Your Family Can Give "Well" Wishes for Clean, Safe Water to a Community in Need

All I want for Christmas is Clean Water

Water.

Turn on the tap, and out it pours. Clean, safe, and the best thing to put into your body.

But did you know...

"Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war"?

via Charity: Water

The world is in a water crisis. But there are things we can do to help.

Holiday Greetings With Nautica

Starting today, you can upload a photo of your family to the Nautica Facebook Page, include a caption of how your family gives back, and celebrate Nautica's donation of $5,000 to Charity: Water - an organization that brings clean, safe drinking water to needy communities!

Did you know that 100% of public donations to Charity: Water are used for water projects? And, Nautica's donation of $5,000 will bring clean water to an entire village!

Save 30% on Nautica for Your Family Photo

Nautica will choose a few family photos to highlight on the page each day in their Well of Fame on Facebook. You can save 30% on Nautica for your family holiday photo starting today with code: BLOG30 at check out.

Check out the adorable holiday skirts and dresses for girls, or the handy gift buying section.

You can save on using your Nautica photo for your cards over at Hallmark.com by using code NAUTICA25 at checkout there.

Savings abound!

WIN $25 Nautica Gift Card right here!

I'm giving away a $25 gift card to one luck person. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me who you'll spend the $25 on!

For an Extra Entry share this URL link (http://ow.ly/7lIYi )

either on Twitter (cc @JanineNickel) or Facebook, or in an email to your pals...you get the idea.

Contest open to US residents 18 and over and ends November 18, 2011 at 11:00 pm. Winner will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries.

In Summary: get your Nautica, upload your photo and tell the world you care, enter the giveaway, then check out Charity: Water for more ways to help.

Janine

Disclosure: I received a Nautica gift card to purchase clothing for my family photo. All opinions are my own and this post was neither reviewed nor approved prior to being published. Also, I care about the world's water crisis. You should too.

Update on Monday, November 21, 2011 at 11:35AM by Janine Nickel

Winner is...

Yvette! Who's going to buy her brother some much needed polo shirts!

Congrats and thanks everyone for playing along and consider donating to Charity Water.

Hunger Fear Anger Hope

Last week I was invited to Dallas, Texas by the ConAgra Food Foundation and Share Our Strength for the purpose of learning more about hunger and what they are doing to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry.

I was shocked.

I was scared.

I was saddened.

But I left with a sense of hope, and of purpose.

I hope over the next few months to share what I have learned with you.

I hope it angers you.

I hope it scares you.

I hope it inspires you, as it did me.

Two Days in Texas Opened my Eyes Forever

In 2008 the North Texas Food Bank had the goal to double their business. As the director Jan Pruitt said, "Do you know any other business in 2008 that had a goal of  doubling?" Their mission is to 'fill the gap' between the amount of food families are getting versus what they need. The mission was 50 million meals by 2011.

Who are those 50 million?

The New Face of Hunger

We saw a video with a single dad who was working in his father's saddle shop. He was highly educated with a degree in finance, maybe even his masters. But as with many others, the economy and mortgage industry took a turn for the worse and took his financial security with it.

He has a job.

He grows his own vegetables.

He gets help monthly from a food pantry stocked by the North Texas Food Bank.

Photo courtesy of No Kid Hungry & Share Our Strength

We learned about new multi-generational families. Grandparents are raising grandkids. Sometimes this means the entire family has moved in due to economic stress. Sometimes the middle generation simply doesn't exist.

Hunger Scares Me

Hunger can happen to anyone. These days all it takes is one small shift to start the downward spiral. All of us are at risk. What if my husband hurt himself? How long would short term disability last? Then what?

The panic set it.

And then I got angry.

Hunger Angers Me

Jan Pruitt, the director of the North Texas Food Bank explained, "It's not that the United States doesn't have enough food. We have enough food."

So why isn't all of this food getting to where it's needed?

Why are only 38% of the eligible people getting food stamps and what is happening to the money for the remaining 62%? Is it just sitting there?

Why are so many kids hungry in the United States in the year 2010?

HOPE

Organizations like Share Our Strength and the companies like ConAgra that support them offer hope. They have programs that are working. Cooking Matters is the program we focused on and I can't wait to share everything I learned with you.

