I've gladly accepted a challenge to participate in the 30 Day Giving Challenge. I noticed a post by Simplified Savings and was intrigued. What a great way to celebrate the coming of the holiday season! Thus, I'll be doing something small (or big!) for someone each day. I won't just be giving gifts, but non-material items as well. I'll post each of my gifts on my blog to inspire others.

BONUS: For every gift that you match and tell me about, you will be entered to win a $10 gift card from Target. On November 30th, I will pick the winner from all the comments/stories.


Let's start. Today, November 1st, I am going to donate food to our local food pantry. During this month, if you also donate food to your local food pantry, leave me a comment and give me the details (where, what did you donate, what was the process like, did you get a good feeling, is there a large need in your area, etc.?) and that will be an try for Target giftcard!

November 2nd: I am donating a trunk-full of stuff to our local thrift shop that supports the underprivileged in our community and also local vets. If you are also making a donation to your local thrift store this month, let me know in a comment for your chance to win a giftcard to Target.

November 3rd: I handmade about 20 bookmarks which I will be donating to foster children. Will you use your craftiness to give this month?

November 4th: Goodsearch is the single-most easy way to donate money to charity. How many times a week do you use Google, Yahoo, or Swagbucks search engines? Well, when you take advantage of Goodsearch, every search you perform sends a little bit of help to the CHARITY OF YOUR CHOICE! I have this at work and change my charity every so often from Rescue Missions to Second Harvest. Will you GoodSearch this month?

November 5th: I'm bringing in a plethora of cookies for my work team today. Anything to bring a bright moment to a work day! Will you bring in a surprise treat to your co-workers?

November 6th: It's a good friend's 30th birthday. My giving this day is his birthday gift. Anyone else giving a birthday gift this month?

November 7th: Rescue Missions all over the country help people in the most dire of times supplying them with life's very basic necessities including food, shelter, and clothing. I am donating enough money today to feed 8 people this Thanksgiving. I encourage you to donate to your local rescue mission or similar organization.

November 8th: I donated money to our local American Legion. Anyone else contributing to a local vet organization?

November 9th: There is a teenager on my caseload that has been abused, rejected, then abandoned my her family. I visited with her and brought her a book filled with stories of children and teens who have survived abuse. I also brought her a encouraging journal from Journal Buddies. I can't wait to see how she uses the journal and what she might learn from it! Are you giving to someone less fortunate?

November 10th: I offered to do some work for a co-worker to make sure she got the time-off she wanted. Anybody else giving of yourself to a co-worker?

November 11th: Random Acts of Kindness are some of my favorite things to do. Today, I'm taking out my friend for lunch, for no reason other than because he is my friend. Will you commit a random act of kindness this month?

November 12th: I took a "newbie" under my wing today to help her learn the ropes of our job (which, I have to admit, no amount of training without being in the field is going to help).

November 13th: I will be sending a random post card to a long-lost friend back in graduate school. Will you reach out to an old friend today?

November 14th: One of the things I do for the people I care for is to cut out coupons for things I know they use. The strong majority of my friends and family do not bother with coupons because they find it annoying, but I love them! I happen to find some great coupons for formula, wipes, and diapers which I collected to give to one of my foster parents (total of 20 coupons!).

November 15th: I've collected Campbell's Labels for Education and Boxtops for Education all year long so I can donate them to my church! They will be in the mail tomorrow.

November 16th: My tithe to church. Do you tithe?

November 17th: I picked up a couple of Christmas craft kits for my two adopted sisters. I'm going to send them in the mail as a surprise. Will you give a gift of creativity?

November 18th: Secret Santa time! I'm sending out my gift for the "Surprise Me! Secret Santa Gift Exchange with Survey Junkie and Simply Stacey". Are you doing any Secret Santa activities this month?

November 19th: I had a giveaway on my blog by my own accord. I wanted to spread some holiday cheer and help a reader either dazzle up or get a jump start on their holiday gift list. I'll be (FINALLY!) sending off those gifts in the mail to the lucky winner. Better late than never, right Donna? Do you have a blog? Have you coordinated a giveaway with something you purchased or are passing on?

November 20th: I mentioned one of my teenage foster kids above in the entry for November 9th. What I did for her today was buy her a mini-wardrobe. Four pairs of pants and six shirts. I hope she likes them!

November 21st: I started working on Christmas cards today! Some may say I'm crazy, and some may say "I'm way ahead of you!" Have you started thinking about Christmas cards? Have you made the list of recipients, bought them, designed them, labeled them?? An extra bonus entry if you've already sent out your Christmas cards!

November 22nd: I made a donation to the Ronald McDonald House.

November 23rd: I've collected nearly 100 coupons, both recently expired and not, and am sending them to Operation Expiration. This is a program where military families can use our expired coupons. Read more about it at Cake Mom. Will you join me in doing this?

November 24th: I gave myself to work today. Left my house at 8:00 am. I got home about 30 minutes ago. (Don't worry, no math required, that's 13.5 hours). Did you go above and beyond in your job this month?

November 25th: What's better than Black Friday? Black Friday Eve! There were great deals at both Walgreens and CVS. With the money I saved (nearly $100!) I was able to buy 5 toys for children of our troops with Operation Homefront. Are you going to donate toys to children in need?

November 26th: I took my wonderful mother out to lunch today!

November 27th: I have birthday presents for three of my friends!

November 28th: And now I have a baby shower gift for a friend of mine!

November 29th: Oh how I love the holidays. One of the things that I look forward to is the merry sound of bells. It reminds me not only of cheer, but philanthropy, Reindeer, and angels getting their wings. This month I've donated to nearly every Red Kettle I've seen in order to support the great Salvation Army and their wonderful mission. Have you donated to the Red Kettles yet?

November 30th: I get to give away the $10 Target Gift card to one of my wonderful readers!