Mother’s Day Gifts With Proceeds Going to Charity
May 3, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · Leave a Comment
Check out these Mother’s Day gifts with all or a portion of the proceeds going to charity.
Sassy Mother/Daughter Apron
Check out this duet apron set from the fabulous gals over at You Can Make This. I’m telling you right now… I don’t like to sew. But, this fun and adorable pattern may just change my mind. (My mom would be so happy after all the money she invested in sewing lessons for me over the years!)
This step-by-step pattern is only $5, is super easy, and is the perfect mother/daughter gift. The best part? 100% of the proceeds of your purchase will go to support women in Kenya in an effort to fight poverty.X
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Yummy Bath & Body Products!
Now, for something a little tastier. I wish there were a way to have smells come across the computer, because I assure you if you could smell the mint chocolate truffle soap in this Basa Body Kiss Me pack, you would be salivating over this purchase.
Not only are all the products made with the coconut oil extracted by mompreneurs in Kenya, but a portion of the proceeds of this purchase goes directly to Kenya—to their villages, in fact—to help provide more women with opportunities to support their families, thus fighting poverty!
The best part? When you purchase a Kiss Me pack between by May 12, you not only get to enjoy the Basa Body Mother’s Day 10% off discount, but when you use the “momitforward” promotion code, you get an additional 10% off. So pamper yourself this Mother’s Day (or point your hubby in this direction) all for under $30!
Freshwater Pearls
And if you happen to live in Utah… take advantage of this offer for a FREE strand of pearls. Simply download and print this image and take it into Goldsmith Co. Jewelers in Provo by Saturday, May 9 and enjoy a freshwater pearl necklace just in time for Mother’s Day!
#GNO Goes Daytime This Week! Join us Thursday, April 30 at Noon EDT
April 28, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · Leave a Comment
How Can You Join the Party?
1. Get on Twitter on Thursday, April 30 from 12-2 p.m. EDT (11 a.m. CDT, 10 a.m. MDT, and 9 a.m. PDT).
2. Follow our international hosts: @yehu_adet, @yehu_rose, @yehu_bernice.
3. Follow our domestic hosts: @yehu_troy, @basabody, @momitforward.
4. Click here to tweet from our custom Tweetgrid.
Tweet With Women From Kenya During Daytime #GNO Thursday, April 30
April 27, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 3 Comments
How Is Twitter Connecting People for the Power of Good?
Twitter has become a buzz word, as of recently, but how can Twitter bridge the distance and connect people for the power of good? As part of a larger effort to raise $50,000 for Yehu Microfinance Bank to help empower moms in impoverished areas of Kenya, Mom It Forward will be hosting a Twitter party Thursday, April 30 from 12-2 p.m. (EDT) and two of the moms who will benefit from our efforts will actually be tweeting with us live from Africa on the popular Twitter application: Tweetgrid.
Thanks to new tools in social media like Twitter, groups like Mom it Forward don’t have to travel to Africa to offer humanitarian aid. The Twitter party will feature two women from Kenya, as well as the bank’s CEO, who will be tweeting live from the Kenyan Bank in Mumbasa with approximately 200 Mom it Forward members, talking about what the program and fundraising efforts mean to them and their families. We are excited to personally connect Yehu women entrepreneurs from rural Kenya with other women around the world on Twitter so that they may share together, learn from each other, and strengthen each other. We are grateful that there is technology today that can narrow the divide of distance and culture to allow us to discover the common bonds that connect us all together.
What Is Yehu Microfinance Bank?
Yehu Microfinance Bank is an organization designed to bring impoverished communities in the rural coastal areas of Kenya out of poverty and into a better, fuller life. The organization works to provide communities with a series of loans, which villagers can use to start their own small businesses and build economic strength in their communities.
How Can You Join the Party?
1. Get on Twitter from 12-2 p.m. EDT (11 CDT, 10 MDT, and 9 PDT).
2. Follow our international hosts: @yehu_adet, @yehu_rose, @bernice98.
3. Follow our domestic hosts: @yehu_troy, @basabody, @momitforward.
4. Click here to tweet from our custom Tweetgrid.
Please invite your friends for this awesome opportunity to virtually travel to Africa and meet some amazing Kenyans right from the comforts of your home or computer.
Reminder! 100% of donations go to Africa. And, when you donate $20 or more to Yehu or make any Basa Body or Coast Coconut Farms product purchase, you’re automatically entered to win one of three amazing gift cards, including a $250 Disney Gift Card.
