Happy Orange Project was able to contribute to childhood hunger by raising funds to provide 26,860 meals for our beautiful children in America. How did we do it?
It was pretty simple, really. We threw a party. With our friends! We know, RIGHT?!?
A few months ago, we at Happy Orange Project were trying to figure out our next simple act of kindness.
Every few months we like to organize a group project that inspires our community. We like to get a group together because we believe in the power of numbers. Because we are both mother’s, we started to think about how we could positively impact the children of our community. We started to do our research and quickly realized that 1 in 6 children in America suffer from hunger daily. This statistic broke our hearts. We know how we all feel when we skip a meal or two during our busy day. The thought of so many children suffering hunger daily and throughout the year, motivated us to get involved.
We chose the organization No Kid Hungry. This organization helps children nationwide with solutions in childhood hunger. They provide hungry school aged children with a summer pantry so there is food during the summer months. A lot of children get their only meals at school. No Kid Hungry facilitates solutions with children who suffer hunger because of the Opioid crisis. Believe it or not, children are left without parents and then, horrifically, are left without one of our other basic needs as humans, food. Every dollar helps. It really does. With all of this said, No Kid Hungry runs a Friendsgiving campaign.
What is Friendsgiving? Essentially it is just that, Friends-Giving. Every $1 that we raised during our Friendsgiving provided 10 meals for children in need.
Here’s what you do:
You host a party. No party is too small or too large. You can have a simple dinner party where someone slices the traditional turkey. You can host a larger party with a signature drink and make it a pot luck style. Happy Orange Project took the pot luck route, crockpots and all!
So, how do you have a successful fundraiser? Use the resources No Kid Hungry provides for hosting a Friendsgiving and spread the news throughout your network. Ask your friends on social media to donate to the cause online, or in-person when they come to your party. It’s a win-win situation, you have a great time and you raise for a great cause. What we are saying is that being proactive and taking the initiative is so worth it.
We created a fundraising page online and promoted our Friendsgiving through our social media outlets. To spread the word we would produce teaser videos on a signature drink, or update our friends on our fundraising goals. We even tried a Facebook Live which was interesting. Look! We can’t do it ALL. 😉
Our signature drink was an Apple Cider Sangria, which we are pleased to say was FINISHED! FINITO! GONE!
Here is the recipe we used: Apple Cider Sangria
Our fundraising goal was $1500. We are pleased to announce, when all was said and done we were able to raise $2686! That is almost double our initial goal!! WOOO HOOO!!
Our Friendsgiving was a success because of our friends and family. We are so blessed to have such an amazing network. We are beyond grateful. HEY! But guess what? YOU HAVE AN AMAZING NETWORK TOO!!! We have found that people WANT to HELP. People WANT to be part of a solution. And every single dollar counts.
So, throw a party, enjoy the company and know that together you really can make a difference.
We can’t wait to do it again next year.
Lots of love to all of you. We hope we’ve inspired you to host your own party for a cause that is dear to your heart.
For more Friendsgiving tips go here: Friendsgiving Tips
