Kids for a Cause: Young Teen Launches her own Charity, If Not You, Who?

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

Erica King from Dedham Country Day School seems like an ordinary 13-year-old. She is an active participant in her school and community, playing ice hockey, field hockey and lacrosse. She enjoys spending time with her friends and meeting new people. King is very focused on her goals and having fun while accomplishing them. But this young girl from Massachusetts in not your typical middle schooler; she an extraordinary girl making a difference in the world, one fundraiser at a time. 

In 2008, King launched the charity, If Not You, Who?, which allows people to discover and discuss global and local issues, while finding ways to help.

This wonderful idea was inspired by a gift given to young King: a book consisting of information about different charities. King was immediately intrigued, and did more research more online. She started putting coins in a jar with hopes to collect enough money to be able to make a difference. This immediately followed with potluck dinners and concerts to benefit different charities.

If Not You, Who?supports charities such as Free the Children, The Girl Effect, Orphan Foundation of America, Smile Train, Faces of Children, Snowball Express, Camp No Limits and Dream Far. 

Lead by example like young Erica King and help make a difference in the world we live in. For more information, visit http://www.ifnotyouwhosite.org/

Celebrity Gives Back: Ne-Yo Involved in the Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

Talented singer, songwriter and Grammy winner, Ne-Yo, has been an advocate for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) for quite some time. Recently, he has been involved in their Stop Bullying: Speak Up campaign which strives to stop bullying by speaking up, telling an adult, being friendly to those who are bullied and getting involved in bullying prevention programs.  

Ne-Yo is involved in this campaign through his own non-profit organization, The Compound Foundation, which works to support and create success opportunities for youth in the child welfare system.

The accomplished singer finds it very important to give back to the BGCA, and he credits this to his own personal success. In this Huffington Post article, Ne-Yo speaks about his own experiences of being bullied as a kid, and how the BGCA provided him a place to escape.

For more information about the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, or to make a donation, visit http://www.bgca.org/Pages/index.aspx

Kids for a Cause: Teens for Jeans

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

Aeropostale's fourth annual Teens for Jeans drive has just ended, but the outcome was phenomenal! In just four weeks, 542,411 pairs of jeans were collected by various participants. After four years, over one million pairs of jeans have been collected from the campaign, which is enough to clothe all the homeless teenagers in the United States and Canada combined!

The campaign gets teens involved by offering an incentive for those who produce the most jeans. This year, the grand prize was $5,000 and a party for the winning school. Other prizes included signed jeans by celebrities, a banner for your school and stylish t-shirts. 

There were many celebrities involved in the Teens for Jeans drive, including Matt Lanter, Keri Hilson, Nikki Blonsky, Nigel Barker, Sara Canning, Shailene Woodley and Jay Sean.  

This year's campaign has ended, but you can always start collecting jeans now to get a head start on next year's competition. For more information about how to participate, or to start a jean drive of your own, visit http://www.dosomething.org/teensforjeans/home

Cruising with a Cause: Hope Floats

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

Cathy and Bill Huckaby came up with a brilliant idea to combine vacations with volunteering, something that had never been thought of before. The Lodi, California natives were on a cruise ship in the Caribbean when they decided that something was missing on their trip. 

The cruise stopped in St. Thomas, a port city in the Caribbean, and the Huckabys were on a bus to explore the city. Two middle-aged women were sitting in front of the couple, conversing about their daily plans. They sounded bored and settled on shopping, since there wasn’t much more to do in the small town. 

Mrs. Huckaby stepped off the bus and started wandering around, walking past expensive watches, jewelry and clothing stores. She continued to walk for a few more blocks until she came across children playing in slum conditions, and across the street was a local Salvation Army thrift store. It was in that moment that she knew she had an idea that could make a difference. She scurried back to her husband to share her idea. 

Now, months later, the Huckabys are ready to put their plan to action. They decided to call this adventure “Hope Floats,” solely for people who enjoy combining both leisure and volunteerism. The idea is to have cruise ship passengers spend a few hours in port to volunteer in any way. This can be work at a local non-profit organization, helping with construction, caring for stray animals, helping to feed the homeless, etc.  The idea is very appealing, as most passengers on cruises wander aimlessly around during their time on shore spending money. 

The first Hope Floats cruise will sail out of Puerto Rico on April 17 with a handful of eager volunteers. It will last five days and participants will be asked to volunteer at least two of the five days. The cost varies, but will be approximately $2,200 - $3,500 per couple, exclusive of air fare. 

Have a relaxing, enjoyable vacation with the opportunity to give back. For more information, visit http://hopefloats.org/

Celebrity Gives Back: Matt Damon's Hope in a Bottle

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

Anyone that knows me knows that I am passionate about two things: helping others and recycling. Yes, two very different things, but with the help of Matt Damon, everyone can easily do both of them! 

