Give a Day, Get a Disney Day

On a happier Disney note, we were finally able to register for a volunteer event through Disney's Give a Day, Get a Disney Day program. The first time I visited the website, there were no opportunities in the area that still needed volunteers. Next time, I inquired about volunteering at the UCF arboretum, but they were also full. Finally, I found us spots in February with Horse Sisters at the Common Sense Ranch, caring for therapy horses.

In case you haven't yet heard about this great program, here's an overview from their site:

"We want to inspire one million people to volunteer a day of service to a participating organization in their communities. So we're celebrating these volunteers' good works by giving each of them a 1-day, 1-theme park ticket to the Disneyland® Resort or Walt Disney World® Resort, free. There's no better time to make a dream come true for others and let us make a few come true for you."

The offer is good for ages six and up, so Noah will be able to officially participate. And we're hoping that Ava will be allowed to come too, even though she's too young to earn a ticket.

Thanksgiving Food Drive

The end of our Thanksgiving series also marked the end of our food drive. I so wish I'd taken a picture of our donations before dropping them off! We were able to contribute two very large, very full Rubbermaid tubs of food to help The Sharing Center support Central Florida families this Thanksgiving. It was so great to see so many families work together to make this happen, as well as a very nice tie in with our studies for the kids.

Bringing Tricks and Treats to the Ronald McDonald House

Our homeschool group coordinated two events for the Ronald McDonald House this week with one group participating in their Fall Festival on Thursday and another hosting Share a Meal on Halloween night. We chose to go on Halloween since we thought it might be a hard night for them to get volunteers on a holiday.

In case you're not familiar with Ronald McDonald House, they provide families with children in local hospitals with affordable accommodations within walking distance of the hospital. We've had quite a few friends use their facilities and have seen first-hand what a wonderful resource they provide to families during difficult times.

We try to participate in Share a Meal a few times a year, bringing dinner for the families currently staying at the house. Last night, five SLC families cooked up a dinner of chili, cornbread, salad and cookies - along with some Halloween "treats" of course. And my little magician (Noah) was happy to provide the "tricks".

It was a full house, and we enjoyed talking to the families - many of whom came in costume. It was definitely the highlight of our very happy Halloween!

Sharing with The Sharing Center

I'm pretty sure I forgot to mention that we finally found a place to donate the extra food items we've been picking up each week at Publix. It took a lot of research to find the type of food pantry I was looking for, and I was surprised at the number that told me they didn't accept donations from individuals. Doing something good is hard work, apparently.

Finally, I stumbled upon The Sharing Center in Longwood, an organization that works to prevent homelessness by helping children and families with critical needs during financial emergencies caused by job loss and health problems. From their website:

"Assistance is given free of charge and may include food, clothing, help with costs of basic needs for rent/mortgage, transportation, bus tokens, costs of prescriptions and other medical issues, utilities, household goods, and other items specific to individual needs. Food pantries and casework offices are located in Longwood and in Sanford."

Ironically, when we arrived to drop off our items, I instantly recognized it as an organization we worked with years ago (way pre-kids) to help a family during the holidays.

In addition to our small family contributions, we'll be working on a food drive to benefit The Sharing Center as part of an upcoming Thanksgiving unit study with SLC.

International Coastal Cleanup

Jim and the kids participated in the International Coastal Cleanup yesterday (I was having a "me day" - more on that later), joining people from around the world in removing trash from our beaches. Having already done a cleanup at Lake Ivanhoe earlier this summer, the kids were looking forward to helping out again - and really looking forward to playing at the beach with their friends afterwards.

The event was organized through our Community Service Club with SLC, so there was a special co-op earlier in the week for the kids to learn about the water cycle, ocean conservation and how pollution in the water affects us all. After that class, I took the kids for sushi and Noah left the restaurant picking up trash with his chopsticks. He was very excited to tell curious onlookers that he was saving the Earth and the sea animals!

More on the Four-Legged Food Drive

We were so glad to have participated in the Four-Legged Food Drive last month to benefit the Central Florida Animal Pantry. Even though I was unable to organize a major drive (it's okay, Jessica . . . let it go . . . you can't do EVERYTHING . . . or can you? . . . maybe you should have tried a little harder . . . stop it!), we were able to donate 30 pounds of cat and dog food for the drive.

The folks at the collections points were really excited to see it some in, and I'm sure the recipients are even more grateful! The drive concluded on August 1st with over 3,200 pounds of pet food being donated - an amount that will help many Central Florida Families keep their pets. Even though the official drive is over, this wonderful organization relies on donations throughout the year. If you are interested in helping, a list of items they always need is available on their website.

