A Mama's Rant

Donate your old phone and help a victim of domestic violence

With all the hoopla surrounding Rihanna and her abuser boyfriend, Chris Brown (and the fact that she used her cellphone to call her assistant who called police) recycling your old cellphone through Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine® program seems timely.

HopeLine collects old wireless phones, batteries and accessories in any condition from any wireless service provider. Proceeds from the program are used to provide wireless phones and cash grants to local shelters and non-profit organizations that focus on domestic violence prevention and awareness. 

Two convenient ways to donate a phone to HopeLine

• Drop off your phone at any Verizon Wireless Communications Store. Find the nearest store by visiting the Verizon Store Locator.
• Print out a Verizon Wireless Hopeline postage-paid label and adhere it to a box/envelope. Please be sure to review all shipping instructions carefully and include a return address on the label.

So, open the junk drawers, check in your closets and please let others know if they donate their old cell phones it can mean hope and new beginnings to a survivor of domestic violence.

Buy a T-shirt and help Tide give Loads of Hope

Support Tide Loads of Hope by buying a Tide Vintage Tee. All profits go to support families affected by disaster.

I’m a huge believer in taking a lemon of a situation and making something good out of it. So I love when companies think the same way. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the need for clean clothing became critical, and Tide found a way to help. So in November 2005, the Tide Loads of Hope truck headed to Camp Hope in the Metairie, LA area and cleaned over 10,000 loads of laundry. The spirit of this first venture informs and inspires everything Tide Loads of Hope program does.

How Tide Loads of Hope works

Tide Loads of Hope helps in the aftermath of a natural disaster by providing clean clothes and a sense of comfort to families in need. Partnering with Feeding America, they travel to disaster affected neighborhoods with the Tide Loads of Hope truck or vans, their free mobile laundry service.

The Tide Loads of Hope truck has 32 high-efficiency washers and dryers and can do 300 wash and dry cycles a day. They use Tide Loads of Hope trucks during massive disasters where electricity is unavailable in the region, and will wash about 9,000 loads of laundry over a four-week period.

In partnership with local laundromats, the Tide Loads of Hope vans provide free laundry service at the same load rate as the trucks. The vans are used during disasters where communities have a source of electricity,

To date, Tide Loads of Hope has washed more than 35,000 loads of laundry for over 20,000 families. Most importantly, the Tide Loads of Hope program means we're equipped to take action whenever and wherever there is a need in our country.

Diary of a Playgroup Dropout does good

ClubMom Blogger Beth at Diary of a Playgroup Dropout is asking her readers to commit to doing one thing every month to help kids other than their own.  It can be volunteering, donating to charity, or taking her first "Monthly Challenge" and sending a get-well card to a sick kid, etc.

She'll be keeping a list on her blog of everyone who has told her they are participating, adding some links to organizations that help kids, and throwing out ideas for things people can do. 

Beth will also be posting about it every month, telling stories about some of the things people have done, and inviting them to tell their own stories either in my comments or on their own blogs. The idea is to benefit kids who need some help as well ask set an example for our own kids about volunteerism and helping those in need.

As of today, she has 79 responses in her comments section. Participate and help her go over 100!

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Menu for Hope campaign

I will be participating in the Menu for Hope campaign sponsored by Chez Pim where food bloggers donate prizes and readers buy virtual raffle tickets for a chance to win them. Last year's campaign raised over $17,000 for UNICEF. This year's funds will be donated to the United Nations World Food Programme.

If you're a food blogger and would like to participate, Pim has assigned specific host blogs to be in charge of a certain geographical area:

• US West Coast: Sam of Becks and Posh
• US East Coast: Adam of Amateur Gourmet
• US (the rest): Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen
• Canada: Jasmine of Cardamom Addict
• Europe and UK: David Lebovitz of Davidlebovitz.com
• Latin America: Melissa de Leon of the Cooking Diva
• Asia Pacific: Helen of Grab Your Fork
• A special wine host for wine blogs: Alder Yarrow of Vinography.

Here is Pim's announcement on Food Blog S'cool for more information about sponsoring a prize. You have until December 9 to contact your regional person and get them the picture(s) and description(s).

