May is Pay It Forward Month

May is Pay It Forward Month!  It is a month long campaign to encourage good deeds. #makeadifference

I love being part of company whose focus is on giving back every day. From Girls on the Run and Girl Talk to World Vision.  Thirty-One Gives supports organizations who share our mission to empower girls, women and families. Gives has been honored to donate $100 million in products and cash to nonprofit organizations like these since 2012.

Since our Consultants, Customers and Home Office staff are so generous through their work with Thirty-One Gives, it’s no surprise many have made giving back a family value.

Here are some tips for getting your own family into the giving spirit.

Pick out dog and cat toys to donate to an animal shelter

If you have very young children, it can be a challenge to find ways for them to become involved with community service.  Give your littlest ones a chance to give back by letting them choose a few dog and cat toys to donate to your local animal shelter. Bring your children along to shop, then drop off the donation – they might even get to see the animals enjoy their new toys!

Help with a local beach, park or trail cleanup

Picking up trash at a park, beach or trail is an easy way to give kids something active and concrete to accomplish. When they’ve finished, they’ll be able to actually see the difference they’ve made!  This can be especially motivating for older children who might need a little encouragement to put down the tech and perform some service – plus, it’s a great way to enjoy nature and get some fresh air together!

Make handmade cards for residents at a nursing home or patients in a hospital

Kids can get creative and brighten someone’s day by making handmade cards to deliver to a nursing home or hospital.  Deliver them together and, maybe even stay and visit with the patients or residents. Doing this can show your child the power of small gestures, and how easy it can be to make someone’s day a little better.

Go through their own toys

If you’re on a decluttering kick, involve your children, too! Have them comb through their toys and books to find ones they’d like pass on to other kids who need them. To make the process easier, give them a container they can easily fill, like a Mini Storage Bin or Deluxe Utility Tote. That way, they won’t stop at just one or two items!

Pack care baskets for a local hospital or shelter

Get a group of families together to pack care baskets for patients at a hospital or people staying at a homeless or women’s shelter. Make sure you coordinate with the organization you’re donating to first – you want to be sure to fill your baskets with things the recipients really need.

Thirty-One Gives sponsors the making of Hope Kits for women fleeing violence, abuse, poverty or disaster around the world. So far, our Consultants have assembled 32,000 Hope Kits containing toiletries and other essentials which are distributed through the World Vision charity.

 

Here are some more random acts of kindness…

• Leave pennies head face up: Most people feel lucky finding a penny with the head face up. For one dollar you can make 100 people feel awesome.
• Compliment someone:  It seems so basic yet for some reason we seldom do it. Make someone’s day by giving them a compliment.
• Give up a preferred seat to someone in need: Whether it is on a bus, or just waiting for your take out food, this simple gesture could make their day.
• Write a positive review for a restaurant you like: Share with the world your favorite places instead of complaining about the ones you hate.
• Leave someone a huge tip: Give a tip to the guy who pumps your gas when you pay cash or leave a 31% tip for meal instead of the standard 15 – 20%.
• Offer to take a photo for tourists: Tourist season is ramping up at the Jersey Shore, why not offer to take a picture for a group of tourists so everyone can be in the picture.  

What random acts of kindness will you do this month to “pay it forward”? Share it with us so you can be part of the Give on social media, and be sure to us #givebackwithme!

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Give Back Tuesday!

Yes, you are seeing a SECOND blog post in the same day!  No, it isn’t a mistake.  I just wanted to share something with you…

Thirty-One Gifts and World Vision partner to help women in need each year. Here is the story of Leyla.

Leyla lives in a small village in northwest Armenia — a region known for its harsh winters — with her three children, ages 11, 9, and 3. Her husband had to go to Russia to find work, leaving Leyla alone to look after the children. On top of that, her mother-in-law is sick in the hospital.

To help Leyla and her family, World Vision provided her and others with felting classes to learn how to work with wool. Designed to empower young women, the three-month course trains potential entrepreneurs how to use wool to make jewelry, slippers, bedding designs, and more.

At the end of the training, the women held an exhibition, and several hotel owners became interested in their beautiful products.  World Vision keeps in touch with Leyla and the other participants to continue to support their development and small businesses.

In addition, Leyla received some gifts from World Vision to help her overcome her difficulties. Through their partnership with Thirty-One Gifts — a U.S. company that sells bags to empower women — World Vision was able to provide bags and blankets to help families through the harsh winters.

Displaying one of the bags, Leyla says, “This one is also very comfortable as a school bag so I can save also on buying new school bags for my kids.”

This year, any gift given to World Vision on Giving Tuesday, December 1, will be matched with a donation of product from Thirty-One Gifts (up to $1 million total matching).

We are partnering with Thirty-One Gifts to send needed items to Syrian refugees living in Armenia. Receiving blankets will also be provided to pregnant mothers in Somalia as an incentive to give birth in clinics, which will help reduce maternal death rates in rural communities.

This is just one of Thirty One’s projects.  We also supply 150,000 filled bags to Ronald McDonald Houses across the country. These bags are given to families when they arrive to help with the necessities they may have forgotten in their haste to get their child emergency care.  Girl Talk is also one of our National Partners.

Thirty One is so much more than just a purse!  Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!