Change Becomes Change

The Giving is Free

Think you need to spend money to help someone out? Think again! There are likely ways that you can reach out to someone else without spending a dime. Here's a few ideas to get you started, but I'm hoping you'll add some ideas of your own in the comments below. Let's see how many ways we can come up with.

Got an old cell phone? Donate your old phone to help soldiers phone their families back home. Find a drop off location (or set one up in your community) here at Cell Phones for Soliders.

Have a pair of no-longer need eye glasses? Share them with someone who does need them but can't afford a brand new pair. In addition to the Goodwill, Lenscrafters will make sure they find themselves a good home.

Has your child transitioned out of diapers but you still have half a pack of size 4's? Google "diaper bank (your city here)" to find a drop off place for unused diapers near you. They help mothers who need a little help with the basics for their babies.

Shop at Safeway? Make sure your Safeway card is tied to their eScrip program to help raise much-needed funds for a child's school. There's no additional cost to you, but each time you shop at Safeway, the school of your choice raises funds.

Fall Cleaning soon? Cleaning out our closets, getting rid of clothes that don't fit, toys that our children have outgrown, or things we just don't need anymore can be donated to a long list of charitable organizations in your neighborhood. Besides the usual Goodwill or Salvation Army, look for shelters or churches.

Do you have too many books that you've already read? Donate them to your local library or school. Whether they'll sell them to help raise money, or put them out to share, you'll pass on stories for someone else to enjoy.

That should get you thinking about things. Now, look around and find a few things you no longer need or use and share them with someone else.

The Ways Kids Amaze Us

My youngest is adorable, sweet and makes us laugh with her clever ways of expressing herself, but tonight she really surprised me.

Here in Portland, there's a little boy who lives not far from us that has been missing for over ten days. He's just seven years old and in many ways reminds me of my own son, which may be part of the reason that his disappearance has really hit me hard. I learned about Kyron Horman on a Friday night during the 10pm news and, although I was cozy in bed, his story brought tears to my eyes and this strong desire to get dressed and head out to the west hills to help find him. My husband quickly reminded me that I'm not really equipped to do such a thing so we've found other ways to help. It just never feels like enough.

But we haven't talked much about the situation in front of our children since we really weren't sure how much they'd understand and what might really frighten them. We've been talking about safety topics and my son has been praying at school for Kyron but that's been the extent of things with them.

Both our children have journals that they've just started using in different ways. Being only four years old, my daughter likes to draw pictures in her journal that tell a story for her. Some days I can't really translate what she's drawn but there's typically an elaborate story she'll tell.

Tonight I asked her to work in her room alone while I spent time sorting through some tough emotions with my son in his journal. About 20 minutes later she came in and asked to share her story with me. But I had to go in her room. She wanted my full attention.

Wow. I don't know where this came from. The picture  below, she tells us, is Kyron and a man finding him. She also drew a leaf for the "forest where he's been hiding". 

They say that children sometimes have a six sense. Tonight, I choose to believe that. We all hope Kyron comes home soon.

 

Kyron was last seen wearing a black "CSI" shirt and dark cargo pants. If you have any information on Kyron's disappearance, please call the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office tip line at 503-261-2847.

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Stamp Out Hunger - Sat May 8

This might be one of the easier things EVERYONE can do to help end hunger in our local community. Really.

Last year we told you about the National Association of Letter Carriers annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive and asked that you share a bag full of nutritious non-perishable foods with hungry families in your state. And you did. You rallied to donate a record 73.4 million pounds of non-perishable food in the to restock community food banks and pantries in the nation’s largest one-day effort to combat hunger.

Can you do it again?

With more than half of our nation's food banks reporting that they are turning people away from emergency food services (20% say this happens "frequently"), it's time for all of us who can, to step up and help with a donation. Big or small...let's all give what we can to help feed a hunger family.

