Give More April Service Project: Joyful Life Library Book Drive

I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to switch things up a bit this month and go a little out of order.  It's April Fools Day so it's entirely okay to do things a little wonky and have a bit of fun right?  I normally post my spend recap first, and then follow up with a post on my giving project for the month, but I'm so excited about my project this month that I'd rather go ahead and tell you all about it first; think of it as dessert before dinner!

I am proud to be on board to help facilitate such a great project with my sweet friend Heather over at Life Made Lovely.  I have been reading Heather's blog for over a year now and I'm always inspired by her sweet spirit.  Heather started the Joyful Life Library after her son Samuel passed away at the tender age of just 6 weeks old. 

 In Heather's words:

We feel strongly that reading a favorite story to a child is an act of love that's comforting to the child and the caregiver alike, and is especially important when your life has been turned upside down because of a little one's critical illness.  As a parent of a hospitalized child, you often feel helpless because there is so little comfort and care you can offer.  Being able to sit and read a book, just like you would do at home, helps to makes the whole family feel a little bit better.  Because of this we have set out to put books in as many PICU's as we possible can

Heather's goal is to reach as many PICU's across the country as possible, but for now she is starting with Cardon's Children's Medical Center in Arizona, and with my help we are reaching out to Miller's Children's Hospital here in Long Beach, California.

If you are a small business or blog and you'd like to advertise on Heather's site through her Books for Buttons sponsorship, please visit her site here.  If you'd like to just donate a book, you can contact myself or Heather if you'd like the books to go to Cardon's.  We are accepting books both in person and through the mail so please shoot me a note if you need my address.

We are accepting both new and super gently used books for children of all ages.  The PICU at any hospital is usually one of the most neglected departments in the hospital in regards to donations so the need is huge.  Also, because of the amount of children that cycle through the PICU the books are heavily, heavily used so the need to constantly replenish the books is high.  

Any fun and sweet children's book would be greatly appreciated and accepted (please no religious books), but if you'd like some ideas, Heather has created an Amazon wish list.

I'm excited to see how your generosity shines through with this project, and can't wait to start collecting books!  Please email me at andrea@ciunetworks.com if you'd like to arrange a pick up or drop off of books, or leave a comment!

Happy Giving, and Happy Reading!