Source: Singh/Flickr

I shared that this holiday season I was fortunate to work on two holiday charitable giving opportunities with the help of some really great brands that want to support local communities. You can read all about one of those opportunities where I was able to donate holiday gifts to the Harbor House, benefiting domestic violence victims. But, let me tell you about the second opportunity, a collaborative effort between myself and three other Orlando bloggers sparked by the outreach of Kohl’s that became a truly great experience.

A little back story first…Kohl’s reached out to me about a Pay It Forward effort in which they wanted to collaborate with bloggers to pay it forward in their local communities. Kohl’s was offering a gift card to shop at their store and give back to my community as I deemed fit, though they hoped deserving children would benefit, which is in-line with their overall charitable efforts. I immediately thought that instead of donating unwrapped items to a toy drive, it would be great if I could adopt a family and help them out this Christmas.

It’s funny how one thought leads to another, because soon after, my mind started racing with all the possibilities. I thought about reaching out to other brands I already work with to see if they wished to donate extra items for the family. I figured that perhaps I could go beyond the family’s wish list and provide them some extra holiday cheer. And then I wondered if this could become a larger effort and thought about how many more families could be helped if other bloggers joined the effort. If each blogger has their individual brand relationships and we each reached out to brands we know and love, just how much good could we do for Orlando families?

And that’s when it happened – Kohl’s generously agreed to provide three extra gift cards so that three more Orlando bloggers could pay it forward. One email from Kohl’s sparked a bigger idea and resulted in a wonderful holiday giving effort that ultimately helped four deserving Central Florida families! But, that was only the beginning! So many other brands jumped on board and helped the four of us (Lee Allport of mysentimentexactlee.com, Jen Burg of thesuburbanmom.com, Jessica Kirby of theunemployedmom.com and myself) to help these families. It was truly exceptional how they were all about helping our local community and made it happen – in some cases this even meant sending overnight packages to us so that we could meet our deadline for dropping off donations to the organizations.

With the help of several brands, plus the gift card money Kohl’s provided, we helped four families in total – two families were helped through Catholic Charities of Central Florida, another through the New Image Youth Center, and a fourth family came via a local public school. (By the way, I had no idea that schools identify children in need and try to find them help for the holidays and other occasions.) We were able to provide items from each family’s wish list, plus extras that came in through donations from various brands, such as food, books, health and beauty items, gift cards, and even local theme park tickets so that each family could have a fun day out! Looking over the family’s list of needs and wishes truly put a lot of things into perspective – one mom asked for kitchen towels as her wish for Christmas, and most had clothes on their lists. I am hopeful that each family will enjoy Christmas this year and only wish we could have helped out even more families.

It’s great to know that the connections and relationships developed over the last six years of being in the social media industry can be put to use for a greater good. First, local bloggers that I briefly knew from local events did not hesitate to participate and help. Secondly, brands were eager to help and came through in the most amazing way. For that, I can never thank them enough. I encourage you to give each of these brands some love, they truly deserve it!

• ALDI: Facebook, Pinterest
• ConAgra Foods: Facebook, Twitter
  • Healthy Choice: Facebook, Twitter
  • Egg Beaters: Facebook
  • Chef Boyardee: Facebook
  • Hunt’s: Facebook, Twitter
• CoverGirl: Facebook
• CVS: Facebook, Twitter
• Dockers: Facebook, Twitter
• Energizer: Facebook, Twitter
• General Mills via Qué Rica Vida
• Hallmark: Facebook, Twitter (I’ve been working with Hallmark this year on the Life is a Special Occasion campaign and was able to coordinate through that partnership.)
• Johnson’s Baby: Facebook
• Kohl’s: Facebook, Twitter – each new Facebook like of the Kohl’s page through December 24 results in a $1 donation to Toys for Tots
• Mead: FiveStar and EarlyLearning
• Pantene
• Playskool: Facebook, Twitter
• Scholastic: Twitter
• SeaWorld Orlando: Facebook, Twitter
• The Motherhood.com: Twitter
• Veggie Tales: Facebook, Twitter

Please also consider giving back to your community, if you’re able. This holiday season is a great way to begin paying it forward, but remember that families in need in your community need help year-round. I am sure local organizations can tell you how you can help best. If anything, you can help out right in your local Kohl’s store through their Kohl’s Cares program; a simple $5 purchase of  books, plush toys, and other items means that Kohl’s donates 100% of net profits to children’s health and education programs. Just think, you can help out in two ways with such a purchase if you in turn donate the item you purchase!

Be sure to also check out the posts from the other ladies who helped Orlando families this holiday season! And for a peek at some of the brand donations, check out my Instagram pics.

• Orlando Bloggers Pay It Forward To Make Christmas Wishes Come True by Jen
• Central Florida Bloggers Take Part In Charitable Giving To Help Families In Need This Christmas! by Lee
• Orlando Bloggers Pay It Forward And Adopt 4 Local Families For Christmas by Jessica

How do you pay it forward throughout the year?

Disclosure: Kohl’s provided a gift card for purchasing donation items in order to Pay it Forward in my local community. Additional donations were provided by each respective brand. No compensation received.

Source: Shimelle Laine/Flickr

This year I really wanted to give back to our community during the holiday season. I especially wanted my baby girl to be a part of it and understand there are kids and families in need and realize we can help, even if just a bit. I want her to see that she is a very lucky girl and that we should not only be grateful, but also help others when we can.

Luckily, as I was beginning to search for the best way our family could help other families in Central Florida, I was provided two wonderful opportunities to give back through my work on this site. I’ll share one of those opportunities here and the other in a separate post.

Through my partnership with Walmart and the Walmart Moms group, I was offered the chance to shop at Walmart for items to donate to a charity or organization of my choosing. There are so many places that help local families that in turn need help to make it happen; it was really hard to choose just one. In the end, though, we chose to help Harbor House with their Presents of Hope program.

Harbor House is a local organization that helps domestic violence victims and also provides shelter, among other services. I personally have never been affected by domestic violence nor do I have any close friends or family affected by such a horrendous act, but I know this is a serious problem. When I reached out to Harbor House and received information on the current ages of children living in the shelter and overall wish lists and needs for residents, I knew it would be a good cause to support.

© modernmami.com

Equipped with their list and the knowledge that most people donate for younger kids so there was a special need for older kids’ items, my baby girl and I went shopping at Walmart to pick out fun gifts for Harbor House residents. She had fun choosing items she thought other kids would like, though she was a tad nervous about choosing for older kids, saying, “I’m not sure what teenagers like, mommy.” Little does she know that a lot of parents struggle with that issue! Here’s what we were able to get (though I wish we could have gotten so much more!):

• Made by Me Weaving Loom craft kit
• Paint Your Own Dinosaurs Kit
• Board/card games like Connect 4, Yahtzee, and Uno
• Mini Lalaloopsy doll
• Make-up sets
• Chain wallet
• Girl’s wallets and One Direction small purse
• Boxed fashion jewelry and rubber bracelets
• Assortment of gloves and hat for cooler days

I combined these purchased gifts with a couple of extra items I had at home that we had previously set aside for donating and hadn’t yet done so. I hope the kids and parents living at Harbor House enjoy the items we picked out and have a great Christmas. I encourage you to find out what organizations need some extra holiday cheer this holiday season and consider purchasing a few extra items on your next trip to Walmart to donate.

Disclosure: modernmami.com and its owner, Melanie Edwards, is a member of the Walmart Moms program, resulting in compensation for this post.