Topic Talk—Chatting for Charity!

I am choked up writing this. I just jumped off of Twitter after nearly 6 hours of tall tweeting, trying to keep current with the short, but speedy conversations. In the flurry of excitement, I observed more than 100 women and a few men, stepping past mere socialization into the realm of service. 100+ people—most of whom have never met IRL, who were gathered for a greater cause than conversation...

...who were gathered to find a cure. A cure to help families facing hunger this holiday season. A cure to provide as many families as possible with a Thanksgiving dinner. And, in these few hours, with little preparation beforehand and less marketing, #GNO Guys and Gals raised more than $1200 for Feeding America. And, that is just from tonight. Who knows how much more we can raise by Friday, November 21 when the charity ends!

So from us...

Your #GNO Gal Pal, @CarissaRogers (with her daughters)


























And your #GNO Gal Pal, @jyl_mommygossip (thankful for her two boys!)

...thanks to everyone who participated and who may still participate—who gave with their hearts and their hands, who encouraged, who participated, who made GNO GIVES a success!

Here's your chance to get to know just a few tweeple from the wonderful group that is #GNO! Check out their blogs to learn more about them!

• Deanna at The Gratitude Circle.
• Renee at Cutie Booty Cakes.
• Mommy Wizdom.

The Gratitude Circle writes about Taylor Fitch, Miss Teen America, and how she gives gratitude for helping children with special needs. Deanna, in a personal note to #gno, writes:

The holiday season for me really starts in November (which did you know is actually National “I Am So Thankful Month?) We love thanksgiving. My husband and I love to prepare the meal together and spend the day with my family eating traditional food and watching football (our favorite family activity)! We always use the Thanksgiving weekend as the kick off to decorate for the holidays, too. We enjoy doing this early so that we can thoroughly enjoy our decorations all through the month of December.

I will be hosting Christmas Eve and a small Christmas Day at my house this year. My Christmas Eve will be really special this year. My grandmother passed away this year at the tender age of 90. Christmas Eve was always her holiday—a traditional polish Christmas Eve. In tribute to her, I am hosting dinner this year in her memory with my aunt, uncle, cousins and my family. It will be very meaningful to all of us.

The holiday time can be so stressful…it has become quite commercial and a bit demanding of our time. It’s important to reflect and think ahead of time how to spend your time and with whom. What will make it special for you? How do you want to feel (or not want to feel)? What can you do to go out of your way for someone in need to help them to have a grateful and fulfilling holiday?

Cutie Booty Cakes shares this sweet picture of her mom, snuggling with her grandson. In this post and the one below it entitled, "Gratitude," she shares her grateful spirit with us.






















Mommy Wizdom talks about the temptation to indulge and reminds us of the people all around us who may be less fortunate and ways in which to help them:

There are people in the world who are starving! And I don't mean the children in Ethiopia that our parents taunted us with... I mean children in our own neighborhoods (yes, yours too!) who can't afford to buy lunch at school on a daily basis. Whose parents work 3-4 jobs just to make ends meet.

My friend's daughter goes to school with a girl who cannot afford to buy lunch. My friend packs two lunches for her daughter to take to school. This may very well be the only meal this girl gets all day.

Hunger is very real. Please, don't discount its existence.

If you don't believe that it can be happening in your neck of the woods, click here, type in your zip code into the food bank locator on the bottom right. There you will see hunger statistic for your area. I guarantee you'll be surprised. I was surprised about mine!

Thanks to today's featured GNO Gals for extending the topic of service, giving, and gratitude beyond GNO and into our week.

Wanna be featured? Please comment here or e-mail us at mommygossipgno AT gmail DOT com and provide your BLOG URL, linking to the post you'd like to contribute.