What Is A Virtual Bake Sale?

Kate (@asimplewalk) is a foodie author and owner of Cooking During Stolen Moments. (Love the pot in the window in her header..!) We met Kate at BlissDom09, I talked her into playing some board games one evening in fact!


Teaming up with Share Our Strength; Kate tells her story.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been passionate about helping children that were less fortunate than myself. When I was in fifth grade, I began sponsoring a child through Christian Children's Fund with my allowance money. I loved giving in that way - feeling like I was doing something important for other children. Never in my life did I imagine that someday I might have children on the receiving end of that cycle.

But that is exactly what happened a few years ago. A series of events led to our family relying on the kindness of strangers and food pantry donations to see us through. I saw first hand the work and compassion of organizations whose first priority is making sure children are fed.

Now that the tide has turned toward the better for our family, I feel that same passion I did as a child, except this time I'm armed with first-hand experience. A commercial on Food Network for Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale really got me thinking. I knew I wanted to get involved. I tried to figure out what I could do that would have the greatest impact. That's when the idea of the Virtual Great American Bake Sale occurred to me.

I emailed Share Our Strength with my plans. I was thrilled when they responded that they loved the idea and set up a conference call with me.I partnered with them to create the official Virtual Great American Bake Sale.

I can't wait to see the power of the blogosphere in action. I hope you’ll join me in my vision to make the Virtual Great American Bake Sale a success. Let’s support Share Our Strength’s work to make sure that no child goes hungry!

You can read all of the details and find out how to participate on my blog, Cooking During Stolen Moments. Click the button to find out more!




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Calling All Foodies! The virtual bake sale needs your recipes! Hurry, deadline is April 5th!

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Park City Mountain Resort Vacation Giveaway Winner!

Can you even imagine how hard it must have been to choose a winner from over 100 nominations!

When we asked you to nominate someone who exhibited Mom it Forward's Mission in your lives, we had no idea just how amazing all these entries would be!

Think of a person who has made a big difference in your life. Someone that embraces the Mom It Forward mission. Someone that lifts others, has overcome challenges with a smile, is a positive force for good, or just makes your world a better place.

So many people—you, your own moms and a few extraordinary husbands and dads—nominated people to win in the true spirit of Mom It Forward! It was so fun to watch the nominations come in and to be touched by every single one of them.

We dare you to read through all of the nominations both on the Mom It Forward Site and the Park City Mountain Resort Snow Mamas Site. Could you make that decision?

A panel from Park City Mountain Resort has been given that task, and without further ado, let's announce the winner of:

• Lodging for up to 6 people (3 nights, 4 days) in a 2-bedroom, 5-star condo
  
  
• Dinner vouchers for 3 nights for the entire family
  
  
• Resort Passes good for 3 days, including a wide range of family activities such as a climbing wall, an Alpine Slide, a Human Maze, miniature golfing, a Zip Rider, mountain biking and hiking, and more (valid between May and August 2009)
  

And the Lucky Winner Is...

Congratulations to Jessica Whitt at Go Blog Yourself, Tonya Staab nominated you to win!

Here is her entry:

I'm Tonya Staab
I would love to nominate Jessica Whitt for this trip. She is truly an inspiration. Jess very recently had the most devastating loss any mother could imagine. One of her 2 year old girls lost her battle with neuroblastoma. She has shown nothing but strength and courage and love throughout the days and nights spent in and out of the hospital to saying goodbye to her beautiful little girl. Jess is one of the most wonderful women I know. She's the type of person who is always there when you need a shoulder to cry on, even when she is going through so much herself and she truly is the sweetest person I know and such amazing mother.
I would also like to direct you to a cause that Jess whole-heartedly believes in (aside from raising money for Neuroblastoma and childhood cancer). Prior to her little girl being diagnosed, she started a blog called Will Play For Food http://playforfood.blogspot.com/ . The premise of this blog is to encourage parents to get their children involved in donating to charities. Primarily food banks. Mother's organize play dates in their local areas and each person attending brings food to donate to their local food bank. Such a worthy cause and a wonderful way to get your children involved in helping others. This is the type of person Jess is.
Jess is a dear friend of mine and I know she deserves this. Her family needs this.
Her blog address is: Half12.

Please contact momitforward [at] gmail [dot] com to get details about your upcoming summer luxury vacation at the Park City Mountain Resort.

Thanks PCMR for sponsoring this giveaway!

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#GNO Live—Moms Helping Moms Fundraiser

Meet Up With #GNO Gals for a Great Cause Sat., Apr. 18 in the US, Canada, & Australia

Mom It Forward, in partnership with 12 for 12K, is kicking off 6-weeks of fundraising for moms and by moms (Tuesday, March 31 through Tuesday May 13) and we need your help!

On Saturday, April 18, Mom It Forward and 12 for 12K events will be taking place all over the US, in Canada, and in Australia (see list of locations below) to raise funds and awareness for Yehu Microfinance, BasaBody, and Coast Coconut Farms. The goal? To combat poverty by empowering poor rural entrepreneurs in Kenya to help lift themselves out of poverty through enhanced accessibility to sustainable financial services, business opportunities, and skills training.