Four-Legged Food Drive

I would have loved to orchestrate some collective effort to raise funds / pet food donations for the Four-Legged Food Drive. But I'm starting to (occasionally) recognize when "one more thing" would be the thing that puts me over the edge. Although I'm passionate about this cause, I'm still trying to recover from a busy June and prepare for the upcoming school year.

So, I rounded up some Purina coupons and scored great deals on dog and cat food at Publix. For a total of $12, I was able to buy a 20 pound bag of dog food and two 5 pound bags of cat food. Instead of kicking myself for not doing more, I'm trying to remind myself that 30 pounds of food will really help someone who can't afford to feed their pets right now (although I really am bummed I couldn't do more).

This week we delivered 20 pounds of dog food to My Art Studio (their first donation!) and 10 pounds of cat food to B3. It was a nice bonus that two of our favorite places were collection points for the food drive.

The drive benefits the Central Florida Animal Pantry, a non-profit organization founded by a nine-year-old Central Florida boy who wanted to help struggling families keep their pets. It runs through August 1st, and donation information and collection points can be found on their website.

Four-Legged Food Drive

This month we're participating in the Four-Legged Food Drive to benefit the Central Florida Animal Pantry. In addition to being a wonderful cause, it moves me that this organization was started by a 9-year-old boy and his father. Here's a description from their website:

C.F.A.P. is an organization providing temporary pet food assistance to economically challenged, disabled and elderly citizens of Central Florida.

With Central Floridians facing job layoffs and foreclosure, many families are feeling hopeless and unable to care for their companions. Not knowing what to do, many will abandon the family pet. Our shelters and resources are overwhelmed with surrendered animals.

Through the efforts of C.F.A.P. and community sponsors, we are able to provide food and low-cost services to the pet owners in the hope that they will be able to keep the family together through this difficult time.

Currently, many businesses in Orlando are serving as collection points for the Four-Legged Food Drive, including two of our favorite places - My Art Studio and Bikes, Beans and Bordeaux. The drive runs from July 4th to August 1st, and details / collection point info are provided on the C.F.A.P. website.

Though I would have liked to have put together some type of event to raise donations for this, I knew I didn't have it in me to plan one more thing right now. Instead. I've been using the great Purina coupon out right now to stock up on cat and dog food at Publix. So far, we have about 30 pounds of food that we'll be taking to My Art Studio and B3 this Thursday!

Lake Ivanhoe Cleanup

We have some good friends who have organized park cleanups in the past, and much to our disappointment, we've never been able to attend. So I was excited to learn about the Lake Ivanhoe Cleanup organized by Keep Orlando Beautiful.

We showed up on this very hot Tuesday morning, and they armed us with gloves, trash bags, nets and tools for picking up the trash from around the lake. One of our favorite restaurants is on Lake Ivanhoe and we often wander over to Gaston Edwards Park to play afterwards, so it was nice to help out an area in which we spend a lot of time.

After a group photo with the mayor, we were off to do our cleaning and pulled lots of styrofoam, plastic bags and aluminum cans from the lake. Noah is a lot like me and tends to go strong all day long, so I always have to remind myself to look out for little Ava and remember that she's only two (that was the last day I could actually say that - her birthday was Wednesday!) About 45 minutes into it she tuckered out, planted herself on a park bench and refused to budge. Fortunately, one of the really nice volunteers drove us back in a golf cart and helped Ava get refreshed with a cold washcloth and water.

And since we can't get within a mile of Ethos without stopping in, we treated ourselves to lunch - and they treated us to a free cookie for our cleanup efforts.

Baking to End Childhood Hunger

Well, our Great American Bake Sale started off strong yesterday, bring in $125 in the first few hours. Unfortunately, they shut down the market at 11AM due to weather, so we ended up doing a lot of baking for a very abbreviated "sale". The kids really enjoyed it though, and it was fun to watch them devising strategies for bringing customers into the booth. Noah even got a donation for doing a magic trick!

Today, we took the remaining baked goods down to Lake Eola to distribute to the homeless, which is making this afternoon's grocery shopping outing look more like a blessing than a chore. We've been inspired to do more to help and will be looking into volunteering with Food Not Bombs, an organization that cooks and serves vegan meals to the homeless, on a regular basis.

Great American Bake Sale

This Saturday, we'll be at the local farmer's market with members of Seminole Learning Community participating in the Great American Bake Sale. 100% of money raised goes directly to help feed children in our local community. This is the first official event of SLC's new Community Service Club.

Currently, I have focaccia rising on the counter, and we'll be headed to Publix later today to pick up ingredients for the cupcakes. We did a bake sale to benefit Meals on Wheels there last fall, so we're excited to be doing it again!