Let me remind you how easy this is:

1. When you're at the market this week, buy a few non-perishables to fill up a bag (or more, if you can). The most wanted foods include:  canned meats (tuna, chicken, salmon), canned and boxed meals (soup, chili, stew, macaroni and cheese), canned or dried beans and peas (black, pinto, lentils), pasta, rice cereal, canned fruits, 100 percent fruit juice (canned, plastic or boxed), canned vegetables, cooking oil, boxed baking mixes)
2. Leave it at your mailbox this Saturday, May 8 - make sure to get it out there before your letter carrier arrives. Need a reminder? Schedule one HERE
3. Your letter carrier does the rest. They'll make sure the donations get to your local food bank or pantry - the food will stay in your community

That's it. You in with us?

We Can End Hunger

Some really smart folks are working together to end hunger in America. It's a problem we all see in our communities every day and helping is something we can all do in a small or big way.

WeCanEndThis is having a Digital Can Drive – March 4th thru March 17th, the Digital Can Drive rewards people who commit to take action: Give, Share, and Volunteer. Every person who commits can donate a digital can of food to the their state. On March 18, the Top 10 States with the most digital cans of food will each win a semi-truckload of real food.

The three components of the WeCanEndThis campaign are:

Give - It's easy to give one can, one box or one bag. You can drop them off at your local food bank, church and most schools. We do this often and have made it a habit to pick up a couple extra things we see on sale while doing our usual grocery shopping. Make it work for you in a way that fits your schedule and budget.

Volunteer - Food Banks and organizations who help feed hungry people need volunteers to sort and pack food, sometimes deliver packages to home bound people and a variety of other necessary but easy duties to get the food where it's needed most.

Share - Spread the word with me. Forward this article to everyone you know on email, Facebook, Twitter or other social sites you visit. Encourage your employer to hold a food drive. Talk about the importance of helping the hungry in your community with friends and family. Awareness of this growing problem is critical.

You can sign up to Give, Volunteer or Share (or all three!) right here at WeCanEndThis. Make it easy on yourself, make it fun. Last year Missouri won a truck through the Pledge to End Hunger campaign because one woman called and emailed everyone she knew. See...it can be that easy to make a difference! You in?

If you have some creative ideas around taking on the barriers to alleviating our hunger problem, there's a way to share your thoughts and be part of the solution. Here's the simple concept straight from the Share Our Strength site:

You can also join in on March 15 for the launch of CauseLab at the SXSW Festival in Austin. The WeCanEndThis.com team will kick off an unprecedented 30-day virtual brainstorm to develop the most powerful, effective, and innovative ideas to end hunger in America. Some of the most creative thinkers from across the country will tackle touch questions like, “What will a hunger-free community look like?” Follow along and participate online from March 15 through April 15. 

CauseLab will showcase the best thinking ideas on addressing the root causes of hunger. WeCanEndThis will choose the best ideas to share and implement with the campaign's nonprofit partners

Why does this excite me? Food drives are really important to help feed the hungry today - but we also need solutions for tomorrow. 

Check WeCanEndThis out at Facebookand Twitter too - more easy ways to share the word.

Bake Sale to Help Hungry Children in Our Communities

You've heard it before: Childhood hunger is at an all-time high and increasing every day. What most of us probably don't even realize is that there is likely hungry children in your neighborhood, your child's school and your church. The signs aren't always obvious, but hunger is still there.

Many of these hungry children rely on programs funded by donations from organizations and people like you and me for breakfast, lunch and after-school meals year-round. Did you know that many public schools  provide "school lunches" for children during the summer break? Or that for many, the lunch they get at school or breakfast at their neighborhood care program might be the only nutritious meal they get all day?

Ready to help?

On April 17, food bloggers in communities across America are coming together for the Great American Bake Sale which benefits Share Our Strength, a national organization passionate about ending childhood hunger.

Change Becomes Change will offer three ways that you can help us in this effort.

1. You can donate to our "virtual" Bake Sale RIGHT HERE today through April 18. Please share this with friends and family too.

