creative gifts.

Jackie & I circa 1990

Throughout FIVE family Christmas celebrations this year I found three wonderful women I have to thank.

The first is my sister Jackie. I have looked up to her quite literally, my entire life. She has always been cooler than me, had cuter clothes (and shoes!), better toys, better handwriting, better hair...the list goes on. All around, she has always been the image of a confident, successful, intelligent, beautiful woman that I aspire to be. This holiday season she has given me yet another reason to admire her and her selflessness. Her and her husband Joffrey decided to do Adopt-A-Family for Christmas. 

They signed up through The Salvation Army and were assigned a family with a mom and a dad, and three children. They received a wish list and sizes/ages for the family and then bought gifts and clothing for them which were delivered in time for Christmas. What an amazing way to give back during the holidays!

The next two lovely ladies I need to thank are Cory's cousin Erin, and his sister-in-law Sarah. Erin drew my name in our Christmas gift exchange and not only bought me an iTunes gift card, but also donated two toys to Toys for Tots! She even made a cute little note and put it in the gift bag :) 

Last but not least, Sarah gave me wrist sweatbands to wear while running. But they weren't just any sweatbands...they were breast cancer awareness ones with little pink ribbons on them! Awesome!

Thank you Jackie, Erin and Sarah for your gifts and giving back this holiday season. You are amazing!

Be the change. Make the difference.  

toys for tots!

The nice people from Toys for Tots came to pick up our Toy box today from work. On the outside of each box they post how many toys your location collected the previous year, which for us was 19. Not a huge number, but not terrible. The good news is this year we collected more in 2011! 26 toys! For the most part, the residents were pretty sneaky about it--dropping toys off and leaving right away--so I didn't get a chance to thank them. But you are all wonderful for opening your hearts and donating!

For the rest of the month I will be talking about other ways you can give back during the Christmas season so stay tuned :)

Be the change. Make the difference.  

running out of time!

Most of the Toys for Tots will be collected starting on the 19th, which is less than a week away! They are collecting our box at work on that day, but if you are looking for another location closer to you, or that may be picking the box up later click here. If you donate, email me at spennerphotography@gmail.com and tell me about it :)

Also, did you know you can donate to Toys for Tots while you are doing your holiday buying or selling on eBay? You can choose to donate anywhere between 10-100% of the final sale price to them, and you'll get a tax deduction and credit on your basic eBay fees. There are also items listed on eBay to benefit the Toys for Tots Foundation OR if you pay with PayPal you can donate $1 to help too. So many ways to donate :) Click here for more info.

In other news, I had the day off today so I finally got down to In The Image to drop off our donations from last month. All in all, it ended up being ten trash bags full of clothes, coats, sheets, etc that were delivered. The warehouse was hustling and bustling and everyone was busy keeping on top of things, so there wasn't much time for me to look around....but I know our stuff will help a lot of people in Grand Rapids. Thanks again to everyone who helped out last month!   

Be the change. Make the difference.

how it works

Each community has a coordinator who organizes all the drop off locations for Toys for Tots such as businesses and restaurants. Then, in mid to late December the coordinator collects all the boxes and brings the toys to a centrally located warehouse where the toys are separated into gender and age groups. Then, at Christmas the toys are distributed to less fortunate children through churches, social welfare agencies and other local agencies. The toys you donate stay in your community and go to a child in need near you.

Mostly the toys they receive are for ages 3-12 years old, so if possible, pick up toys for infants or 13-16 year old kids. Toys for Tots does not distribute toys to those older than sixteen.

To find a drop off location or to make a financial donation click here. If you or someone you know is in need of toys for their children this holiday season, click here to request toys. The box at work is about halfway full...I want it overflowing this year! Let me know if you have a donation to drop off! 

Be the change. Make the difference.

the history

It's always important to learn how organizations you support are started--I think it's usually the most interesting part about them. I'm sure you have heard of Toys for Tots but do you know how it all began?

