Giving Back Without Breaking the Bank

We are continuing to give back to our community this Holiday season thanks to some help from Kellogg’s cereal, Hasbro Toys and The Salvation Army.

Free Hasbro Game or Toy Offer

Back in October, I stocked up on Kellogg’s cereal to take advantage of the Hasbro Game or Toy Offer they were running. By inputting a special code printed inside the box, I was able to order 5 coupons good for a free Hasbro toy valued at up to $15 or a coupon for $10 off a toy that cost $25 or more.

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It took just over a month for the coupons to get shipped to me, but once I had them they were easy to use at Toys R Us and Walmart to “buy” toys. I let my kids pick out one toy each for themselves and we used the other 3 coupons to pick out toys to donate to the Christmas Bureau. It was fun shopping together, and I was happily surprised by my son’s response of “Oh, that’s a nice thing to do for other kids mom!”

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There are lots of great organizations collecting new toys at this time of year, but I chose the Strathcona Christmas Bureau because of their connection with the wonderful Santa we always visit at Sherwood Park Mall. In the past we have made a monetary donation during our visit with Santa, but this year it was a lot more fun to toss toys into the large donation bin. I already had a few toys I had bought to donate, but thanks to the Kellogg’s coupons we were able to give more toys and make Christmas merrier for a few more kids.

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I didn’t have high hopes for our Santa visit after my daughter insisted she wanted nothing to do with Santa, so I was pleasantly surprised when she climbed up on his knee and happily chatted to him. I can’t say enough good things about this Santa and we had a lovely afternoon creating Christmas memories.

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Treats for Toys

Our boxes of Rice Krispies did not stop giving with the Free Hasbro Toy. With Kellogg’s Treats for Toys program, I was also able to plan a fun little activity for my kids that gives back to the Salvation Army.

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By simply making a toy inspired Rice Krispie treat and uploading the picture to the Rice Krispies website, Kellogg’s will make a donation of $20 to the Salvation Army to buy a gift for a child this Christmas. I uploaded our picture this morning and it was incredibly quick and easy.

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I had a teddy bear shaped silicone mould so I decided to use that for our toy inspired treats. With a bit of store bought icing and a selection of candies, we decorated our teddy’s and created a fun bedtime snack that gives back. It doesn’t get much sweeter then that!

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Thank you to Kellogg’s, Hasbro and the Salvation Army for helping us give back this Holiday Season! I love both programs and it is amazing that we were able to give so much with little more then the cost of a few boxes of breakfast cereal.

As we head towards Christmas, one of my goals this Holiday Season is to make an effort to be more charitable. We are very fortunate and I want to start teaching my kids the importance of helping others and appreciating what we have.

Being charitable and making a difference in someone’s life doesn’t mean having to make large monetary donations. There are many great charities out there who make it easy to get involved and contribute with what you have. In the next few weeks I will share some of these great charities with you as well as some fun and frugal ways I have come up with for the kids and I to help give back to our own community and around the globe.

Coats for Kids and Families

With the approaching Holiday season comes the colder weather, and that has me currently focused on outfitting my kids in new boots and snow gear. I have been lucky buying at the end of season of finding good deals, but it pains me to see our growing collection of outgrown and barely used snow gear in the coat closets. Confession: I haven’t been that good at taking the kids out to play once it gets cold and snowy out!

Since we no longer need these items, I decided it was time to gather up all the two-small coats, snow pants, boots and hats and donate them to the Coats for Kids and Families program run through the United Way. This great program runs from October 1 to December 15 and donating couldn’t be much easier thanks to donation bins at all Page the Cleaner locations throughout Edmonton. Our location was just a quick 2 minute drive up the road.

While I could have likely sold a lot of the items through local Facebook Buy and Sell groups to make a little extra money for the holidays, this felt like the better option. My closets are cleaner and hopefully our donations will help keep some little ones warm this winter. Plus, maybe this is the kickstart I need to start saying goodbye to some of the other baby stuff I have cluttering up the basement!