When I read that approximately 96 billion pounds of food go to waste every single year, it was hard for me to comprehend that figure. Feeding America works hard every year to provide food to more than 37 million people, putting a damper on all that waste. Millions of these people include children and the elderly.

This holiday season, you can give back to help feed Americans. A fellow blogger friend, Kim (aka, Crafty Mama of 4), has started her own virtual canned food drive with Feeding America. Every $5 she raises will provide 35 meals. That is a LOT of people who will go to bed with a full stomach, rather than the empty, gnawing pangs of hunger. This is America….hunger just shouldn’t be; my personal thoughts are that we should be able to help each other. This country is so large, and we have so much….That’s not all, though. Every dollar Kim raises, Libby’s will match, up to $40,000! Her goal is to reach $300. Let’s make it happen. As she suggests, dig out those old gift cards with only a few dollars remaining; you know the ones….they’ve sat in your wallet because they only have a couple dollars on them. Even just give $1.

Not only can you give, but you can start your own virtual food drive. To see how your dollars will be put into action for hungry Americans, be sure to check out this page.  Also, be sure to Like Feeding America on Facebook, and follow @FeedingAmerica on Twitter.

Together, let’s help Kim, Feeding America, and Libby’s fight hunger! Shine Your Light!

It seems that every time I head to town now, there’s at least one corner on which someone is holding a sign, asking for work.  To me, it’s really sad, and I can’t imagine how desperate that person must be to stand on the corner with that sign….it’s an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach every time I see it.  So many people are suffering right now, from living in tent cities to being homeless on the streets to going to bed hungry every single night. Over 49 million Americans (including approximately 14 million children) are facing hunger in America today.

Tim McGraw and Hamburger Helper are working to raise awareness about the hunger people of our nation are facing right now.  They are working to raise support for Feeding America through the Show Your Helping Hand campaign.  You can help.  Right now when you buy certain boxes of Hamburger Helper, you can submit a code from that box onto the Show Your Helping Hand website, thus giving 17 cents toward the work of Feeding America; that 17 cents will deliver one meal to a food bank.

We actually received a prize pack from My Blog Spark, which included a box of Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni, a foam Hamburger Helper foam “Helping Hand” (which Jaden loves), and the Tim McGraw Southern Voice CD.  Not only that, but Hamburger Helper made a $10 donation to the Show Your Helping Hand Campaign for me, which I’m so excited about!  Hamburger Helper is definitely nice for when you need a meal in a hurry.  All we had to do was add hamburger to the boxed ingredients, and voila, we had a meal.  It was full of cheesy flavor, and it was something our kids enjoyed, as well.
Tim McGraw’s Southern Voice includes 12 different songs, including Still, If I Died Today, Southern Voice, and others.  I generally don’t listen to a lot of country music, but I have always enjoyed Tim McGraw because so many of his songs tell a story.  They have emotion and feeling throughout. By visiting Show Your Helping Hand, you could have the chance to win an autographed Tim McGraw CD.

The great news is that I am giving away the same prize pack, as mentioned above; it will include a box of Hamburger Helper, a Hamburger Helper foam “Helping Hand,” and Tim McGraw’s Southern Voice CD! You can enter to win by doing one or more of the following; just be sure to leave a separate comment for each way that you enter.  I’ll draw the winner, via random.org, on Monday, December 20.  This giveaway is open to U.S. only.  Good luck, and have a wonderful day!

1. Visit Show Your Helping Hand, and leave me a comment, letting me know how you will encourage others to submit codes and join in the fight against hunger with Hamburger Helper/Feeding America.
2. Like Feeding America on Facebook.
3. Follow @FeedingAmerica on Twitter.
4. Tweet about this giveaway, being sure to use the hashtag #myblogspark.  You can tweet once daily to earn extra entries.
5. Subscribe to the Feeding America Blog.
6. Follow Real Heart Prints, or subscribe to our posts.
7. Follow @mamabzz on Twitter.
8. Blog about this giveaway, being sure to link back to Real Heart Prints.

(Disclosure: I received the prize packs/information, free of charge, from Hamburger Helper, through My Blog Spark, for the purposes of this giveaway post.)

I just wanted to give you an update on Aaron and how he’s doing.  See Nancy’s note below. Truly, they are an inspiration to me, as they continue to give God the glory throughout this entire situation. Keep praying!  They also have a page on GiveForward now, so if you’d like to donate through that avenue, to help ease some of the financial stress that goes along with an illness such as Aaron has, that would be wonderful.  Thank you so much.

We got the results back today from the bone marrow biopsy. Unfortunately, no cells were found. We are beginning the process to search for a donor. They are going through the umbilical cord bank which is a much faster and easier way to find donor stem cells then waiting for a match on an adult.

THANK YOU!!!!

For today’s Shine Your Light, I’m starting a campaign to raise funds for Aaron, Nancy, and Rebekah Irby.  Aaron is toward the end of his stem cell transplant now in his fight against Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.You can read all about it over on MamaBuzz.  Help us to pay it forward by donating just $1.  We’ve made it so simple and easy with a Donate button that takes only seconds to use.  My hope is that you’ll join in paying it forward this holiday season.  Have a wonderful day!