Milwaukee Couples Food & Fundraising for Lots of Fun!
April 21, 2009 by Colleen Venier · Leave a Comment
You may recall I announced a Wisconsin blogger’s get together awhile back. The event was to be part of a campaign put together by the lovely ladies at Mom it Forward and would raise money for a great charity that helps Kenyan woman start their own coconut oil extraction business. Those oils are then sold to a company that make them into lotions, soaps and other products.
Besides, it’d be a lot of fun, yo.
I’ve planned a lot of events, and never have the details fallen into place so easily. It was like putting together a preschooler’s jig saw puzzle.
Easy peasy.
One great blogger offered to have the event at her house. Another owns a great online store and donated a gift card for our raffle. Early on, I had a lot of people excited that something local was being planned and looked forward to meeting other “imaginary friends” in person.
But somehow when it came time to collect registrations for the event, the numbers, well…trickled in. In the end, only three of us lovely ladies met for dinner this past Saturday.
Boy, did the rest of you miss out!
Carrie S., Carrie C. and myself (an honorary Carrie for the evening) met at Trattoria Stefano in lovely Sheboygan, Wisconsin and laughed ourselves silly.
It really was a great time. And who would have thought that in a small Wisconsin city, in a teeny little restaurant one could find such GREAT FOOD?!? Honestly, the prices were comparable to that of one of the chain crap restaurants, only Trattoria Stefano featured salads with “organic farm raised Norwegan salmon” and other entres with so many delicious ingredients that our server stood for five minutes at a time reciting them back to us.
(I translated after he left: “A salad with fish, a dish with some meat, and one with noodles, sauce and more meat.”)
We sampled the silky and yumma-licious lotions from Basa Body. (And found that despite how delicious it smells, the chocolate mint soap still tastes like soap if you take a bite. Thanks for that, Carrie S.)
And we laughed.
And enjoyed the fact that there were no little short people yelling, “MOOOOOM!”
And then we saw this guy and the night just got *thismuch* better.
Yes, that’s a full grown man in a nice restaurant wearing a Snuggie. (Who rocked because he didn’t bat an eye when we took his picture. And then told his wife, “You married THIS!” which was super awesome because we all concurred that was something our husbands would say.)
So, big thanks to the Carries for joining me for a super rad evening. Thanks to Basa Body for the lotion and Mom it Forward for organizing such a great chain of events for a great charity. And huge thanks to Angie of Good for the Kids for the raffle prize.
The rest of you — well, we hope you’ll be able to join us next time!
Just a few finishing thoughts:
1) Buying a product from Basa Body or donating $20 to The Pope Foundation (the charity that trains Kenyan women to start their own oil extraction businesses) between now and May 12 enters you to win one of three great gift cards, including a $250 Disney Gift Card, a $150 Amazon.com Gift Card or a $100 Target Gift Card! Click here for more info, or visit the Basa Body site or click on the widget in my left side bar to make a donation. You can still win!
2) If you don’t have money to donate right now, check out Mom it Forward’s “10 Ways to Donate to Charity Without Spending a Cent” article. Good stuff.
3) If you’re ever in Sheboygan, I highly recommend Trattoria Stefano or its “sister restaurant” across the street (owned by the same folks). Their menu was impressive and their prices budget friendly. Plus they let us sit and be all loud for nearly three hours and never once gave us the evil stink eye.
4) Come back on Friday – I’ll be giving away some of the Basa Body lotion. And, no, it doesn’t smell like coconuts.
Reposted with permission from Mommy Always Wins.
Party With Us for Charity at a Location Near You!
April 17, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 1 Comment
The day has finally arrived. Tweet Ups around the US all in support of Yehu and Basa Body.
Whether you are from the Mom It Forward community or the 12for12K team, if you live in or near one of these locations, please come and party with us all for a great cause!
- San Diego, CA (12for12k)
- Dublin, CA (12for12k)
- New York, NYC (Mom It Forward)
- Provo, UT (Mom It Forward)
- Chicago, IL (Mom It Forward)
- Fairfax, VA (Mom It Forward)
- San Pedro, CA (Mom It Forward)
- Portland, OR (Mom It Forward)
View this video to learn more about the cause we are supporting!
