The pandemic changed almost everything this past year, including everyone’s fave time of the year, Girl Scout Cookie season! With so many girls staying safe, cookie sales were far below their goal, which means one thing: lots of leftover cookies.
The Girl Scouts currently have 15 million boxes of cookies that have not been sold, most of which are at Louisville, Kentucky-based Little Brownie Bakers and Brownsburg, Indiana-based ABC Bakers. The famed cookies have a 12 months shelf-life which means there is still plenty of time to get those delightful treats into loving hands.
In a statement from the Girl Scouts of America, the organization shares “The outpouring of support for the cookie program has been overwhelming, so we’ve launched a donation-only site to support the Girl Scout Movement after an unprecedented year. Please visit Digital Cookie if you want to support the cookie program and donate cookies to first responders, food banks and other worthy causes.”
On the website, you can enter how many boxes you’d like to donate, which are still a steal at $5 a box. There’s no sweeter gift that a box of Girl Scout cookies!
Healthy food is fun! The hit kid’s show Waffles + Mochi uses a colorful universe and quirky characters to illustrate this concept for skeptical young eaters. Now there’s another way to immerse yourself in their world, thanks to a collaboration between Walmart, Partnership for a Healthier America and Higher Ground Productions.
The Hidden World of Waffles + Mochi launched online today and features 20 different activities centered around 10 different ingredients from the series. You’ll find interactive recipes, games and video clips from the show. Better yet, as you complete activities, you’ll unlock donations from Walmart to the Partnership for a Healthier America’s Pass the Love campaign to help feed food-insecure families across the country.
“I’ve long said that supporting parents and helping our kids build healthy habits isn’t just a job for nonprofits or governments – the private sector has a critical role to play as well. That’s why I am proud to see Walmart continuing to lead the way with The Hidden World of Waffles + Mochi, a wonderful food adventure that not only educates families on how to make quick and easy meals at home, but also teaches kids that they can give back to their community at any age,” said Former First Lady and PHA Honorary Chair, Michelle Obama.
Ready to dive in? Visit the new site on any device and choose an ingredient, ranging from tomatoes to eggs. The activities will help your family put a fresh twist on food you regularly eat, or help your picky child try something new.
Once kids master an ingredient, they receive a badge, just like on the show. That badge unlocks a donation and through May 31, Walmart has committed to donating up to $1 million to the campaign to help feed families in need. Pay it forward while you play together!
Even though it’s still spring, the Scholastic Summer Reading program is kicking off right now! Your kiddo can participate in the fully digital program today through Friday, Sep. 3, 2021—and it’s completely free.
Simply create an account of Scholastic Home Base and your little literacy lover can start their summer reading list. The 24/7 moderated digital destination gives kids the chance to read free e-books, attend virtual author events and so much more.
photo courtesy of Scholastic
After creating an account, your child will can access select e-books for free. These include family-friendly faves such as Goosebumps and I Survived along with read-aloud videos featuring The Word Collector, Train and The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet.
Scholastic Reading Club account members can also join virtual author events every Thurs. from May 6 through Aug. 26 at 3:00 ET. The events are hosted by summer reading ambassadors and award-winning authors Sayantani DasGupta (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond), Varian Johnson (Twins, The Great Greene Heist), Ann M. Martin (The Baby-Sitters Club series), and Kelly Yang (Front Desk).
Along with free e-books and virtual author-led events, the Scholastic Summer Reading program will also give your child the chance to help unlock a donation of 100,000 books! Each day your child checks into the Summer Zone online, they’ll create a Reading Streak. Your child’s continued reading efforts can earn them virtual items, trophies and in-game tokens. It can also help Scholastic to unlock a donation for 100,000 books to communities throughout the country through Save the Children.
Kellogg’s is releasing a new cereal just in time for Pride month! Together With Pride will hit store shelves nationwide this May—and you can’t miss this soon-to-be fave breakfast treat.
