Giving Tuesday

Between Cyber Monday, Black Friday and Shop Small Saturday, I hope you were able to save some money for Giving Tuesday. You can read more about it here. 

This is a great opportunity to give to an organization close to your heart, support your community or just give back to someone else that needs it more than you do. If you don't have money to give, that's okay, sometimes time is an even better option for the program. It's a good time to keep things in perspective. Here are some of the organizations that I believe in

826 Valencia- Originally started by McSweeney's, started by Dave Eggers. It's a center to help under-resourced kids to read and write. Sometimes the kids even get published! 

Keep A Breast- I love KAB because it doesn't sugar coat breast cancer, and it targets a younger demographic to educate and take better care of their health. Plus they offer breast cast art, how cool is that!

Books to Prisoners- Even if you're incarcerated, I still believe everyone should have access to books. This program sends books to inmates who are in jails that have shut down libraries or have stopped giving new books due to budget cuts. 

Milk + Bookies- This is an "after school" type program for kids in lower economic neighborhoods who's cities have closed libraries (an already free service). They expose kids to reading and help built their eduction. 

Animal Assistance League of Orange County- AALOC is a no-kill shelter. We have cats and dogs, all that have been adopted through shelters. We love our pets and we were stunned at the kill rates when we first began looking. Every animal needs a chance and even if this program isn't in your location, look into your county for no-kill shelters to support. 

There are a few others I love such as World Vision (we've sponsored Hannah from India for 8 years and we love watching her grow in her education and help feed her family), and Libraries Without Borders. If you have favorite organizations, please comment below.