT best selling author of the Makers’s Diet. She is donating of his books: Children’s Health, and Perfect Weight America, both released Jan 08. And she is including FUCO THIN #1 Diet Supplement in Natural Products Industry, safe and natural!

Duong can be found at Beauty Secrets and on Twitter @beautysecrets1.

Robin over at CinnamonandHoney is giving away 4 fabulous handmade cards. Leave a comment on her blog to enter.

I totally love this one…click to enlarge.. It says “I love you just the way you are”. And we love Robin! You can find all her craftiness at her Etsy shop: CinnamonandHoney and you can find her on Twitter @cinnamonhonig

Jill over at Artful Bee…is offering a 5% discount (code GNOFood) on her amazing Digital cards, everyone think time for Holiday Cards! All the printing is done for you even on the envelopes! Love that. And for every person using the code GNOFood, Jill is matching it in a donation to FeedingAmerica.org! Love that too!

Don’t you just so need this card!

Jill can be found on Twitter @thatgaljill.

Deb and Jay from Mission:Monday are offering a $25 Gift card to Borders.

And your mission should you choose to accept it…

Is to head over to Deb’s Site and comment! I mean it’s $25! Just do it already!
Deb can be found on Twitter @debwilliams and Jay is @halftimelessons.

Our second Jill over at ScaryMommy is out of town… But was willing to deal with our crazy anyway! So this last giveaway will be hosted here! Jill is giving away 2 sets of 3 awesome Tea Towels.

Click to enlarge.

I think these are super cute! She is offering the White Berry towel, the Green Apple towel and the Pink Tea Towel. And there are two sets. So…TWO winners! You must leave a comment on this post to enter the tea towel Door Prize. And you must tell me what you like the best about ScaryMommy’s blog. And you GET to add your link to Mr. Linky over on the GNO-Cares page! Tell us how your signed it in the comments, THANKS…oh and LEAVE your email address (or read how to link your blogger account to your email…otherwise we can’t contact you if you win!)

Have a look at the items up for auction as well! Here’s to you for helping us make this Virtual Food Drive a success!

Virtual Food Drive, GNO Style

Jyl Johnson Pattee — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:32:00 +0000

Help Provide Thanksgiving Meals to Families Facing Hunger

GNO is teaming up with FeedingAmerica.org.
The Goal? Feasts For 14 Million. Let’s donate virtual food for a very real drive.

Click the PayPal button to donate as little as $5 or as much as your heart will give.

$15 will buy 6 cans of beans, 1 jar of peanut butter, 2 boxes of cereal, and many happy faces.

The good news? Kraft Foods is matching Feeding America donations, so this season $1 amounts to 16 meals. That means as little as a $5 donation will feed 80 people. How easy is that? All donations through the GNO paypal account—everything we raise—will go directly to FeedingAmerica.org who have a goal to feed 14 million people this Thanksgiving.

Take part in the GNO Gives Back fundraiser. You may donate from November 4-21. We will collect the donations and send one large amount to FeedingAmerica.org.

On Tuesday November 18, our GNO Topic will be about:

Charities we love.
How do you give back?
Who do you know in need?
Where can women make a difference?

Please help us spread the word! Let’s go on a Virtual Food Drive! Go ahead, take this banner and blog about it!!

Copy the code inside the box and paste it directly into your post editor.
Thanks so much!