Fans of the beloved brand may already know the All Together Cereal well. While the All Together option was previously only available online, you can nab a box of Together With Pride in the cereal aisle of select retailers across the country.
photo courtesy of Kellogg’s
The new cereal selection marks an extension of the existing collaboration between the Kellogg’s brand and GLAAD. Kellogg’s will donate three dollars from each box of Together With Pride sold to GLAAD. Shoppers must upload a copy of their receipt for the cereal purchase to Kellogg’s Family Rewards to support the donation.
As if a cereal with a good cause wasn’t enough, this Kellogg’s breakfast pick also features a fab berry flavor and edible glitter-dusted rainbow hearts. Together With Pride cereal is available May 2021 for the suggested retail price of $3.99 (for a 7.8-ounce box).
Valentine’s Day is a sweet opportunity for kids to share love and kindness with friends and family. It’s a day filled with hearts, flowers, and candy and serves as a bright spot during the long winter months, especially this year. Like most holidays, it has been commercialized over the years, with store shelves filling with boxes of chocolate, cards, and gifts starting in early January. Americans will spend over $21 billion dollars celebrating Valentine’s Day this month. Not surprisingly, most people (73% of those surveyed) feel it is even more important to celebrate the holiday this year as we struggle to find happy moments in the midst of the ongoing pandemic.
Showering love and affection on our children, partners, and loved ones is so important, but I’d like to suggest that we re-focus our Valentine’s Day celebrations just a bit. We can make our kids feel special while also giving them the opportunity to spread the joy of the holiday to others. We can move away from spending lots of money on gifts that people don’t really need and flowers that will end up in a landfill while helping kids flex their “empathy” muscles and experience the warm, wonderful feelings that come from helping and caring for others.
Here are a few ways to spread the love of Valentine’s Day to those who might be struggling in your own community and around the country.
1. Create Cozy Nights for Kids in Need: Donate new pajama’s to children who are homeless, in foster care, or living in domestic violence shelters in your community. The Pajama Program is a national nonprofit organization that promotes and supports a comforting bedtime routine and healthy sleep for children facing adversity. Since 2001, they have provided over 7 million cozy pajamas and inspiring storybooks to children, as well as critical resources for parents & caregivers to support children at bedtime. The Pajama Program provides resources to help you host a donation drive, and identifies a local organization that will accept your donations. Financial donations are also always welcome. You can donate to the Pajama Program or to a similar organization, Family-to-Family, which provides new pajamas, a soft blanket, and a cuddly stuffed toy to children living in poverty.
2. Give Warmth & Snuggles to a Child in Foster Care: On any given day, there are more than 400,000 children living in foster care in the United States. Together Rising is a national nonprofit working to transform the way children experience foster care. Around Valentines Day, they spread love and hope by giving 500 Snuggle Kits, which include a stuffed bear and soft blanket, to children in foster care. Through the buy one/give one program, you can purchase a Snuggle Kit for a special child in your life, and they will give one to a child entering foster care (or you can donate both kits).
3. Connect with an Isolated Senior: Create colorful, simple valentines with messages of friendship, kindness, and support and deliver them to a local nursing home or senior outreach program. You can also bundle up a stack of letters and send them to Love For Our Elders or Letters Against Isolation. Both websites provide more detailed instructions and information.
4. Give Dignity & Beauty to Women in Crisis: With just a few small toiletry and beauty items purchased at a dollar store, you can create beauty bags for women living in homeless or domestic violence shelters in your community. Items can include lipstick or lip balm, shampoo, a toothbrush and toothpaste, fuzzy socks, hand lotion, or soap. You can use a gallon zip lock bag, or a small paper gift bag decorated with stickers. Be sure to include a cheerful note wishing the recipient a Happy Valentine’s Day and reminding her that she is beautiful.
5. Create Valentines for Our Veterans: Our veterans and active-duty military often spend holidays alone or far from loved ones, and receiving a cheerful message from your family can brighten their day immeasurably. Soldiers Angels is a military support organization with a simple motto: May no soldier go unloved. You and your kids can create cheerful valentines expressing love and support, and mail them (along with a $1 donation per card) to Soldiers Angels. The $1 donation helps to defer the cost of packaging boxes of valentines and sending them to deployed troops around the world and VA hospitals here in the United States.
