Featured Gift:

Superman Comic Mack Variant #1 - DC Comics Jan 2018

Donation of the Week:

Explore More Discovery Museum

Title Note: A quote from The Man of Steel himself. 

If I were to change the tagline on this podcast from “the podcast that keeps on giving,” it would be “it’s NOT the thought that counts.” Let me explain. I was one of those people who always had good intentions but didn’t follow through. I’d see the perfect gift for someone but didn’t share it, so the thought ended up not really "counting" at all. Now that I am giving people the fun or unique gift that’s just right for them, both the recipient and I are benefitting from going beyond thinking about someone to taking action on it.

Gift of the Week

I sent a surprise gift to my cousin Danielle. She lives in New York, and we don’t get to each other very often. As usual, there’s a story behind this gift.

Back in the day, our family camped together in Allegany State Park. It started with tents, then became cabins, and now my family regularly reserves a large group camp with a main building and a bunch of cabins for everyone who wants to go. There’s also a tradition called “chicken night” where everyone shows up, even those who don’t camp. I recall games and skits and songs and loads of fun.

This year (as I was told) there were prize baskets at camp and my son (who was at the family camp for the first time) took all his tickets and entered them for the Buffalo Bills basket. It wasn’t meant to be. He didn’t win, but my cousin Danielle did. She claimed her basket and, on the way back to her seat, she turned and gave it to my son.

That’s how I came to give her a Buffalo Bills branded toiletry bag from Vera Bradley. Surprise and thank you Dani for being so kind and generous and Go Bills!

Donation of the Week

This week’s donation went to Caring for Friends, a Philadelphia-based organization that shares food and friendship with homebound, homeless & hungry people in greater Philadelphia.

I chose this organization because they are on my Bmail list (the one for my business supporting non-profits) and they are regular readers. I like to learn about my audience, so I pay attention to who is opening and reading my weekly messages.

I like that, on their donation page, Caring for Friends tells me what my money can do. Translating dollars into impact makes a big difference. They also do some creative things like sharing grocery lists and freezer locations in case people want to share home cooked meals.

The history of the organization is also impressive. One woman saw a need in her neighborhood and started Caring for Friends out of her home in 1974. Fifty years later, it has expanded to a network of 10,000 volunteers & 200 food pantries providing food and friendship in 5 counties.

As the founder says, “no one should be hungry or alone in a world of caring people.”

Links

Vera Bradley NFL Collection

Caring For Friends

 Show Notes provided by Sound Advice Strategies

I’m glad you are tuning in for this week’s gift and nonprofit donation. This is a do-over episode. I recorded it once and just didn’t like it so I’m taking another stab at it.

I am focused on making this easy, but I also want the stories to be interesting for you the listener. Going for the happy medium between ease and good storytelling.

Gift of the Week

This week’s gift is related to a recent trip. I met up with my besties (we sometimes call ourselves the “core four”) and we’ve been intentional about staying in touch. We used to be in the same area, but now that I’m not in the NYC/CT area we can’t just grab dinner so I’m glad we had our 42 hours of fun in Harrisburg, PA.

These are the people who’d be there for me anytime. I trust them implicitly and they know the real me and have grace for me when I’m not at my best. I hope you have people like this in your life.

One of our four, Filomena Finelli, had a birthday, so I brought her a small gift. You may remember her from my only interview episode. The gift was a dish towel from BlueQ that says, “Sometimes Blessings Look a Lot Like Bullshit”. Perfect for Filomena. She’s a down to earth person who can stay positive in the face of challenges and also admit that life isn’t fair.

BlueQ is an amazing place to get gifts for adults. They are fun, funny, and guaranteed to make the recipient laugh.

Donation of the Week

I decided to donate to an organization in Harrisburg that’s supporting local citizens. It’s a small city, and the capital of Pennsylvania. Like many cities they are dealing with homelessness so I donated to the Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness.

The organization consists of over 70 organizations, agencies, churches and other nonprofits, that mobilize resources to help the region’s families and friends who are homeless, or are dangerously close to becoming homeless.

Their website shares that they have a proven track record of helping people get back on their feet. Homelessness is a complicated problem and solutions are varied and they recognized that it would take a community effort to solve the crisis.

I love that they say they want homelessness to be rare, brief, and non-recurring. That’s a mission I can support.

Finally, I share an insight about nonprofit websites. If your cause is important, then it demands good marketing so that you can communicate the mission and its impact. People need to know about who you are and what you do.

Links:

The fabulous BlueQ company. 

