Giveaway #4.

If you're new to Anniversary Week, please read the rules by clicking on the flower at left.  If you've already entered another giveaway this week, thank you for taking the time to comment!  (And if you have a few minutes to read through the comments from the past three days, I would highly recommend it.)

A couple of other things to note before I jump into today's giveaway:  I have another giveaway over at Bloom through today.  I can't wait to spend a late night backreading this blog!  And, I sent out an email regarding the Postcard Exchange yesterday -- if you signed up & didn't see one in your inbox, you might want to check your spam or email me your current address.  So excited to see this project take shape!

Today's giveaway:  any address stamp of your choice from lettergirl. 

Today's question:  Last year during my anniversary giveaway week, my favorite responses came on the day I asked, "What charity speaks to your heart?"  I sometimes feel that all the little things I do to volunteer don't add up to much.  Maybe that shouldn't matter.  Or maybe that's just the place I'm at right now.  But maybe it's time I listen to that voice telling me, "You can give more, you can give bigger."  As one of you said, "Gifts are given through us, not to us."  I believe that.  And I believe you have to say "no" to say "yes."  (Right now, I feel like I'm a whole lot of little yeses.)  So, once again, what charity speaks to your heart?  (And if you have any thoughts on my little vs. big idea, I'd love to hear those too!)

Comments

[chelsea buch]

Camp Star Trails....a camp for children with cancer and their siblings. It both breaks my heart and makes it bigger.

[kribss]

surfrider foundation: http://www.surfrider.org

or charity:water http://www.charitywater.org

[Addie]

We've been donating to Toys for Tots since we were kids. It's something I plan on continuing with my own children.

[Kim C]

Child, Home & Community -- a non-profit that helps teen parents build a better future for themselves and their children. www.CHCinfo.org

[stephanie]

Our family has recently been helping a small church in our town that reaches out to low income families; these families were recently hit hard with the flooding in middle Tennessee as well. This is a great outreach for my children as they can really wrap their mind around the need for food and clothes.

[Liz Cogswell]

March of Dimes - spending 4 weeks in the NICU with my preemie daughter opened my eyes to what these families go through. March of Dimes is a great source of information and support for these families.

[Michelle J]

Food Banks. In the past year the need has gone up, while donations have decreased. As for little and big - Big is good. If you have the time to organize a large event, donate a huge amount of money, sponsor or mentor someone, then do it. However if you don't have the time (job, family, business) or inclination, small helps here & there really add up. A meal, a hug, $5 donation... sometimes that is what is needed RIGHT NOW. Also, I like the idea of doing something on a regular basis, setting an example, making it part of your life. Right now my girls are involved in a small church garden their Sunday school class cooked up - growing food for the food bank. Overall, it is a big thing with donations, land contributed, and all the kids benefit by learning how to grow food and garden. However on an individual basis it is a small commitment. Plant some seeds, water, weed. Easy to see and feel how EASY it is to help. I actually prefer small for that reason. It is easy to say BIG is too much to fit in and not do anything.

[Molly]

I work for a philanthropy, so my job is actually to give away money. While I'm familiar with great nonprofits throughout my home state, over time I've really narrowed my personal giving to very local options, like the local food pantry, the local library, the PTO at my girls' school, etc. If I want to love the community I live in (and I do), then I want to support it as best I can by giving locally. Please know that I value national organizations too - just that I feel my dollars have more impact close to home.

It's heartening to see other commenters talk about involving their kids and families - I think teaching our kids how to participate in their communities, how to give their time and resources - is so important (and so gratifying for them, too).

[Lesley]

I love to give through my church, which disseminates my gift internationally. My gifts go to some of the most varied and worthy things across the globe: emergency relief worldwide (stores of food & necessities specific to different regions of the world are at the ready so when an earthquake hits in, for example, Haiti, my church is usually the first to deliver goods, and it is even stuff the Haitians would be used to eating), ingredients and the making of peanut butter for local food banks, educating nurses worldwide on newborn resuscitation techniques, and the list goes on. It is one of the only organizations that puts 100% of my donation to action in those projects-- the church itself covers every bit of administrative and overhead costs. (http://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/humanitarian-services/)

[Amy]

I'm at the age where all my friends are having babies. We have had several babies in our group born prematurely and some of those tiny babies didn't make it. We give to March of Dimes every year and are so thankful that babies are being saved everyday because of this organization.

We also give through our church and one of our largest projects is bringing clean water to areas of the world that don't have that simple luxury through the Living Water International Organization. Check it out at http://www.water.cc/

[Kristy]

I became involved with the "Make a Wish Foundation" through Chi Omega many years ago. It is still the charity/philanthropy that speaks to my heart.

