Regardless of the size of town and city where you live, did you know that there are families, and in particular children in need? While our family is blessed enough financially to be able to provide everything our children need, many families aren’t and there are kids in need in your own communities.

Dial has launched a wonderful initiative to help families and individuals get in motion to make a difference where they live. The Champions for Kids program works to mobilize millions of people by providing training and resources to improve the lives of children across America. By encouraging individuals and groups to do their own “simple service projects” in their own communities, this program shows how even small donations can make a big difference to those who need them.

We were recently challenged to do a simple service project of our own here at 2 Kids and a Coupon. Here’s our story!

As many of you who are regular readers know, our 3 year old son was born several months premature. We had a tough pregnancy that included a couple month hospital stay a 100+ miles from home, and when he was born, we also had a lengthy NICU in the same town. Needing to stay close to the hospital and on a limited budget, the Ronald McDonald House in Iowa, City Iowa gave us a safe, clean place to say and it made a world of difference when we were so far from home.

Three years later, our little man is now a big and happy preschooler who is a head taller than all the other kids in his class. We’ve been blessed with a healthy boy since, but we haven’t forgotten the help that we received from the Ronald McDonald House when he was born. When we were recently offered the opportunity to choose a group to make a donation to as part of a Dial into Giving SIMPLE Service Project we knew immediately what group we wanted to support.

Since many of the families at the Ronald McDonald House go there on short notice with just the clothes on their backs, they are always in need of toiletry and health and beauty items for the families to use during their stay. We did a family shopping trip to buy Dial Soaps at Walmart (check out our post here and our shopping trip slideshow here) but we also collected lots of donations from family and friends too. Because sick kids are so easily susceptible to germs, we particularly made sure to purchase lots of Dial hand soap. (check out the article on the importance of hand washing here).

Wanting to give comfort to the kids who stay at the Ronald McDonald House, my mom’s quilt group also made a bunch of small kid size quilts to donate as well.

Since the Ronald McDonald House a 100+ miles from home and the kids were in school, my mom and aunt came with me to make our donation. We packed the back of our van and delivered the items to the appreciative volunteers. While the college students were grateful for everything we brought by, they were a bit camera shy so we don’t show them here, but it felt great knowing that we were able to give back to the group that helped us. I even got teary eyed as I showed my aunt and mom where it was that we stayed several years ago and how they help the families that need them.

Since we made our donation last week, we’ve since learned that the middle school in our small town is in dire need of toiletry items for the students that can’t afford them. We’ve already started another project with our coworkers to collect the things that they need and will be delivering those later this month.

While most of us are watching our budgets tightly this time of year, even small donations can make a big difference. Donations can be small, and can be items and time, rather than cash. Consider Dial into Giving with your own Simple Service project in your community and be sure to report it on the Champions for Kids website. Help them meet their goal of motivating 20 million people by 2020!

Are you or your family already giving back? Leave a comment below and let me know what you’re doing, or what groups you know need help in your own communities!

For more information on Champions for Kids and on Dial, be sure to check out the links below.

• Champions for Kids: http://championsforkids.org
• Champions for Kids Twitter https://twitter.com/champions4kids
• Champions for Kids Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ChampionsForKids
• Dial on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Dial
• Dial on Twitter: http://twitter.com/DialNutriSkin

Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Champions for Kids. #DialCFK #CBias. However all opinions expressed are my own. The Ronald McDonald House and the Dial Into Giving Simple Service Projects are truly great causes and we’re honored to have had the opportunity to participate in this campaign!