Halloween Fun Raiser

Halloween Fun – Making a difference! 

Like many of you we have spent the last few weeks searching for the perfect Halloween costume. For my daughter and I this also is a time of excitements as we get ready for our 3^trd annual Trick or Treat for Canned Goods Food Drive.  3 years ago my daughter and I found ourselves throwing away much of the candy she had collected while out Trick or Treating. What a waste I thought. It got me thinking; I knew I had read articles about other kids taking Halloween as an opportunity to collection donations for other organizations.  Scared that my then 5 yr old daughter would think I was crazy, I threw out the idea of “Trick or Treating for Canned Goods” instead of candy.  To my surprise she bit, in fact she was so excited that she couldn’t wait for the following Halloween to get started.  

Now let me explain –I know it isn’t normal for a 5 yr old to take so easily to an idea like this, but as a self proclaimed Volunteer Addict I had already exposed my daughter to volunteering through helping out at the local food shelters and just toting her around when ever I was out doing community work. To my surprise it took and she couldn’t wait to help out the people from the shelter.  For others this might be a great idea for kids that are 3 – 5^th grade that still enjoy dressing up but don’t need all the candy and junk to go along with it.   

• Our plan is simple and the results were amazing.  Each year we have increased our donations collected and each year my daughter gets more and more excited to beat the year before.  The first year we received an overwhelmingly positive response from the 2 neighborhoods that we included in our Trick Or Treat Food Drive.  In all we collected over 800 lbs of food to donate to our local Food Pantry.  That is right 800 lbs from around 100 houses collected from.  The second year, people were looking out for our donation bags and eager to help again.  In the second year we were able to increase our donations to 985 lbs .  WOW we had no idea what a success this idea would turn out to be.               Our Scary Simple Plan to Make a Difference!

1. Select a fun Halloween Costume
2. Create a Spooky flyer
   1. Update everyone on your goals and what you are doing
   2. Detail the times you will be picking up donations on Halloween night
   3. Detail a wish list of donation items
   4. Information on where the items will be donated – a great way to tell people about other opportunities to volunteer with their family
   5. List a phone number to contact if they have questions
3. Get Paper Grocery Bags from a local Grocery Store (our local Family Fare – Spartan Store) was happy to help
4. Staple the flyers to the exterior of the bags
5. Deliver the bags to the houses you have selected to visit on Halloween night. (you can either hang them on the doors or put them nicely into mailboxes)
6. LAST BUT DEFINITELY NOT LEAST – Head out for a fun night of Trick or Treating and collect all the donations.

• Make it a family event - Parents this is where you will be a big help but make this a family event.  My daughter now 7 helps with all the preparation from making the flyer to delivering them to the houses (about a week ahead of Halloween) The day we deliver is a great day out walking around the neighborhood and dropping off the bags house by house, it really adds to her excitement in anticipation for Halloween night. On Halloween night you will need a vehicle ideally a Van, SUV or Truck.  My hubby has taken on the role of driver while my daughter and I travel house to house Trick or Treating for Canned Goods and quickly gathering them into the back of our SUV.   Every year we find more and more people asking about what we are doing and we hope that in years to come we will see more kids out hitting the streets and helping their community through a TRICK OR TREAT for Canned Goods Food drive of their own.

We hope that we have inspired each of you to think outside of yourselves on an every day basis and take time to help those around you.  Please remember that there are so many people less fortunate then us and that you can make a difference.

Have a Spooktacular time!

Halloween really is a great opportunity to help your kids use there imagination and creativity, but it can also be a great opportunity for your kids to do something GREAT to help others.

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October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Breast Cancer Resources    

 

For years I have had the great pleasure of being a volunteer with ACS American Cancer Society. The time it took was minimal but the benefit I received was priceless. Not only has American Cancer Society brought me closer with my community, it has also helped to introduce me to some of the greatest people I have ever had the right to know. 

I have committed myself to the ongoing development in the fight against cancer and my partnership with American Cancer Society to show people the importance of educating others and about awareness. In the months to come you will see many features in the Vogue Volunteer section related to American Cancer Society and opportunities to get involved.

This October American Cancer Society is focused on helping others to understand and learn about Breast Cancer.

 

For more information and to find out about volunteer opportunities check out the below American Cancer Society links.

 

If you have cancer, know someone who has cancer or just want to be informed. You may want to understand more about the disease; where to go for help; and so much more. These resources will guide you:

Reachto Recovery® match estrained volunteers who have survived breast cancer with newly diagnosed breast cancer patients to help them cope with their disease by providing emotional support and information.

LookGood. . .Feel Better ® is a free community-based, national service that teaches female cancer patients beauty techniques to help restore their appearance and self-image during chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

“tlc” ^TMis a”magalog” (magazine/catalog) that combines helpful articles and information with products for women coping with cancer treatment.“tlc”, or Tender Loving Care, offers wigs, mastectomy forms and products, and a large selection of hats and head coverings

ICan Cope ® is an educational program for people facing cancer, either personally or as a care giver. The program offers reliable information, peer support, and practical coping skills.

TellA Friend is a breast cancer early detection program that encourages family, friends, and others to get a mammogram.

BreastCancer Profiler Toolis a treatment decision tool that provides a detailed analysis of the patient’s specific condition, a statistical breakdown of treatment types, and the exact topics they should discuss with their doctor.

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Choose to be a Life Enricher

Choose to be a Life Enricher

I heard a great analogy yesterday that I couldn’t resist but to share.

Rich DeVos (Co-founder of Amway Corp) spoke at a local event I had the pleasure to attend on Powerful Phrases for Positive People. What I thought was so compelling about his presentation was his inspiration that you could not only be a Vogue Volunteer by getting involved in non-profits but even better by choosing to be a Life Enricher with everyone you interact with on a daily basis.

Here was is analogy: There are 3 types of people you can choose to be..

Well Drillers – The people who always put others down to pull themselves up.

Lawn Mowers – Those that plug away, doing their thing never impacting or caring about others along the way.

Life Enrichers – Those that make a choice to live a life that will enrich the lives of others before themselves.

He made me think about the type of person I am today and the type of person that I want to be in the future, and that is a “Life Enricher.” I was amazed at his views on how just little things you say and do to encourage and help those around us can make such an impact.

With the elections and all the political hub bub going on around us and all the un-kept promises from politicians about what each of them is going to do to make it better, I found myself wondering why I was looking to these public figures to make a change for our economy and the world around us. Rich’s views on this reminded me that even though a very small impact on the world around us, you and I can make a difference just by choosing to be a Life Enrichers.

* Make a choice to make small changes.
* Open up your vision of others and take note of how you interact or treat
   people.
* Take one opportunity a day to lift up someone/ anyone you interact with
   just by words of kindness, or doing something unexpected for someone.

Have you heard the new trend on how to be a Vogue Volunteer?
Be a Life Enricher

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