6. Recycle Those Flowers: Have you ever wondered what happens to all of the Valentine’s flowers that remain unsold at the end of the day on February 14th? There are organizations around the country that collect and repurpose floral arrangements, keeping them from landfills and providing cheerful bouquets for seniors in nursing homes and hospitalized children. Some examples include Bouquets of Kindness, Random Acts of Flowers, and the Reflower Project. Through a quick internet search, you might find one of these organizations in your own community.
7. Notice the Heroes All around You: Encourage your kids to write notes of gratitude to all of the many people who keep them safe, teach, coach, and help them, every day. From the crossing guard or security officer at school, the classroom teacher (whether virtual or in-person), the doorman or maintenance worker in your apartment building, the postal carrier or delivery person—anyone who interacts with your child on a daily basis would be delighted to receive a heart-shaped note, a small box of candy or even a sticky note with a few scribbled words of appreciation. Never underestimate how a kind word or action from you and your kids can change someone’s day and make them feel loved, which is, after all, the purpose and power of Valentine’s Day.
Natalie Silverstein, MPH, is the NYC coordinator of Doing Good Together. She is a writer, speaker and consultant on the topic of family service. Her first book Simple Acts: The Busy Family's Guide to Giving Back was published in 2019 and her second book for teens will be published in 2022.
Where to recycle your Christmas tree in the SF Bay Area
We put all this time and effort into selecting the right tree, setting it up in the perfect spot, and decorating it. But once Christmas has come and gone, then what? Before you kick it to the curb, make sure you know your options (and the rules) for Christmas Tree Recycling. Read on to find great solutions in your neck of the woods, and in some cases, contribute to a few good causes while you’re at it!
Remember: Remove all Christmas Tree Lights & Decorations
It's probably pretty obvious, but be sure you've removed all the decorations, lights, and tinsel from your tree before recycling. Most services so not accept flocked trees—those are the ones sprayed with white, artificial snow. If you are unsure, check with your district at the link provided.
San Francisco Christmas Tree Pick Up
Place clean, unflocked trees next to your bins on your regular service day during the first 2 weeks of January. Be sure to remove all tinsel, decorations, plastic bags, stands, and lights. If your tree measures more than 6 feet tall, please cut it in half. Typically, collection begins the Mon. after New Year's Day
Marin County: Place clean, unflocked trees next to your bins, not in them, on your regular service day starting Jan. 2 through Jan. 13. Be sure to remove all tinsel, decorations, plastic bags, stands, and lights. If your tree measures more than 6 feet tall, please cut it in half. Marin Sanitary customers can also drop off up to two Christmas trees for free at the Marin Resource Recovery Center at 565 Jacoby St., San Rafael. Apartment managers should schedule a pickup day for their apartment complex. After Jan. 31, pickup or drop-off will cost a small fee. You can also find a list of Christmas tree drop-off locations at Zero Waste Marin.
Mill Valley: Please put your trees out on the curb on any regular green Compost Cart day, beginning Jan. 2, 2023. We will not pick up trees left by garbage cans. Trees more than 5 feet tall must be cut in half. Put trees next to green cans. Homestead Valley customers without green cans can put their trees on the curb on a yard waste day.
Novato: Trees will be picked up from the first week of Jan. on regular collection days. Place next to curb or cut and fit inside yard waste container. Remove all lights, tinsel, ornaments and stands. Flocked trees will not be accepted.
East Bay Christmas Tree Pick Up
Berkeley & Albany: Place clean, unflocked trees next to your bins on your regular service day during the first 2 weeks of January. Be sure to remove all tinsel, decorations, plastic bags, stands, and lights. If your tree measures more than 5 feet tall, (6 feet tall in Albany) in please cut it in half. After Jan. 31, trees will not be collected curbside, unless they are cut up and properly placed in your green waste cart. Call 311 if your tree is missed or if you have any questions.
You can also drop your tree off at the Berkeley Transfer Station at no charge during the month of Jan. After Jan., you can cut up your tree to fit in your plant debris cart, or you can bring it to the Transfer Station for a compost fee.
