Toys For Tots!

Today, I asked Nathan to take over and share with you his awesome promotions that are raising money for one of my favorite charities "Toys for Tots".  Service is so important, especially this time of year! So take a some time to read this and do what you can to help him out!

Hi all, I’m Nathan and I blog over at Life & Everything Else In-Between, also known as LEEIB. Yes, I am one of few male bloggers and I’m proud of it! My blog is a lifestyle blog for the most part but occasionally I’ll blog about something else in between. I’ve been blogging for about two years now on LEEIB and as recent as this summer I made a few big changes to my blog. The first big change was a new professional design done by Jenn over at Munchkin-Land Designs. For anyone that doesn’t know Jenn, she’s super nice and does amazing work. I would never go through another designer and that’s not a knock on any other designers out there but as you probably know once you find your go to person you’re set for life. The other big change I made? I started a program on the blog called In The Community and that’s what I’m here to talk to you about today.

I started the In The Community program on LEEIB as a way to give back to the community through various fundraisers, charitable events, and sponsor donations. The ultimate goal is to give back to organizations and people in need. My saying is that “every little bit counts!” We don’t raise thousands of dollars on LEEIB (and when I say “we” I talk about Erin, my wife, who’s also part of this) but we raise enough to make a difference. It would be great if someday we could get to a point where we did raise thousands of dollars but that’s not our ultimate goal. A small donation of $3 counts just as much as $2,000 when you talk about making a difference and with the help of the community we can all make a huge difference!

In October we raised a little over $50 for breast cancer research! Earlier this month we donated $25 to the Red Cross for Hurricane Sandy relief aid. Every little bit counts and here at LEEIB we’re doing our best to make a difference. Please consider helping us this month through sponsorship proceeds. We’re raising money for the Marine Toys For Tots foundation and we have set a goal of $100.00. We’re currently at $38.11! How it works this month is if you buy a sponsor spot we’ll donate 100% of the proceeds to the program. We’re also doing a few promotions and they are as follows: 55% off on cyber Monday with the code CYBERMONDAY and 10% off every day after that with the code TOTS. On Wednesday December 12th we’ll be knocking select sponsor space down to $3 and also presenting a giveaway consisting of $15 to amazon.com via e-gift card and an extra month of ad space! Be sure to stop by and be a part of this awesome program! Click here for the LEEIB Toys For Tots page.

The whole goal of my In The Community program is to give back and if you don’t want to participate in this particular giveaway there are many ways you can make a contribution in your community! Please consider doing something to make a difference! If you do, we want to know about it! Please stop by the LEEIB In The Community page and fill out the form and submit a photo of you serving the community! We’ll post that photo and a description on our in the community fan page!

Lastly, I want to thank Katie for allowing me to take over her blog today! She has a great blog and I'm very appreciate of her service through the US Army reserve. Let's all wish her well at basic in January! If you'd like to read more about me feel free to become a follower of my blog at leeib.com.

Give A Little

I've been catching up on Glee for the past couple of days. I love it. It's got some fantastic one liners that just kill me. It's so funny and so clever. Plus, there's singing. I love that. 

Today, I watched the 3rd season episode about Christmas. It was your typical Christmas episode where they forget for a moment what Christmas is really about, but then they are reminded and do some great gesture of service to show what they have learned. 

It reminded me of something that I have forgotten: My love of service. 

I have had a lot of great opportunities to serve and I want to talk about what it means to me. :)

I'm not sure where this love of service came from, but all of a sudden, I wanted to give everything that I had to anyone who needed it. I applied to be a member of a service club and I got in. We taught 6th graders 5 steps to refuse peer pressure situations and we did all kinds of other service around our city and our school. 

This picture was taken at the end of my junior year with all the next year's members of the team. PLT was the only place I ever felt like I belonged while I was in high school. I wasn't...cool or popular, but I fit in here. At least a little bit.  

[photo cred: Sarah]

That summer, I applied to go on a service trip to Mexico.  When I asked my parents if I could go, I expected them to say no. Not because they have something against service in another country, but things like that cost money.  I ended up being able to go and I had an amazing experience.

I met new people, learned how to communicate with a gigantic language barrier, I dug ditches with my bare hands (and with shovels...very dull shovels), helped clean up the school, learned about a completely different culture and I really came to understand what it was to have nothing and still have everything. 

And...I joined an all volunteer military. Twice! I love service and I will continue to do it all my life. 

This year, I'm going to donate as much as I can to the Food Bank through a food drive at work, give to Toys For Tots, and take every opportunity for service that is presented to me. 

With all this being said, I want to challenge you this holiday season. Lend a helping hand. Donate to the Salvation Army bell ringers. It take two second to drop a few coins in there, and every cent can help. Go to the soup kitchen and serve food some Sunday morning. Shovel your neighbors driveway just because it's a nice thing to do.  Take a step back and look around. Find a way to help if you have the ability to. Something that is a small blip in your life might mean the world to someone else. Service. Give it try.