Keeping Kids Safe During Weather Emergencies and Natural Disasters ~ Champions For Kids SIMPLE Service Projects #EnergizerCFK #CBias

As my area of the country is on that welcomes precipice of Spring, doing our best to fend of cabin fever, this Mom still knows there is potential for winter hazards as temperatures fluctuate between freezing and above.





In fact, we have a very old tree in our backyard who has graciously managed to withstand the ice storms.  We've been fortunate in minimal power outages due to winter weather over the last couple of years.

Others in our area have not fared as well.  Although my family has resources to lean on in the event of a winter weather emergency, muddling through is still a challenge.  I can only imagine how difficult power outages, blizzards and ice storms must be for families who are already struggling.  As icy weather prepares to make way for the spring threat of tornadoes, what better time to focus our family's giving efforts to keeping children in need safe.

How fitting that our favorite charitable resource, Champions For Kids, has teamed up with Energizer to promote this month's giving focus: Light Up A Life through SIMPLE Service Projects!

Up for another SIMPLE challenge, my children and I embarked on a familiar trip to our local Walmart to see what we could find to pack our Light Up A Life Care Kits!  Fortunately, our shopping trip was a success and we discovered all manner of items to help us on our mission to keep kids safe during weather emergencies!

Gloves, hats and mittens galore - all on sale 50% off!  Perfect for stretching our giving budget a bit further.

Wet Ones Singles!  They kill 99.99% of germs and are hypoallergenic!  A convenient choice for our kits, as well as a gentle one, as we do know the personal sensitivities of the children who will receive this kits!

Fun, Disney themed Energizer flashlights, perfect for small hands but with a big enough light to keep them and their families safe and visible during emergencies!  This Mom really appreciated that Energizer included the necessary batteries right in the package!

Armed with a collection of goods from our trip (you can view it pictorially through my Google + album)  as always, I'm struck by how our big-hearted effort is really just a drop in the bucket of need in my area.  I admire the aggressive goal of the Champions For Kids program and their aim to inspire 20 million into the kind action of giving by 2020.

For the Energizer SIMPLE Service Project, my family decided to take a more aggressive approach and invited the members of one of my son's activity groups to join us in giving to keep kids safe.  We shared the program information by email, printed out copies of the Energizer Light Up A Life Project Card to bring to one of the meetings and shared how rewarding our participation in the Champions For Kids projects has been for our whole family.

We were touched to receive some generous contributions from some of the families.  Although I had hoped for a greater outpouring, I'm not discouraged.  We hope that each family we shared the program with will, in turn, challenge their own families and continue to spread the word.  (Of course, I'll be working on my persuasive skills for sharing the next Champions For Kids project!)

My motivation to inspire?  My family has been donating to the City Rescue Mission of Lansing, an organization of giving that has been reaching out to the needy in our community for over 100 years.  I recently had opportunity to speak with the director of the program and learned that their Women and Children's Shelter provides overnight refuge to 30-50 children per night.  This is just one facility in the Greater Lansing area.  Although my family is giving more than ever, my heart hurts that I was only able to provide Care Kits for six children, although others will certainly appreciate the extra books, mittens and gloves, as well as the nutritious snacks we purchased with the money that was donated.

There were countless other products we would have liked to have included in our Care Kits: whistles, bandages, toothpaste, toothbrushes, rain ponchos, underwear, socks and something to snuggle.

The need is great.  

Are you One of Millions?

 I am proud to be working as one of the millions of Champions for Kids.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  The experiences and opinions above are both honest and my own.  Some information and image sourced from Champions for Kids  #CBias  #EnergizerCFK  Tree Image.