[Lisa S.]

Ronald McDonald House Group-it really beat sleeping in a hospital chair!
Great give aways!

[Kari]

I don't really have one that speaks to me yet, but I would love to be able to pay for something that someone can't afford. Such as college tuition, in-vitro fertilization, etc.

[jen]

Susan G. Komen for the Cure has a special place in my heart, after losing my amazing aunt to breast cancer last year. I'm committed to helping find a cure, though ... so hopefully one day they won't be a need for Komen! (PS LOVE these posts! So many amazing organizations out there.) "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead.

[chel]

In general- Best Friends Animal Society. It's a great big ranch where they basically take tons of neglected, abused, and abandoned animals of all kinds (from domestic to farm) and rehabilitate them. They try and find homes for them, and if not, they can live out their lives at Best Friends, being cared for and loved by the people who volunteer there.

Locally, my husband and I volunteer at For the Love of Cats (http://floridacatrescue.com) which is a smaller scale version of Best Friends, and focused on cats. I live on a tiny island just north of the Everglades and when developers first came to the island, they brought hundreds of cats and kittens with them and set them loose to "clean" the island of rodents. Then they just abandoned them to fend for themselves. So there are a lot of homeless cats here. FLC feeds, cares for, and neuters/spays all the feral colonies, and we take in any kittens or abandoned housecats (lots because of the foreclosure situation) and give them a spot in our shelter. If they can't find a home, they stay with us forever. It's amazing. I'm SO LUCKY to have something so wonderful so close to me. It's given *me* so much more than I have given it.

[MelissaPete]

EVERY charity tugs at my heart. I've lost friends to breast cancer, and others to MS. I've watched friends with children who had leukemia and other serious illnesses, and have seen way too many kids go without proper food and nutrition. There are so many worthy donation requests that come to my mailbox regularly. Were I a wealthier woman financially! I dream about the difference I could make.

What I do is pay a regular, full tithe to my church each year. Some of us never see a direct benefit from month to month, but each time there is a natural disaster or a need of some kind in the world, I know that my money is helping. Where I know it helps even more is locally. I know because when my mom was on her own, ill and unemployed, my church supported her in ways my sister and I couldn't. Her rent was paid, allowing her to use what little money she had to pay for food and medical expenses. I know our donations are helping some family in dire straights. That's the best I can do with what I have. I still wish I could do so much more. Maybe some day.

[tracy]

The Humane Society. Animals are very important in my life, and always have been. My two dogs are my best friends. The Humane Society is more than finding homes for cats and dogs, they help to stop puppy mills and animal cruelty, to name just a few areas in which they help. Great organization!

[shana]

I'm sure I said "The Children's Shelter of Cebu" last time around and I haven't changed my tune yet. It's an amazing place (I know there are LOTS of amazing places and people who do amazing work, but this one is close to our hearts) that rescues orphans in Cebu City in the Philippines. We've been there and seen the fabulous work they do first hand! Good stuff!

[Michele]

Fieldsstone Farms therapeutic riding center, St. Judes, Michael J Fox Foundation, The Gathering Place

[Kilee]

Make a Wish Foundation - what an amazing thing to be able to make a child's dream come true during a tough time!

Also - don't forget that if we all do 'little things' then we, as a group, are doing 'big things' together in many different places.

[heather]

while it's not a charity, per se, The Cattery is a local no-kill cat shelter here in Corpus Christi. there is a program to virtu-adopt cats that aren't getting adopted, to help alleviate the costs incurred by The Cattery in taking care of all these animals. there is a huge problem with stray cats in the area, and as a cat lover, this is a perfect place to funnel money. we're even considering donating to The Cattery as part of our wedding favor to our guests.

cheers,

*Heather*

[Rachael]

Heifer International. I really admire what they're doing.

And while this isn't an organized charity, I've found lately that I feel a deep satisfaction from donating my own time. It's much easier for me to write a check, but I feel like I'm giving more when I spend two hours of my precious "alone time" doing something that's bigger than myself. And not on a huge scale--lately I've just been calling friends to see what I can help them with--we all have those projects that we'd love to get to if we just had an extra pair of hands!!--so that's what I've been doing lately.

[Rachael]

sorry about the extra comment--but I also wanted to say that I'm always so impressed with what our regular church tithes go for (disseminated throughout the world by LDS Philanthropies).

And I, too, love Bloom--it's been so neat to watch it grow over the past year or so!

[Zaineb]

Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

[Sara]

What a great list so far! I volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and I give to Oxfam America. Both do such great work! I like to do something both locally and internationally.