Stocking Up and Giving Back

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company, Kellogg Company, J.M. Smucker Company, and The HERSHEY'S Company. All opinions are mine alone. #StartSchoolLikeAChampion #CollectiveBias

One of my favorite things about blogging has been the multiple opportunities that I've had over the last five years to pay it forward in big ways, and small ways, on an international level, and right here in my local community. When the massive earthquake struck the Philippines back in 2013, I was able to use this blog to rally together a large coupon donation, so that I was able to gather over $1,000 worth of personal care items to be shipped over to help during relief efforts. When companies send me extra products that our family can't possibly use, I always try to pass them on to friends, or other people who can benefit from them more than us. 

One of the latest projects that I've been working on is this one in collaboration with Kellogg's, Coca-Cola, Smucker's, and The HERSHEY'S Company. They sent me on a mission to go to Walmart, and purchase products that we use in our everyday lives. As part of their sponsorship with the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, they have teamed up with Scholastic to create the Walmart exclusive “Start School Like a Champion” program. For every purchase at Walmart of the participating products you already know and love, you will be able to claim one Scholastic book.This limited- time offer will run from June 29th to September 30th, and anyone can claim up to 90 books!

Because literacy has always been so important to Derek and  I, and to our families growing up, we were so excited to be able to take part in this opportunity. We've been reading to both of our kids since they were born, and it's become a regular part of our everyday lives. Now that Jay is starting to read a little bit, he loves looking through books and trying to figure out what all the words mean. Em is at the point where she can sit through a story for more than 30 seconds and loves pointing to the pictures and naming the things she sees.

The truth is though, not everyone in America has access to books. We always make an effort to keep as many books in our home as possible, but for many families, that is not their reality. That is why when we teamed up for this campaign, I decided to pay it forward and donate the books that we get through our purchases to a local group home near our house called, Calvary Children's Home. It's a group home ran by a pastor and his wife where they take in children who have lost their parents due to illness or tragic accidents, and no longer have anywhere else to go. Since opening in 1966, they've been able to give a home to, and raise over 400 children in our community, and help give them a better life and future. Their mission has touched my heart in such a real and deep way, that any effort that I'm able to do to help support them in large, and small ways, I'm trying to jump at it the first chance I get. 

For $68 dollars I was able to go to Walmart and pick up 15 participating items, which means I'll be able to login into my Kellogg's Family Reward's account, upload a picture of my receipt, and choose the 15 books that I would like to donate to the Calvary Children's Home. The best part is that they have free titles to redeem from beginning readers, all the way through teens, so everyone can benefit through this program. 

So this fall, if you find yourself at Walmart already purchasing participating items for this campaign with Scholastic and the Olympic Games, consider keeping the books for yourself if you don't have some in your home already, or donate them to a worthy cause in your area, to help shape the minds of those less fortunate around you.