Tag: back to school
Ending Food Poverty – The Lu & Ed Lunch Program
$1 from every Monster sold through luanded.com will go to end food poverty in American schools.
Lunch shaming is an embarrassing epidemic for children in America. When children have insufficient funds on their lunch accounts, most schools have policies where the child’s hot lunch is taken away and substituted with a brown bag lunch consisting of a cold sandwich and piece of fruit – or in some cases, they are forced to watch staff discard their tray of food into the trash, and are left with nothing at all to eat for lunch, a cruel form of punishment for a problem that they can’t control. You can read more about the sad epidemic of food poverty in American schools here.
I am passionate about creating change with this little monster making business of mine. I already make a monumental environmental impact by using only textile discards, which diverts tens of thousands of pounds of textiles from landfills annually, but I want to use Lu & Ed to directly create positive change in children’s lives as well. I’ve been working out the kinks for the Lu & Ed Lunch Program since January, and I’m so excited to launch it!
All through September, $1 from every monster adopted through my shop will be donated to pay outstanding lunch debts & load funds onto lunch accounts at *Riverbend Elementary in Clyde, NC, a school in a region with an incredibly high level of food poverty.
*My original choice to donate to received a grant and is able to offer free lunches to students for the 18-19 school year, yay! With the help of the staff, I selected Riverbend Elementary, a school where over 50% of students are on food assistance.
Beginning in September, I will take also be taking submissions for the next school to donate to in my Facebook group.
Members can submit their child(ren)’s school or a school in their community through the 7th of each month, then I’ll create a poll for members to vote for the next school to receive donations. Members can add family or friends to the group to use their voices to vote for their local school.
The same school won’t be chosen twice in one academic year, allowing for a total of twelve schools that will receive donations from the Lu & Ed Lunch Program to pay off student lunch debt & load funds onto low income students lunch accounts, and to help fund summer lunch programs for communities where children face hunger at alarming rates.
How you can help:
Spread the word about the Lu & Ed Lunch Program – share this blog post with your friends
Join my VIP group & nominate your local school
Add your friends and family to the VIP group to increase the impact we can make together
Donate directly to your local public schools
Back to School GIVEAWAY – Winners Announced!
Happy September! Most everywhere in America is deep in the back to school trenches & settling into early morning routines, so I wanted to brighten up the season for everyone with a fun giveaway! Me and FOURTEEN other makers came together with fun prizes for this giveaway, perfect to surprise your kiddo with after school to brighten their day! This is one of the best prize line ups to date, so I am super excited for this giveaway and the joy it will bring 15 lucky mamas & kiddos, as there is one winner per prize!
Here’s all the official rules:
- Giveaway is open from 12am 9/1 to 12:59pm 9/7
- Winners will be drawn & posted 9/8
- Winners are selected at random by Rafflecopter!
- Giveaway is open world wide, where allowed, to entrants over the age of 18. Non-domestic winners must pay postage prior to their item being shipped
Like previous giveaways, you will earn entries by following these awesome makers on social media, visiting/following their shops, and you can even earn entries by sharing products from the stores to social media – you can do one blog post a day with products from each shop, share an item on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, or even pin some items to Pinterest! Then just post the URL of your share into the giveaway widget for the entry to count!
Here is the prize line up and winners first names & last initial (where provided) – if you were a winner, keep an eye on your inbox for an email from the maker you won an item from to collect shipping info!
Surprise Medium Stuffed Monster by Lu & Ed – Tara P.
Monster Mask by Opposite of Far – Heidi P
One of a Kind Pair of Pants by Joyaltee – Jennifer D
Plaid Ear Bear Beanie by Happy Creature Hats – Cari S
4 Pack Hair Flowers by Bownanza Utah – Christine
Pizza Cat Backpack Pin by Pretty Candy Pin Co – Rachael H
4 Pack Rollerskate Crayons by Krazy Kool Krayons Beth H
Wooden USA Art by Haven’s Place – Carmen M
Rainbow Bubble Gum Necklace by Viv & Olive – Deanna H
Mermaid Lamp by Sandra G Designs – Anji M
Fabric Doll by Practically Penelope – PJ H.
Hungry Man Breakfast Set by Teela Sprinkles – Catherine B
Trio of Back to School Cards by Big Hugs, Little Envelopes – Megh R
Pair of Child Size Custom Painted Canvas Shoes by Heart & Soles – Katy C
Forest Green Velvet Bow by Elle Bee Accessories – Michelle C
Making Back to School Monstrously Awesome – Qiana K Photo Shoot!
Just because we’re homeschooling this year, didn’t mean I didn’t get to have fun with back to school photos! I was honored to be able to send some of my monsters to the awesome brand photographer Qiana K to be a part of her Back to School shoot – and boy, I love love love what she did! Here’s a collection of images from the shoot – Qiana made it easy to make back to school monstrously fun, with cute clothing, great fall accessories and fun monster toys to give as back to school gifts from yours truly. 😉
Other brands featured:
Little Nugget Knits / The Wishing Elephant / Bright Eyed Baby / Greyson & Cole / FJ’s Pop Shop / Pegheads / Sunshine by Channon / Spunky Onion
Aren’t these images darling?! Those grins! Gah, these little dudes stole my heart!
If you are a maker looking for awesome brand photos, definitely be sure to book a session with Qiana – her work is amazing, she is incredible to work with and her fun style & great attitude is infectious! Coming soon: A gallery of images from my monster mash Halloween collab shoot by Qiana, with Opposite of Far!