Dublin: Place your holiday tree at the curb by 5:30 a.m. on your regular service day the week after Christmas. A truck exclusively for recycling holiday trees will collect the trees. Only clean trees will be taken (no flocking or tinsel). Cut trees down to 4-feet or less in heigh and remove bases or stand. After that, trees will not be collected curbside, unless they are cut up and properly placed in your green waste cart.
Have a Non-Recyclable Flocked Tree or Trees with Tinsel? Amador Valley Industries can pick up your non-recyclable holiday tree. Call 925-479-9545 to arrange for disposal of your flocked or tinseled tree. An additional fee may apply, unless you use one of the three Large Item Collections available to you per year at no cost.
Good to Know: Boy Scouts of America – Tree Recycling Fundraiser For a donation of $10 donation per tree, local Boy Scout Troop 905 will pick up holiday trees from Dublin residents on Sun., Jan. 1, 2023. Reservations are required. To make a reservation, please visit https://www.dublintroop905.org after December 1, 2022. Reservations will be accepted through 3 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2022. Only clean trees will be accepted. No flocking or tinsel allowed. Please remove the tree base or stand.
Emeryville: Trees are collected curbside on regular collection days during the first two weeks of Jan. Place your tree at the curb next to your green waste, recycling and trash carts on your regular pickup day. Trees taller than 5 feet must be cut into lengths of 5 feet or smaller. Remove all tinsel, ornaments, nails and tree stands. Green trees only. Flocked trees will not be accepted.
Fremont: Remove all decorations, tinsel, lights, nails and tree stands prior to pickup or dropoff. Trees that have any of these items are not compostable. Trees that contain fire retardant or flocking are also not compostable. Curbside trees will be picked up the first two weeks of Jan. on your scheduled yard waste collection day. For trees taller than 6 feet, please cut in half.
Hayward:All properties are eligible for free pickup of holiday trees during the first two weeks of January. Only clean trees will be picked up; no flocked trees, stands or decorations. Trees must be cut to less than five feet.
Oakland: Place clean, unflocked trees next to your bins on your regular service day during the first two weeks of January. Be sure to remove all tinsel, decorations, plastic bags, stands, and lights. If your tree measures more than 5 feet tall, in please cut it in half. Later in the month, trees will not be collected curbside, unless they are cut up and properly placed in your green waste cart.
San Leandro: Place your Christmas tree curbside on your regularly scheduled collection day during the first two weeks in Jan. Remember to remove all tinsel and ornaments, cut your tree down if it is larger than 6 feet and set it out on the curb with your yard trimmings cart for collection. Trees will be recycled into mulch for use in landscaping applications.
How to Recycle Your Christmas Tree on the Peninsula
San Mateo County: Place trees curbside on normal day of your yard waste pickup during the month of Jan. Tree length maximum sizes vary depending on the recycling company. Most of the recycling companies do not accept flocked trees. Residents without regular trash pickup can drop off their trees at several locations.
How to Recycle Your Christmas Tree in the South Bay
Campbell & Los Gatos: West Valley Collection and Recycling will pick up trees on the curb during regular service until mid-Jan. Trees must be less than 5 feet tall and placed at least 1 foot from carts.
Unincorporated Cupertino: Place clean, unflocked trees next to your bins on your regular service day during the month of January. Be sure to remove all tinsel, decorations, plastic bags, stands, and lights. If your tree measures more than 6 feet tall, please cut it in half. Leave by the curb, or in the green bin if the lid can close.
Los Altos: Place clean, unflocked trees next to your bins on your regular service day during the month of Jan. Be sure to remove all tinsel, decorations, plastic bags, stands, and lights. If your tree measures more than 6 feet tall, please cut it in half. Leave by the curb, or in the green bin if the lid can close. Apartment residents should place all trees in a central location and call to arrange a pickup.
San Jose: Recycle your holiday tree on your regular collection day starting after Christmas throughout the month of Jan. Trees should then be cut into 5-foot lengths and placed in the street one foot from the curb and 5 feet from your garbage and recycling carts and parked vehicles. Natural and flocked trees accepted. If you live in an apartment, townhouse or condo, ask your property manager if special arrangements have been made for recycling holiday trees on-site.
