Giving Back: My Cause for the Year

next
My Weekly Routine

When I was able to monetize this website back in 2011, I was thrilled to be able to sign up to sponsor a child through Compassion International due to the earnings from the site.

I shared that with blog readers because I thought it was important for the readers to know that they too were contributing to the support of this child through visiting my website! My only revenue stream back then was being paid monthly from small shops that had an ad on the sidebar, so high website views were what I needed to stay valuable to those small businesses who wanted a feature on my site!

Since that time, and as my business has grown, I’ve found numerous additional ways to give back. I’ve donated earnings from Poshmark sales, sent boxes of items to a company who ran a closet consignment sale, set up automatic monthly donations to causes that are near to my heart (you can read about that here), and much more.

I’ve also taken you along with me and the kids when we drop off donations. We enjoy getting them involved as well!

There have also been various other ways that my family and I have given back that haven’t been published. We bought a car from a former neighbor and donated it, and for a long time, I’ve been able to gift products or gently used baby items to a pregnancy support home in my area.

Giving back is important to me, and it’s also important to me that my heart for giving back is accurately conveyed when I speak about it. I would never want to come off like I’m looking for affirmation for what we do, as it’s something I would continue to do whether I had a public life or not!

The thing is though, this year I want to be a little bit more forward and open about the cause I’m choosing to focus on because you are a part of it.

My business operates in a way that your views, clicks, activity, etc. provide me with income. If no one is looking at my website, then there isn’t any value to placing an ad on it.

My hope is that when you come here, you gain something because I work hard to provide relatable, educational content for you to consume at no charge!

Throughout my life, the causes and missions that stir my emotion have changed as a reflection of where I am in life. Before children, I felt drawn to supporting cat rescues and volunteering to help clean the cages for the cats at PetSmart.

Before I was married, when I was single in college, I volunteered to lead a craft activity for an after-school program.

Since having small children, Justin and I have given financially more than of our time, simply due to the challenges of finding childcare, but we both agree that it feels different (more impactful?) when you give your time and energy to a cause. I know very well that both things matter, but the effect it has on you is different.

So, last year when COVID19 caused the world to essentially shut down, there were innumerable ripples that caused difficulty in so many aspects of life. The one that made my stomach flip, though, was thinking about all the children who were not able to get lunch anymore at school since public schools closed down.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for organizations to pivot and create drive-through lunch programs for families who receive lunch for their kids at school. And as I’m certain many families were able to receive lunches, I’m also sure there were some that weren’t able to make it to the pick-up for a number of reasons.

So hunger-relief is a cause that I feel deeply convicted to do something about. I was thrilled to hear that Home Chef, a long-time partner of mine, collaborated with Feeding America to support hunger-relief. I am proud to be working with a company that aligns with my convictions as well!

There are also local organizations that I/my business supports and I am hopeful that when volunteer restrictions are lifted I will be able to participate in some in-person giving back this year.

Brown Bag Ministry is a local cause where kids and I dropped off items in December so they could fill bags with essentials and hand them out to homeless men. They also have a weekly time where they fill over 1k lunch bags to hand out at various sites in my area. It is my plan to attend one of those Saturday in-person events as soon as I can. I believe they have opened up spots for volunteering now, with safety precautions in place, of course.

One thing I would love to do is partner with Feeding America or a local hunger-relief organization to raise money. I have absolutely no idea how to do that, and Amanda and I started that process last year only to run into a few legal constraints.

What you can expect from me going forward is that I will regularly share about this cause being something I support, and I have such gratitude that your support of my business allows me to give back.

When I’m able to get on the schedule and volunteer in-person at Brown Bag Ministry, I’ll tell you about it! And if you have any affiliations with local hunger-relief organizations, I would love to hear about those so please e-mail me or leave a comment below.

comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Andie says · 01.13.21

This year has also shifted where my husband and I donated. As a childfree couple, we have also been prone to donate our time and money to organizations that focus on animals as we have a cat that we adore and would have a dog if our apartment allowed. This year, we pivoted hard toward local organizations that helped our local communities people. We live in NYC in Hells Kitchen and are deeply impacted by the closure of Broadway. This year we donated to ROAR to help restaurant workers, City Harvest which provides food to local NYC communities and to Brooklyn Animal Action which provides support to local animals. I feel more deeply connected to my community this year more than ever and feel fortunate that I’m able to help support those in need. Keep doing what you’re doing, I’ve been following since well before you were pregnant with David and love the content you put out!

