Off to School with Elmer's Bag It Forward

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  Getting my son ready for school we shopped for  Elmer's Bag it Forward, a Champions for Kids project, while doing our school shopping. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and its client. #BagItForward #cfk #shop

When I was a child I looked forward to back to school shopping. It was special one-on-one time with my Mom, and though I knew money was tight, she always managed to save enough for a few fun extras. I usually chose the least expensive spiral notebooks and pencils so I could splurge on my favorite pencil box, fun erasers and pencil toppers.

My son is gearing up for his big start to the school year in 2 weeks. He will be attending the same elementary school my husband did about 30 years ago! While visiting the school for pre-registration, I found out the current principal was my 6th grade teacher. In our little rural community not only is the school site historic, but the the original one room school house is still standing. Students still hatch chicks each Spring and the staff comes up with creative ways to make school fun.

In 2009, this little elementary school even entered the Guinness Book of  World Records for the largest marble tournament. It was quite an event.

Despite all these great reasons to be excited for the coming year, I am still a mom, and still nervous to send my oldest off to school. I did want to make school supply shopping as memorable for him as it was for me. We headed to our local Walmart, since it has the largest school supply selection in our small town, and got our school supply list at the kiosk just inside the door. Look for the Elmer's sign to locate yours.

Sadly, I didn't notice any fun or crazy pencil toppers or shaped erasers while we shopped, son's thing anyway. Instead I decided to make this shopping trip special by getting my son to #BagItForward with Champions For Kids #cfk.

You might remember that we donated last year, too. It is so easy to get my kids excited about giving back through this program. While we shopped for our own supplies, I grabbed extra to fill another bag for our school. The prices were right for stocking up. Elmer's School Glue and crayons were just 2/$1. Spiral notebooks were only $0.17 each. My son took charge this year and wanted to see how many sales we could find in the store. There are a lot of them.

Being a rural community the drawback is parents don't want to ask for help. Since everyone knows everyone, it is hard to admit if you can't afford school supplies. That is why I love this program. I will donate our items to my son's teacher to be used as needed. No one has to be embarrassed or singled out. This will also keep the Kindergarten teacher from having to spend any money out of her own pocket.

This year the supply list is simple: crayons, markers, pencils, Elmer's School Glue, glue sticks, etc.. I also added in Kleenex and saline Boogie Wipes for the classroom to help with runny noses and sticky fingers.

Generous friends contributed extra supplies during a play date, also. I asked families for extra supplies to help fill the box for the Kindergarten class. Everyone was happy to bring an extra bottle of glue and box of crayons, or glue sticks and pencils for a good cause. It all adds up quickly.

I put our donation in a handy plastic storage container hoping the teacher could re-purpose it later.

I think it meant a lot to my son to hand over the tub of supplies to his new teacher. He was contributing to his classroom and helping out his fellow students. It not only made him feel good, but helped with any fears he had about school.

Now I hope you will be inspired to participate with Elmer's Bag It Forward program and any of the other Champions For Kids service projects. It's so easy to get involved by just grabbing a few more supplies. Get your friends and family to help fill a box or backpack at your next party or play date.

Learn more about Elmer's Bag it Forward program on the Champions For Kids site. Also check out the Bag it Forward Pinterest board for even more inspiration.

Where will you Bag it Forward?

Wrapping up our #NickCFK Book Drive - Still Time to Get Involved

Last week I shared my family's love of reading and our September Simple Service Project to collect books for a local Big Help Book Drive in my #NickCFK post. This stack of books represents most of the stories we collected for our local Head Start program.

Since the Head Start program is for children ages 3-5, which is the same ages of my own children, I had them help me select books for the donation. Who better to help with this project than peers. Of course my children love the Nickelodeon characters so they selected several books featuring Dora, Olivia, Team Umizumi, The Bubble Guppies and Blues Clues. My husband and I read to our children every night and I can't imagine a home not filled with books for young, eager minds.