Home 231

Harrisburg Beach Club

Sawyers

Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness

 Show Notes provided by Sound Advice Strategies

If you’d like to support the show, you can send me your gift ideas or suggestions for nonprofit organizations that are doing great work where you are at 52Gifts@bernadettemack.com . You can also become an annual supporter or a nonprofit supporter by visiting my podcast page. 

Title Note: The core 4 had an adventure in Pennsylvania's capital city.

If you’ve been following along, then you know we have covered all sorts of gifts. Some were expensive, some were nearly free, many were food-related, and a few others were personalized.

Donations have been just as varied and many of the organizations were new to me. I didn’t know about them and learning about the work they do, and the people they help has become one of the highlights of my week.

If you’d like to support me, you can send me your gift ideas or suggestions for nonprofit organizations that are doing great work where you are. You can also become an annual supporter or a nonprofit supporter by visiting my podcast page. 

DM me on Instagram or you can email me: 52gits@bernadettemack.com

You can also share the show with someone you know. I try to keep it positive and share a bit of the good work going on in the world. Who couldn’t use more of that?

Gift of the Week:

This week’s gift is business-related. It’s a thank you gift for a job well done.

Being a consultant means I get to work with people I know and like and enjoy working with. One of my clients, V.I.P. Tours of New York has been updating their messaging and it was time to decide if they wanted to update or re-create their website. The only person for the job was Jenny Belanger of Jenny B Designs.

It went off without a hitch! The new site is fabulous, and it was done on schedule and with such ease for everyone involved.

As a thank you I gave Jenny a gift card to a local bookstore near where she lives. I love supporting local bookstores. I purchased a card from bookshop.org so the local store will receive credit when Jenny makes her purchase.

This is a great alternative that I didn’t know existed. It’s a perfect way to support locally owned stores.

Donation of the Week:

This week’s donations went to the Friends of the Waynesboro Library and the Friends of the Augusta County Library. In my area there are many libraries, so I donated to the two that I’ve used most.

I’m glad to support both groups, but it took much too long to figure out how to make a donation. I am motivated and will look until I figure it out, but others may not. People visit the site for other reasons and may not even know they can donate. Nonprofits: Please make it easier for people to support you.

Libraries do so much more for a community than just loan books. I hope that wherever you live, you have access to a great library and if you can, consider contributing.  

Be sure to listen for the update to the week 11 episode. Thanks to Mal’s Palz for the t-shirt they sent.

 Bookshop.org 

Jenny B Designs

V.I.P. Tours of New York

Friends of the Waynesboro Library

Friends of the Augusta County Library

Show Notes provided by Sound Advice Strategies

Hey, hi and hello. Happy you are here!

If you’d like to support the show, you can send me your gift ideas or suggestions for nonprofit organizations that are doing great work where you are. You can also become an annual supporter or a nonprofit supporter by visiting my podcast page. 

This week, we got to celebrate my brother-in-law’s birthday. We had already planned to visit and go tubing so I got busy shopping for his gift.

What you need to know about Todd; he’s the guy who always has us laughing. If you are crying at Christmas, it’s probably because Todd has been on a roll and has you laughing so hard you’re in tears.

Title Note: A quote from Fletch (1985) which is a big Todd thing. I think he can quote the entire movie!

He’s got a great sense of humor and he’s not afraid to go there. He’s a much-needed source of comic relief. His humor comes from his big heart and a good place. Another reason he’s so fun to be around.

Gift of the Week:

I wish I could have found a funny gift for him, but you just can’t force that kind of thing.  

For the perfect gift I went to CFO Trading Company which has a great selection of gifts that men seem to like.

My daughter and I picked out a Howler Bros. hat for him. But, I never like to give just one gift – it needs accompaniment. Something to add a little flair or round out the gift. Plus, if the main gift doesn’t hit the mark, at least there’s something to make it less of a flop.  

So we picked out a fancy bar of soap made by Caswell-Massey. I know that may seem weird, but it smells amazing, and we decided it was the perfect add-on.

Donation of the Week:

On our way out of town for our tubing weekend, we passed a truck for the Blue Ridge Area Foodbank. It had a tagline that really grabbed me. Because everyone should have enough to eat.

Yes! That’s a perfect tag line. In one sentence they sum up the reason for their mission and the big vision for the work they do. This is something that everyone can get behind. On their site, they explain that food insecurity affects 1 out of 12 people including 1 in 12 children. They are doing incredible work helping to feed over 109,000 people every month.

I am glad I was able to donate and I agree with their mission. No one should be hungry.

CFO Trading Company

Howler Bros.

Caswell-Massey

The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank

Show Notes provided by Sound Advice Strategies