today, tuesday, december 1st, 2015 has been designated giving tuesday; a reprieve amidst all the frenzy and hysteria brought to us from the last four days of being told we must

BUY!

BUY!

BUY!

BUY!

truth be told i’d rather be gifted a full day, with a free u-haul, and free manual labor to unload all the STUFF i don’t need or use in my house. {what DO people do with their old cd’s?} i’m on such a constant drop off at the salvation army, the boys in unloading and i follow each other on instagram.

i’m hoping my little person gets my genetic, anti-hoarding gene. she wants for nothing and couldn’t be happier playing with a wash cloth and wooden spoon.

come christmas, we will not be wasting money on gifts for her when she wouldn’t know this year’s must-have toy from her diaper wipes.

having a little one has illuminated my awareness at how much we truly have, and also how much so many go without; this disparity makes for uneasy sleeping.

when it comes to receiving holiday gifts, i’m asking my generous, gift giving, loved ones to save their money and not get me a thing.

but if they do feel the need to give; i’m asking that they give cash to a charity of their choice, donate time to a local shelter, or fill up an empty, old backpack with toiletries, food, etc. and keep it in their car to give to a homeless person {i’ve done this twice now and it’s super easy.}

 sadly, we have to be careful when donating to a charity these days. check to make sure that most of their funding is going toward the concern you’re choosing to support; unfortunately advertising, marketing, branding, and salaries can take a chunk of your donation.

here are a few of my favorite places to donate my time and money:

fact: over 8,000 veterans commit suicide every year.

22 until none is committed to ending veteran suicide “one step at a time.”

with only a staff of volunteers, 22 until none is offering assistance to our veterans in every capacity they can: financial assistance, VA benefits help, aid in transition back to civilian life, wellness services, camaraderie, and a 24/7 crisis hotline.

this is an epidemic that can and must be stopped.

i’m actually riding, in a crazy, fun, blow-your-mind, spin class to help raise money for this cause on sunday if you care to join…

my dearest and first girl crush, misha nesselrod, is having her birthday party at grit cycle, this sunday at 12pm. we will dance our faces off, under the fierce and beautiful leadership of dani– {another girl crush,} and also raise money to end veteran suicide.

it’s only $75 to reserve a bike.

a great time for a great cause for a great girl.

staying with the theme of the spin bike, i can personally attest to magnificent work of cycle for survival, a ride where EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR raised, goes toward cancer research at memorial sloan kettering. i was lucky enough to lead one of these rides a couple of years back, but pregnancies have kept me sidelined ever since. i’m happy to announce i will be back on the microphone on march 6th, 2016 {more information to come.}

i encourage you to join a team or make a donation.

close to FIVE children die, every day, at the hand of child abuse.

FIVE.

every day.

 child help is committed to stop this deplorable statistic.

child help came into my life last year, courtesy of my dear mrs. burns- the stories and data i learned that day still haunt me.

the child help approach focuses on prevention and intervention.

over 9 million children have felt the impact of child help.

i could dedicate an entire month, year, and blog to animal welfare and the charities that i love.

but if you were to ask me for only one animal charity to support it is the animal welfare institute.

simply put, the animal welfare institute is dedicated to reducing animal suffering caused by people.

they repeatedly receive an A+ rating from the national charity watch dogs and offer memberships as low as $10 a year.

for something more personal, your local animal shelter or nearest animal rescue {just google it} always welcomes gently used blankets, towels, leashes, bowel, toys, etc…typically we splurge on our four-legged babies more than we do ourselves; rather than throw away a perfectly good collar, donate it instead.

these are just a few of my favorites….now you tell me yours…where or who do you like to give to?

thank YOU for giving me YOUR time m’loves.