Yehu Microfinance, BasaBody, and Coast Coconut Farms work together to achieve this mission. How? First, women secure micro loans from Yehu Microfinance. Next, they purchase a franchise from Coast Coconut Farms, which gives them the materials, skills/business training, and opportunity to run a coconut oil extraction business right from their village. Then, Coast Coconut Farms makes regular village runs to purchase the coconut oil and processes it in its plant. Finally, Coast Coconut Farms exports the oil to the U.S. where volunteers there use the oil to create and sell bath, body, and cooking products—part of the Basa Body and Coast Coconut Farms product lines—returning the proceeds right back to Africa to help more and more women.

How Can You Help?

Our goal is to raise $35,000 for Yehu Microfinance (click here to learn more about donations) and sell $5,000 worth of Basa Body and Coast Coconut Farms product like mint chocolate truffle and cherry soap with coconut oil (shown left) or hand lotion (shown below). Cash donations or product purchases is certainly one way to help and is much appreciated.

We recognize not everyone can donate cash during these tough financial times. Therefore, we have come up with many ways to contribute:

1. Be part of a Moms Helping Moms event planning committee in your area.
   
   
2. Volunteer at a Moms Helping Moms event.
   
   
3. Donate product or services for the event (the venue, food, raffle items, etc.).
   
   
4. Help us publicize it on and offline.
   
   
5. Attend the event.
   
   
6. If there is not an event listed for your area, consider putting one together. We have a team and materials in place to help with this initiative.

Where Are Events Taking Place?

Mom It Forward and 12 for 12K are working with volunteers within our communities all over the US, Canada, and Australia to support Yehu Microfinance, BasaBody, and Coast Coconut Farms through fundraising efforts. The live events listed below (details to come) are being planned and carried out by amazingly giving teams of volunteers in local areas. The success of these events relies on terrific volunteer involvement and every team is looking for help. If you have time, services, or products you would be willing to donate, please e-mail us at momitforward AT gmail DOT com so we can put you in touch with the team leader in your area.

Note: Hyperlinked cities mean there is a Facebook group already formed for this team. If you are near one of these cities and would like to contribute, please click on the link, join the Facebook team, and let the team know how you'd like to contribute. Thanks!

The United States
Chicago, IL
Dallas/Ft Worth, TX
DC Metro (DC/MD/VA)
Kansas City, MO
Milwaukee, WI
Nashville, TN
New York City, NY
Philadelphia, PA
Portland, OR
Raleigh, NC
Salt Lake City, UT
San Diego, CA

Canada
Toronto
Vancouver

Australia
Sydney

If you are interested in participating or having an event in your area, please contact us at momitforward AT gmail DOT com. Thanks for your interest! Together, we can change the world one mom at a time!

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Kids Easter Crafts Service Project—Fun for the Family!

Serve Side By Side With Your Children Saturday, March 28 in Salt Lake City!

Want to teach your children the value of service and giving? We have just the opportunity for you! Take advantage of this amazing service project, hosted by Mom It Forward and sponsored by Make and Takes and Provo Craft, where you can serve side by side with your children all for a great cause.

• What: We'll be making spring crafts and ornaments to decorate the "April Tree" for the Christmas Box House.
  
  
• When: Saturday, March 28 from 10 a.m to 12 p.m.
  
  
• Where: The Christmas Box House—3660 S. West Temple
  
  
• RSVP: Please click here to RSVP by 3/26 so we can purchase the right amount of materials and food. In your RSVP, be sure to mention how many people will be coming in your party.
  
  
• For More Information: Please contact marie [at] makeandtakes [dot] com or momitforward [at] gmail [dot] with "Christmas Box House" in the subject line.
  

(Photo used with permission from Flickr.com)

What Is the Christmas Box House?

In 1997, The Christmas Box Foundation, with support from the community, agreed to fund and build a new shelter intake/ assessment and residential facility. This facility has greatly enhanced services to abused and neglected children and reflects a statewide model for delivery of best practice assessment and treatment services to victims of child abuse.

The Christmas Box House provides:

• Emergency residential services, 24 hours a day, 7 days-a-week, to children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect, or a foster care placement failure.
• Emergency intake and assessment services, based on a multi-disciplinary treatment approach, are available around-the-clock for youth to address their emotional, physical, educational and placement needs.
• The Residential Unit provides specialized care for a maximum of 34 children, ages 0-11. It provides state-of-the-art comprehensive services, which reflect best practice and innovative breakthroughs in childcare.
• Over 45 licensed Resource Homes within the community provide nurturing care to children for up to 28 days. Last year Resource families provided care within their homes for 619 children.
• For current volunteer and donation needs, please contact Tammy Champo at 801-269-7506, tchampo@slco.org, or Elisbeth Williams at 284-3301, elisabeth@thechristmasboxhouse.org.

(Information and picture taken directly from http://www.cbh.slco.org/.)

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What A Difference A Day Can Make!

