Welcome to Moe's!!!

What a wonderful night!! To begin with, one of my favorite restaurants of all times is Moe's Southwest Grill. There is just something about building your own southwest creation that gets me excited, and then being able to fill your plate up with all kinds of salsa makes the meal even better. 

Well tonight, starting at 4 p.m., and continuing until closing, 10% of Moe's Southwest Grill's profits went to H.O.P.E. 

This was a great night for many reasons, starting with:

1. So many came out to support the 10% night!! Thank you to all of my friends who came out to celebrate!!

2. The response was fantastic! So many people decided to donate 10% of their purchase to babies! It is a true testament to the amazing people that are in our society and so willing to give!! 

3. I just LOVE chips and salsa. I always say that no matter what kind of diet I am on, it must allow me to eat chips and salsa! So thank you to Moe's for being willing to make this possible and for giving me a reason to eat chips and salsa!!

Thanks to SO many people for making tonight such a success!! And a special thank you to Chad, the manager of Moe's Southwest Grill in Tigertown, for allowing this to be possible!!

As One Ends Another Begins

Today was the last day of the hygiene drive. Thank you to everyone who donated items! We are well on the way to having a wonderful amount to give to the children and families of Children's Hospital, The Lovelady Center and the Sylacauga Alliance for Family Enhancement. However, just because the Hygiene Drive is over, that does not mean that I won't still accept hygiene items. I am open to collecting those items at any point!!

Tomorrow starts our clothes drive. This clothes drive is not necessarily for brand new clothes, but for anything that you feel is appropriate for someone else to where. We are asking for gently used items to give to The Lovelady Center so that women can start their lives over on the right foot, and clothes for children of any age!

Its "Spring Cleaning" so when you have cleaned out those closets please contact me with items that you no longer have a need for. Stay tuned for more details about the clothes drive!

Hygiene Supplies Drive

Today begins the two-day Hygiene Supplies Drive! For this drive we are looking for all different kinds of hygiene essentials. This may seem out of place in a program about babies and pregnancies, but actually it fits right in. 

The items collected will be given to Children's Hospital in Birmingham and The Lovelady Center. There are many families who come from all across the state of Alabama and other places to get the best treatment possible for their children. To receive that, many times they come to Birmingham to the wonderful medical facilities it has to offer, and often times they are there for weeks on end without basic necessities. So many families are so far from home trying to provide support to their baby in the NICU that the basics are often times unattainable. By providing these families with simple items such as shampoo, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste and other items we are taking this one thing off of their minds: how am I going to get clean today?

The Lovelady Center is a unique situation. This center provides a chance to start over for women and their children. When they arrive at the center they are given a change of clothes and hygiene supplies. Everything that The Lovelady Center has to give is donated. We are asking for supplies for these women and children so that they can start their lives over, and be able to start them over the right way. These women are going out to get jobs so they can one day be able to provide for their families on their own, and as we know, to get a job one must be presentable. These supplies will help these women and children more than any of us could possibly imagine. 

If you are interested in donating money or supplies please take a look at the "Hygiene Supplies Drive" flyer posted at the bottom of this message for my information. 

Today's letter is going to Dr. Jay Gogue, the president of Auburn University. I am an Auburn University student, and I look forward to seeing what he has to say in response to my letter! I'll let you know when I hear!

Happy April Showers!!

Today starts what I am calling "April Showers." It is a month-long donation/drive/event that I am thoroughly looking forward to, and my hope is that I can get others to participate. 

Each day in the month of April I will be sending letters to prominent people within my community as well as some celebrities. I am not necessarily expecting a response from my celebrities, but wouldn't that be cool?? My first celebrity is Shaquille O'Neal! He is the 2012 March for Babies Spokesperson. 

Also, each day will be a different event or drive. The first drive is the hygiene drive for families who are in the NICU for days and weeks, and for mothers and children who are starting their lives over. Each donation will go to a wide variety of people, but will all end up working for the same purpose: creating a healthier family unit and giving HOPE to children even when it may feel like there isn't any.

Please take a look at the calendar I have posted to see if any of the days interest you!