You can still be part of this important effort if your'e not a blogger by buying a few virtual raffle tickets. Donations will be collected by First Giving, who has generously reduced their fees to support the cause. This year's campaign will kick off on December 11, when the host blogs will announce the prizes and you can begin buying tickets.

I will be donating several cookbooks at my two food blogs, This Mama Cooks! and at A Readable Feast. So stay tuned...

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SHOPPING FOR CHARITY - THE LITERACY SITE

Over the last month I've been highlighting websites where your purchase can raise money for charity. When shopping for fundraising purposes, please make sure that an acceptable percentage of your purchase will go where you want it to.

For example, since it's Breast Cancer Month, I've been seeing a lot of pink ribbon items for sale at various stores. However, I have no idea if any of the money will actually go breast cancer research. All the store may be doing is making money off a trendy cause, so ask!

Same goes with shopping on the internet. Find out how much of your purchase or donation is actually going to the cause you're supporting. One way to do this is to check out the website's claim. Then check out the charity at Charity Navigator or Give.org. See how much they put towards the program, administration expenses, and fundraising costs. After doing your homework, shop away knowing that your money is truly going where it'll do some good.

THINK PINK

I love cookbooks, especially PINK cookbooks. How I wish someone would buy me Home and Garndens "New Cook Book, Limited Edition "Pink Plaid" for Breast Cancer Awareness (though I may just end up buying a copy for both me and my sister for Christmas).

This is the complete 12th edition New Cook Book with all the goodness and reliability that's made the Red Plaid a trusted kitchen resource for millions of families. It has more than 1,200 delicious recipes and 700 full-color photos, and hundreds of hints and tips, easy-to-read cooking charts, complete nutrition and exchange information for every recipe, plus all of the "best-loved" recipes found in the Red Plaid version.

All new 64-page "pink" section includes healthful dietary and lifestyle suggestions, and more than 60 delicious recipes containing wholesome "super foods" associated with a reduced risk of cancer.

STORM AID BRACELETS

Clear Channel Denver, though its Storm Aid website, is offering Storm Aid Bracelets. They're $2 each, and come in groups of 10 each (so $20 plus a few more for shipping and handling). All proceeds will go to the American Red Cross to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Maybe you don't need 10 bracelets, but many people you know probably collect rubber bracelets, especially teens and pre-teens. They'd love to add another to their collection, so pass them around and help out our friends in the Gulf Coast today.

SHOPPING FOR CHARITY

This month and next I'm going to highlight companies that are donating proceeds to noble causes, such as Hurricane Katrina disaster relief or breast cancer research. In my family, fall means the beginning of shopping season since almost all my relatives have birthdays coming up. So I'm trying to only buy from companies who are donating their proceeds in some way.

The first company I've found is Trendy Tadpole. Out of San Francisco, they feature "cool clothes for the hip kid!"

Having two extremely hip kids (and being an old punk/rockabilly gal myself), I love the Johnny Cash, Clash, Elvis, and atomic designs.

Please check Trendy Tadpole out and place an order knowing it's going to a good cause!

TOOT YOUR OWN HORN

So how have you helped out the victims of Hurricane Katrina? Have you donated cash? Held a garage or bake sale? Given blood?

Did you write to your representatives in Washington to let them know how disappointed you are in FEMA? Or maybe you opened up your home to displaced relatives or friends?

Help me recognize some of the other heroes in wake of this tragedy - the fellow Americans (and citizens of the world) who opened their hearts, minds, homes and wallets to help out. Here's a chance to toot your own horn (or maybe a friend's or relative's) and let the world know what you've done.

RAISE FUNDS FOR THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANE KATRINA

Please help me raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. I will be donating 20 percent of profits from my September Usborne book sales to the American Red Cross.

I will be having a fundraising Usborne book party on Saturday, September 17 in my home. Please contact me at annemarie@usbornebookmama.com if you live in the Tri-Towns (Colorado) or nearby areas and would like an invite.

Or you can order books via my Usborne online book site or check out my Usborne book blog, Usborne Book Mama, for more information on Usborne books.