Helping To Fight Childhood Summer Hunger With Odwalla and Champions For Kids #Odwalla4Kids #cbias

*I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®, Odwalla, and Champions for Kids #cbias #SocialFabric All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

I am so proud to be a part of this month's Champions For Kids Simple Service Project called, Hunger in the Summer Project.

 The month of May is all about helping to feed children during the summer months when school is out.
Champions for Kids has partnered with Odwalla to help with this very important need that exists in so many communities all around the country.

I went shopping at Walmart where I bought lots of healthy and delicious Odwalla food bars to donate to my local food bank. The food bank is always in need of donations, especially this time of year when school is not in session.

During the summer months when school is out, millions of children lose access to school breakfasts,
lunches, and snacks that they receive during the school year. Only 1 out of 6 children who receive free or reduced price meals during the school year continue to receive them during the summer.

This puts an additional burden on low-income families to provide more meals for their children during the summer months.

I am making my food donation to the North Kitsap Fishline Food Bank. This food bank has provided food for needy families, emergency services, and advocacy services since 1967.

They also have a thrift store in the community, called Second Season, and all profits from the store benefit the food bank.

Fishline partners regularly with local groups and businesses to sponsor food drives whenever possible. They are an important and vital part of the community.

I had asked some of my friends and family to donate whatever they could to my donation box. Besides all the many great Odwalla Bars, we were able to donate crackers, juice, cookies, soups, cereals and more.
Some of my friends have still been affected by job loss and an uncertain financial future, so I am grateful for any donations they could give. I know these donations will help out at the food bank, and help provide meals and snacks for kids.

This is my grandson Jayden, who is six years old. Jayden has come with me several times when I have worked on other Champions for Kids projects.

He knows what the word "donate" means, and that we are sharing with others as best we can. He is my little buddy when it comes to helping get together donations and taking them to the food bank.

We are inside Fishline, waiting to make our donation. I am grateful everyday that my four little grandchildren have a warm home and plenty of food to eat.

I love working on this Champions for Kids Hunger in the Summer Simple Service Project and telling everyone about the great need that must be filled. It is heartbreaking to think about the number of children that will go hungry this summer.

This is the food bank's director who accepted our donation with such grace and gratitude.

You can make an impact in your own community and help fight summer childhood hunger. You can do this by doing your own Odwalla Hunger in the Summer Project.

Start by letting everyone you know about the food needs of children in the summer months, and then hold a food drive in your own community. Ask family, friends, co-workers, and others to make donations.
Healthy snacks like Odwalla Kid Bars (or regular bars) and Odwalla Juice Boxes would make a great contribution, and are easy to distribute and eat. Donate the food you collect to a food bank, and make an impact on childhood hunger this summer.

You can share your donation on the Champions for Kids website, and also see how other people just like yourself are helping to fight children's summer hunger.

I really love Odwalla food products and I admire the company's philosophy about the importance of helping out in the world.

I am grateful to Champions for Kids and to be able to be a part of this wonderful project.
I would like to thank the North Kitsap Fishline Food Bank and all the great people that work there and donate their time.

Champions for Kids has a goal of mobilizing 20 million people by 2020 to become champions for kids.
Get involved, and you can be one of them!!

You can see my shopping trip to buy Odwalla food bars at Walmart by going over to my Google+ Photo Album.

You can also connect with Champions for Kids online and Odwalla and on their Facebook pages and Twitter.

Making Kids A Healthy Breakfast With Jennie-O #JennieO4kids

By Patricia

When my kids were little, it was always a challenge to make sure they ate a healthy breakfast before going to school everyday. Some days they did, and I felt great knowing that they were prepared to start their day of learning in the best possible way.

And of course, there were the days that I would hand them a cold Poptart on their way out the door.

Times haven't really changed all that much when it comes to kids and breakfast, and now my daughter is trying to make sure that her own two little boys eat a healthy breakfast before they go to kindergarten and preschool.

I thought it would be fun to cook breakfast for my daughter's family one morning last week before she took my grandsons to school. I love the Jennie-O lean turkey and bacon products, so I knew they would be on the menu.

Jennie-O makes serving a healthy breakfast easy, and feeding your child a low-fat protein like Jennie-O can help kids learn better by being focused and alert in class. A healthy breakfast really is one of the best ways you can help your child to be successful in school.

This month Jennie-O and Champions for Kids have partnered together to help spread this very important message.

I went to my local Walmart to pick up a few things to make for breakfast. I really like Jennie-O sausage because it's very lean and always taste great.