2. Visit our Bake Sale in Portland, Oregon DETAILS TO COME but please put this on your calendars now.

3. Help us find bakers to donate goods, promote the Bake Sale or volunteer with us at the event - we need lots of friends with passion to help make this happen! Email me at GinaMRau(at)gmail(dot)com or leave a comment to let us know how you'd like to help.

Share Our Strength supports many anti-hunger organizations all across the country and in Oregon they fund our St. Vincent De Paul Society, Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon and the Oregon Food Bank. Our family has special connections to the Oregon Food Bank that we personally support in many ways, and to St. Vincent De Paul Society that our school contributes to on a regular basis.

Our Bake Sale will specifically support efforts to help fund after school and summer feeding program grants that many of our community programs are probably applying for right now. As one of the hungriest states, Oregonian families rely on these services to provide nutrition for their children year-round.

Thanks for your support.

We Are The World

Can you believe that it's been 25 years since the original We Are the World song and video was recorded?  The cause in need was Africa and the artists included Michael Jackson,Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Cindi Lauper and many more.

Fast forward to January 2010 and the tragic earthquake in Haiti. The need is just as great. People around the world are coming together to help this small country in trouble.

If you haven't seen the new We Are The World, check it out here. We watched it many times over the weekend, enough that my children are now walking around the house singing it. The images from Haiti is powerful, even for my young ones, and the words carry much meaning. 

I hope you'll also visit the YouTube channel HERE to catch some of the behind the scenes clips and interviews, as well as find an opportunity to help.

If you can't view this in your reader or email, just click here.

Mangrove Fund: Helping Haiti Since 2007 and Today

There's no doubt in my mind that you've heard, seen and read of the tragedy in Haiti that jeopardizes the country. The recent estimates from the Red Cross are that 45,000 to 50,000 people have died, and those that remain face living conditions that we cannot begin to comprehend. Hospitals, government buildings, homes, orphanages, and Port-au-Prince's air traffic control tower have collapsed or badly damaged. While Haiti has seen devestation and hardship many times, the 7.0 earthquake that shook this poverty-stricken country this week is cataclysmic in impact. More than 3 million people will be affected.

People around the world have watched Haitians suffer and are stepping up to help. The list of countries, organizations, businesses and individuals who are helping is long and growing. For those of us that want to help, there's many ways to do so but I want to share one special option with you today.

Bill and Mary Pierznik began the process of adopting their son, Richelor, from Haiti in early 2007.  They have visited the country a total of more than 12 times but upon their first visit they were captured by the plight and spirit of the Haitian people.  Since then, they have established Mangrove Fund to focus exclusively on support for Haiti. 

Since the tragedy they have focused Mangrove exclusively on relief efforts.  They audit every dollar that they spend and keep zero money for administrative costs meaning 100% of all funds go to Haiti.  Their plan is to split relief money between immediate assistance (such as food, shelter and water) and longer term issues (such as preparing the rural areas for the inevitable human migration out of Port-au-Prince).  

Bill and his team at Mangrove Fund are coordinating with people on the ground in Haiti to ensure that the funds raised are sent directly to the organizations leading the recovery efforts. This coordinated effort will make sure that those in need get help. And fast.

No matter how you're going to help Haiti pull through this tragedy, I hope that you'll do a little homework or make sure that your "trusted friend" has. While it's unthinkable that someone would take advantage of this situation for their own profit, we've already heard of a few scams out there. We all want our hard-earned money to go right to those who need it.

Here's the Mangrove Fund website where you can learn more about Haiti, their project and make a donation to help Haitians recover. Thank you

12 Days of Sharing: White Chocolate Raspberry Slices

My mom and I did some serious holiday baking and cooking growing up. Serious. And those special times together in the kitchen are some of my favorite childhood memories. Since my own children are just 5 and 3, we're not quite at that same experience...yet. But they try.

They like to help me measure and pour ingredients and do a little mixing of their own. They enjoy rolling dough, making shapes and decorating but can be distracted by shiny objects inherent to the holidays. Still, I love just having them in the kitchen with me, even if it is between rounds of Yatzee!