Reply
Kate says · 01.13.21

Thanks for sharing those places! 🙂

Reply
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says · 01.13.21

Thank you for all that you’ve done – you’re an inspiration! ❤️✨

Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com

Reply
Amanda Ladd says · 01.13.21

There is a local food bank in Mount Olive, NC that provides food and clothing to people. Check out there page on Facebook Make a Difference Food Pantry. This food pantry was started by a young lady. My family has served there several times and we always feel amazing when we leave.

Reply
Bess says · 01.13.21

Okay so now that your charity involvement is sponsored and requires you to share it, you will. How convenient. We see through you.

Reply
Kate says · 01.14.21

My charity involvement isn’t sponsored. Do you know how to identify sponsored content? It’s easy: I tell you that a post is sponsored. Did I type that anywhere on this post? No.

Reply
Kendra says · 01.16.21

Wow, that’s pretty harsh Bess, even if you were accurate in your assumptions—which you weren’t—using your words in a kind manner is what we ALL need these days. Not vicious animosity like your comment displayed.

Kate, I didn’t get that at all and I appreciate you sharing the charities that have been on your heart this year. ♥️

Reply
Celeste says · 01.16.21

There is nothing to see through. It seems you haven’t been following Kate for very long or you would know she is very transparent in disclosing sponsored information and has spoken often about how the FTC requires this and how she identifies her sponsored content.

Kate- the use of the Royal we in this post does not speak for the VAST majority of us here. We love you and we know you do high quality work with so much integrity. Nothing but love for you, lady. ❤️ 🙌🏼 Love your heart to give back and I love that you share that. You’ll get slammed for not speaking about what you do and you’ll get slammed if you do. You keep doing you, Kate!

Reply
Celeste says · 01.16.21

*don’t.

Slammed if you do. Slammed if you don’t. 😂

Reply
Michelle Blok says · 01.14.21

I teach in a high poverty school district and it would break my heart when the kids would go home on weekends with possibly no food. I created NOW bags (Nutrition on Weekends). Kids get a back pack of healthy, kid friendly food that didn’t require cooking or water because they may not have either.

During COVID-19, my school district has provided 2 meals a day for each student. They started distributing bags back in March. I’m so proud of my school district and their heart for our students!

Reply
Kate says · 01.14.21

I love that idea of “NOW” bags. You have a kind heart!

Reply
Shannon Gregg says · 01.14.21

Now that my kids are older – I volunteer my time. I volunteer for a local dog rescue, Path of Hope, that rescues pregnant dogs and dogs with litters and transports them from Houston TX to Spokane, WA.
We have fostered a mom and her litter. I lead events for fundraising and intake of new puppies from Houston.

It is very rewarding doing hands on work. I hope as your kids get older you can get back to volunteering.

Reply
April says · 01.15.21

I love giving back on my own but my friends and I give back as a group as well. We don’t exchange gifts for birthdays or holidays instead we donate to an organization that supports that person’s interests. We also do group activities to support local charities since there is strength in numbers. We all prefer these activities over getting “things” to celebrate holidays.

Reply
Mae says · 01.16.21

Ohhh this is beautiful Kate! Love following you over the years, but it’s even sweeter knowing that you pay it forward in ways that align with my values as well. I feel like I get to be a tiny part of it! Keep on keepin’ on girl!

Reply
Brooke says · 01.16.21

The food bank in Durham or Raleigh are great places to volunteer in person. I think the boys would be able to go with you. You are right about the difference in person volunteering does for your heart vs donating financially.

Reply
Brianne Kaufholz says · 01.17.21

I have loved volunteering at the picnic project in Sanford FL. I love it because they allow me to bring my kids to serve, so we can do that as a family. It started when a local chef and friend realized the housing insecure were not being sever a meal on sundays. So the chef goes to second harvest on Saturday and with those ingredients offered creates a gourmet meal for those who want it. They are served on real plates and we get refills but the most important part is to sit with them and talk. I love the dignity in which they treat others. We donated our first stimulus check to them. My husband works for International Justice Mission and had the picnic project on his podcast, linked below. Thanks!

Reply
Lesa says · 01.20.21

Hi!
I would recommend visiting the Feeding America website and looking at member food banks that serve your immediate area. This may help: https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/north-carolina. I work for a food bank (in another state) and could always try and help you get connected to a food bank near you.

Reply
clararidings says · 05.18.21

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on giving back. I agree that that is so important. I haven’t had any contact with this organization personally, but I like Holt International. It seems to be a very ethical organization that does really important stuff like preserving families (preventing orphans, when the cause is that the parents are too poor to provide or their kids), assisting adoptive families, and helping kids have quality education. Thanks again for writing this post.

Reply