You can go to http://gift.water.org/ and purchase a unique, environmentally friendly CamelBak bottle that can be reused so you won’t have to buy plastic bottles ever again. By buying just one of these limited edition design CamelBak bottles, you can help a child get clean, safe water. 100% of the proceeds go to support nearly a billion people in the world who lack clean water. 

These bottles are a product of water.org, an organization founded by Gary White and talented actor, Matt Damon, and that “has transformed hundreds of communities in Africa, South Asia, and Central America by providing access to safe water and sanitation.” 

For more information about water.org, to make a donation, or to purchase these trendy water bottles, visit http://gift.water.org/. 

For other ways to shop for a cause, visit Uptown Liz.

Celebrities Give Back: St. Patrick's Day Edition: Ireland's Bono, Colin Farrell and Pierce Brosnan

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! This has always been a fun holiday, but it now reminds me of some of my most cherished memories. Last year I lived in Dublin, Ireland for 11 months. I was studying abroad for the year, and can easily say it was the best year of my life.

In spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, I would like to write about Irish celebrities and the good that they have done. These well-known celebrities started their lives in the Emerald Isle and have since been making a difference in the world we live in, with both their exquisite talents and generous charitable contributions. 

Bono has been the lead singer in the well-known band, U2, since 1976. He is also known for being the biggest Irish philanthropist and activist for international development. Bono helped found the HIV/AIDS awareness foundation, Debt AIDS Trade Africa (DATA) and the anti-poverty campaign, Make Poverty History. He also cofounded ONE, an organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa.

Colin Farrell is the handsome Dublin native that can be seen in films such as Ordinary Decent Criminal, S.W.A.T., Phone Booth and American Outlaws. Farrell is passionate about stopping bullying, and recently released a statement in support of BelongTo, a youth organization in Ireland that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. He also read personal testimonies from bullying victims on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last year.

Pierce Brosnan is another talented Irish actor, best known from his role as James Bond. Since 2001, Brosnan has been the Ireland ambassador of UNICEF, the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realized. Brosnan is so passionate about his beliefs that he once boycotted his own GoldenEye premiere in France to support Greenpeace's protest against French nuclear testing practices.

I would like to leave you with a visual of Ireland. These are a couple pictures I took last year:

Battle for the Bands: Keri Hilson and Amber Riley are Ready to Battle

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

According to dosomething.org, the month of March is "Music in our Schools" month. Dosomething.org currently has a Battle for the Bands campaign that strives to keep schools across the country from losing their music education programs. There are two ways you can get involved:

1. "Create a music video about music ed. with your orchestra, garage band, jazz band, hip hop group, best friend, etc. Include a message about the importance of music education."

2. "Launch an advocacy project in your community. The best way to keep music in your school is to show students, administrators, and your school board how important it is."

Once you have uploaded your video or project, share it on facebook and twitter and get all your friends to check it out. If you reach more than 100 shares, you will become a finalist. Judges will then pick the winners. Two runners up will receive $1,000 for their school's music program, and the grand prize for the video and advocacy project will receive $5,000 for their school's music program.

Glee actress, Amber Riley, already joined the campaign, producing this video. And singer, Keri Hilson, produced this video for the same cause.

It is time to raise your voice about the importance of music education in schools! For more information, visit http://www.dosomething.org/battle

Give Back for a Cause: Relief Donations to Help with Recent Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

Japan has been faced with a horrific disaster over the past week. An 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit Japan on Friday which triggered a tsunami that followed in a region north of Tokyo. Officials say that at least 10,000 people were killed in this fatal natural disaster and an estimated 200,000 people are living in temporary shelters. There are currently more than one million households in Japan that are without water.

I woke up Friday morning with an abundance of e-mails from friends I had met last year studying abroad in Ireland. While there, I had the opportunity to meet many Japanese students who were studying abroad as well. I became quite close with a few of them, and was immediately worried for my friends and their families. By midday Friday I had confirmation that all four of my Japanese friends were fine. Three of them live in Kyoto, which was not affected. My other Japanese friend was in a job interview when the earthquake began. The building collapsed and she was stuck inside overnight, but was thankfully uninjured. 

Even though my friends are okay, there are millions of people who are not. Not only are entire cities destroyed, but thousands of people are left dead and homeless. Furthermore, there have been two nuclear power plant explosions in Fukushima and there is fear of a major radiation leak. More than one million households are without food, water and heat. To make matters worse, the forecast for quake-hit regions in Japan is expected to be rain and snow, with high temperatures to be only 36 degrees Fahrenheit.

Japan is in desperate need of help, and there are many organizations that accept donations to help with emergency relief.