What Have #GNO Gals Done Lately to Mom It Forward?
This past weekend Carissa and I headed out to Nashville for our first blog conference—Blissdom, hosted by the sweet and funny Alli Worthington from Mrs. Fussypants and the hip and abundant Barbara Jones from One2OneNetwork.

You can see our summary posts here and here where we recap the valuable information we gained, the tremendous contacts we made, and the fabulous friendships we built and/or strengthened.

The most amazing part of the Blissdom experience for me was seeing the old addage "all's well that ends well" taken to new heights with "all's extraordinary that ends extraordinarily." I am referring to the Mom It Forward service project at the Nashville Rescue Mission sponsored by Scanpan (who donated 5 sets of high-end cookware to the Mission, nearly making me wish that was my kitchen—the pots and pans were AMAZING).

Five Fabulous Things About Momming It Forward Nashville Style

What was so extraordinary about this experience you may be asking yourself? Let me touch on five highlights:

1. Influence and reach is more important than numbers! We learned at the conference that blogging traffic is not as important as reach and influence. We experienced the same concept in a different way at the Nashville Rescue Mission. Our team was small in numbers—7 to be exact (Carissa, Kim, Josh and Rebecca, Ghennipher, Marie, and moi). But we helped prepare lunch for upwards of 1500 people.
   
   (Photo courtesy of Ghennipher Weeks, featuring Josh and Rebecca Unfried of MomFaves.)
   
   Now that is reach! Here is a quick note we just received from the volunteer director at the Nashville Rescue Mission:
   
   
   

   Dear Carissa and Jyl,
   My name is Billy Eldridge and I am the Director of Operations at The Nashville Rescue Mission. I want to thank you and your group, Mom It Forward, for Scanpan's donation and the time you spent volunteering here this past Sunday. Clay (the Kitchen Manager) said you were a big help. Several of the men were in awe of the fact that members of your group were in town for only a few days and you decided to spend your Sunday with us. The pot and pans that you donated are great. One of our recent graduates of the recovery program is getting married later this month and she received a set and is very grateful. We appreciate all that you have done and would enjoy having you back any time. Thank you again for your giving spirit.
   
   Billy Eldridge, Nashville Rescue Mission

   
   
2. Shared meaninful experiences builds community. As we Mommed It Forward, our team experienced one of the most vital parts of building community: shared meaningful experiences. We may have been chopping vegetables or mixing in dressing on salads—ordinary tasks done daily for a mommy. But these ordinary tasks became extraordinary when we performed them while working together for a common goal and great cause—to help those who truly were not able to help themselves. It was an amazingly humble experience!
   
   
3. Stepping forward and out of your comfort zone is key to Momming It Forward. We got out of our comfort zones. Not only did we Mom It Forward in terms of serving, but we took a step forward from an area in which we may not have been entirely comfortable—from our comfort zones, helping us all to embrace a very important step to Mom It Forward—taking action!
   
   
   
   
4. Partnering makes Mom It Forward possible. This entire experience would not have been possible without a lot of creative connections. Specifically... the wonderful people behind the Blissdom Conference, who brought all of us together; the amazing Nashville Rescue Mission organization; our small, but influential team of Mom It Forward moms and dad who sacrificed sleep or fought headaches/sickness to participate; Nancy Martira, the lovely and brilliant PR professional and now friend, who introduced us to Scanpan; Scanpan for their generous donation and sponsorship (you've got to check out their cookware... as Alli says, "It's Lickable!"; Jessica Smith for introducing us to Nancy Martira; Abdul (I wish he had a blog I could link you to) for being our amazing taxi cab driver (no! he's no relation to Paula. I asked! LOL!); and most importantly, the people at the Nashville Rescue Mission—for their strength and goodness, however limited or ill understood.
   
   
5. The Mom It Forward mission is alive and kickin'. We have heard a few times that the Mom It Forward mission to "change the world one mom at a time" is lofty. What the Nashville Rescue Mission experience taught me is that it is possible. Mom It Forward can accomplish this mission one day at a time, one person at a time, one location at a time. We already are, including the partner that sponsored the opportunity, the organization that made it possible, the team members that provided the service, and the amazing people who received it.
   
   (Photo of Ghennipher and Marie of Make and Takes.)
   
   

   If you'd like to learn more about Mom It Forward, please visit our Mom It Forward blog. If you have questions or partnering ideas, please e-mail us at momitforward [at] gmail [dot] com.

   
   

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Mom It Forward Serves Nashville

Mom It Forward is coordinating a terrific service project in Nashville, Tennessee. If you're planning to be in the Nashville area the weekend of February 6, please plan to Mom It Forward with us.

DATE: Sunday, February 8

TIME: 9-11 a.m.

PLACE: Nashville Rescue Mission

ACTIVITY: Service project

RSVP: Email your first/last name to momitforward AT gmail DOT com.

DEADLINE: You must RSVP no later than Friday, January 23 to participate.

Note: Unfortunately, due to the nature of the service project, the Nashville Rescue Mission does not allow children under the age of 17 to participate.

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