This is a great month to participate with Champions for Kids. They want to get regular people involved to be one of millions to meet their goal of 20 million people participating in Simple Service Projects by 2020. Could you imagine the good that could come of that many people helping others? Helping their communities? I am proud to be one of millions and I hope I am setting a great example for my children to continue on with projects like this.

Since the last post, my order from Walmart.com arrived with even more great Nickelodeon books to add to the donation pile. I have to tell you, the stack grew quickly from the books we purchased at the start (Check out my Google+ album HERE), the books we donated from our own stash and books that were sent or given to me as a donation. So many great stories to be shared with young readers in our community.

What I have always loved about books is that great stories can be shared. Even worn and tattered books come alive at bedtime or story time for young readers. I have fond memories of my own Mother reading me well-worn books passed down in the family. Some of my favorites included Dr. Seuss stories. Told again and again, they only seemed to get better with each reading.

Head Start costs nothing for qualifying families. The goal is to get children ready to learn and succeed in school. I thought this Big Help Book Drive was the perfect fit because they both are trying to help low-income students succeed.

So simple, isn't it?

So simple I hope you will be encouraged to collect books for children in your community. How many can you collect? And where would you donate your books?

In the end we had 63 books for young children. Many were favorites of ours, some new, but I am sure all will be loved and appreciated. Every book can help, so let's all get involved and make sure there are books available for everyone.

Check out the Champions for Kids site for suggestions and inspiration. Be sure to help out their goal by letting them know if you donate books. Also follow them on Twitter and Facebook to see all the good being done.

Also check out their partner, Nickelodeon on Twitter and Facebook because their beloved characters go a long way to inspire children to read their stories.

Now what are you waiting for? Go see how many books you can collect!

*Disclaimer - I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Champions for Kids. #NickCFK #CBias. All opinions are entirely my own.

Preparing to Share the Love - Our #NickCFK Book Drive

Every night around 8pm, you can find our family curled up around a book. It is a tradition we began with the kids when my son was small and could barely sit still long enough for me to get through a page.

Though the seeds for this tradition were planted way back when I was expecting. Family and friends gifted me with several lovely stories to start our collection before he was even born. Every year since on birthdays the great grandparents add to our collection and I am always on the search for new titles to add as well. You could say we place a great value on reading and books in our home.

Did you know:

• 61% of low-income families have no books for children in their homes, and more than 80% of the preschool and after-school programs serving at-risk children have no books at all. 
• Approximately 8.7 million fourth through twelfth grade students struggle with required reading and writing tasks in school. For many adolescent students, ongoing difficulties with reading and writing figure prominently in the decision to drop out of school.  

So here is September's SIMPLE Service Project:

I am so excited to be working with Champions for Kids again through #CBias. This month is an amazing cause and such a simple one to get involved with. Nickelodeon's Big Help Book Drive (#NickCFK)  is a call to action for people in communities across the country to help get books into the hands of young readers.

This project is in two parts. I took my family to our local Walmart to purchase several Nickelodeon books to start my book drive with. I loaded up my family and asked my children to help choose books to give away. My children have several favorite Nickelodeon characters, so I knew this would be easy!

Before shopping I check both the Champions for Kids site and Walmart.com to get an idea of what I needed to pick up. Our store listed a huge selection of books in-store. But when we arrived at our local Walmart there were many fewer titles on the shelves.

My kids were looking for their favorite faces and we went through the stacks of books. There were some other great titles available, too. Even some classics that are already on our own shelves.

Check out our complete shopping trip in my Google+ album. We did find a few Dora books and one about my daughter's favorite, Olivia. I remembered all the fun titles I saw on the site and wanted to add a few more to our collection pile.

If you have ever shopped on Walmart's site you know how many great options there are. I immediately thought of their Site to store option for some of the books I wanted. After checking arrival estimates, I went with the home shipping option. I was able to get 6 more books that will arrive before we make our final donation. 

