I want to Win!
We are so excited to announce our 8th Annual Give Back Give Away!
We love this time of year when we get to show you how much we appreciate you.
This year we have a fun “Give Back” Calendar to give you lots of ideas and opportunities to Give Back.
…And, that means you have more opportunities to win!
In all, we’ll be giving away more than $1000 in Prizes!
Get your November 2016 Give Back Calendar Here
Take a Look at Our Fabulous Prizes at the link below!
In addition, throughout November we will have Deep Discounted Sales, Lots of New Products, Fun and Creative 2017 BOMs and Sew Much More!
You can enter to win any of the fabulous prizes starting today, November 1, 2016 through 11:59pm on November 30th, 2016
homespunhearth.wordpress.com 
I gave a Taco Bell gift card to a homeless man who was asking for food outside our local Taco Bell. I won’t often give money but I am more than willing to buy someone a meal.
I put a note of encouragement in my son’s lunch bag.
To encourage participation in our democracy, I have been making “Get Out The Vote” calls. Today I made 127 calls. I like to call during the day, when the people I speak with are mostly elderly people who are at home. My favorite call today involved helping an elderly gentleman determine where his early polling station was. That was very satisfying for me, and he was quite excited. I could understand why it was confusing–sometimes it does take two people to understand formal government instructions, but you just have to muscle through it when it’s important, as this was. A week to go; my alarm will be going off in about four hours!
I hold elevators and doors whenever I encounter a person that might need that little extra help. In the future, I hope that someone will do the same for me when I need that little extra help. Kindness matters.
I’m working on a quilt for the Quilts for Kids organization, which provides bright and cheery quilts to kids in children’s hospital. I have three tops done. Today, I cut the binding for all three quilts. Next up is the quilting!
Sadly, all I gave away today was my money, because I was shopping.
My favorite giveback moment ever was the year I made some quilts to donate for Quilts for Kids.
I donated some clothes to the salvation army
I gave away a some of my plants.
I put some money in my Son’s checking account. He’s a POOR student and is always in need of money! Momma to the rescue!!!! LOL!!!
I’m packing up a box for Goodwill!
I gave my neighbor goodies for her new grandson!
I gave away 2 grocery sacks of magazines we have read to our neighbors, who in turn will read and forward them to their 2 daughters, one of whom is an elementary teacher. She then uses the magazines in her classroom.
I shared a quilt pattern by email to my sister.
My favorite give back moment was when I made “Hope” Stuffed Heart Ornaments for my friends sister. She had MS and the hearts were decorations to brighten her room as she was bed ridden. She has since passed away. They decided to keep the heart ornaments since they brought much joy and hope to her.
Another day spent making Get Out The Vote. I listened to an elderly gentleman tell me about his memory of voting through his lifetime. I also told him what inspired me to be politically active and explained how coming from a family in which my siblings and I belong to a different party than our parents helps me to be respectful and empathetic toward people whose beliefs are different than mine. I felt like we had a good conversation, and I think he appreciated being listened to. I think a good conversation can be a gift, especially when someone lives alone. I love making these calls, so maybe the gift is to me.
A dear friend is sick with the flu. I made her a pot of chicken soup and took her family a meal.
I love this setup! I was able to contribute to a donation drive for Syrian refugees and kids that included a big push for stuffed animals. It breaks my heart to think of all the suffering and violence in the world. I hope to give back if only for children that have no comfort toys.
My favorite give back moment was a few years ago participating in a sub for Santa program and delivering presents to a family that had lost their father and didn’t have an income or way to provide Christmas for their kids.
My favorite give back moment was when I gave quilts to our local Ronald McDonald House. My sister and nieces had stayed at a Ronald McDonald House 30 years earlier, when my niece was born with a heart defect, so this was especially meaningful to me.
Today I sorted through fabric and lace that had belonged to my friend’s mother. My friend is moving, and she told me, sadly, that she was going to discard all of the sewing items she’d inherited from her mom since she wouldn’t have room for them. She said I could take what I want and then give the rest to Goodwill. Instead, I found some beautiful pieces of lace, fabric, and some antique sewing things, and I’ll be making a shadowbox for her to display in the new place–a little bit of her mom with her when she settles in her new home across the country.
