Goals and Philanthropy

Yes, FRIDAY, YES!!!

Today is a special day!! I accomplished a goal today by writing this very post! If you recall, in my Happy 2012 post one of my goals was to consistently blog each weekday for 2 consecutive weeks. And here we are! My reward for doing this was to get a Gelish Shellac kit. I'm going to order it today and I'm also going to extend my goal!!!

2 more consecutive weekdays of blog posts (end 1/27).

If I succeed I will get 3 additional colors for my Shellac kit (I know us girls are silly but motivation is motivation!)
If I do not succeed, I will do 100 wallballs with the 14lb ball (ack!)

My other accomplished goal this week was a very successful visit to the Unity Shoppe. To plug them, they are an AMAZING non-profit organization. I had absolutely no idea they helped so many groups of people. They don't do any work with homeless people, just folks that have a place to live, are referred by an organization (there are hundreds) and are having trouble making ends meet.

--"The Unity Shoppe’s “Central Distribution Facility” serves the low-income clients of 300 non-profit organizations, social service agencies, churches, schools and hospitals. Over 22,000 unduplicated people are referred for food, clothing, school supplies, furniture and basic necessities."

It was truly amazing. Instead of giving these people a bag of junk they don't want or would never eat, they are guided through a "grocery store" with a volunteer. The store is partially funded by the Unity Shoppe and partially stocked by OUR donations! They have hundreds of people per day come and shop and sadly, there were some empty shelves.

To all of my Paleo Pals and beyond, go through your cupboard and clean it out what you don't want. Either let me know and I can come pick it up, you can bring it straight to the Unity Shoppe's drop, or you can schedule a pickup. Same goes for your gently used clothing, toiletries and toys! It's the PERFECT time to organize and go through your closets and cupboards for spring cleaning.

These people are NOT bums on the street looking for a handout. They are qualified by a variety or requirements and then given access to all of these services:

Unity Services & Programs include:
Clothing
Furniture
Baby items and Toys
Job Training and Resume Building
School Supplies
Household Goods and Personal Care Items
Food for Families - this is the "grocery store"
Senior Resource Center- if an elder say, wanted a new robe and slippers for her birthday, the unity shoppe would gather the goods, wrap them and deliver them to the care facility or home (amazing).
Work Clothing (Job Smart)
Disaster Relief Services

If you want to get more involved than just a donation, let me know. The Unity Shoppe had a 45% increase in qualified recipients and a 47% decrease in funding and donations. This KILLS me. We are so powerful as a community, take a look around you and see how you can contribute.

I'll be setting my new volunteering goal once I hear back from the folks at the Unity Shoppe. I think it's going to be 1x a week after work and also helping with an event they have coming up at the Sandpiper Golf Club. I'll keep you updated