Save the Children helps to save lives with food, medical care and education. They helps communities rebuild through long-term recovery programs when disaster strikes around the world. To donate to assist in Japan's disaster relief, visit https://secure.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6617251/k.7E71/Donate_to_the_Japan_Earthquake_Tsunami_Children_in_Emergency_Fund/apps/ka/sd/donor.asp?msource=wellpaqke311, call toll free: 800-728-3843 or text JAPAN or 20222.

The American Red Cross provides domestic disaster relief around the world. Visit http://www.redcross.org/ or text REDCROSS or 90999 to make a $10 donation by text message.

The Salvation Army is a Christian international movement that helps aid countries faced with natural disasters around the world. To make a donation, visit donate.salvationarmyusa.org, call toll free: 800-SAL-ARMY or text QUAKE or 80888 to donate $10. 

International Medical Corps "is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs." To make a donation, visit http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/ or text MED or 80888 to donate $10. 

Doctors Without Borders is an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France. It provides aid in nearly 60 countries to people whose survival is threated by catastrophe. To make a donation, visit http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

Global Giving connects you to the causes and countries you care about. You select what you want to support, make a tax-deductible contribution, and get regular updates so you can see how your gift is making a difference. To make a donation, visit http://www.globalgiving.org/ or text JAPAN or 50555 to donate $10.

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization that serves close to 100 million people in nearly 100 countries around the world. They are dedicated to helping children, families and communities worldwide in times of need. To make a donation, visit www.worldvision.org, call toll free: 888-56-CHILD or text 4JAPAN to 20222 to donate $10. 

You can make a difference and help Japan in the worst disaster they have faced since World War II. They need our help more than ever, and a donation of any amount will help.

Give Back Your Goods: De-cluttering, Sports Items

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine 

Give back your goods and start your Spring cleaning early! This week we want to focus on de-cluttering your house and garage by giving back your old sports items to programs that will donate them to for a good cause.

Peace Passers is a non-profit that is passionate about providing the culture of soccer to those who may not be able to experience it otherwise. They believe that "playing sports influences quality of life, thus promoting mutual respect, unity, and peacefulness with human relationships." The organization was founded by young athletes that realize the importance of soccer as a way to generate peace, happiness, and postitive social connections amongst people from around the world. Peace Passers collects soccer balls, shoes, sock and uniforms and then distributes these items to less fortunate countries and areas. For more information or to make a donation, visit http://peacepassers.org/

Sports Gift is an organization that focuses on providing sports to impoverished and disadvantaged children throughout the world. The foundation is aware that many children around the world will never have the opportunity to enjoy sports, so their goal is to improve their lives and give them hope through a variety of sports programs. This requires the collection and donation of sports equipment of any kind. Sports Gift has already collected over 170,000 pieces of sports equipment that has helped impoverished children all over the world, including communities in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Pacific, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. To donate your old sports items, visit http://sportsgift.org/donate_all-sports.html

Recycle Your Mat is an organization that collects your old yoga mats in order to keep them out of the landfill, and recycles these mats in an ecologically conscious way. The program recycles and upcycles mats as new products and reuses mats through donation. These mats are then distributed to yoga studios, fitness centers and through individual's shipments of yoga mats. Save our world, one mat at a time, donate your old yoga mats today! Visit http://recycleyourmat.com/ for more information.

De-clutter your home and feel good about it, give back your sporting goods today!

Celebrity Gives Back: Zooey Deschanel Hosts Charity Cocktail Party to Raise Money for DKMS

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine
 

Zooey Deschanel not only excels at acting, singing and dancing, but the talented performer does a phenomenal job fighting for leukemia patients.

Deschanel recently hosted a swank charity cocktail party in Beverly Hills that benefited DKMS, the world's largest bone marrow donor center. The party combined Deschanel's two passions, saving lives and great jewelry. The jewelry featured at the party was designed by the well-known Solange Azagury-Partridge. All proceeds were donated to DKMS and their mission to recruit bone marrow donors. 

Less that half the people living with leukemia receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant. It is a painful procedure, but the benefits far outweigh the costs. By donating, you have the opportunity to save a life.

To support DKMS or to find out how you can become a donor, visit http://www.dkmsamericas.org/

Kids for a Cause: Smith River Elementary School Gives Back

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

The students at Smith River Elementary School are donating their time and effort to do great things. 

The school hosts an annual food drive, and they collected nearly 1,000 food items in just two weeks this year. In order to get the children more enthusiastic about the food drive, there was a competition among K-4 and 5-8 grades to see who could bring in the most food. The incentive was to win an ice cream party, but the children were so wrapped up with giving back that the initial motive wasn’t nearly as important. 

The collected items were given to volunteers at the Smith River United Methodist Church, who helped to distribute the canned foods.

