To give you some background, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering research and treatment of children with cancer and other deadly diseases.

It costs $1.7 million a day to operate St. Jude, and more than 75 percent of that comes from the public through charity. And, no family ever pays St. Jude for anything – St. Jude covers the cost of treatment, travel, lodging and food for each patient and a family member.

This Feb. 5th, St. Jude is calling on people across the country to party with a purpose on Super Bowl Sunday, by hosting a party for St. Jude Game Day. Give Back. to help kids with cancer and other deadly diseases at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

St. Jude Game Day Give Back encourages football fans to combine their passion for the sport with a good cause.

There are some great fundraising incentive items for hosts as well, like a St. Jude party cooler, a Game Day. Give Back. picture frame, a football chip and dip platter and a corn hole set depending how much money you raise.

What a great cause! To learn more about hosting a party, visit St. Jude Game Day. Give Back.

The collection includes: an invitation, party circles, favor tags, tented cards, a “fal la la” banner, and adorable ornaments to decorate your tree.

DOWNLOAD THE HIGH RESOLUTION FILES FOR PRINTING

Lindi, your designs are always so fresh and fabulous, thank you!

To learn more about Lindi and see all her original designs, check out Love the Day!

And for more inspiration, check out all the holiday parties on our site…

And secondly, Operation Shower, the non-profit organization that provides baby showers for military families to ease the burden of deployment, couldn’t be more worthy of some attention this holiday season.

All Lindi asks if that if you use her printables, you spread the word about Operation Shower in the following ways:

1. Check out Operation Shower’s website to find ways to donate or volunteer

2. Tell your friends, family, and neighbors about Operation Shower and the Give Thanks project.

3. Facebook/Tweet/Blog about this FREE DOWNLOAD so more people will come and read about Operation Shower.

4. Donate to Operation Shower here.

Thanks Lindi, for helping raise awareness for such a worthy cause while giving people a little something extra special for their New Year’s parties!

Operation Shower is a nonprofit organization that throws baby showers for pregnant or expecting military families. Chris has helped coordinate two showers for them in the DC area along with Amy Belle Isle from Stem Parties, who is Chief Event Organizer. The latest shower was held in October at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and boy did they do a great job!

The theme was “A Star is Born,” and looked just like a movie premiere with a red carpet, velvet ropes, popcorn, and movie posters.

There were about 40 expecting moms (either wives of military men or women serving in the military themselves).  With K-mart as the national sponsor, and a host of local sponsors, these women went home with loads of much needed baby gear.

I asked Chris what the most satisfying thing was about working on the shower.  She said she was blown away by how appreciative the mothers were. When the mothers walked in they were each handed a goodie bag. Many thought this was their gift, only to be shocked and overwhelmed by the cribs, car seats, high chairs and other huge items to come.
I also asked Chris what the most surprising thing was about working on the showers. She said it’s amazing how much fun it is to give back, especially when you’re doing it in a field you love.

There's Chris second from the right

Currently Operation Shower is running it’s Operation Give Thanks fundraising campaign to help Operation Shower continue their mission to throw baby showers for military families.  They are asking people across the nation to host a party, big or small, between now and the end of the year to raise money for Operation Shower.

Their long-term goal is to reach every military base in the nation. Their short-term goal is to raise $50,000 through Operation Give Thanks to enable them to shower over 200 more moms-to-be !

To learn more about how you can help, please check out the  Operation Shower website. Also check out Chris’s gorgeous parties on our site.

Well, if you live in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area, now there’s a solution.  Donate it to the Priceless Gown Project.

This is an organization that provides free formal wear to girls who want to attend their prom but can’t afford a dress.  Last year they outfitted over 500 girls by setting up a boutique at the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor and over 200 volunteers came out to help.

I was talking to Leslie Collier, the director of the program, and as she was describing the process to me — how each girl works one-on-one with a volunteer to help find the right dress  — I was blown away.   She said many of these girls don’t have a mom to go shopping with, so the relationship with the volunteer is an important one.  Not only are these volunteers providing fashion advice, but they are also there to provide mentoring, information, and connection, something many of these girls really need.

So if you live in the Baltimore or DC area and you’ve got a dress or some time to give, I can’t think of a better way than the Priceless Gown Project.

It turns out Kiva is a micro-lending site, that lets you “lend money to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world — empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty.”  Already interesting, I thought.

So, you lend someone as little as $25 and over 6 months to a year, you get updates on how your entrepreneur is doing and his/her repayment schedule.  Then, when you get your loan money back, you can relend it to someone else.

This speaks to me on a variety of levels.  First, it helps people help themselves, which I’m a big believer in.  Second, there’s tremendous transparency about how your money is being used so you never feel like you’re paying for some non-profit’s expensive logo redesign.  And third, many of the entrepreneurs are woman, and as a female entrepreneur myself, I can’t help but feel a special kinship.

So if you have an extra $25, and want help someone make a better life, like Mrs. Zainabu Mariam of Uganda, who is still trying to raise $625 to to buy charcoal to sell, check it out.

A wonderful way to help others

http://www.kiva.org