We've got art!

Molly made a special design that I have turned into the cards we will send to the groups that receive our donations.

Molly the Marketer

Molly is already coming up with new ideas for promoting our site.

We can tell our friends and family. Molly is going to tell the kids in her school. She thinks that her class could divide into groups and each group would represent one week and they might go to rest homes and to parks and from then, who knows what will happen!

Week 2: Pennies for Peace

We chose Pennies for Peace because it helps people in Pakistan. It helps girls go to school who can't go to school because they have always been excluded because they are girls.

Now Greg Mortenson is doing Pennies for Peace. He is taking Pennies with him to Pakistan and helping build schools for the girls.

Learn how you can help, too!

Week 1: Engineers Without Borders, MSU chapter

We love Engineers without Borders because they are kind and considerate and they want to help the world.

EWB's Montana State University chapter came to speak at Irving International School about water pollution in Kenya. EWB is sending some students from MSU to Kenya to help.

Watch "The Water Carriers" on YouTube about EWB's work in Kenya.

Learn how you can help, too.

Choices

Today we are starting to talk about where we will give the gifts. We talked about many ideas that important to us:

kids and families

animals

art

books

clothing

food

writing

helping people around the world.

We want to choose some groups that are local, and others that are far away. We are open to your ideas!

Some of the groups we want to choose are:

Engineers without Borders

Animal Shelters

Food Banks

Farmers in South America

Pennies for Peace

The Birth of 52 Gifts

This idea came to me this week, not long after watching the Inauguration of Pres. Obama. As much as I want to give back, to contribute, to make the world a better place, it seems constraints of time always get in the way, and I can't afford to give the kind of large financial gifts that really make a huge impact.

However, I realized that one of the main ways I can give back is to teach my daughter and son the importance of giving back -- pass it on to the next generation.

My daughter, Molly, is 8. She has a kind heart. She's generous, compassionate and considerate.

So, together, we will carry this project out.

Each week of the year, we will choose one group that could use a small gift of $5. When the year is up, we will have given 52 gifts in all. We know that no one small gift can make that much difference, but, maybe others will be inspired to give small gifts, as well.

And just like the millions of people who see the potential for change in Pres. Obama, our small gifts can be combined to make a huge difference in our world.

Our next step is to begin choosing the groups that will receive our gifts. We're a few weeks behind and have to get busy!