Over the next few months I am going to see first-hand some of the local food pantry customers and take a Cooking Matters class. I know in my own hometown I've read articles about the surge in food pantry customers who are new, have never had to ask for help, and more shocking...they have jobs. Often white-collar jobs.

Do you know what is going on in your town?

Important Links

North Texas Food Bank website and Twitter @ntfb

ConAgra Food's Foundation website and ConAgra on Twitter

Share our Strength's No Kid Hungry website , on Facebook, and @ShareStrength on Twitter

Cooking Matters website and @CookingMatters on Twitter

Janine

Disclosure: ConAgra and Share our Strength paid for my trip to Texas and I will receive a stipend for my work helping to tell the story and promote Cooking Matters. As always, all opinions and experiences are my own and this post was neither reviewed nor approved prior to posting.

You Can Teach kids to Pay it Forward, or Let Them Join You in Love Drop

The true meaning of the holidays has not been lost. It went missing for a few years, but I think we've got it back. One reason is that we changed our Advent Calendar policy. The other reason, is that I've joined Love Drop.

Advent Calendars are for Giving and Not Receiving

When the twins were little I had so much fun shopping for little surprises that would fit into the cubbies of our Advent Calendar box. Yes, it's this beautifully painted wood box that has 25 little boxes just waiting to be filled, and then of course opened. But the opening got a little out of hand. It became more about what was inside than the spirit behind filling it! Even though the crap inside was just crap...plastic little toys, candy, etc.

Last year we did away with the crap and sat down and filled it with love notes, and little suggestions of ways the family could spend time together like, "Tonight let's build a fire and roast marshmallows.". This was definitely more in the spirit!

Introducing Love Drop

This year I'm going to continue with the 'new' Advent Calendar policy but I've also signed up for Love Drop where we donate a small amount every month. If we get 500 people to donate just $1 a month that's $500 a month (minus taxes) that can be used to help someone!

What I love about Love Drop is the low commitment, but the high return. Especially because we, the members, get to nominate someone to receive the Love Drop!

I can't imagine a better way to talk to the Twofer about GIVING. And, we'll chat about it all year long as Love Drop keeps surprising people who need it.

Did you see me on that box of Cheerios?

Yes, TwoferMom has made it to the Big Time folks.

My photo is on a special edition of Cheerios.

You can all say you knew me when.

Here is the box:

Remember a while back when I wrote this post here about Shop Rite's program called Partners in Caring? From that post Shop Rite and General Mills donated 30 boxes of cereal to a food bank!

That campaign was called Bloggers in Caring and as a thank you, Shop Rite and General Mills included all of our photos on the back of a special box of Honey Nut Cheerios.

Here's my fabulous photo:

OK, it's really part of a mosaic of all of our photos but still, it makes me feel special and so happy to have helped Shop Rite raise awareness and help donate 3,000 boxes of cereal!

I also received a lovely thank you package that included a Shop Rite reusable shopping bag, some yummy treats, and a $20 gift card. The treats are long gone, but I've decided to continue the caring part and let one of my readers win the shopping bag and $20 gift card! Visit my reviews/giveaways page to enter.

And pick up a box of Honey Nut Cheerios with the "Blogging Against Hunger" on the front the next time you are in Shop Rite so we can have breakfast together :).

Janine

Disclosure: I received the Shop Rite gift card, shopping bag, and other treats at no cost and as a thank you for participating in the Bloggers in Caring program. All opinions are my own and this post was not reviewed or approved prior to posting. It was my own decidsion to pass along the gift card and shopping bag to one of my readers in a giveaway.

Fashionista Friday - a Fashion Show for a Great Cause

This Saturday is the 5th Annual Childhelp Fashion Show and Luncheon in Tyson's Corner, Virginia.

I was invited to attend but will be out of town this weekend so I'm counting on one of you to go, take photos, and tell me all about this event that will raise money for victims of child abuse and neglect.

Not only do you get to see the latest fashions for kids, teens and ladies, but you can also enjoy a silent auction, raffle and shopping boutique knowing that the money raised will go to help kids who have silently suffered. As the Childhelp website says, "Be part of a happier story."

Here are the details:

When: Saturday Feb. 20, 2010

Where: Sheraton Premier at Tyson's Corner (8661 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA 22182)

Time: 10:00 am

Cost $75 per person

For more information visit the Fashion Show website.

Then let me know if you went so I can personally thank you here on my blog.

Janine