The prices at Walmart were great! If you want to host your own book drive or make a donation to a worthy group in your area, be sure to check out the great prices and selection there. Most of the books I purchased were just over $3 each. 

So that is a total of 10 books to begin our project with. The kids and I are going to be going through their own shelves to select books to donate and I have already had a great response from our friends wanting to get involved as well.

I can't wait to see how many books we can collect and donate to our local Head Start Program. Our small rural community has a large number of children who qualify for added assistance in education, health care and social services.  I hope all these extra books will help those Pre-school and Kindergarten aged children discover a love of learning, reading and the value of enjoying a good book.

Connect with Champions for Kids on Facebook or through their twitter handle: @champions4kids
Connect with Nickelodeon on Facebook or through their twitter handle: @nickelodeontv

Does your family have any extra books your could donate? What local group would you donate to for a Big Help Book Drive? Share in the comments below. I would love to hear about anyone inspired to do their own SIMPLE Service Project this month. Remember, you could be one of millions to help CFK meet their goal of 20 million people by 2020!

*Disclaimer - I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Champions for Kids. #NickCFK #CBias. All opinions are my own.

Post Bowls of Hope - Sharing with our Community #PostCFK

If your kids are like mine, the first thing out of their mouths in the morning is, "Mom, what's for breakfast?" or "I'm hungry!" My kids greet every day hungry but it is simple enough for me to grab their favorite cereal or make them their favorite breakfast.

Now, what if there wasn't food in the house to feed them? I can't even imagine.

I have been involved with previous Champions for Kids SIMPLE Service Projects but June's Post Bowls of Hope project (#PostCFK) was very fitting for my community. Unemployment here is high and many families need assistance to feed their children in the Summer months when school is out. With the loss of timber jobs in our area in the 90's, the local economy hasn't improved since then.

We started our project at our local Walmart. I love the cereal selection and prices there. Post is encouraging families to help end child hunger with their "Buy 2, Give 1" campaign. Just pick up 2 great Post cereals and donate one to a local food pantry, church or other organization to help feed children. Simple, right?

I purchased a variety of items on our trip well-suited for breakfast. I grabbed some of our favorite Post cereals - Honey Bunches of Oats, Honey Combs, Great Grains and Raisin Bran, syrup, juice, fruit and pancake mixes to donate. Which Post cereal is your favorite? Catch the whole trip in my Google+ album.

For our family, I kept a box of Honey Combs. I love the size and shape for kids to snack on. The sweet taste and finger-friendly size brought a smile to my 4-year old's face. It was his first taste of a cereal I enjoyed as a child.

I collected non-perishable food items for our local UCAN Food Bank. They are always in need of food and when I called for more information they said they are happy to take even one box or can. Every little bit helps.

I am thrilled to say that we collected 38 lbs of food for our food bank. It was a great chance to get my young children involved with giving back to the community. I would love for them to grow up remembering all the great community service campaigns we contributed to as a family. They not only helped me shop for the items, collect, but also helped deliver the bags of food. ...and try out the pantry's big scale!

Staples like rice, beans, canned goods and cereal are always welcome at our local food bank.

38 lbs of food! More than either of the kids weigh.

Getting involved this month with Champions for Kids is easy! Be sure to stop by the Champions for Kids site for inspiration or keep track of all the good things happening over on their Facebook Page and Twitter.

Pick up an extra box of cereal on your next shopping trip, clean out the pantry or host your own food drive with friends, family or coworkers to help end childhood hunger your community. I am fighting childhood hunger. Will you join me?

Connect with Post on Facebook
or Twitter @PostCereals

*Disclaimer - I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. #CBias #SocialFabric  All opinions are my own.

From Chips to a Charitable Donation - Making the Switch

I posted a few weeks ago about the Jennie-O Make The Switch Challenge I was undertaking. Check out my post, "Making a Switch, a Sacrifice and Good Deeds". We decided to give our beloved salty snacks for greater causes, our health and to use the money saved to make a donation to our local Battered Person's Advocacy (BPA).

