‘Twas a week before Christmas and Santa’s helpers were very busy – shopping, baking, blogging… the list goes on and on. But the blessings bestowed upon the families of four Central Florida bloggers made them feel very lucky. With a desire to give back and inspired by a call to action to Pay it Forward these bloggers united forces to make the Christmas dreams of four families come true, and then some.
What started as a simple proposal by Kohl’s in conjunction with its Kohl’s Cares program turned into a full-blown mission. Reaching out to brands we have each been privileged to work with over the past year gifts for these families began to pour in. Generous donations of money and goods overwhelmed our hearts.
I had the privilege of working side-by-side with Melanie from Modern Mami, Jessica from The Unemployed Mom and Lee from My Sentiment ExactLee, and it was truly a wonderful experience to get to know these ladies better. As our simple idea snowballed into a huge project, each of these ladies gave and the results are HUGE because of it.
We shopped until we dropped at Kohl’s fulfilling the families’ wish lists with clothes, shoes, MP3 players, sheets, towels, toys, jewelry, perfume and so much more. This is what I bought my family. Yes just one of the four families, and there was still more to come for this family as brand donations poured in.
Somewhere in Central Florida, four families will wake up Christmas morning to a pile of good cheer. A special thank you goes out to the following companies that blew us away with their generosity.
- ALDI: Facebook, Pinterest
- ConAgra Foods: Facebook, Twitter
- CoverGirl: Facebook
- CVS: Facebook, Twitter
- Dockers: Facebook, Twitter
- Energizer: Facebook, Twitter
- Hallmark: Facebook, Twitter (special thanks to Melanie who has been working with Hallmark on the Life is a Special Occasion campaign and was able to coordinate through that partnership)
- Johnson’s Baby: Facebook
- Kohl’s: Facebook, Twitter
- Mead Online & FiveStar
- Pantene
- Playskool: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
- QueRicaVida
- Scholastic: Twitter
- SeaWorld; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
- The Motherhood: Twitter
- VeggieTales: Facebook, Twitter
Each family was provided with age-appropriate toys, clothing for each of the children and adults, food, gift cards, luxury items like perfume, wish-list items like bedding and towels and much more. While we had good intentions of photographing each and every donation, the piles and hours got away from us. This is just one example of the piles each family will find under the tree this year.
Merry Christmas to you and yours and may 2013 bring you many blessings.
Gift cards and donations were provided by various companies. No compensation was received, and, as always all thoughts, and opinions are my own.
what a beautiful thing! I think its awesome that these companies donated for these families!! Happy Holidays!!
What a wonderful thing you all made happen for those families!