Colonel William L. Hendricks
USMCR (Ret)

It all started in the fall of 1947 with Major Bill Hendricks and his wife Diane. Diane crafted a homemade doll and asked her husband to give it to and organization that would in turn give it to a child in need. Unfortunately, at the time an organization like that did not exist, so Diane suggested that her husband start one. That year, Bill and a group of Marine Reservists collected and distributed 5,000 toys to needy children in Los Angeles. It was so successful that the next year the Marine Corps adopted Toys for Tots and turned it into a nationwide campaign.

While Bill was a Marine Reservist on the weekends, during the week he was the Director of Public Relations for Warner Brothers Studios. This allowed to him get many celebrities involved in the effort such as Bob Hope, John Wayne, Doris Day, Lorrie Morgan, Tim Allen, Kenny Rogers and Billy Ray Cyrus, not to mention Walt Disney himself who designed the Toys for Tots logo they still use today.


Originally the organization collected new and used toys, and Reservists would refurbish used toys on the weekends. However, in 1980 they decided to only collect new toys to give each child the brand new toy that they deserve. Over the 62 years of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program, Marines have distributed more than 400 million toys to more than 188 million needy children.

Please consider buying extra gifts this season and giving them to Toys for Tots. You can get the gifts to me since we have a drop off box at work, or click here to find the nearest drop off location to you.

Be the change. Make the difference. 

the difference - In The Image

This month was challenging for me since I wasn't able to see In The Image up close and personal. BUT we still collected at TON of things, so I'm a happy girl! Here are the results for November and the plan for December.

Thanks to one last donation from Aunt Barb and Lynne, we collected forty seven items for In The Image this month! 8 hats, 8 gloves, 4 pairs of pants, 7 sweatshirts/sweaters, 5 scarves, 11 coats, 3 blankets/sheets and 1 pair of socks. Nice work :) The people of Grand Rapids love you!

For the month of December, I will not only be collecting unwrapped, unused toys for Toys for Tots again, but also will be keeping you updated with several different ways to make the difference this holiday season. This time of year there are endless ways to help...why not try a few?! Stay tuned for details on Toys for Tots and all the other ways you can help!  

Be the change. Make the difference. 

Toys For Tots...Round Two

Toys for Tots picked up the box from our office today. I was pretty disappointed by the turn out at CVA...our box was only about half full.

I was feeling a little discouraged about it, but I saw boxes at other places that were overflowing. And then I found this article :)

And then I felt a lot better. I know a box half full of toys still changed someones Christmas. And although not everyone can donate $100,000...I know even just one toy makes a difference. Mr./Mrs. Anonymous is an inspiration. And it seriously made my heart happy to read about this.

I'm hoping to find some final numbers on how much they collected and passed out, so if anyone finds information--send it my way! 

Be the change. Make the difference.

Toys for Tots!

I am proud to announce that ClearView recently made a great addition to our office--a Toys for Tots box!

You'd have to live under a rock to have never seen one of these donation boxes. They are practically everywhere. Businesses can sign up and have the donation box in their office/location from October-December. The community is then encouraged to bring in new toys (they don't even have to be wrapped!) for children under the age of 16. These gifts are then distributed to less fortunate children in your area.

I like this program for a lot of reasons, but here are the biggest two:

First of all, the program is called MARINE Toys for Tots. The Marine Reserve Units in your area are the ones that distribute these gifts to the little ones. I have the utmost respect for those in the service. My old roommate Ashleigh dated a Marine, and just hearing her stories about where he is and what he is doing amazes me. And to think of people like him who have been through so much for our country take time to hand out toys to kids is just great.

The second reason I love this program is that the gifts you donate stay in YOUR area. Often times when we donate it's to a cause far away and it's hard to see the effects. No matter where you live, you can help make a child's Christmas. 

SO if you are one of those crazy people who go out on Black Friday, pick up an extra toy or two. Or if you're like me and already have all your Christmas presents bought and wrapped (I have anxiety problems, it's fine), pick up a toy next time you are grocery shopping and drop it off in your local Toys for Tots box!

Click here if you want to request a toy for your child or a child that you know.

Click here to find a drop off site near you!

Be the change. Make the difference.


Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!