Honestly, I expected much more of a revolt from my kids. They didn't seem to miss the chips. We snacked on fruit, veggies and fruit juice popsicles instead.

Turkey is a great swap out for healthy meals and this was a great chance to show off how flavorful the Jennie-O lean turkey products are as well as how easy they are to use. I made several delicious meals using the ground turkey. I just subbed it in wherever I normally would use ground beef. There were many great options available at our store. You can see my shopping trip in my Google+ album.

One of our favorite meals is taco salad! Combined with all our favorite veggies and topped with browned turkey instead of beef, it was a huge hit.

When I was in high school I used to volunteer to help watch children while Moms met for the weekly BPA meeting. My idea was to provide platters of food for the attendants that were healthy and showed off the Jennie-O products.

I also created a spinach and turkey meatball for the occasion. The recipe was based on our family favorite, but I added in a few new flavors to spice it up!

Asian Turkey Meatballs

You Will Need:
1 pkg. of Jennie-O Ground Turkey
1 pkg. frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 Tbsp. diced onion
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 tsp. fresh grated ginger
1 clove garlic
2 tsp. soy sauce

This recipe is so easy! Just throw all the ingredients in a big bowl and get in there and mix it up. Be sure to take off your rings first.

Then shape them.. I like to use my smallest cookie scoop to make an  hors d'oeuvres sized meatball.

Then I put a little oil in my largest cast iron skillet and heat it to medium. Keep an eye on the meatballs and turn them as needed to get a nice even browning.

These also go well with spaghetti, but they are just as good alone or with a little dip of marinara sauce.

With Jennie-O meatballs, turkey ham, cheese, crackers, fruit and juice. We are all set for a great meeting.

I am very proud of what our local BPA offers for our community. Many of the women have small children and leaving a bad situation isn't always easy. I am pretty sure the last thing on their minds is making healthy food choices. I just wanted to show everyone how easy it can be. This is a cause near and dear to my heart for personal reasons.

There is still plenty of time to get involved with this month's #JennieoCFK & Make the Switch. Check out the Champions for Kids website, connect with them on twitter and Facebook, and if you get involved in your community, I would love to hear about it!


*Disclaimer - I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. #JennieOCFK #CBias #SocialFabric  All opinions are my own.

Our Family's Game Day Challenge - #OdwallaCFK

Outdoor play, sports and being active are important for all of us but I feel they are an essential part of childhood. So I am honored to be a part of the Champion for Kids Odwalla 'Game Day Challenge!' - bringing sports equipment to our community.

With my shoppers we went out in search of sports equipment and outdoor play items to get kids in our community moving and active this Summer. This SIMPLE Service project would be perfect for any community center, camp or activity group aimed at children. I chose our local Head Start because the children are a similar age to mine. Look for the #OdwallaCFK hashtag on blog posts or twitter for others joining in on the fun.

I hoped to get items like balls, bubbles and hula hoops. None of these items are expensive and all are a great way to get kids active. I still want to collect a few more items, but our Walmart shopping trip was a great start.

I love the selection of large balls and the colorful hula hoops and toys. Keeping my children in mind, I found items my husband and I knew they would enjoy. My oldest is showing an interest in more organized sports like soccer and Tee-ball. So we found a few items for that.

Of course kids who play hard get thirsty! I love Odwalla juices and used to buy more of it. I enjoy the ingredients and the flavor. The Original Superfood is my all-time favorite. I grabbed an assortment of juices though to share. Our Walmart is still under construction so finding everything took a little longer than expected. I can't wait till the expansion is completed and our grocery section will include more cold and fresh items.

After our Walmart trip and going through our home we made quiet a pile of items. I can already imagine the kids outside playing with them.

You might have noticed the "I Am One of Millions" badge on my sidebar. You can be one too and give back to the kids in your community. Find out how you can get involved at the Champions for Kids website, connect with them on Facebook or Twitter. You can also see our whole shopping experience in our Google+ album.

