A Time to Give: October 1

I was flipping through my Taste of Home (October/November 2009), and I saw a great way to give. Susan Whetzel from Pennsylvania started Operation Baking GALS (Give a Little Support) in 2008 when her cousin was deployed to Iraq. She gathered some friends to send baked goods to the troops stationed in the Middle East. She got a huge response!

The GALS site (HERE) allows visitors to search through the list of soldiers who would love to receive goodies. You can select a soldier and start baking! The bakers ship out baked good about once a month. The soldiers' feedback shows that a taste of home makes them remember the good things back home, and it makes them feel that their work is appreciated.

Susan estimates that more than 10,000 bakers have participated so far. If you'd like more information about how to get involved, you can visit her website HERE.

Now it's your turn to share your ideas for sharing, giving, and being generous.

You can participate in a couple of ways. If you're a blogger, write a post about a way that you've been able to give. It can be something simple or something out-of-the-ordinary that you did. It can be something from this week or from last year. It can involve the giving of time, talent, or things. Don't think of it as bragging... It's a way to encourage others to take action and be more generous! A few guidelines for bloggers:

• Please add a link to Saving and Giving so that your readers can find everyone's ideas all in one place.


• Make sure the link that you add here takes people directly to your A Time to Give post, not the main page of your blog. To do that, publish your post, view your blog, right click on the title, and copy the shortcut. Then paste that shortcut in as your URL here.


• Bloggers who link to other posts or their main pages will have their links removed. This eliminates confusion for others who are looking for ideas on how to give.


• Please do not link to giveaways, contests, or ads.


• Feel free to use the image above in your post. It's not mandatory, but you're welcome to it!

If you're not a blogger, you can participate too! Simply click the comments link below this post, and leave your ideas there. I would love to hear from you!

If you have any questions about A Time to Give, please feel free to contact me at savingandgiving@gmail.com. I look forward to being inspired by your ideas on giving! And stop back each Thursday for a new edition of A Time to Give.

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