If you’re looking to give back and make a measurable difference in a family’s life this holiday season, but don’t know where to start, turn to The National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN). They recently launched a GoFundMe to help struggling families provide diapers for their children. With one in three families experiencing diaper need, it’s time to read on to find out more about this campaign and how a donation of only $18 can provide diapers for one baby for one week.
It’s no secret that families are struggling—both emotionally and financially—because of the global pandemic, In fact, the NDBN estimates that they are giving out 50% more diapers now than before COVID-19.
Their solution to help increase donations and awareness? NDBN partnered with GoFundMe to launch a centralized hub with verified fundraisers to #EndDiaperNeed. All donations to this GoFundMe will go directly to the National Diaper Bank Network of more than 240 diaper banks across the country.
It only takes a modest $18 to provide diapers for one bay for one week. A donation of any amount means that babies will stay dry and less exposed to health risks and families won’t have to worry about choosing between diapers for their children versus paying for rent, food or utilities.
As of time of publication, the GoFundMe has raised close to $57,000 of the $100,000 goal. To donate and learn more visit the campaign here.
This holiday season may not be like any other but one tradition still remains: sending Christmas cards to friends and family. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry joined The Royal Family who released their Christmas card earlier in the week.
The card is an illustration Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland took of the family at their home in Montecito, California. The card was released through Mayhew, an animal welfare organization. They captioned the photo, “We’re thrilled to receive wonderful Christmas wishes from our Patron, The Duchess of Sussex, who also made a personal donation, helping dogs, cats and our community.”
We’re thrilled to receive wonderful Christmas wishes from our Patron, The Duchess of Sussex, who also made a personal donation, helping dogs, cats and our community. 💜 From all of us at Mayhew, thank you and Merry Christmas. 🎄🐶🐱
Find out more! 👉 https://t.co/5o2RHLveRMpic.twitter.com/uBV19F6Odt
Earlier this week The Royal Family released their holiday greetings and as usual they don’t disappoint. Prince William and Duchess Kate posed in a casual country setting with their three children while Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall released a photo from their garden.
Kensington Palace announced on Instagram, “The Duke and Duchess are delighted to share a new image of their family, which features on their Christmas card this year🎄.”
Prince William, Duchess Kate, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis pose upon bales of hay at their country home, Anmer Hall. Louis with his wide open-mouthed smile steals the show as he laughs for photographer Matt Porteous.
Clarence House also posted a sneak peek of this year’s official Christmas card from The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. The photo features the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall sitting on a bench in a beautiful garden surrounded by flowers in full bloom at Birkhall, their Scottish estate.
As we head into the holiday season, it seems this year, more than any in recent memory, is one to reach out and support others in our communities. Of course, it’s more difficult to gather and volunteer in person in 2020, but you and your kids can still make a difference from home. Read on for ideas on how to volunteer with kids in NYC and support local causes, even if you can’t physically be there. (Need some inspiration? Check out these rock stars!)
Donate a Toy
The Marine Corps' Toys for Tots program has been collecting and distributing new, unwrapped toys and to less fortunate children during the holidays since 1947.
You can buy a toy and drop it off at one of the many, many participating businesses in the five boroughs, which includes all Starbucks locations! Most are accepting donations through December 14.
Our elders are at the highest risk from the pandemic, and in many places around the US visits to older people in group and personal homes have stopped to protect their lives. This means they can stay safe and away from where they might contact the novel coronavirus, but it also means many hours of being pent up inside and feeling lonely.
Enlist the help of your kids to bring some sunshine and a touch of personal care to some locals by writing them a letter! While the most well-known program that distributes letters to elderly people in nursing homes, calledLove for the Elderly, is held on a national scale, there are ways to help if you want to focus nearby instead.
Volunteer New York has an opportunity to create letters for the elderly in Westchester County. Want to get even closer to home? A number of city meal distributors are encouraging residents to write letters for recipients of their free meals.
