GiveBack: 100 Days of Giving DAILY WINNER!

That's right! Love Shack Giving, the foundation that I created with GiveBack back in April is one of the lucky winners of the new giving campaign, "100 Days of Giving."  WHAT a surprise it was to receive the first email announcing that my foundation was a recipient of a gift of $1,000! 

At first...I didn't believe it and showed my DH the email to make sure that it wasn't spam?

Hi Roberta,

On April 9th you signed up at www.GiveBack.org for our 100 Days of Giving campaign.  I'm excited to say that you've been selected as the winner for Day 96. This means that if you accept we'll put $1000 in your GiveBack account to give away to whatever charity or charities you would like. 

Please confirm ASAP (no later than 3 days, but the sooner the better!) by responding to this email.  If you don't respond in time, you will forfeit the prize and we'll move to the next person on the list.  Confirming means accepting the rules of the 100 Days of Giving, which can be viewed here:

https://www.giveback.org/OneHundredDayRules.aspx

Once you've confirmed, I will provide you with a code that you can redeem  for $1000 in your foundation account.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  We'd also love to know the charities you'll be supporting and why -- it's something we'll share on our site and Facebook wall (but only using your first name and last initial).

Thank you and congratulations!

Regards,

Jared Jaffe

However...I didn't want to jeopardize my chances so I quickly responded and waited...but not for long :)  The next day when I received Jared's response with my special award code I was so excited that I could hardly read the instructions for how to apply the funds...lol  I also wanted to quickly get it done before the whole thing magically disappeared...or I woke up from this warm, fuzzy dream I was having ;}

 

Then I couldn't hardly wait to check my account to make sure that the funds were actually there...lol  Before this BIG gift, my account did not have a lot of activity, mainly because we just do not shop alot  anymore!  This is a direct result of our lifestyle here at the Love Shack...a direct result of downsizing and eliminating clutter and STUFF!  The next step was for us to SHARE this gift, which was never an issue as I responded to Jared's original email above:

WOW...this is fantastic news!  I'm very excited and the main charity that I support is Compassion International.

Currently we sponsor 3 children, two in Kenya and one in the Philippines.  As sponsors we are allowed to give a "family gift" once during our sponsorship, up to $1,000.00 total and I'd love to split this gift three ways for the families of the children that we sponsor. 

The family gifts help with the purchase of items like cattle or business supplies to helps these families become self sufficient and as a way to earn a living if at all possible.  Please let me know if there is anything else that I need to do at this point.  I have a blog and I'd love to blog about this gift as well if that is okay with the conditions for winning.

             Fondly, Roberta Philbrick 

Let me introduce you to our extended family:  First up is Derick, he's our first sponsored child and he will be 9 in September...he has really grown in the past two years...so happy about that!  Then in the middle is Linet and she is the oldest child and just turned 20 in June and I believe she is enrolled in the Leadership program so that she can continue to help her community.  Both Derick and Linette live in Kenya and we started sponsoring them in March of 2010 after I read and followed all of the posts written by the bloggers who had the blessing of joining a Compassion trip to Kenya.  THAT trip alone is what inspired me to create another blog and to sponsor these two children. 

Then in May of this year, Compassion Bloggers went to the Philippines and decided to sponsor another child, Richard;)  It was fate...Richard's birthday is June 13th...he just turned 14.  {For those of you who are unaware...13 i's a significant number for this family since both of my birth sons were also born on the 13th...Mitchell on July 13th and Timothy on April 13th....like I said FATE :}

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aren't my kids the sweetest?  I just couldn't wait to share the great news and THIS was one shopping spree I thoroughly enjoyed.  Donating to the families and navigating my account with GiveBack was very easy...believe me...if I can do it...SO CAN YOU!

 

What an honor this has been to be able to help and make a difference in their lives!  We have always felt blessed to be able to sponsor children, but now this gift has really motivated me to find more ways to increase our foundation's ability to GiveBack...I hope that it has inspired you as well.  Today I'm also sharing this post with Bonnie Gray, the Faith Barista for her JamWithMe Thursdays virtual meet-up where this week the topic is: How are you finding beauty in everyday life? 

For me...I think I've said it all...finding ways to GiveBack...no matter how BIG or small.  How about you...like me, have you discovered that you don't have to look too far or too hard?

May you be so blessed.

Fondly, Roberta

Comments

[Cortney Lyon]

Congratulations for being chosen, that is amazing with all the organizations that are out there. Do you still write to the kids? I wonder what their families will do with the money, it'd be nice to see or read about that when they get it. Congrat's again, it went to a really good cause.

And, Happy Birthday to you!

[Nikole Hahn]

Congratulations!

[Denyse@Crazy Beautiful Life]

Congratulation, Roberta!! What a wonderful gift to give the families...It really is a good thing you are doing!!

[Faith Barista]

Roberta! That is INCREDIBLE!! I'm so happy to hear God's blessing pouring into Compassion International -- really those beautiful children God is blessings through you. Praise God for your hard work and your willingness to be His hands (in creating Love Shack Giving) and fingers (typing in that entry :))! Thank you for sharing the great news in the Faith Barista Jam!