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.

Volunteerism Inspired by: Ice Cream

You read the headline right. And if you know me well, you know that I'm a big fan of ice cream. So I couldn't resist sharing this news with you.

Target stores nationwide are going to carry two new Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream flavors to promote volunteerism in our own communities. This new campaign, called, Scoop It Forward, hopes to encourage all of us to get out and make a difference where we live.

Part of the campaign is a website partnership with VolunteerMatch which will help you find a service opportunity near you.They match up good people and good causes to connect and do good work. I typed in my zip code and many different opportunities are available, covering a variety of causes to choose from.

To sweeten the deal, you'll receive a coupon for a free pint of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream from Target after you register for one of the many activities found at VolunteerMatch . Plus you can share those "free pint" coupons with five other friends. 

Want to volunteer even more? Go for it! And for each additional activity, receive a $1 off coupon.

The two new Ben & Jerry's flavors?

• Berry Voluntary is raspberry cheesecake flavored ice cream laced with white chocolate chunks and raspberry swirls;

• Brownie Chew Gooder is vanilla caramel ice cream with fudge brownie pieces, finished with a caramel swirl.

They sound delicious for a hot summer night...I may need to try them both!

What will you do to help your community and earn a free pint? Now that he's old enough, my son and I are planning a day packing food at the Oregon Food Bank this summer.

Little Things We Can All Do To Help The Big (Oil) Spill

Whether you're watching the nightly news or reading the stories online, the continually growing oil spill travesty in the Gulf is distressing to us all. This crisis will hurt our nation in multiple ways from the economy, the environment and our health, for years to come, possibly even future generations. 

From National Wildlife Federation's (NWF) Dr. Doug Inkley:

"Words like 'tragedy' and 'disaster' do not do justice to what is happening to the people whose way of life is being disrupted and destroyed. My heart goes out to the fishing guides, the shrimp fisherman, the oystermen, and others whose lives are being destroyed. At the same time, it was inspiring to see so many people willing to help."

The NWF has sent a team of wildlife experts to asses the devastating impact of this tragedy on the communities, wildlife, marshes and wetlands throughout the area. They are collaborating with BP and other industry representatives, local and national nonprofits, and state and federal government agencies to help coordinate a meaningful volunteer response to the catastrophe.

While it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the disaster and mounting clean up that needs to happen, everyone that I talk with wants to help in some way. We just don't know how. Like me, most of us can't take a week off from our work or family obligations to clean pelicans but there are ways that we can all help. Easy, simple ways that collectively add up to impact.

Here are just a few ways we can help support the National Wildlife Federation's efforts in the Gulf:

1. Donate to the NWF's Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund. The money donated to this fund will go toward supporting NWF's immediate response and longer term on-the-ground work to safeguard wildlife affected by this tragedy.
2. Use social media to help spread the word about NWF's clean up efforts. Whether you share on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or your own website or blog, they've listed messaging, links and graphics to make it really easy to get the word out.
3. Tell your senators that now more than ever we need to pass comprehensive legislation that provides America with cleaner and safer energy choices.

For us parents, the editors of Ranger Rick magazine have put together this great article on How To Talk To Kids About The Oil Spill. This is a great resource to help them understand what happened, how it's impacting  the environment and how they can help their family be a little greener.

NWF is also sharing inspirational stories of children across the country doing their part to help in creative ways. These unique, and fun, fundraising ideas are a great way to encourage our children to take their emotions and desires to help one step further into action.

For those of us in other parts of the country, it might be tempting to not think of this as "our" problem, but it truly is. The Gulf region's waters and the animals that call this area home, are major contributors to our U.S. economy. Health issues that have begun to plague workers in the region have the potential to be passed down to future generations. No one can even begin to estimate the resulting environmental damage our world will be left with. 

If we all do one thing today to help National Wildlife Federation's clean up efforts, we can make a big difference in the Gulf region, and future generations.

Photo: Saul Loeb - AFP/Getty Images

Help Your Favorite Charity Win $200,000 With One Click

What do you feel especially passion about? Do you have a favorite charity or cause that you motivates you into action? What if you could help make a difference with just a vote? Would you take two minutes of your time to help a charity receive $200,000?

Then go to Take Part right now (or at least before May 24th), register (takes less than one minute and there's no requirements) and vote for your charity. Take Part and American Express are going to give one charity in each of the categories below $200,000 - the charity with the most votes in each section wins!

• Arts & Culture

• Community Development

• Education

• Environment & Wildlife

• Health & Wellness

What are you waiting for? This is one of those really easy ways we can help make a difference - no cost, no commitments...just easy money for organizations doing amazing work! Vote today and vote again next week until the May 24th deadline. 

