Spreading the RAZ Feeling - "Random Acts of Zhu" #RAZ2011

The holidays are almost here! My Christmas list is finished, things are waiting to be wrapped. But, this year I wanted my children to do more than dream about their toy wish-lists. I really wanted to begin a tradition of giving.

After having reviewed and posted many of Cepia LLC's great toys this year here on Adventures in All Things Food, when I heard they were accepting applications for their Random Acts of Zhu program, or RAZ, I knew it would be a great opportunity for my family, our community and this blog.

In it's 3rd year, The RAZ program sent Cepia LLC's toys to bloggers. Selected bloggers choose the charity or charities to give the toys to. I love the personal touch of this program and I really wanted my little ones involved.

It was very exciting the day the boxes arrived!

I knew something was up with our usual FedEx driver backed into our driveway...

Of course, my son's first reaction was to rip open boxes and see what was inside. Even at 4 he was excited that these toys were going to children in our community. I asked him to help be one of Santa's helpers this season.

Everyone helped and we just needed to find the right home for our new ZhuZhu friends. We were sent an assortment of the Kung Zhu line of toys. There were hamsters, armor, tunnels and other accessories. It was an impressive selection.

We originally wanted to share some of the toys with Doernbecher Children's Hospital that my children are treated for PKU at, but we just couldn't fit in a 3 hour trip to the hospital. Instead I decided to keep the toys within our community.

Our local Fire Department organizes the Toys for Tots drive for the entire county. No families are turned away and everyone can go home with a toy. This seemed like a great home for our hamsters.

We unloaded our boxes in the middle of the school cafeteria. Volunteers from the local fire stations helped  unpack the boxes and get them ready for the families. There was such need in our community and the packed school was the proof.

 I was astounded to hear that people had been lining up outside the school since 5 am waiting for a toy.

When the doors closed that evening, about 350 people had received toys for their children. It was great to know that many children will have those Kung Zhu hamsters and accessories under their trees.

My children loved helping Santa and being involved with the Random Acts of Zhu! It was the first time my 4-year old stopped talking about his own Christmas list and instead was talking about the other children in our community.

It was a RAZ Success!


So, a big thank you to Cepia LLC for donating the toys, MomSelect for selecting our community and to everyone involved with helping to teach my children the true meaning of Christmas this year.

Find all the great Zhu Zhu products at zhuniverse.com

*Disclaimer - Cepia LLC provided the toys to be donated. I did not receive any compensation or product to participate in the Random Acts of Zhu program. All opinions are my own. This opportunity was made possible by MomSelect and Cepia LLC.