We have moved!

Thanks for stopping by!
We have moved to Instagram. Visit us @feedtherealneed! 💚
OR
click the PayPal link on the side bar to donate. ❤️
OR
email us with your FTRN experiences! We love to hear them! 🖤
(Feedtherealneed@gmail.com)
😘

Sweet Graduation Gift (get it)

Hello!  

This is Gemma. We are half done our Feed the Real Need Challenge for 2017!  We do it every year from Sept to Dec. so far we have put $156 in the account. 

Attention!  Attention! 

We are selling Scrumdidalidumptious Homemade Gourmet All Day suckers to raise $200 for True Africa. We support Kisuule, a 15 yr old boy in Uganda who is learning to be a Brick Layer. The $200 will get him his own tool set as a Graduation Gift. 

Please let us know if you want some amazing suckers! We have: Apple Cider, Cinnamon, Maple and Brown Sugar, Root Beer (my personal fav), Raspberry and Piña Colada! They are .75 cents each, adorable and delicious!  They are heart shaped because you are showing you care :) 

Last night we went to a Fast Food place instead of a Sit Down restaurant so that we could donate the difference.  That was ok because it was my favorite Fast Food place :)

Family Meeting = Family Meaning

  I love Family Meetings.  It's our opportunity to check in with everyone and make new goals and feel united in our priorities.  We try to do one at least once a month but sometimes just pure playing gets in the way.  Anyway at our last family meeting we finally decided where to donate the money we set aside this last go-around of Feed the Real Need.  Our total was: (drumroll please)

                                                                      $738.46!

                Thanks to some generous donations we were able to hit a new record!

  Every child got a vote as to where to put it.  There should be a link to all of these charities on the side bar if you are interested in knowing why we chose them.  We are excited to add House of Hope and First Desk to our line up of personal faves.  Do you have a favorite charity?  Please share!

Thank you, again, to everyone that helped us Feed the Real Need!

Catching Up and Cashing In

OK, so we have a little catching up to do in the whole blog department....I wasn't too worried about posting because I wasn't sure if it mattered at all.  This year we started saving instead of eating out in September as usual, but the last time I told the kids, "We aren't going to eat there because we are doing Feed the Real Need" they kinda had a melt down.  "WHY are we even DOING this - we haven't made a single post!"  This was good and bad... it showed me that the blog really was a good idea, that even if my little family is the only one that reads it, it has value and makes it all real for us. The bad bit was that I am the Mom, the one in charge and I totally dropped the ball.  Here is a quick example of the small sacrifices we have made this fall:

 These are some of the restaurants we REALLY wanted to eat at but put the money in the fund instead.  That is both a little and a big thing.  It's little in the spectrum of humanitarian efforts, but harder than you'd think to actually do!  Like the day we passed up Tropical Smoothie Café.  I had been in the car for-e-ver.  School pick up, music lessons and gymnastics left us precious little time before heading to soccer.  Plus my husband was out of town.  That was the above-mentioned melt-down day.  Next I had a stay-cation with my 2 girls.  We found ourselves in Salt Lake on the very street of Elizabeth's Bakery.  What could be more fun than having tea time with my 2 little lovelies for lunch? Admittedly, I was VERY TEMPTED.  Luckily Gemma was there to tell me that buying a family a rabbit was more important than eating a scone.  I was still tempted but guilted into doing the right thing :)
We hope this inspires you to replace just one meal out for a donation to someone who needs more than a hamburger or a date night.  I am so proud of my family.  My husband happily runs errands with me instead of eating at restaurants for date night and my kids stay strong when I falter (I am the Hulk when my blood sugar is low).

Here's to YEAR FIVE of Feeding the Real Need!!!

+ $290.00

Mom and Milo's Night Out

       A few weeks ago me (Milo) and my mom went to a special program called "Rachel's Challenge". It is about a girl who was shot at Columbine High School and her ideas of acceptance and paying it forward.  I liked it.  (If you would like to find out more go to: www.rachelschallenge.org ).  After the presentation we went back to our car and started driving home and my mom said,"Milo, this is the time I would take you to go get a treat.  But remember, we are doing Feed the Real Need.  I will let you decide: I can take you for a treat or we can put that money into the Fund."  I replied," I want to put the money in the fund." So we drove home and instead of eating milkshakes, we made hot chocolate instead.
      We have a lot to add to the $7 we put in that night!  Our Grandma and Grandpa Harker have joined us in Feed the Real Need every year since we started and just brought us ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!  Wahoo!  That, combined with money we saved on a family vacation and other times we haven't stopped for lunch or date nights ( Mom and Dad)  makes this post a big one.  Yay!!!

+$100 (G&G) + $85(trip) + $7(shakes) + $17 (lunch,etc.) + $45 (date night) = $254

Feed The Real Need Total: $275

  the end

Welcome to Feed the Real Need 2014 !

Hi my name is Gemma (with a 'j').  I am 7 years old.  I love to craft and make things for other people!  I also love art.  We are starting Feed the Real Need for the FOURTH YEAR!!  We are not going to eat out or spend money at restaurants until Christmas Break.  That's 3 and a half months!

This year it is kind of hard for me to want to do it.  I want to and I don't want to.  But I am going to.  I'm going to because I want to help other people.  I know that when we give people the money we saved at the end I will be glad I did it.  My favorite thing we've done is help girls get an education in the Middle East.  This year I hope we can do even more.

I hope you can join us!  I'd love to hear YOUR stories!  You just have to eat at home instead of at a place one night and then give the money you save to charity.  This is kind of hard for me because I love eating out, especially at Red Robin.  We don't go there very much so it's like a special treat.  But I can go again in December!