Food Bank's letter-writing toolkit has a ton more information about how to write letters, and even includes some coloring pages for kids to use and send on to bring a smile to someone's face. Letters can be mailed in and will be distributed by hand to visitors to the city's pantries and soup kitchens throughout the boroughs.
It might be a good idea to let your kids know that, in nearly all cases, the messages are anonymous and kids won't receive a response to their letter.
Make a Little Free Pantry—Or Share Goods With Your Neighbors
But you can also bring the sharing closer to home by creating a neighborhood or even apartment pantry.
If you live on a private property, you and your family can put up your own little pantry and fill it with non-perishable foods. Encourage neighbors and passersby to take what they need and give what they can. We recommend checking out the Free Little Pantry website for ideas and tips for making sure that your pantry is helping, not bothering, those around you.
Live in an apartment building? You might be able to help, too. Call and ask management or your building super if you can put a small box in a high-traffic area in your building for neighbors to use. Of course, the response will vary by place - respect your building's rules and regulations.
When it does work, though, it can be a beautiful way to bond with neighbors. This writer's building's super is fine with items being left downstairs in a particular spot for no more than 24 hours. Although there was never any written communication between our family and our neighbors, things have started popping up downstairs from cans of food to books and clothes. We've left hand sanitizer, tissue packs and gently used toys downstairs. Best of all, once a donation is taken, another donation from a different neighbor often takes its place. It's an activity that kids can easily take part in and can extend to a general feeling of community, not just a sharing of much-needed items and food.
Just remember not to leave anything in your building's lobby unless you have the okay of the building managers!
Chalk Your Walk or Make Some Kindness Stones
World Rocks Project
Kids can leave a message of hope and positivity right outside your home by decorating the walk for anyone passing by.
Grab some chalks and draw a bright message on your sidewalk, inside a park or any other public place where you think it might be appreciated. You can encourage your kids to draw and write positive things to thank frontline workers or just brighten the day of anyone walking by.
The Kindness Rocks project takes the craftiness up a notch, asking kids to draw their messages and pictures on rocks. You can then decorate your yard with the picture rocks or leave them in a local park for others to find.
One more way to spread joy is to hang it on your window! Kids are encouraged to draw rainbows and write messages of hope on sheets of paper, then tape them to their windows, facing outward. Even if you're high up in an apartment building, someone looking across from their own high-rise may get a colorful reminder that "this, too, shall pass."
Though this way of helping is obviously not for everyone, if you have the space in your home for an animal now is a great time to foster a pet. The animal you help will get to live in comfort instead of being locked up in a cage in a time when volunteers are scarce, while your family will get a companion to help weather the worst of this situation. And you never know, your foster might end up becoming a member of the family!
The ASPCA has all the details you need to know on their website, as well as an application. You can find a longer list of places that need help fostering an animal on the Mayor's Alliance for NYC Animals website.
Donating items like clothing is always in need and appreciated but Project Linus encourages people to make their blankets by hand for a personal touch. Blankets can be dropped off at any of the New York chapters, and you are encouraged to call ahead and find out what kinds of blankets are in demand.
The project has many different patterns that can easily get the kids involved, including some no-sew options for the younger ones.
Make a Jared Box
iStock
A Jared Boxis a way to share the joy of play with kids in hospitals all over the country. Get a shoebox-sized plastic container and fill it with new and age-appropriate toys. These toys go to young patients in hospitals and help distract and amuse them as they deal with the stress of their situation.
The website has a guide to making a Jared Box and lists of what kinds of toys, stickers, art supplies, etc. you should fill it with. Get the kids involved by choosing an age range similar to theirs so they can choose toys they would personally enjoy receiving. It's a great way to teach the joy of giving.
Three NYS (and one NYC) hospitals are listed in the directory if you want to give locally, though you'll likely have to deliver it yourself. Too far away to make a donation by hand? Call any nearby hospital and ask if they're accepting toy box donations. Though they're not on the directory, many hospitals will be happy to get your donation!