Giveback moment; sharing tomatoes with my neighbors! Last of the season!
Packed up fabric from my stash to be given away to charity quilters who will use what I know I won’t.
My give back moment happened today when I watched my neighbors kids after she got an emergency phone call and had to get to her parents house quickly.
My giving back moment today was while making a get-out-the-vote call. I was speaking with a Hispanic voter who needed more help than just a reminder to vote. It was a real joy to have the time to find his polling place, and find out what forms of i.d. he will need, and then find out how his wife can take her early ballot (which she hadn’t been able to mail in early due to life’s complications). He was sweet and earnest and the very reason I was making my call, and I was glad I hadn’t rushed through the process; he lives in a battleground state and told me that he had received multiple other calls before mine. I wonder if he was feeling unrecognized before we talked–he had questions, and maybe some language difficulties. I don’t speak Spanish, but from each of my parents and grandparents I learned to treat individuals with dignity and respect, and give them time.
My great give back moment was when I moved back in with my parents to help care for my mom as she fought cancer.
Today’s giving back moment was really a series of them: the final day of get out the vote calls, in which each person I spoke with was treated with respect and warmth, as they deserved, and I helped anyone who needed it. And that’s the end of that, for four years. (Get out the vote, not kindness and respect.)
I just performed my “giving back” moment for today. A prominent quilter posted a pictures of a student and her blocks on her website, showing both the unintentionally sloppy initial block and the very nice block she made after some coaching. I was concerned that she student might feel a bit embarrassed at having her shortcomings exposed on a national blog, even for very well-meaning reasons, so I left a note of encouragement for the student, reminding her that we all share the same experience and can look back and see how far we’ve come, whether it is through learning over time or benefiting from one teacher’s attention and advice. I hope that the feeling of “we’ve all been there” will buoy her up, as it often does for me.
Today’s giving back opportunity was giving a huge pile of magazines (quilty, holiday, home improvement) to my neighbor. She will then pass them on to her daughter, who will eventually share them or recycle them. We make my subscriptions go a long way.
I sent my “Box Tops for Education” to a first-grader named Tyler, who requested them via our power company magazine. If he wins his school contest by having the most Box Tops, he gets to ride to school in a fire truck!
We are participating in the Extraordinary Give today and will donate to 8 – 10 organizations. This is in Lancaster County, PA and in one day millions of dollars are donated. Last year more than 6 million was donated. https://extragive.org/
We’re dog-siting for ten days, so our niece and nephews won’t worry about their pup while they are away for Thanksgiving. He’s a good boy and we are very fond of him. The only snag: he is a cat-chaser, and we have five cats. So, we have to be very vigilant. But, we love the kids, and have been on the receiving end of many acts of kindness, so we’re glad to put out the welcome mat and make our check lists so that nothing goes wrong.
I waited in line for the pharmacy for 1/2 an hour, while they were at lunch–I was first in line, as I arrived just as they left on break. A long line formed behind me. When they opened back up, an elderly lady in a wheelchair rolled right past me and went up to the window, taking my place. I let her have it, with a smile. It felt like the right thing to do, and the pharmacist agreed when I eventually got to the window to see him.
I dropped everything to answer my neighbor’s computer questions, because her grandchildren were in school.
I am putting a box of shoes together for a service our church offers that gives free clothing and shoes to children and their parents.
We are donating furniture to a group that places people in apartments and houses and furnishes those living spaces to formerly homeless people.
I making pillowcases to give to children in the hospital. I also make these for children I know for birthdays.
I am giving away some quilting books to fellow quilters, both experienced and new to craft.
Donating some kitchen items to those just getting established in an apartment.
I volunteered to drive my neighbor to town to get her car fixed…then changed the date when a migraine necessitated a reschedule (to which I could totally relate)…then rescheduled again when the repair shop had a conflict on their calendar. Real life can be messy, but that’s okay–she’s a great neighbor and I’m glad she calls us when she needs a hand. She has helped us out more times than I could ever count.