Birthday Update

Well, today I officially turned 26. I have been bouncing around some different thoughts on what to post today... Should it be like every-other day, or should it be birthday related. Birthday won. 

I talked a little bit about some of my birthday plans a few days ago, but wanted to give an update. So far, I have had some checks coming in from family and friends who wanted me to choose which of the three organizations to give to, and some incredible donations of wheelchairs. Right now, we are half way to our wheelchair goal. Four people around the world will have mobility soon because we helped!! ​

Charity: Water is, most likely, where are large portion of the money people have given me in private will be going. Since this is where my biggest goal amount is, I think that makes sense. So far we only have one contribution on Charity: Water, so we will definitely need more to get us to the goal of $500. This $500 will go towards building a $1000 well in an area of the world that does not have clean drinking. Clean water can change everything.

The final organization I chose has not been talked about much on the blog. It is an organization based in Ada, Michigan called Vicky's Pet Connection. Vicky is one of the sweetest, funniest people I have ever met. Talking to her about her mission to help dogs and cats was an inspiration to me last time we visited the rescue.

We know this rescue through family who live up in Michigan, and wanted to tour it over the summer because of some great ways they have incorporated rescuing and adopting animals into people's daily life. While we were there we got to talk with Vicky about why she started a pet rescue and some of her goals for it. We were also able to go to her home and see some of the kittens and special needs adults cats they take care of daily. Their dedication was inspiring and we ended up leaving with our little Chibi and Chuu in tow.

This rescue is an incredible labor of love. It is completely run by volunteers and ​private donors, but they have also teamed up with Bissell. If you are needing a new vacuum and shop at Bissell.com, put in the promo code ADOPT at the checkout and a portion of your purchase will go to Vicky's Pet Connection! Vicky, being the smart lady that she is, has also put together an Amazon wishlist filled with goodies needed to keep those furry buddies happy.

I would love to be able to raise at least $200 for Vicky's Pet Connection along with the $500 for Charity: Water and the $300 for Free Wheelchair Mission. This is quite a hefty goal, but it is possible and so worth it! ​So far, we have about 45% of the total goal accomplished! The donation time will be going until May, but if you are interested in giving, there is no reason to wait until then!

Thank you so much to anyone who has considered, or helped towards these Birthday goals. We are coming together to help others in need, I cannot think of a better way to spend a birthday! 

​Love, Jenni

Happy Birth Month!

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Happy Birth Month to all those March babies out there!! I am a Marchie myself and have decided to devote the first day of our birth month to my birthday plans this year.  ​

Usually, February comes around and I start trying to think of ​things that I would like to have for my birthday. This can be quite a difficult process since we are just getting off the Christmas and Valentines Day highs and things seem pretty filled out. This year, I decided to make a change and not pick anything at all... Instead, I will be giving all my birthday money to three charities. 

Charities are awesome- one for one's, medical outreach's, animal shelters, local,  global, there are so many great ones out there. This has made the decision of three quite difficult. So far, I know that Free Wheelchair Mission and Charity: Water are for sure, but the third is still undecided. With a birth date of March 20th, there is little time to decide, but for now, let's go over the two that have already been picked and maybe a few still in consideration!

Charity: Water

We have talked about both Charity: Water and Free Wheelchair Mission before on the blog, but that is no reason to not bring them up again. ​Both companies donate 100% of the proceeds to charity. This is incredible. There is no amount of donated money that goes to bills, advertisement, anything. 

Charity: Water uses corporate backers to pay there internal finances so all of our money goes to getting clean water to people in need. The foundation is quite clear about how they spend there money and what they do to make more. These guys are so precise, they can tell you what country and which well you money has gone to building. That is some air tight financing! ​

The thing that stands out to me about both these organizations is they make it easy to give a donation as a gift and make it tax deductible. ​Charity: Water has giving campaigns with pre-made, easy to navigate sites for those wanting to donate their birthdays, anniversaries, anything. This way, people can see how much you are raising, how far you have to go, and donate to your giving campaign.  

Since I am going for a few different foundations, I decided to make my pledge with Charity: Water $500. You can get to my page from here! ​

Free Wheelchair Mission

I learned about this organization a few years back while at a conference. ​We were able to watch a video of one of their wheelchair drops and hear from some of the leaders and those impacted by FWM. Honestly, I was a bundle of tears by the end of the video. It is incredible to see someone who, up until then, was either hidden away in a back room or crawling on the ground now have mobility and respect. 

