Proudly powered by WordPress.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Designed & built by Avenue Design Studios.
I’m actually late this year with this annual blog post. Finding information on Toys for Tots programs can be time-consuming and challenging. My work with the AMPLIFY project has expanded my awareness of how difficult it can be to access programs the further your family lives from an urban hub. My hope is to add […]
UPDATE – in 36 hours, we’ve reached 41% of our goal ($500). Please help us cross the finish line so the kids hear the good news on Monday. Jefferson Recreation Center is a North Side based community recreation center serving youth of all ages. They are hoping to take 13-15 young members (ages 8-18) […]
Funny how social media conversations can lead you down unexpected paths. I had recently posted about the creative name variants people use when they send holiday cards to our family (we are an unmarried lesbian couple who have been together for 12+ years.) – this is a pet peeve! A few people asked if they […]
Perhaps not the direction you expected me to go after spending the day asking you to donate to help the #PghSavesXmas project? Actually, writing that hashtag over and over really had this question front and center for me all day long. I was resisting using phrases like “It’s a miracle” or “I’m crying” when someone […]
Holiday toy drives are complicated beasts, sayeth this veteran of ten plus years of coordinating drives. On the one hand, donating gifts for children at the holidays seems very much in line with the holidays themselves. It makes sense that kids deserve presents and that sharing our excess is a very holiday-ish thing to do. […]
Today, Xander wagged his tail for the first time since surgery. A full butt-wiggling wagging, not just a tepid little twitch. He’s not permitted to bound into the yard until his stitches are removed, but he’s got some bounding energy in that tail wag. I took a call from an unfamiliar number without thinking about […]
For the first time in a decade or longer, I’m not working on a holiday gift project of some type like a toy drive or a food or blanket drive. No drives. Organizing a drive or a giving tree is exhilarating and rewarding, but it consumes hundreds of hours. My personal seasonal activities were usually […]
Today’s actual Daily Prompt is art of blogging adjacent You’re asked to recite a poem (or song lyrics) from memory — what’s the first one that comes to mind? Does it have a special meaning, or is there another reason it has stayed, intact, in your mind? Two songs come to mind, both for nostalgic […]
Play It Forward is a terrific resource for regional families during the holidays. Building upon the idea of toy sharing, organizers collect gently used toys, stuffed animals and more to redistribute to families in need. I think it is an excellent idea and the fact that they received over 50,000 toys in 2013 suggests that […]
I often write about human service programs, poverty, and related topics so people find their way to my site looking for information on programs to help their families and households, especially during the cold winter months. I see that happening already this year so I’m going to go ahead and share the information I can […]
You must be logged in to post a comment.