10 Ways to Donate to Charity Without Spending a Cent
April 15, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 2 Comments
Do you have a desire to make a meaningful contribution, but aren’t in the financial situation to do so? Donations to charity don’t have to be financial. So many of us are experiencing the fallout from this global economic crisis, and at the same time we feel a push to give back—a desire to reach out to others. Those of us who want to serve, who want to make a difference, can do so using our passion, our drive, our connections, our voices, our hearts, and, if we happen to be in a position to do so, our pocket books.
Make a Meaningful Difference Without Reaching Into Your Pocket Book
Here are 10 ways you can make a difference for Yehu Microfinance between now and May 12:
- Promote the fundraiser in your social media circles: on twitter, on facebook, to your friends through e-mail, on the ning networks you frequent, etc.
- Write a blog post about the fundraiser or the charity to raise awareness.
- Place this Chip In widget code on your blog:<embed allowScriptAccess=”always” src=”http://widget.chipin.com/widget/id/2d59742089239480″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” wmode=”transparent” width=”250″ height=”250″></embed>
- Advertise the fundraiser on your site using this button:<a href=”http://momitforward.com” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv43/momitforward/MIF_FightPoverty2_125×125.jpg” alt=”Africa, Poverty, Women, Mom It Forward, Moms Helping Moms” border=”0″ /></a>
- Promote and/or attend our live events. See the calendar of events post for details, including invitation and press release links.
Start using products with coconut oil, especially those sold at Basa Body and Coast Coconut Farms. You can sample the products at all of our live events.- Put on a fundraising “Tweet Up” or event in your area. This doesn’t have to be a huge, formal event or something that raises a lot of money. Meeting up with friends and family at your home, at a coffee shop, or another informal gathering place and spreading the news about this initiative goes a long way in raising awareness.
- Familiarize yourself with the charity’s mission by visiting and reading information on these three sites: http://yehu.org, http://basabody.com, http://coastcoconutfarms.co.ke, and http://coastcoconutfarms.com.
- After visiting the sites, promote them in your social media circles with the goal of raising awareness.
- Determine what you will do today to Mom It Forward to your family, your friends, and/or people in your online networks, etc. Go out and Mom It Forward and help change the world one mom at a time. This applies to moms as well as anyone that has a mom!
When You Make a Purchase, Choose Products With a Proceeds Going to Charity
If you happen to have the means and desire to contribute financially, here’s several ways to make a difference that way:
- Make a cash donation to Yehu Microfinance through our Chip In widget.
- Purchase one of the Basa Body Kiss Me Packs (made using the coconut oil extracted by the women in Kenya) for your Mother’s Day Gift (a portion of the proceeds goes to charity).
- Purchase any of the Basa Body products (a portion of the proceeds goes to charity).
- Purchase a limited edition #gno t-shirt (a portion of the proceeds goes to charity).
- Purchase coconut cooking oil. This is perfect for cooking and food storage and has a longer shelf life than other oils. Proceeds from this purchase also go to charity.
RSVP—Guy Kawasaki Joins #GNO This Week at Our Virtual Pajama Party Sponsored by My Mommy Manual
April 11, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 7 Comments
What’s a Pajama Party Without a GUY?
The fabulous Ria and Suzanne from My Mommy Manual and in partnership with Mom It Forward and the 12 for 12K team, are throwing the pajama party of all pajama parties and you’re invited. In support of our 6-week focus on charity, service, and giving, they are raffling off a wide array of prizes with the proceeds going to Yehu Microfinance, Basa Body, and Coast Coconut Farms. Click here to enter to win!
What’s more? Guy Kawasaki is joining in on the fun! After all, what’s a pajama party without a GUY? Join us Tuesday, April 14 from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. eastern (8 CDT, 7 MDT, & 6 PDT) to chit and chat about tips for entrepreneurs—starting and running your own business and using social media to do it.
Guy Kawasaki is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine. Previously, he was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc. Guy is the author of nine books including Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. He has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.
- When: Tues., Apr.14 from 9 pm to 1 a.m. EDT (8 CDT, 7 CDT, and 6 PDT)
- What: Girl’s Night Out (What’s GNO? Click here to find out!)
- Topic: Tips to Starting & Running Your Own Business—in conjunction with our charity to fight poverty in Kenya (Yehu, BasaBody, Coast Coconut Farms)
- Where: Tweet Grid (use the #gno hashtag)and on UStream
- Who: @guykawasaki, @riasharon, and @zenmommy
- RSVP: Use Mr. Linky below (enter the twitter URL and your twitter ID (e.g., http://twitter.com/jyl_momIF). If you would like to include your blog, please enter it next to your name. Make sure to include your twitter URL in the URL line. Please do not enter your blog URL there.