About Take Part

TakePart.com is an independent online community that connects its members directly to the issues that inspire them to engage, contribute and take action.

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?

Donating Stuffed Animals to Children in Iraq

Do you have a few stuffies, loveys or other gently loved soft animals that your children no longer enjoy? Need to make room for new things from the holidays or upcoming birthdays? We clean out our toys, clothes and items usually with the season's change, so guess what we're doing this week?

We're doing one thing different this season though. Our no-longer-beloved stuffed animals will be shared with the youngest victims of war in Iraq: the children. It's impossible for me to see the joy and comfort that special stuffed friends bring my own children and not want to give that opportunity to every child.

My friend Asha at Parent Hacks and Heather at Rookie Moms introduced me to Edmay Mayers, a member of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers who is currently stationed in Iraq. She's bringing a little love and hope to children in the villages of Iraq who might not have either, in the form of stuffed animals. It's important work that she's doing and we're ready to help...you in?

So, clean out your closets, purses, cars and drawers (we know they like to hide) to find those gently loved stuffies to share.

Instructions from the Parent Hacks website are:

You can request a FREE mailing supply kit for sending items to military personnel. The kit includes boxes, tape, labels, and customs forms. This will allow you arrive at the post office ready to ship. Please note the the supplies are free, but you must still pay for postage.

Via the USPS website, here is how you can request this kit:

• Call 1-800-610-8734 (Packing Supply)
• Choose your language (1 for English, 2 for Spanish)
• Choose option 1 (For Express Mail, Priority Mail, and Global Express)
• When you reach an agent, request CAREKIT04.

The agent will get your address, and the kit should arrive in 7-10 days.

Thanks for the inspiration and introduction, Asha & Heather.

UPDATE: You're going to need the following APO Address for the post office when you request your kit.

Chaplain – Camp Warrior
FOB Warrior – Kirkuk
Toys for the Iraqi Children
APO AE 09359

Help Feed the Hungry While Shopping For Yourself

Ok, it doesn't get much easier than this to help feed hungry Americans. With spring around the corner, there's likely some shopping to be done soon, right? Well, if you shop this weekend, not only do you save money, at the same time you can send part of your purchase amount to Feeding America.

Here's how...

WHAT: You save 30% on your total purchase (yes, everything) and they give 5% to Feeding America when you designate them

WHEN: Wednesday March 18 thru Sunday March 21

WHERE: The Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy (and their factory outlet stores too!)

IMPORTANT:

1. You must tell the cashier that you want Feeding America to receive the 5% donation - if you don't, no donation is made
2. Some of the brand name lines they carry like Converse aren't eligible but you can get all the details on the coupon

So, CLICK HERE to get to the coupon, print it out & go shopping. Just make sure to tell them that you want to help feed the hungry with your donation to Feeding America.

Starting Again

I can't believe that it's a year since we started Change Becomes Change as part of our family Lenten project to do nice deeds for others. We've all learned a lot over the past year and have grown closer as a family in our service journey.

I know we're doing good work in our community and I see little signs that our efforts are also making an impression on the children. We had a special family Valentine's dinner and we each shared what we love about our family. My son said: that we help others.

That kid knows just how to get me all choked up

That same evening we started talking about what we wanted to do for Lent this year. Do we want to make a sacrifice and give something up? Do we want to serve others? It was a unanimous decision to find ways to touch another life each of the next 40 days in a special way.

We generated some new ideas and the kids offered up some of their favorites like feeding the hungry, calling grandparents more often, filling other people's buckets and picking up trash. I was pleased to see that they could reflect back on the past year and recall some of the good deeds they'd accomplished and how good it felt to help.

For today, they bought food for the hungry after school and made special notes for their grandparents who are coming to visit. We'll be sharing some of the new ideas that we're excited about very soon...so stay tuned.

We'd also love to hear of some new ideas you have to get your children involved in helping others. What have you done with your family? 

Here are some of our favorite ways that we've helped others this past year:

Doing Good with One Click

The Little Things That Count

Feeding the Homeless

Building a Hunger Garden

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.

Doing Good With One Click

Do you have any idea how many advertisements you see while you're online each day? What if clicking on the ads resulted in a donation by someone else for that organization? Do good, with one click on an ad - and it's not even your money. That sounds great to me.

I just learned about Do Good today and have been playing around with it so that I felt confident sharing with you. 

Do Good offers a free browser plug-in that works with Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari. It was super easy to install - even for me! The plug-in hides the regularly placed advertisements on any site and replaces them with messages about green initiatives,philanthropic causes, and health and wellness ideas. Doesn't that sound better than those ads for car insurance or mortgage loans? 

Did I mention that Do Good donates 50% of their profits to charitable foundations and green movements? Check it out for yourself and start helping others today. 

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