Bloggers Unite – Acts of Kindness

When I think of who epitomizes acts of kindness, I think of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Not just because their focus is on helping sick children, but because all patients are accepted for treatment at St. Jude and treated without the family’s ability to pay. This means that when a mother and father are facing what is probably the scariest time of their lives by having a sick child, they don’t have to worry about how they’re going to take care of the cost of treatment. This means they can focus on what’s important – providing their child with the love and care he/she needs to get well.

St. Jude is unique and unlike any other pediatric treatment and research facility anywhere in the world. Discoveries that have been made there have completely changed how the world treats children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. St. Jude is the only pediatric specialty cancer center that is funded by the National Cancer Institute. They are also the only private cancer center in the United States committed to caring for and supporting children with cancer regardless of the family’s financial situation and health insurance status.

During this holiday season, why not support St. Jude’s acts of kindness with your own? St. Jude offers many ways to support their treatment and research efforts and all donations are tax deductible. If you want to send a monetary donation, you can offer a single donation or a monthly gift. You can also donate gifts to honor the memory of a loved one. And if you haven’t found just the right gift yet for that special person in your life, there’s still time to purchase a gift from St. Jude’s Hope Catalog.

My Favorite Holiday Gift Ideas

I know I haven’t updated you all in a while – forgive me – this time of year is so busy for me that I’m afraid I’ve been a bit neglectful. So, I thought I would post about some of my favorite gift ideas this year – especially for those family members and friends that have everything (or are just really hard to buy for). Here’s my list:

• PRODUCT (RED) – still my favorite gift idea. In case you don’t know, when you buy (RED) things a portion of those funds goes to people in Africa dying of AIDS. They have some very cool products at The Gap that even I love.
• OXFAM AMERICA UNWRAPPED – this one is something I found earlier this year. It’s a pretty cool concept – you can read all about it my previous post here.
• GREEN DIMES – For as little as $15 you can put your friend or family member on a much greener path. It’s all about stopping that junk mail you know you hate getting. Stop junk mail and save trees – awesome.
• DONATE TO THE HUMANE SOCIETY – If you have any animal lovers on your gift list, this is a great gift idea. By donating to the ASPCA you are stopping animal cruelty and making a difference in the lives of animals that have been abused, abandoned, and neglected.
• WWF GIFT CENTER – I love the World Wildlife Fund because of the amazing things they do for the environment and endangered species. They have over 200 ways to support their conservation efforts with a variety of gift ideas (ones even kids will love) such as adopting an animal or supporting sustainable sources of income for indigenous people.
• APPLE TREE TO BE – This is a very memorable gift and one that truly keeps on giving. The kit contains everything you need to start your very own orchard of Ralls Janet apples. It’s perfect gift for that gardener you know.
• NATIVE ENERGY CARDS – When you can’t think of just the right gift, what do you do – send a card! Now you can send a card that is so much more… they fight global warming! Sending one of these cards (instead of those boring cards you got a Longs) will help do things like build new wind turbines or a renewable methane generator on a family farm.