How Do You Enter to Win the Giveaways?
My Mommy Manual has rounded up nearly $5,000 in prizes. Check out this short video below to see how to enter!
RSVP for #GNO & Be Inspired
April 5, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 6 Comments
Help Us Raise Awareness & Funds for Yehu.Org During 24-Hour #Inspire Tweet-a-Thon
- When: Tues., April 7 from 9 pm to 1 a.m. EDT (8 CDT, 7 CDT, and 6 PDT)
- What: Girl’s Night Out (What’s GNO? Click here to find out!)
- Topic: Who inspires you? How can you inspire others? Raising awareness and funds for Yehu, BasaBody, Coast Coconut Farms to fight poverty in rural Kenya.
- Where: Tweet Grid (use the #gno hashtag)
- Who: Josh and Rebecca Unfried from momfaves.com,
- RSVP: Use Mr. Linky below (enter the twitter URL and your twitter ID (e.g., http://twitter.com/jyl_momIF). Please do not enter your blog URL there.
(Photo courtesy of Flickr.)
Why Did We Choose to Support Women in Kenya When the US Is Struggling Financially?
April 1, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 3 Comments
I have been asked on many occasions why Mom It Forward is supporting an organization that is empowering and providing business opportunities to women in Kenya when so many families in the US, where such a large part of our community is based, are losing their homes, their credit, their jobs, their insurance, and more.
Before I dive in and explain the reason behind our choice for this charity, I wanted to share something a bit personal. My family has experienced some of the hardships I know many of you are experiencing… and in the not too distant past. I know these struggles are real. I know times are hard. A layoff or losing insurance is extremely unsettling and stressful. The lack of knowing when you’ll round the corner or where the next meal is coming from is downright scary at times. Whether you live within or outside of the US, during this time of economic hardship, I encourage everyone to reach out to each other with support and love and kindness and to Mom It Forward on a daily basis both on and offline. And if you want to help on a larger scale and are wondering why Kenya, please read this post and let me know if you have any additional questions or feedback (momitforward [at] gmail [dot] com).
Why Kenya?
When we began planning this fundraiser in January, we seriously considered which charity to support.
Several factors influenced our decision. I’d like to share a little bit about each one of them.
- The Mom It Forward Mission
- The Steps to Accomplish Our Mission
- Our Global Community
- My Personal Experience With Yehu Microfinance and BasaBody
The Mom It Forward Mission
The Mom It Forward mission is: “to change the world one mom at a time.” We will achieve that by 1) strengthening women, 2) helping them become the best moms and/or influencers they can be, and 3) providing ideas, opportunities to, and recognition for carrying out the Mom It Forward mission in small and large ways, locally as well as internationally, in their communities and beyond.
Since the primary focus of our mission is to change the world one mom at a time, we have chosen to spearhead two major fundraisers each year and to rally around important causes that we, as a community, can support with our hearts, our pocketbooks, our volunteerism, our publicity and/or any of the talents and skills we are willing to offer. We recognize that not everyone is in a position to donate financially and we feel strongly that community members know that we see all contributions as important and valued, not just those that keep the Chip In numbers soaring!
The Steps to Accomplish Our Mission
For our two annual fundraisers, we’ll have one in the spring and another in the fall. We have chosen to focus one event annually on a local charity (North America) and one event on an international initiative. Since our fall fundraiser was for Feeding America, which benefited families facing hunger in the United States, we felt that focusing on an international charity was important for our first fundraiser of 2009.
That said, we have not forgotten that many of the most impactful ways to Mom It Forward are acts of service and kindness performed within our neighborhoods and communities. They are small as well as large tasks and projects that rely on local resources and community outreach. To help women make an impact within their communities, Mom It Forward is setting up a worldwide organization. What this means is that women come together to form a Mom It Forward chapter in their area. Our first chapter is forming right now in the North East with @rachelferrucci as the president and @ginalaguardia as the vice-president. We also have been beta testing the chapter idea in Utah and finally feel ready to give it a go in another location.
While we don’t have all of the details ironed out, here is what we know. Local chapters are in a much better position to reach out to organizations, families, and women in their communities since they have local resources and know of area-specific needs. In Utah, we have done big projects like serving at an assisted living facility and a center for abused and neglected children as well as taking meals into women in the Mom It Forward community who were sick.