I love regular pancakes, and so do my grandsons, but I'm buying blueberries so that I can make them some blueberry pancakes, which are very healthy. We are big fruit eaters in my family and I try to add fruit to as many meals as possible. This heart-healthy pancake mix is a favorite of mine, and I buy it all the time. Orange juice is a must for me every morning, so I am picking up a bottle.

Cooking Jennie-O sausage is quick and easy. My grandsons are very hungry this morning and I'm cooking as fast as I can!! They are drinking a glass of orange while they wait for breakfast.

This month Jennie-O is partnering with Champions for Kids to help bring awareness to how important it is for all children to eat a healthy and nutritious breakfast.

Champions for Kids is inviting everyone to get involved in this Simple Service Project by cooking a healthy breakfast for the kids in your community. It could be your child's class, church group, or sports team that you cook breakfast for. Share your breakfast on the Champions for Kids website and help them towards their goal of helping 20 million people by 2020.

Yum, we love sausage and pancakes for breakfast, and this looks good, especially to hungry boys!!
My daughter usually serves regular pork sausage, but she agreed that the Jennie-O sausage was delicious, and loved knowing that her sons were eating a healthier breakfast.

 These blueberry pancakes are a snap to make, and you could use other kinds of fruit. I put the blueberries inside the pancake batter and I put them on top of the pancakes as well. I don't think you can ever get enough of this delicious fruit that is loaded with antioxidants.

My two year old grandson uses up so much energy at preschool. He only goes for three hours, but he definitely needs a healthy and delicious breakfast to start his day. A lean protein is part of a healthy breakfast, and goes well with so many other breakfast items that he likes.

My grandsons didn't even realize that we had switched out the regular pork sausage for the much healthier Jennie-O lean turkey sausage. All they knew was that it tasted great. I think so too, and I like the fact that the sausage also comes in a package that can be made into sausage patties, or used in lots of other great tasting breakfast recipes.

My six year old grandson loves breakfast. He's awake about five minutes every morning before he asks his Mom for breakfast. Blueberries are one of his favorite fruits, and he's pretty excited that I made him a delicious breakfast of sausage and blueberry pancakes.

There are some great recipes on the Jennie-O website using their lean turkey bacon and sausage. You really will be inspired to cook a healthy breakfast using Jennie-O.

We also love the great taste of the Jennie-O turkey bacon. My personal favorite is a bacon and egg sandwich with lettuce on whole wheat toast. I think I could eat one for breakfast everyday!

I do know how busy parents are, and sometimes making a hot breakfast like this just isn't possible. But you really can make it easier to serve a nutritious breakfast by cooking the sausage or bacon the night before, and just heating it up in the microwave in the morning. You can do the same thing with the blueberry pancakes, and they will still taste great.

It is so important for all children to get a healthy breakfast before school, and Jennie-O and Champions for Kids want to make all parents and children aware of this very important fact. You can get involved in your own community, and help make everyone aware that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.

You can go to the Champions for Kids website and learn all about this month's Simple Service Project with Jennie-O.

You can find Jennie-O on their website, Facebook page and Twitter.



*I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®  and Jennie-O #cbias #SocialFabric All opinions expressed in this post are my own.



Champions for Kids Big Book Drive Donation #NickCFK

The September Champions for Kids Simple Service Project is all about children and books. The Nickelodeon Big Book Drive Help Them Read Simple Service Project asks all of us to participate in hosting book drives in our communities to help provide books to children in need.

As a parent of five grown children, I know how important it is to have books available at home for your kids to read, or be read to. Parents reading to their children is usually the first introduction to books that kids have, and it can start a love of books and reading that can last a lifetime.

But 61% of low-income children have no books at home, and that fact is something Champions for Kids and the Nickelodeon Big Help Book Drive is trying to change. Reading is so important to a child's life in school, and lack of reading ability is one of the main reasons that teenagers drop out of school.

I participated in the Big Help Book Drive by hosting one of my own. I asked my family, friends and neighbors to donate new or gently used books so that we could donate them in the community.

 My grandson is lucky enough to have many, many books of his own. He often gets books as Christmas and Birthday presents. When I explained to him that some kids don't have any books of their own, he wanted to give some of his books to donate.

I had gone to Walmart and bought some Nickelodeon books to get my donation drive started. These are all the books that I gathered for my donation. I am so happy that these books will go to children that can take them home and have them read by a parent, or can read the books themselves. #NickCFK

I have decided to make my donation to the Kingston Food Bank. I truly believe in this organization, which is a community treasure, and is really much more than a food bank. Donating the books here will put them directly into the hands of local children in need.