After getting a taste of giving back, the school is now hoping to do even more. The school’s principal wants to have a food pantry stocked at all times of the year in order to give back in the event of a disaster. He claimed that the community is always giving back to them, so they are just doing their party and paying it forward. 

Smith River Elementary School is also starting a shoe drive to help people locally and in Africa. The overflowing amount of shoes that were going to be thrown away are available to local residents for free at the school. The rest of the shoes will be purchased for 20 cents per pound by Thrifty International, an organization that will then donate the shoes to Africa.  

In just a short amount of time, the students at this school have made a huge difference. You, too, can make a difference with very little effort. Do your part and give back to those in need.

To support charitable organizations by shopping, visit Uptown Liz.

Give Back Your Goods: De-cluttering, Clothing Edition

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

Last week, I mentioned the importance of de-cluttering and giving back your old goods to a good cause. This week I would like to focus on items that I, personally, have way too much of. These items always seem to accumulate in my closet and I desperately need to get rid of them… clothes!

If you are anything like me, you have an abundance of clothes that are sitting in your closet collecting dust. Start organizing and give back these clothes while supporting a good cause! There are a number of organizations that take your old clothes and donate them for a good cause. 

Donatemydress.org is a national campaign that “encourages girls to donate their prom and special occasion dresses to others who need them.” This organization strives to help give one night of joy and glamour to those girls who would never dream of such. To read stories about how this organization has made a difference in some girls’ lives, visit http://www.donatemydress.org/real-stories.html. To donate your old dress in a town near you, visit http://www.donatemydress.org/donate.html. You’ve already had your dream night, so donate your dress so that someone else can have hers!

Soles 4 Souls is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes and donates them to those in need in over 125 different countries around the world. Since 2005, this organization has given away nearly 12 million pairs of new and used shoes. They are currently donating one pair of shoes every seven seconds. You can donate your new or used shoes today, knowing you are supporting a very reputable cause. You can also donate in other ways; for every one dollar you donate, Soles 4 Souls can provide one additional pair of shoes to someone in need. Help to change the world, one pair at a time. For more information, visit http://www.soles4souls.org/. 

One Warm Coat is an organization that holds coat drives throughout the year in the United States in order to give coats to those in need. Their goal is to provide any person in need of a warm coat with one, free of charge. The coat drive strives to be easy and convenient in order to get as many donations as possible. To donate a coat or to make any type of donation, visit http://onewarmcoat.org. 

The Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is “a national veterans service organization primarily serving the needs of veterans of the Vietnam War era throughout the nation and elsewhere.” The VVA is funded by various fund-raising activities, including clothing donations that are then sold to gain proceeds for the VVA. The Vietnam veterans risked their lives to protect our country; the least you can do is donate your old clothing in order to support this foundation. For more information, visit http://www.clothingdonations.org/service.htm

 

Cotton from Blue to Green is an organization that collects your old denim jeans and converts them in to UltraTouch Denim Insulation. The insulation is then given to communities that need assistance with building efforts. UltraTouch “is composed of 85% recycled cotton fibers and is an environmentally safe, non-itch insulation without carcinogenic warnings, formaldehyde or chemical irritants. It provides exceptional thermal performance and acoustically provides 30% better sound absorption than traditional fiberglass insulation.” Help the environment; be green and donate your blue jeans today! For more information, visit http://www.cottonfrombluetogreen.org/

Give back your goods AND give back to a good cause, start de-cluttering your closet today!

Celebrity Gives Back: Matthew McConaughey's Just Keep Livin Foundation

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine 

Matthew McConaughey has always been one of my favorite actors. His good looks, charm and outstanding acting abilities are enough alone to sweep me off my feet. But when I found out about his non-profit organization, Just Keep Livin Foundation, I knew I had fallen in love. 

The Just Keep Livin Foundation was created “with hope of encouraging children to make positive and healthy changes in themselves and in the world around them.” It targets teenagers, with hopes they will start to lead active and healthy lifestyles that will carry through to their adulthood. 

The JKL Foundation has set up fitness and wellness programs in public schools, working with children who may not be able to experience these important skills otherwise. Not only does this foundation promote physical and mental well-being, but it teaches them these things through exercise, teamwork, gratitude and positive life choices. 

The phrase “just keep livin” was created by McConaughey, who was struggling with his father’s death while filming Dazed and Confused in 1992. McConaughey lived by this phrase, claiming that it helped him through the good times and the bad, and to make the best out of life. Realizing that "just keep livin" applies to all aspects of life, McConaughey founded Just Keep Livin Productions, which has since expanded to a record label and lifestyle brand.

This non-profit organization has already made a tremendous difference in the lives of many teenagers in the United States. With your help, JKL Foundation can continue to make a difference to those who will be responsible for our future. To get involved with the JKL Foundation, or to make a donation, visit http://jklivinfoundation.org/just-keep-givin/.