For the Share Our Strength Share Your Season holiday campaign, we decided to participate to end childhood hunger in a couple ways: we planned a weeks' worth of low-cost meals and donated the difference between what that week's grocery bill and our usual budget to Share Our Strength, and today we're co-hosting the 12 Days of Sharing virtual cookie jar (see all of the holiday treats shared right here).

I'm so pleased to share with you one of our favorite cookie recipes: White Chocolate Raspberry Slices. We love almost all things berries up here in the northwest and these are no different! They go great with a cup of cold milk!

We hope that you'll enjoy the cookies as much as we do - and that you'll donate what you can to Share Our Strength to help hungry children across America. Now, more than ever, they need our help. You can CLICK HERE to donate (feel free to share this too!).

White Chocolate Raspberry Slices

1/2    cup   Butter, room temperature
1/4    cup   Sugar
1       tsp    Vanilla
1 1/4 cup   Flour
1/4   cup    Raspberry Jam
2       oz     White Chocolate, chopped or chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Stir in flour and mix until the dough comes together. Depending on many different factors like humidity and altitude, you might need to add a bit more butter to get the dough to come together. 

Divide the dough into thirds. On a floured surface, roll each third into a rope about 1" thick. Place the ropes approximately 3" apart on a buttered baking sheet. With your finger, press into the dough to make 1/2" wide bowls about 1" apart. Spoon 1/4 (or a little more) teaspoon of raspberry jam into each bowl.

Bake until edges are light brown, about 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool.

Melt white chocolate and drizzle across the ropes as you want. Chill until chocolate is firm to touch (about an hour is good). Cut each rope, diagonally between jam bowls.

Enjoy!

 

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More Great Ways to Save So You Can Give

Please visit the other featured blogs at Oprah.com's Deck The Blogs holiday roundup for new ideas and recipes. New articles are added all the time and we're all so excited to be a part of this program!

I'm pleased to introduce you to guest blogger Kate Miller, founder of Cooking During Stolen Moments. She and I met through Share Our Strength and immediately connected. As you read her story, you'll see that we share a strong passion around helping hungry children in our country. Welcome Kate. I'm so honored to have you join our little community here at Change Becomes Change.

Several years ago, my husband and I found ourselves in dire financial circumstances. We had three small children at the time and we were trying to grow our newly-opened small business. My husband took on a part time job in addition to the work he did for our business, but it still wasn't enough. At the end of the day, we had to decide between paying our mortgage or putting food on the table. It was a difficult time, to say the least.

But we persevered. We learned to let go of pride as we quickly realized that pride came from getting the job done, not by how the job was done. For us, that meant we relied on our local food pantry once a month. As humbling as it was, we felt blessed by the generosity of others.

We cut every single possible expense. We made do with one car. We canceled cable and the internet. And I learned to shop on a very tight budget while still putting wholesome, well rounded meals on our table.

Times have changed for the better as the years have gone on. However, my grocery spending habits have not changed. During that lean year, I learned to stretch every dollar.

We used to have to save to live, now we save to give.

Our experiences with our local food pantry changed me. They made me see the importance of helping in any way possible. I felt first-hand the pain of wondering where my children's next meal would come from. Now, I want to do whatever I can to alleviate that pain for others.

That is why I passionately support Share Our Strength and their ambitious but admirable goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015. If I can do even a little to help further their cause, you better believe I'll do what I can.

When I read about Gina's fantastic idea to save 10% from our grocery bills for a week in order to donate that money to Share Our Strength, I knew I had met a kindred spirit. Her idea is so powerful. Think of the impact we could have for furthering Share Our Strength's mission if we all did that once a month or even just once a year.

Gina has already shared some fantastic tips on how you can painlessly save 10% on your grocery bill. Now I have five new ideas to add to her list.

