Welcome, friends, to one of my favorite holiday traditions: The Fourth Annual Pseudostoops Giving My Money Away Extravaganza!
For anyone who may be new, here is how this works: each day this week I will feature a different charitable organization to which I had already planned to give money at the holidays. I am committing to give each featured organization a minimum $25 donation. Here is the twist: I invite everyone to read about the charity and, for every comment that I receive on the post, I’ll donate an additional 50 cents. Comments will remain open until the next day’s post goes up. You get to give money to charity, without having to spend any! Fun, right?
I like to use this space to feature smaller and local charities that do important work in my community. It’s not that I don’t also appreciate and support the work of much larger charities – I certainly do – but in every community there are smaller organizations filling real need, and I love being able to shine a small light on some of those great organizations.
Your comment need not say anything in particular (I have had many people just say “comment!” every year, and that’s fine!) but if you want, you can tell me a little about one of YOUR favorite charities. On Friday, I’ll select five charities that other people have mentioned and set up a poll. The charity that gets the most votes will get a $50 donation from me.
So! Let’s do this. Tell your friends, tell your blog and your Twitter stream, tell the random person you see on the street. Strain my wallet. Lets do some good things for people who really need it at this time of year.
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The first organization I’m featuring this year is unapologetically inspired by the work of one Emily Cassee, who took what started as a partnership with Huggies and ran with it, independently raising money for a local diaper bank.
Today, I feature a diaper bank that is local to me: Bundle of Joy.
As you may know, food stamps and other public assistance do not cover the purchase of diapers, and families are often driven to extreme lengths to try to conserve and reuse disposable diapers. Lack of access to clean diapers, in addition to causing families stress and embarrassment, is linked to real health problems. No baby deserves that. Diapers are one of the first items to be snapped up at food pantries; they’re hard to keep on shelves.
Bundle of Joy was started by parents who were inspired to act after learning about diaper need in the area. They donate diapers to food pantries and child care agencies throughout the city. Bundle of Joy is 100% volunteer-based, meaning 100% of all donations go directly to purchasing diapers for families in need. That’s pretty remarkable.
So get to it! Leave a comment, and I’ll donate 50 cents to Bundle of Joy. Let’s help some families in need this holiday season.
Hooray! I love that you do this!
I had no idea diaper banks existed. That is so awesome!!!
What a wonderful thing.
You? Are awesome. I LOVE this tradition.
This cause is one near and dear to me. Since University, I’ve been involved in a charity up here in Canada called Meal Exchange. It was designed by University students so that they could donate excess meal points/meal plan meals to local charities to battle food insecurity (diaper need is part of that, too). One of my good friends from University is the executive director now, and it is starting to move into campuses in the US, too.
Anyway, with two small kids in diapers — though one is nearly trained (knock wood) — I am so pleased that you’re highlighting this charity for those who struggle with diaper need.
Love this! Diaper banks fill such an important (and expensive!) need.
My favorite local charity: the local food bank, which also collects book bags, coats, pajamas, school supplies and (my favorite this year) filled Christmas stockings for children.
I look forward to this every year.
My favorite charities are: St. Jude’s Children’s Cancer Research, a local no-kill animal shelter, a local group that captures and vaccinates/sterilizes/re-releases feral cats, a local clothing/food pantry, and all those ones where you can buy a flock of chickens or a case of vitamin A shots or that sort of thing (I’m not mentioning one specifically, because I keep meaning to compare the various ones on one of those charity-spending-report things, to see which one is best, but haven’t done it yet).
Yay! Thank you!
Great idea! And believe it or not, on my to-do list today is to drop off diapers at my local food bank, Interfaith Relief. Yahoo!
I love that you do this every year!! Bundle of Joy sounds like a wonderful charity.
I found your blog last year at this time when Swistle featured your GMMA. My favorite charities are usually ones to do with food or kids, so this is a good one.
What a great idea and a great cause!