The Best Part

Hi - Sawyer again here.  I just wanted to tell you how much I like doing Feed the Real Need.  It's a good experience to help you start to realize how many people need educations and money to help them live.  That is why we started Feed the Real Need.  This year we bought an education for a child in Africa and I'm really excited about that!   

Our total last time around was: $458 !

This is what we decided to do with the money (we finally had a family meeting):

$300 - TRUEAfrica.  Our donation will give Kisuule Moses, a 6th grader, with a full year of education (tuition and fees), a mid-day meal at school, a school uniform and sweater, a pair of shoes and socks, a backpack, pencils and exercise books, basic medications, access to medical care, and interaction with a local social worker.  www.trueafrica.org

$90 - Heifer International.  Instead of choosing a certain animal or gift we chose to click the "Give Where Most Needed" button.  www.heifer.org

$34 - Central Asia Institute.  We chose Girls Education/Women Development in honor of the girls recently taken in Nigeria.  www.ikat.org

$15 - Community Action (local food bank).  Did you know that the food bank can turn $1 into $3 worth of donations?  www.communityactionprovo.org

$20 -LDS Humanitarian Fund.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has emergency relief and basic need campaigns all over the world.  They are often right behind first-responders after a natural disaster.  We have made toys, educational kits and newborn take-home kits that they send all over the world. www.lds.org/topics/humanitarian-service/help?lang=eng#aid_fund

Want to know our grand total for all 3 years?  $1225 !  That's one-thousand, two hundred, twenty-five dollars!  Thanks to all of you who donated or take the Feed the Real Need Challenge and donate on your own!!  See you again when we start up in September!

Wow we are really far behind and have so much so share so buckle up my friends!  For Thanksgiving we went to Boise, the home of our very favorite Greek lunch stand.  This little place (The Gryro Shack) is so good that I have honestly found myself trying to make excuses to drive to Boise so I could eat there.  So now you understand how hard it was to be driving right past and not order feta fabulousness!  I asked my sister-in-law to pull off and take a quick picture and the succulent aroma almost did me in (carnivore,  much?).  Seriously smelled so good.  There was some guy in a truck who watched me take this picture who asked if the Shack and I needed a moment or two alone.....hahaha.  + $16.00

Monday night in our family is "Family Night".  We usually have a treat of some kind.  This last Monday the kids and I were out and about, rollin' in the mini when they asked what we were going to have for a treat.  It was a cold, snowy night and I was so tempted to take them to get a warm gooey treat from my favorite bakery.  I gotta say, December is the hardest month to stick to this gig.  So many excuses to go out and celebrate and treat yourself to deliciousness!  I was so tempted that when we got home I backed out of my driveway 2 times to go.  The second time I even made it 2 blocks away.  Then I said, "You know what, guys - let's just go home and make hot cocoa and donate the rest to the fund.", and waited for the tantrums to begin.  I had, however promised a fun treat that we never do together.  No crying, not even a whine.  My kids are 10, 8, 6 and 2 OK, that is a Christmas miracle!  

Boo-ya: + $10.00  eat it up, Santa.

I saved the best part for last.  We've had a donation sent to us in the mail for one-hundred dollars.  I mean:

one-HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!

I opened the letter and just started to cry.  It meant so much to the kids, too.  Thank you to everyone out there that has helped and sent encouraging emails and participated.  We know we are only doing a small act, but it helps to know that out there in the world sometimes it grows.

We love you!!!

us + $100 donation = $206. FRN TOTAL: $442 

Fund = Fun in the Sun!

:)  :)  :)  Hello - we've missed you!  We were gone on vacation and didn't have time to write but now we're back writing a post for you.  This is Sawyer.  I am 8 years old.  I turned 8 on August 30th, I'm sorry I didn't tell you!

           Last weekend we went away for 4 days so a sunnier, warmer place.  We knew that we were doing Feed the Real Need so we packed lots of homemade food for the 6 hour drive.  Then when we got there we went straight to the store and bought dinner to make.  Then we went to our hotel and put it in the oven.  We knew we would want to go to the ice cream shops by the lake so we also bought our own ice cream treats!  That added $20 to the fund and it was just as good as the ice cream shop!!

        I think that's good for this post.  Bye!  

       Oh - PS - we also took a lot of iPhones, iPads and movies on the trip too.  Just in case you wanted to know....Also we saved another $100 by making all of our own food!

+ $120 (trip) + $10 (starbucks for mom) + 10 (dinner out) = $140.

FRN Total = $180.00  

         

2013 First Post of the Year! Heeeeere Weeeeee Gooooooooooo!

Yesterday on the way home from Jiu Jitsu I asked if we could have Subway for dinner like we normally did because my mom had meetings and we were in a hurry.  She said, "Remember it's September - it's time for Feed the Real Need."  Then my little sister said, "Mom!  Do we HAVE to?".  My mom said, "No, you don't HAVE to.  I am not going to make you do it." "OK," Said my sister, "I don't want to do it - I want to have Old McDonald's still." (McDonald's).  Then we talked all about what the money we saved the last years did for other people.  We bought a water pump, a goat, rabbits and school supplies.  Sawyer and I asked Gemma if she were a little girl in Africa, if she would appreciate it if a little American girl didn't have McDonalds so she could have a water pump instead of hauling water every day.  Then my sister said, "No - just kidding - I want to do it.".  Mom told us all to think about it on the way home and make up our minds for sure.  When she asked us later we all said YES.  But my other little sister said, "Show" (which means she wanted to watch a TV show...she's 2).  Post by: Milo (boy getting choked by toddler)

+ 10.00 (Subway) + 30.00 (date night) FRN TOTAL $40.00