Lastly, if you have the means to make a monetary donation there are many places that can really use the help right now. Though it's a more abstract concept for younger kids to grasp, donating money to charities, nonprofits or others who need it is always appreciated. You can ask your kids to choose the recipient of your donation, and find out more about the kinds of organizations that exist to help people and animals in need.
The website Donors Choose, for instance, allows people to support teachers who are facing the struggles of making their classroom welcoming to students amid social distancing and health safety measures. Teachers often dip into their personal bank accounts to provide classrooms with needed supplies so every little bit helps. Plus, children will have a good understanding of where the money is going since schools and teachers are familiar topics in their lives.
Another option for a charity donation is exploring the nonprofit organizations that do a lot of the invisible work in our neighborhoods and communities. The NYC Service website has a searchable list of nonprofits in the city with information on what each does, many of which accept donations. Choose a cause that your family is passionate about and help out.
Let’s give thanks this Thanksgiving for these Bay Area kids and teenagers who are showing us that even the smallest voices can make a world of change. We hope that you share these stories with your kids and let them be inspired to do good in their community. Giving back to your community doesn’t have to be a big effort, kids can start small with many different opportunities for kids to volunteer at home. Our community thanks you!
Teddy's for Tots—Cali Martire
Saratoga 4th grader Cali Martire started Teddy's For Tots when she was just five years old with a mission to make sure all children at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital received a teddy bear for Christmas! It all began with a question: “How does Santa get the toys to the sick kids in the hospital?" From this moment, Cali made it her mission to make sure that every child at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford had a Teddy Bear on Christmas morning. Since 2016, Cali has inspired the donation of 2,500 teddy bears (and counting!)
Now in its fifth year, Teddy's for Tots has expanded in 2020 to provide gifts to children in the Santa Clara County foster care system. You can support this worthy cause by shopping the Teddy's for Tots donation page through December 1 and spreading a little holiday cheer!
Palo Alto teenager Owen Fong has been delighting neighbors with his spam musubi for months now, many finding it to be a highlight of quarantine. Owen sells spam musubi, egg musubi, and spam and egg musubi and delivers them on Mondays throughout Palo Alto. All of his profits go to charity with a different one selected each month.
Bay Area insiders know that if you want the freshest produce and local products (like pastries, honey and fresh-made ice cream), you need to get in on the bi-weekly group orders from Giving Fruits. This Palo Alto group blossomed out of a community desire to support local farmers who weren't able to get their precious products to customers due to COVID-19.
The weekly management from compiling orders to organizing volunteers is all done by Palo Alto High School senior, Jean-Pierre Mouloudj. Jean-Pierre has really taken the reigns on this massive project even when school went back into session this fall. He also started a club at Paly to support Giving Fruits and get other high schoolers involved.
Not only does purchases through Giving Fruits support local farmers, but profits from the purchases go to support frontliners and food trucks, two other groups greatly impacted by COVID-19. They also support local shelters like LifeMoves and Women’s Shelter by hhcollab.org, the South Palo Alto Food Closet, Dreamers Road Map and starting this week the Ecumenical Hunger Program.
Sometimes the smallest voices are the most powerful. Meet 8- and 10-year-old siblings Walt and Naima who are better known as The Justice Kids. These young Daly City residents are literally leading the charge on social and racial justice reform in the Bay Area. They were greatly impacted by the death of Elijah McClain and, with the support of their mother, organized a march on the Great Highway in July. Follow their Instagram page for action ideas on how kids can get involved in the social and racial justice movement from sending postcards to easy-to-use scripts for calling your representatives to demand change.
When 6-year-old Andy Soulard learned that the Oakland Zoo was in jeopardy of closing permanently due to COVID-19 she went into action. Starting with $5 she had received from the tooth fairy, Andy started a fundraising campaign that raised over $225,000 for the zoo. For every donor who donated over $25, Andy would send them a bracelet and drawing that she made. She also recently asked for Oakland Zoo donations in lieu of gifts for her 7th birthday. Talk about an inspiring kid!
Got an inspiring kid in your neighborhood? Send us an email at kate.loweth at tinybeans.com so we can add them!