Spring Cleaning. Time to #DonateStuffCreateJobs and #ShopGoodwill

This is a social good post for Goodwill Industries with Ad Council via Bloggin' Mamas.  No monetary compensation was given to post this and any opinions stated are mine.

Now I'm not near 115 years old, but I do remember seeing plenty of Goodwill stores in my day.  Seems like it was always the first place to go if you were looking for the unique and unusual.  As a parttime EBay seller, that's one of the first places I go to when I travel. Guess you can say that between my wife Babushka and myself, we've accumulated quite a lot. Matter of fact, haven't written on the blog much, doing some major Spring cleaning, so it seems perfect to post something about just that. Not only is Spring Cleaning good for one's soul- getting rid of excess and clearing space, now come to read it's good for one's community too. 

"Over the past several years, most of us have had a family member, friend, acquaintance struggle in this economy. Either they have lost a job or struggled to find employment. And if not someone you know personally, really, all you have to do is turn on the TV or pull up social media to see the struggle. It is real. Goodwill’s career centers, training programs and staffing operations give people the resources, skills and confidence that changes thousands of lives each year. So how can you help to be a part of this growth and effort in your own community? It’s easy! Donate to Goodwill = create jobs!"


"Thanks to the programs and support services made possible by donations of clothes and household items, Goodwill helped place more than 312,000 people in jobs in the United States and Canada in 2015 – that’s one person finding a job every 23 seconds of every business day.

Why donate? Because what you may not want or have use for may be perfect for someone else! If we have perfectly good items that can be loved by someone else, why not help our community? If you are not sure where your local Goodwill is, you can use the Goodwill Locator App available for Android and iOS devices and at http://www.goodwill.org/ (click “Explore Our Map” on the homepage). Simply input the items you’re donating to calculate the number of hours of career counseling, on-the-job training, résumé preparation, financial planning classes, and other services you’ve helped provide people facing challenges finding employment. When jobs thrive, communities thrive. Last year, nearly 2 million people engaged in face-to-face Goodwill services to advance in their careers. More than 35 million people accessed education, training, mentoring and online learning tools offered by Goodwill virtually to strengthen their skills and gain industry-recognized credentials. We have done our part! Now it is time for you to do yours! Tag us on your social media posts with a photo of your Goodwill donations using #DonateStuffCreateJobs."

Another cool thing I just found: "Calculate the Value of Your Clutter: Clean out your closet.You can even calculate how much your donation helps your local community by using Goodwill’s Donation Impact Calculator, a feature available within the Goodwill Locator App available for Android and iOS devices and at http://www.goodwill.org/ (click “Explore Our Map” on the homepage). Simply input the items you’re donating to calculate the number of hours of career counseling, on-the-job training, résumé preparation, financial planning classes, and other services you’ve helped provide people facing challenges finding employment. When jobs thrive, communities thrive. #DonateStuffCreateJobs"

So, I'm feeling good about cleaning, clearing and helping my community. Come join BB & me and let's see how much Good Will we can make!

My Wife says, "I Got Lucky When I Married Her"

My wife sometimes says to me, "You got lucky when you married me", and I always answer her swiftly with a "yes"! There are a number of things about my wife Sonia or her persona, Bohemian Babushka that make me lucky.

 So far it hasn't been her playing of the lottery that has made me lucky, but we have been on the roll lately with the Florida game, "Lucky Money" winning a couple dollars many times. The quotation by my wife usually comes after a great meal that she has prepared and she knows I love it when she sees my head bobbing.

The other night she fixed an original tasting pork with a light barbecue sauce with one of my favorites, red beans and rice with squash in it. The mix of red beans, tender pork and squash is out of this world! Check out this picture below.




I didn't marry Babushka for her cooking but like she says I got lucky! With her warm smile, twinkling eyes, exotic look and countless other assets, yea, very lucky!

Bohemian Babushka's Annual trip to Hispanicize #Hispz15

Bohemian Babushka's trip to Hispanicize has become an annual event. The event is every year during early March or April and is set in non-stop Miami. My wife Babushka, is from there, so she is very familiar with the area. The conference has been around for six years and #Hispz15 was the latest one.

Babushka starts packing about a week ahead of time because, well, she's BB. She likes her suitcases very big. First finding bags that are big enough,also the right clothes, so my wife can transform into the character that she not so secretly is. BB takes two big bags to the event but in reality it is never enough. BB takes many bags so she can bring back all the wonderful things she receives at Hispanicize. I still don't know how she has enough room to bring back all the stuff the sponsors give out. There are so many great and generous companies at this event including Coke, Target, Toyota, Hasbro, P&G, Dreamworks,Fox Latino and ViveMejor, along with many others.

My favorite is ViveMejor. I LOVE Lipton ice tea- Lemon,Raspberry, Mango!!!  BB brought back plenty of instant Lipton ice tea. So I was more than happy. Of course Babushka's bags were over flowing with other things from this great sponsor. We have packages of Knorr Rice Sides, squeeze bottles of Hellman's Mayo, hair products, Dove Body Wash, but mostly LIPTON ICE TEA!!! Thank you BB, Unilever and ViveMejor. Next year I'll be headed that way to Hispanicize 2016 and I'll have an empty suitcase JUST FOR LIPTON. Looking forward to it.

#ViveMejor

#MadeToShare