Help Raise Up To $10,000 For Girls For A Change

By Courtney 19 Comments

The following is a post sponsored by Yahoo! Every time someone clicks here to make Yahoo! their homepage, they’re showing their support for Girls For A Change.

I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

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Have you ever sat and thought, “Man, I really wish there was more I could do to help out ‘abc…’ or ‘xyz…’” but you don’t have the time/money/resources?

I often feel that way, as there are so many wonderful charities and organizations out there that deserve extra support. One of those organizations is Girls For A Change; and lucky for us, we all have a major opportunity on our hands…

We can help raise up to $10,000 for Girls For A Change by simply making Yahoo! our browser’s homepage.

First, let me fill you in a bit on GFC…

Girls For A Change (GFC) is a national organization that empowers girls to create social change. They invite young women to design, lead, fund and implement social change projects that tackle issues that many girls face right in their own neighborhoods.

source

GFC empowers girls for personal and social transformation. The program inspires girls to have the voice, ability and problem solving capacity to speak up, be decision makers, create visionary change and realize their full potential.”

“Great! So what can I do to help?”

Right now, Yahoo! will donate $10 to Girls For A Change (GFC) for each person who clicks here to make Yahoo! his/her homepage by June 30th (today!)…up to an amazing $10,000!

To do so, simply go to this link and follow the instructions. It’s important that you use that specific link, since that will be the only way that Yahoo! can track users who change their homepage.

I’ve already gone ahead and made the change. It’s quick, simple, and will make a difference for something I support!

So who’s going to join me??

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Lunch

Wow…I think this had to be my thickest smoothie on record. So much so, in fact, that it called for my first ever Smoothie Bowl. Smile

Today’s Chocolate Strawberry Smoothie Bowl consisted of:

1 small frozen banana
5 strawberries
~1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 scoop Chocolate Whey Protein Powder
2 tsp chia seeds
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp strawberry extract (<—so awesome!)
1/2 tsp xanthan gum (for thickening…and boy did it work!)
1 big handful spinach

Of course, I couldn’t help but top it off with some more Love Grown Foods granola.

And I also made sure to eat it with my favorite coffee mug spoon.

Small spoon = longer lasting smoothie bowl.

Questions for the Afternoon:

What organizations/charities do you strongly believe in and/or support?

Have you ever heard of Girls For a Change?

About Courtney

I'm a working mom of two beautiful little boys, Lucas and Alex, and I began writing Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life in April 2010. I enjoy chronicling my love of food (healthy and indulgent!), baking, motherhood, fitness, fashion, and everything in between!

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Comments

Faith @ lovelyascharged says

June 30, 2011 at 1:54 pm

I try to support my city's homeless charities as much as possible. I've always had a soft spot for that! That smoothie looks so dang voluminous that I was waiting for it to spill right over the top of the bowl! No lie, I was afraid to breathe too heavy as I was reading to avoid making it slosh over the side :)

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- Courtney says
  
  June 30, 2011 at 1:56 pm
  
  Haha, oh don't worry...it definitely ended up taking a spill ;)
  
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Amy @ My Life as a Lazy Girl says

June 30, 2011 at 1:57 pm

What a great thing yahoo is doing! I'll be switching all the computers at work homepages to yahoo! Charities I like to support usually deal with foster children. My mom has worked in the social work field for over 30 years, and I grew up volunteering at events and parties for the foster children. Every year we "adopt" a few foster children and buy christmas gifts for them. I've also been in a few weddings in the last year, I always donate the dress afterwards to organizations that give dresses to girls that can't afford prom dresses. It always feels good to help those in need!

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- Diana says
  
  June 30, 2011 at 2:59 pm
  
  WHAT a lovely idea, Amy! I've only been a bridesmaid once, but once is enough to know I'll never wear a bridesmaid dress again...so sweet to think I can donate the dress and help make prom special for a teenage girl!
  
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  - Courtney says
    
    June 30, 2011 at 4:27 pm
    
    I agree! Definitely an awesome idea!!
    
    Reply
Colleen @ The Lunchbox Diaries says

June 30, 2011 at 1:58 pm

I support the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) - both my dad and I have the disease, so it's really important to me. There's no cure yet, but I know they're close!!

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Kate says

June 30, 2011 at 2:30 pm

Yahoo is now my homepage! I hope they raise a lot of money! I support a couple of different charities in the area and a few national. My favorites are the Humane Socieity (love the pets!) and St. Jude.

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- Courtney says
  
  June 30, 2011 at 4:27 pm
  
  Thanks, Kate! Those are a couple of my favorites too :)
  
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Anna Crouch says

June 30, 2011 at 2:47 pm

I've also just recently tried a smoothie bowl for the first time! lol I don't know why it took me so long! And yes...I've learned that it doesn't take much xanthan gum to thicken up a smoothie!! :)

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Gina @ Running to the Kitchen says

June 30, 2011 at 2:47 pm

Cute spoon! I have a few charities I feel "close" to b/c they are friends' organizations that have unfortunately been started out of horrible circumstances but are now helping support amazing causes. I tend to shy away from bigger charities b/c I can't actually see it in action.

