Boys & Girls Clubs of America Wants to Inspire Kids to Give Back! #GreatFutures #MC

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Boys and Girls Clubs of America. I received a promotional item as a thank-you for participating.  All opinions expressed are my own.

I feel pretty lucky that our children's elementary school has a parent-run after school program that gets our children involved in volunteering their time for community service.  Not all parents of young children are that lucky.  That's why, especially around the Holidays, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America want to help inspire your children by showing them how other Kids Give Back.  Through December 12th, you and your children can see how kids just like them give back to their communities year-round and then vote for your favorite giving project.

If you need some ideas about how to inspire your child to give back, take a look at the BGCA's list of Gift-of-Giving Tips.  You can also make giving more fun with free printable gift tags to attach to your donations this Holiday!

How do you inspire your children to give back?

Visit Macy's to Support the Make-A-Wish Foundation & Aflac for Pediatric Cancer

If you have been touched by the spirit of the holidays, then you most likely have been thinking about ways to give back and ways to just do some good. Do you remember the Macy's Believe campaign of 2009? Well Santa's mailbox is in Macy's stores again for Holiday 2010. All you need to do is bring your children along with their letters to Santa and drop them in the mailbox to prompt a $1 donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for each letter. Macy's will donate up to $1 million for the 3rd annual Macy's Believe campaign.

If your child needs help with their letter to Santa, there is a tool to help you type your child's letter out in his or her words and decorate it right on the Believe website. Then all you need to do is print out the letter and have your child drop it in the mailbox at your local Macy's store. You can also find on this website, the schedule for the Macy's National Santa Tour, which continues through December 22nd, 2010. Visit Macy's on Facebook for a fun game helping Virginia and Ollie get their letters to Santa.

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Another great way to give this holiday is to support the Aflac/Macy's Holiday Duck sale! Do you remember the Aflac Duck in this 2010 commercial? . . .

Since the year 2001, the Aflac Duck has been sold in Macy's stores to benefit the Aflac Cancer Center. For some, it is a tradition to collect the current year's Aflac Duck. The 2010 Aflac Duck is already sold out online in both the 6" and 10" versions, but you can still find him at participating Macy's stores. He only costs $10 for the 6" and $15 for the 10". Both contain a sound chip, so you can hear the Aflac Duck's signature line. Purchasing this duck will benefit pediatric cancer treatment and research.

This adorable little guy would be a great gift for a child, but I think he would be the perfect gift for a co-worker. Usually at work, you are not allowed to blow off steam. Well, the Aflac Duck screams when you cannot. One or two squeezes of my new little friend really helps me to relieve a bit stress. I've found it to be very therapeutic.

Visit AflacHolidayDuck.com to learn more about this great cause, including which U.S. hospitals will benefit from the Aflac/Macy's Holiday Duck sale and which store locations are selling the 2010 Aflac Holiday Duck.

Thank you to Aflac for providing a complimentary product sample to base this review upon.

Giving Through Oxfam America Unwrapped

This is the time of year when many people from all walks of life begin to think about which charities they would like to gift to this holiday season. If you are fortunate to have enough to give to more than one charity, I think it is a great idea to choose at least one cause that is local and one cause that is international.

Personally, having an idea of where my money is going makes it easier for me to give. For example, if I had $15 to give, but I see that it would cost $18 to give honeybees to a small farmer in a poverty-stricken country, then I would certainly be able to find the extra few dollars to make that happen.

The gifts available on the Oxfam America Unwrapped website is organized into simple categories . . . Animal Gifts, Green Gifts, Women & Children, Education, Making a Living, and Emergency Essentials. These gifts come in all price ranges. A donation of $18 could provide children with either books or some basic toys. A donation of $30 plants 50 trees. A donation of $100 could provide a farmer with either a donkey or a donkey cart.

There are so many options, so I encourage you to take a look through Oxfam America Unwrapped. Instead of buying someone that bottle of wine this year, why not give a charitable gift on their behalf instead? You will receive a card with an explanation and an image of the gift, which you can present to your friend or family member. What a perfect gift for someone who already has everything!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Oxfam America Unwrapped and received a credit for a gift on the Oxfam site.