Give any amount! Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah!

Every little bit helps!

Sorry for the hiatus, between finals and the holiday rush, not to mention the general insanity that usually goes on in our house during the holidays- It's been crazy.

But it is the week of Christmas and tonight is the first night of Hanukkah!

Today, for $10 you can give a days worth of fruits and vegtables to feel two chimpanzees- most of which have been orphaned by poachers, at (one of my personal hero's) organization, The Jane Goodall Institute's Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center in the Republic of Conga. www.JaneGoodall.org

Also, for $10 you can give two specialized bottles for babies born with a cleft palate, who otherwise would suffer from malnutrition before receiving corrective surgery at www.OperationSmile.org

More post on the family and celebrations later!
-Emilie

Give $15 for December 15

For $15, you can give a backpack and school supplies to one homeless or low-income urban child at Cradles to Crayons



Give $14

For $14, you can have two nutritious meals delivered by volunteers from Meals on Wheels to a housebound senior citizen at www.mowaa.org



Give $13

for $13, you can send cloth and tools so an Afghan woman can become self sufficient by taking a six month tailoring course through Creating Hope International and the Afghan Institute for Learning at Global Giving

 

Give $12

For $12, you can send twenty pounds of multipurpose soap to help keep families germ-free around the world through OxFam, an organization that fights poverty and injustice through UNICEF OxFam and Unicef



Give $11
for $11 you can plan eleven trees in Alabama communities devastated by the April 2011 tornadoes through arborday.org



Give $10

For $10 you can give a box of nails used to adapt a disabled veterans house, from Homes for Our Troops, an organization that provides full accessibility to the injured at no cost at HomesForOurTroops.org

Give $8 for December 8

For $8, you can provide a medical teaching doll to be used in educating a child about his or her cancer treatment through St. Jude's Hospital.


This is one of our favorite organizations! The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family's ability to pay.


This organization has a real commitment to these children, and there are tons of ways to get involved and help, 
you can give monetary donations and volunteer as well as find stores in your area that carry products with the St. Jude Magnifying glass. There are tons of gifts that you can buy on the website and in stores from brands that support St. Judes Research Hospital!


go to StJude.org to learn more!


 

give $7 for December 7

Ok, this is for the animal lovers!

for $7, you can provide a weeks worth of food to an abandoned dog or cat at the American  Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

I know you have all seen the heartbreaking commercials!

There are many ways to give, you can make a one-time gift or you can sponsor an animal on a monthly basis. They even have an option to give a gift as a gift, by making an honorary donation in someones name!

or, you can make a difference this Christmas at a local shelter by volunteering and donating supplies!

go to ASPCA.org to learn more!

Give $6 for December 6

for $6, you can help Doctors Without Borders vaccinate up to 15 people in developing countries.

There are many other types of donations and ways to help on their website too!




you can donate or volunteer by visiting Support the work of Doctors Without Borders or call 
(212) 763-5779. 

Give $5 on December 5th

Today for $5, you can give a one-burner kerosene stove for a family that would typically rely on an open fire. The stove is reusable and less environmentally taxing than cutting timber.

Through the organization, Food For The Poor, you can give gifts like the kerosene stove among many other gift options, as well as sponsoring an orphan, and attending and volunteering at special fund-raising events to help children and families in impoverished and third world countries.

The website offers many ideas and tools for helping others overseas for the holidays!

Go to FoodForThePoor.Org to donate and learn more!

 

How We Celebrate: Decorating the House

Like our family, the decorations we use in our house are a bit everywhere and crazy- but somehow, we always manage to throw it all together. 

Our "Before" tree

Dad stringing the first lights *exciting!!*

Mom jumping in to help

Annie helping by gracing us with her presence and Trixie doing what she does best (being lazy of course)

The front rooms' Hanukkah representation

Fireplace and 120931238 stockings we need for each of us... note the menorahs on top of the mantle [gotta represent Hanukkah!]

And our finished tree!

The tree is actually really symbolic for us...but more on that in another post! ..and more on decorations as we continue to make our Schwenk House Holiday Wonderland!

but for now. Emilie, Danny, and Annie have to go study for finals!

Goodnight!