*Disclaimer - I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for  Collective Bias™.   #CBias #SocialFabric All opinions are my own.

Couponing For Good - Family Mission Completed! #AllYouCFK

I left off the previous post, on this Couponing For Good Challenge, just after the savings rush from all those deals and coupons. We had collected a few bags of goodies on our Walmart shopping trip (check out the Google+ album for my details) and I left you hanging as to where our donation would be going...

Well, I decided to shop for our local charity, Casa De Belen.

Casa De Belen is a volunteer, non-profit organization that provides a safe home for pregnant teens and homeless families with adolescents while they back on their feet. It provides shelter and helps to create a positive future for up to 60 residents at a time.

I live in a small community, but there are an estimated 110- 200 homeless youth here. Many run away from violent and abusive homes. That is where the motto: Healing the heart that hurts comes in.

Casa De Belen relies on the community to help make contributions to keep it running. We chose to help by using All You and coupons to collect items requested for donation on their website. They are always in need of things like bedding, household items and first aid needs.

We found coupons for laundry detergent and toilet paper. Walmart had everyday low prices on items like hand sanitizer and bath towels.

I took my children to drop off our donation. I explained to my 4-year old son about donating to those in need. He had a lot of questions but having him be a part of this program was important to me.

This was my first time going to Casa De Belen. It was a rainy day and the building was pretty nondescript. It is hard to imagine the lives that are changed by having this place of refuge in town.

It was very rewarding for my family to participate in the Champions For Kids Simple Service Project with All You  (#AllYouCFK). I hope my story will inspire you to think about doing your own project to benefit the children in our area.

You can find more inspiration and information on the Champions For Kids Facebook page or by following them on twitter @champions4kids.


*Disclaimer - This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All opinion are my own.

All You Couponing For Good! #AllYouCFK

Do you use coupons?

I love the rush of getting a bargain and saving our family some money, but I also love giving back to our community. Getting the opportunity to participate in a Champions for Kids Mission seemed like the best of both worlds. This project not only utilizes my coupon savvy, but lets me work with my favorite magazine, All You. The SIMPLE Service Project I am participating in for March is the All You, (#AllYouCFK) Couponing for Good Project.


This is my first time using coupons for a donation, but I think I am ready for the challenge.


We will be using our coupons for a local non-profit that serves youth and their families in our community. Deciding on a cause helped me to create a shopping list and find the right coupons. I will reveal the organization and our donation details in a post soon. I am so excited to tell you about this great organization in our community and why I am so excited to be helping them through couponing.


The non-profits' site has a list of items wanted for donation, it includes things like linens, cleaning supplies and basics. These are all things that I have often seen a coupon for in All You magazine. It is easy to get overwhelmed with coupon details, so I tried to stay focused and organized as I prepared for our shopping trip.

Armed with my favorite magazines and dipping into my own stash of coupons I was able to put together a nice stack of savings for our little trip to Walmart. Of course I didn't have a coupon for everything on my shopping list, but knowing that Walmart has great everyday low prices I knew I could make my money stretch.

I'm not sure my son understands what a coupons is, but he knew his Mommy was excited. This one my son helped me find in All You.

Some savings were big, manufacturer's coupons always help, and some were smaller, but it all adds up. Savings is savings.


Make sure to check the fine print before you leave the house. Check for exclusions and the expiration date so there are no surprises at checkout. Our cashier was very patient even when her system was not so cooperative. I allowed for ample time for this trip knowing that it might take a little longer to track down our specific items and check out with coupons.


It was worth it though! 

Our subtotal was $116.39

After coupons we spent $86.68

We saved: $29.71

This is our donation so far:

Check out our entire shopping experience in my Google+ album. You can also get involved with the All You Couponing for Good Simple Service Project. All You has tips and wants you to share your stories to inspire others to be involved in their communities as well. Let me know if I have inspired you.

Connect with Champions for Kids on Facebook or Twitter.

Every little bit helps.

*Disclaimer - This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All opinions are my own.