Director Barb Fulton runs this organization that her own parents started 55 years ago. Barb and her volunteers serve over 100 families a month. In addition to supplying food to the families, clothing, diapers, pet food, and other household items are available. When I spoke to one of the volunteers at the food bank, I was told the books would be very welcomed, and given to kids to take home.

When parents are having trouble putting food on the table, there is no money for books, so I know that these books will go to low-income children that will truly benefit by having them.

The food bank had very few books, so I was extra excited to make this contribution to them. It is so easy, and feels so great to put together your own book drive. I found that people really do want to help out, especially when it comes to helping children.

You can participate in The Nickelodeon Big Help Book Drive by asking friends, family, and co-workers to donate books. You can also learn all about Champions for Kids and it's Simple Service Projects by going to their website for all the information.

My grandson knows what the word "donate" means, and I think that's one of the most important words he will ever learn. He came with me to make our donation, and carried stacks of the books inside himself.

When I think of the children that will be reading the books we have donated, I know we are making a difference. I encourage everyone to help make a difference in your own community by participating in this Nickelodeon Big Book Drive Help Them Read Simple Service Project, and reporting it on the Champions for Kids website. You can also be one of millions to help Champions for Kids meet their goal of helping 20 million people by 2020.

I would like to thank my family, friends, and neighbors for contributing books for this donation. I would also like to thank the Kingston Food Bank for all you do for the community. You can read my first blog post here to learn more about how you can help make a difference in the lives of children in your neighborhood by participating in a Simple Service Project.

 


Go HERE to the Champions For Kids website to learn all about the Nickelodeon Big Book Drive Help Them Read  project.
             .
You can learn more about Champions for Kids and Nickelodeon by following them:
Champions for Kids Twitter
Champions for Kids Facebook
Nickelodeon Twitter
Nickelodeon Facebook

You can read my Google+ Story to see my shopping trip to Walmart for Nickelodeon Books for my Big Help Book Drive.



*I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Champions for Kids. #NickCFK #CBias All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Donating Books For A Good Cause With Champions For Kids #NickCFK

This month I am proud to be participating in the September Champions For Kids Simple Service Project.

This month's project is all about children and books, and helping to provide books to children in need by hosting book drives in your community.

The Nickelodeon Big Book Drive Help Them Read Simple Service Project encourages everyone to participate by hosting a book drive for your friends, family and co-workers to donate books and magazines that are appropriate for children.

Did you know that you can make a difference? Yes, each book collected puts a book in the hands of a child who will benefit in life by reading. I am asking my family and friends to participate in my  book drive by donating new and gently used books. I have even asked my five year old grandson, and these books are his contribution to this wonderful cause. I am so proud of him for his concern for other children.

To kick off my book drive I went to Walmart to purchase some Nickelodeon books to donate. You can go to the Champions For Kids website to read all about the Nickelodeon Big Book Drive Help Them Read Simple Service Project.

You can learn all about hosting your own book drive and the easy way you can share it on their website. This is such an important cause, and you and your community can make a big difference in a child's life with your donations.

I am looking for Nickelodeon Books here in Walmart. Dora the Explorer and Sponge Bob are two very popular Nickelodeon characters, and there are the these books here.

The book drive welcomes all books, new and used, that are in good condition. Did you know that 67% of 4th graders in the U.S. are reading below a Proficient level?

I like the Dora the Explorer books because they always make learning fun. Books play such an important role in a child's education, and many children have no books at all in their homes, or access to them in the programs that they are involved in.

Approximately 8.7 million fourth through twelfth graders struggle with required reading and writing tasks. And ongoing difficulties with reading and writing are major reasons that teenagers drop out of school. 

I have selected my books to purchase for the start of my book drive. I am going to be asking friends and family for their own donations.

I am planning to make my book donation to a local Head Start Program in my community. Head Start is an important program for low-income children that helps prepare them to start elementary school. 

Head Start also provides social services, health services, and tries to work to meet the needs of individual children. 

I am very excited to be participating in this worthwhile and important Champions For Kids Simple Service Project. I am encouraging everyone to get involved and host their own book drives and to make a difference for the children in your communities .

Go HERE to the Champions For Kids website to learn all about the Nickelodeon Big Book Drive Help Them Read  project.             .

You can also connect with them on their social media accounts:
Champions for Kids Twitter
Champions for Kids Facebook
Nickelodeon Twitter
Nickelodeon Facebook

You can read my Google+ Story to see my shopping trip to Walmart for Nickelodeon Books for my Big Help Book Drive.



*I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Champions for Kids. #NickCFK #CBias