This is awesome, both that you do this and that there’s a charity out there dedicated to providing people with clean diapers.
Yea, I am so glad you are ding this again, what a great org. I have never heard about them but they provide an amazing service.
Diaper banks=brilliant. Love this.
I love that you do this! And what a great charity! While I don’t have kids, the Huggies campaign really opened my eyes. I had no idea that some people have to re-use disposable diapers.
Good work!
Whoa, awesome. I just bought a pack of newborn diapers for a drive at my church, and as a child-free person, I was TOTALLY overwhelmed by the cost and confusion (size, quantity, cost/diaper, age of child, etc.) of the diaper aisle. I can only imagine what the experience is like for someone struggling with finances.
You are so awesome!!
I totally fell down on the job after 2010′s Year Of Charity, so I think i’ll add another $25 independently to each charity of yours this week
Yay, this is one of my favorite holiday traditions!
I love this!
I love that you do this every year! My favorite charity is a local no kill animal shelter that our whole family volunteers at year around.
Yay, diapers! You have also reminded me I have a package of Size Twos that SOMEONE grew out of a looooong time ago that need donating.
It makes me so sad to hear about babies without clean diapers when I have a housefull of diapers, some of which my baby has already outgrown. I need to get on the ball about donating them!
Oh, yay! My favorite part of the year! Going to post about this now.
This is such a great tradition! Until meeting Emily, I didn’t really know anything about diaper drives, but it seems like a very worthy cause.
I love this idea!
Awesome to bring the good stuff back!
While you’re looking at the local scene, check out More than Milk (www.facebook.com/pages/More-Than-Milk/167827693278112). A local organization that encourages mothers to volunteer their time – and lets the kidlets join mama while volunteering. Every month, they pick a different local organization to support. My only wish is they organized more activities for the working mama group!
Thank you for doing this!
My favorite charities are the ones that help animals. Especially if they are no-kill shelters.
I think it’s so great that you do this ever year, so I plan to be stalking your comments all week to be sure I post every day!
this is fantastic! love that you’re doing this.
Yay for keeping this tradition alive!
Wonderful organization to feature – and so happy to help in raising additional funds.
I love this idea and your first charity choice!
Love this idea! I’m a local Chicago suburbanite and have volunteered recently at the Northern Illinois Food Bank. I vote them for your random charity day. Thanks for giving!
This idea gives me bundles of joy! Well done! I also agree with acting locally when it comes to charities. My favorite charities are our local animal shelter, The Heifer Project, and our local food bank & homeless shelter.
You are so sweet to do this!
Yay GMMA! I love a local charity in Athens, Georgia called Nuçi’s Space. With all the struggling musicians in town without health insurance, they provide counseling and free doctor’s consults. It was founded by the parents of a young man who loved music here in Athens.
Well, now I’m inspired to find a diaper bank in my area- I have extras that don’t fit Olivia any more. As for favorite charities, I usually give to the no-kill shelter where I got one of my cats, and then some larger organization- last year it was Partners in Health. I’m going to try and look more locally this year!
Yay! I love this idea! I had never heard of diaper banks until today. I just usually take the outgrown diapers and give them to a friend with a younger baby. Now if I have any unopened packs, I’ll be sure to donate them! (Can you tell I’ve never really been that hard up for money that I didn’t realize diapers were the first thing to go off of food pantry shelves? I always donate to my school district’s community cupboard that we run, but I donate food. From now on? I’ll donate diapers).
This is awesome! So many happy baby butts this holiday season!
Favorite charity is the ASPCA, or any no-kill shelter. Comment!
I, too, love Bundle of Joy and just dropped off diapers for them last week! I also love that you do this every year…you’re a beautiful soul
This is awesome!
Can I still comment? Wonderful idea!
great cause!
What a great organization!
What a wonderful idea, what an amazing cause. As a mom to an 18 month old it breaks my heart to think that some parents are faced with the reality of having to re-use soiled diapers. No baby deserves that.