Denny’s and No Kid Hungry

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I am a “Denny’s Diners” ambassador and as such receive compensation in exchange for sharing Denny’s latest news and promotions.

1 kid out of every 5 in America wakes up hungry. Can you believe that? Unfortunately it’s true, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t working to change that statistic. Denny’s has partnered with No Kid Hungry, for the 5th year in a row, to raise money to help end childhood hunger.

My fellow Phoenix-area Denny’s Diners ambassadors and I thought it would be fun to throw a fundraising party with our other blogger friends, to have some fun, enjoy some fantastic Denny’s food, and help to raise money for No Kid Hungry.

Laura, Janel, and I decided to do a silent auction, and we had small business owners just throwing awesome items at us! Everyone was so very generous with their resources. The bloggers who came had a sweet spread of products to bid on, and by the end everything was spoken for!

Personally, I ended up with a gorgeous ThirtyOne wallet donated by Leila, a set of earrings, boot cuffs, and headwrap from Vintage Rose Wraps, and a gift certificate for some custom printables from Swish Printable Parties.

Of course we enjoyed some delicious Denny’s food, including chicken tenders, fries (with cheese sauce!), and, my favorite, strawberry Pancake Puppies (with cream cheese frosting!). I was busy helping to run the event, but don’t think I didn’t have a seat and enjoy a heaping plate of food!

While we ate, we listened to Kathy Cano-Murillo, of Crafty Chica, speak and share some of her tips that have helped her be a success in the blogging/small business world. Some of my favorite quotes were:

“You know how at the end of the year, some people choose words to represent what they want to do the next year? Ain’t got time for that! I make a list of my specific goals and then make them happen!”

“This time of year everyone talks about everything ‘pumpkin spice.’ It’s huge. What can be YOUR pumpkin spice.”

And then Nicole and I proceeded to argue about which one of us got to claim the actual pumpkin spice for our own “pumpkin spice.” #wearehilarious #icalleddibs

Our theme was “Paint the Night Orange,” and several bloggers got into the theme and dressed in orange.

Denny’s sponsored the food and drinks and gift bags for our event, and our proceeds from the ticket sales and silent auction will be donated to No Kid Hungry. The bloggers who came were very generous with their donations, and we even had some who could not attend the event donate toward the cause.

If you’d like to help end childhood hunger, we would very much appreciate your donation! You can give here at my No Kid Hungry donation page, through October 12th, 2015, and thank you so much for your help! The “Denny’s Diners” blogger who raises the most will have her donation matched by Denny’s! Just a little goes a long way!

It’s Day 4 of “Baby Steps to a Better You,” and today we are talking about service. There is no doubt- when you help someone else, you feel good. When you are feeling down, sometimes the best thing to do is to change your focus away from yourself and onto others.

So today’s challenge is to come up with a way to incorporate service and charity into your life. Maybe you already serve a charity, donating your time or resources to a cause, and that is fantastic. Maybe you’re a busy mom and right now your service is raising healthy, happy kids who will bless the world as they grow up.

I am pretty busy, so one of the ways I give back is, whenever I’m asked to donate a dollar to a cause at a register or a restaurant, I always say yes. That way I can give in a way that’s easy for me, and I always think, “I would have paid an extra dollar for the things I’m buying anyway.”

Today, choose a cause. What do you care about, and how can you make a difference? How far you take it is up to you, but I know this- the more you put in the more you’ll get back!