FWM is one of the greatest reasons that I decided to donate my birthday to organizations. Seeing what a difference a wheelchair can make in a person's life is incredible. 

Just like Charity: Water, FWM has fundraisers available for different events. You choose the amount to raise, create your donation page, and get others involved. ​You can also opt to buy a gift card for birthday's, Christmas, anything. Gift cards are the price of a wheelchair and let the recipient choose where they would like the wheelchair to go. So nifty! 

Since there is the option of the gift card and other places to donate, I decided to make my fundraising goal $300! You can see my web page here! ​

Other Birthday Options

I am still trying to figure out one more foundation that I would love to donate to for my b-day. Right now, Tom's shoes, Vicky's Pet Connection (where we got our kitties), ​Honor Animal Rescue, The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust for orphaned elephants (would so rather move there and volunteer myself!!), and WWF are all on my "must give" list. Oh boy. 

There are so many great organizations to choose from that I may just have to expand my limit of three a little. If you know any great organizations to add to my list, let me know! I would love to hear any of your favorites and suggestions!!​

Thrifty Girl: Giving Generously

Giving and being thrifty are not usually seen in the same sentences, but there are some great ways to be thrifty with you giving. Here are my top five ways to give during the holiday season, and every other day in between. Perk, these charities and foundations are thrifty with their spending too. Everything on this list spends wisely and gives generously!

1) Grocery Giving

There are a great many grocery stores that offer holiday donation bags for purchase at the check out. These bags go to families who cannot afford a holiday dinner and most of them are well priced at under $50. To find out if your local grocery is offering any holiday donation bags, just ask your sales associate. Publix, the shop of choice in Florida, is currently running one for $39!

2) Giving a Donation

There have been a lot of foundations who have started offering charitable gifts. These are great ideas for the person who has it all or the person who loves to give. Instead of getting them something that could go in the back of a closet or returned, you give a donation in their name. The great thing about this is that they are tangible items. World Wildlife Foundation has a great gift kit for children. You adopt an animal and get the adoption certificate, photos, and a stuffed animal of the one you adopted. We did this last year through The Marine Mammal Center in San Francisco for our two year old niece and it was a big hit! World Vision also has some more adult options with buying chickens, goats, wells, etc. in a person's name!

3) Giving Instead of Getting

Charity Water is one of those fantastic companies with a great beginning. The founder used his birthday as a way to raise money for building wells in other countries. Now, they have a stream line foundation that is able to put 100% (!) of the donations to building wells and getting people clean water. And, they are still donating for their birthdays. The birthday donation drive is crazy awesome! The site is easy to navigate, you always know how much has been donated, and the e-mails that they help you create are super easy!

My husband did this for his birthday and the well is starting to be built! Knowing who is being helped is such a neat-o extra and something that every person who donates has access to!

4) Making Room for the New

The holidays are retail heaven, but not just for the new. People shop at Goodwill and Salvation Army through out the year and this time of year is no different. By cleaning out our closests, attics, and drawers, we can help someone re-use our donations and make room for our new gifts. Something too big for your car? Call them and schedule a pick-up time!

Trust me, you won't even miss that old stuff once the 26th roles around :)

5) Give, Twice

Make giving twice as nice! Shop at places like wildfiretees.com and United by Blue for things like uber comfy hoodies, bracelets, tees, bags, and such  and give in the process! Both of these companies give all the proceeds of your purchase to help places in need.

Wild Fire Tees was started while Colorado was burning as a way to bring aid in to the State. All of the proceeds from shirt purchases went to helping stop the fires and recovery. Now, they have also started helping victims of hurricane Sandy. There are tons of great shirt and hoodie designs that can still be guaranteed to arrive by Christmas and will help someone else get on their feet again!

United by Blue is a foundation that uses the sales of their super nice shirts and accessories to clean up our oceans. Every purchase cleans 1 pound of garbage out of our oceans, and now, they are also sending proceeds to hurricane Sandy relief. I love knowing that my purchase is not making our world more polluted, but it is actually helping clean it!