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Anna Crouch says

June 30, 2011 at 2:50 pm

Oh, and charities/people/things I like to support: -My church -A local outreach here in my home town called Adopt A Block (they cook meals and give out groceries to hundreds of local families each week) -Shared Hope International (An organization the rescues girls and women out of sex trafficking) -Girls On The Run

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Jill @ Jill is Active says

June 30, 2011 at 3:57 pm

I am currently training for the Savannah Rock N Roll Marathon with Team in Training to raise money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If anyone has the urge to donate, please visit my page and help me reach my goal of $1,800!!! http://pages.teamintraining.org/ga/rnrsav11/jdreyer I have not heard of Girls For a Change but it sounds like an awesome organization! Thanks for posting about this Courtney! :)

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Jen M. says

June 30, 2011 at 5:37 pm

I have GOT to get me some of that smoothie thickening stuff!! I support the national Alzheimer's Association. We had to watch the slow 10+ year decline of my grandma's mental health before she passed away over Thanksgiving weekend in 2009. It's exhausting dealing with someone who has the disease, and so emotional. My great-aunt also passed away after suffering from it for years and years. :/ I am also involved in a non-profit that has focused exclusively on Haiti since 2007, long before the earthquake early last year. We (www.mangrovefund.org) focus mostly on the orphans (supporting orphanages, providing clean drinking water and de-worming medication treatments) and doing sustainable projects (like building dry toilets, and supporting women artists, whose creations are sold in the US with all proceeds going back to the women and their families. We merged with another small Haitian NPO (www.voiceofhaiti.org) late last year after our grassroots organization had us all dying from exhaustion last year after the earthquake blew our previously meager fundraising through the roof (seriously, we raised over 100k in less than 3 months!), so my involvement has (thankfully) dwindled to administrative stuff like receiving checks from donors. As far as local community charities, there is a great program out here called Sisters of the Road (http://sistersoftheroad.org/) that is a restaurant that provides hot meals + a drink for a really really small sum, like $2-3 and they allow anyone (mostly homeless folks) to things like sweeping, taking out the garbage, etc. for 15 minutes and they can build up like points, which they can apply towards meals. It's sort of a "dining with dignity" effort - because everyone deserves to be able to sit down and eat a hot meal, no matter what. They also put together hygiene boxes that they will give out to anyone who asks, along with blankets/scarves/mittens/coats, etc. in the winter. They put things like toothpaste, deodorant, individually wrapped toothbrushes, combs/brushes, pads/tampons, etc. in the boxes. I love helping them, because I refuse to give money to panhandlers, and I know that anyone who is truly in need knows to go to Sisters. Another one out here that is similar, but focused more on families who are experiencing brief bouts of homelessness due to job loss, etc. is a place called My Father's House (www.familyshelter.org), and I love donating to them because it's shocking how many families (and children, as a result) are homeless. So sad. :( And lastly, a friend of mine is involved in helping an organization called Compassion First, which helps women and young girls who are victims of human trafficking. She donates a portion of every piece of handmade jewelry that she sells through her etsy page to the organization. Her jewelry is great too -- (http://www.etsy.com/shop/GLASSCOCOON), and it's easier to splurge knowing my pretty purchases are actually helping a great cause! Dang. Sorry for all the wordiness. :/

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- Courtney says
  
  June 30, 2011 at 6:33 pm
  
  Wow, that's AMAZING, Jen!! Thanks for sharing such great charities!
  
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Savannah(Sweet and Savvy) says

June 30, 2011 at 6:11 pm

thank you so much for sharing this!! I will be making yahoo the homepage on every computer I touch. :) And small spoons are the best for everything! I love using small spoons. I ate my smoothie for a good thirty minutes today at my desk today before it was finished! I love how satisfying that is!

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Shayla @ The Good Life says

June 30, 2011 at 6:24 pm

Yipeee you got on board with the smoothie bowl train!! Isn't xantham gum a miracle worker...it makes all the difference in creating a luscious thick smoothie! And I joined you and did the Yahoo homepage! At my previous job I did work for Habitat for Humanity and I loved every minute of it...it felt good to be able to give back to a cause without spending money. I would love to be a part of something like that again :)

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- Courtney says
  
  June 30, 2011 at 6:32 pm
  
  Yay!! Yes, the xantham gum is amazing for thickening, however, I think it gives me really bad tummy bloat if I use too much :(
  
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  - Shayla @ The Good Life says
    
    June 30, 2011 at 7:10 pm
    
    OMG yes me too!! I thought I was the only one! One day I used too much xantham and protein powder (which has xantham too) and let me tell you, I was one bloated tummy with all sorts of craaazy bubbles goin' on! You're not alone in the veggie and xantham tummy bloated department, I'm right there with ya girl ;)
    
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Aine @ Something to Chew Over says

July 1, 2011 at 4:57 am

Mmmm must try adding xanthum gum to my smoothies, yours looks so thick!

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