In Nashville, we prepared lunch for 1,500 people at the Nashville Rescue Mission.In the North East, they are planning a project for a center for women of domestic violence in Connecticut. In Utah, we also had a workshop where speakers came to talk about life balance, parenting, and other uplifting topics. It was a great way to network, come together for a great cause, and leave feeling uplifted and strengthed in our roles as women, mothers, influencers, and community members who want to make a meaningful difference.
I point all of this out, because my greatest hope is to change the world one mom at a time. While Mom It Forward itself can certainly influence people toward a couple of major initiatives a year both at home and abroad, we cannot have the impact that local chapters can. Therefore, one of our greatest focuses will be to get these chapters up and going with enough structure and guidance so that the amazing women that sit on their boards can really make a positive difference in their communities.
Our Global Community
While focusing on our mission and the steps to accomplishing that mission is important, Mom It Forward is not anything without its amazing community members—the #gno gals (and guys!) as well as the bloggers, the IRL friends and family, and all the many people who support and contribute in meaningful ways to the community. We recognize that our community lives in or is from various backgrounds and countries. This is what makes us rich, diverse, and fun. But what makes us unique is the reason we all come together—our passion for making a postive difference in the world. So, at Mom It Forward, we wanted to show sensitivity to the fact that we are a global group and that together, we are facing a global economic crisis and hardship. While we took the US economy and the many hardships so many of us are facing into consideration when we made this decision, we didn’t feel that focusing solely on US events for both of our major fundraisers would be sensitive and fair to the many people in our community that live outside of the US. That, coupled with our mission to change the “world” helped us decide to focus outside the US for our second fundraiser.
My Personal Experience With This Charity
After going to Washington DC last summer, visiting the Holocaust Museum, and going through an exhibit on Darfur, I felt a call to action to help people in rural Africa. I returned home with hope and immediately put calls into and sent e-mails to a variety of organizations set up to do just that. To my dismay, not a single one returned my calls or e-mails. That is when I met Troy Holmberg. Troy lives in my neighborhood and is a VP of Operations for a corporation where I live. His “other” job, besides being a father of 5 children, is overseeing the US side of the volunteer operations of Yehu Microfinance, Basa Body, and Coast Coconut Farms (all falling under the same 501(c)3 founded by his family more than 12 years ago).
If any of you have ever been stalked, you know how Troy felt when I began, in earnest, to demand suggest that he bring me on as a volunteer (think STALKING!). He brought me on in September and had me edit marketing materials for the Basa Body product line. By January, we were talking about partnering on this major fundraiser initiative. I knew, after having worked with him directly for 4 months, that he and his charitable organization were the right fit for Mom It Forward. He is trustworthy and puts his heart and soul into his volunteer work. He does everything from making and assembling the product and overseeing operations to making regular trips to Africa to work with the employees there and visit the women in the local villages. He is learning the language and loves the people. And, he does it all as a volunteer. These charities have no administrative costs. I was sold!!!
How Can You Get Involved?
If after reading this, you’d like to participate in this fundraiser; become more involved in Mom It Forward in general; or if you have questions, concerns. or feedback for us, please contact us at momitforward [at] gmail [dot] com. If you’d like more information on the charities, please visit Yehu Microfinance, BasaBody, or Coast Coconut Farms here or here. Together, we can change the world one mom at a time!
Calendar of Events for the Mom It Forward Fundraiser—Reducing Poverty in Kenya, Enhancing Lives!
March 31, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · Leave a Comment
More than 20 million rural Kenyans live in extreme poverty. You can get involved and make a difference in a variety of ways, both online and offline:
- 3/31: Attend #gnogives kickoff event on Twitter.
- 4/7: Participate in #gnogives 24-hour Tweet-a-Thon on Twitter.
- 4/12: Join in the 5 Minutes for Mom Blog-a-Thon.
- 4/14: Virtual pajama party with My Mommy Manual.
- 4/17-18: Virtual auction on SITS with all of the proceeds going to charity.
- 4/18: Take part in a live event near you: Chicago, DC Metro, Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Nashville, New York City, Portland, Raleigh, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Sydney, Toronto, Vancouver.
- 4/29: Listen in on Chicks Who Chat blog talk radio.
- 5/7: Party with other mamas on the new #gnogives group on Todays Mama Connect.