1. Menu Plan. Take a few minutes to plan out the meals your family will eat for the week and write a grocery list based off of those meals. Then, shop with your list in hand and stick to the list. I'm always amazed at how much I save when I have a plan and stick to my list.
2. Opt for the store-brand. The quality of store-brand products has really improved over the past few years. In my experience, there is no discernible difference on most products. If you're hesitant, start small. Some of the store-brand products I've had the most success with are pastas, frozen vegetables and baking items.
3. Clip coupons, but only for the things you really need. You can save a huge amount of money on your grocery bill with coupons when you use them wisely. There's no sense in buying something you don't really need just because you have a good coupon for it though. Take the time to compare coupons to your grocery list from step 1 and use what you can.
4. Don't be afraid of manager's specials. These are the items that are marked down for a quick sale because their expiration date is approaching quickly. I most often find manager's specials on meats and bakery items. And when I do, I grab a few to stick in the freezer. The same goes for produce. Those bananas that are marked down to 15 cents a pound because they're just the other side of over ripe will make great banana bread. And even those can be frozen.
5. Think outside of the box. There are so many creative and unique ways to save money at the grocery store. Think of your family's eating habits and your spending habits. What seems extraneous? Do without for just one week and share the savings.

Choosing to do just one or two of these things will easily save 10% on your weekly grocery trip. It truly is a painless way to do something good. I challenge you to do your part to help Share Our Strength reach their No Kid Hungry by 2015 goal. As for my family, we'll definitely be doing ours!

Kate Miller cooks frugal and delicious meals for her family of six. She has been cooking on a tight budget for over a decade. Although she has no formal culinary or financial training, she considers her kitchen education as trial-by-fire, with five of the toughest critics eating at her table every day. Kate shares recipes daily on her blog, Cooking During Stolen Moments.Additionally, Kate is the founder of Stolen Moments Menu Planning, where she creates personalized menu plans to help families save time and money in the kitchen.

Ideas to Save 10% to Help End Childhood Hunger

Update: I'm honored and a little giddy to have this, and other stories from Change Becomes Change featured on Oprah.com. Find great holiday ideas at Oprah's Deck the Blogs Roundup.

Earlier this week I challenged all of us to cut our food budget by 10% one week this month for Share Our Strength's Share Your Season campaign to end childhood hunger and am pleased to see a lot of interest around supporting this worthy cause. I've also had a lot of requests for suggestions on how to cut 10% from our food expenses which is not always easy to do. Some of us have already cut food budgets which makes further trims the hardest.

But...it's possible. Times are tough but, believe it or not, if you're reading this than there's likely many others with even less (or nothing) to spend on feeding their family. I promise you.

I hope that you'll find some new ideas here to get as close to 10% as possible (some of these are easy, especially if it's just for a week). I know that we'd all really appreciate additional ideas that you have to add in the comments section below.

• Buy in season - It costs a lot less to buy fresh produce that's in season than produce that's been shipped in from South America or has been stored for months.

• Brew your coffee at home - or better yet, at the office. With a medium flavored latte running about $4, enjoying your cup of joe home brewed just a few days a week really adds up. If you usually get those $4 coffees every day, save the treat for the weekend and brew it at home during the week. There's about $20 right there!

• Eat out less - It's pretty rare that eating at a restaurant costs less than eating at home.

• Drink less - Really, drink less alcohol, especially out. This is where restaurants are making their most margin. While you might be saving a lot of money with happy hour food, don't give it all back to them by indulging in a couple full-priced cocktails. Check out Costco, Trader Joe's and Cost Plus for great deals on wine and beer to enjoy at home before going out.

• Buy less expensive protein - Nuts, beans, lentils and vegetables like broccoli, beets, carrots and squash (which is in season & can store for 4 months!) are high in protein but tend to be less expensive than most meats, dairy and eggs. Think chili, vegetable soup with beans, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on whole wheat bread.

At the end of the week the most important thing is that we collectively saved something and made a donation to Share Our Strength. While 10% is a good goal (and we'd love to see some give more), every dollar helps feed a hungry child!

When you're week is up and you're ready to give, CLICK HERE. And don't forget to let us know how you saved money in order to help feed hungry children.

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