HELP OUT: ChiILin' With ChiIL Mama and The March of Dimes #MoDSquad #imbornto #ad

The MoD Squad

ChiIL Mama's elated to be chosen as one of just 39 mom bloggers nationwide, representing the 39 weeks of a full term pregnancy. Together we're the Mod Squad, and we're spreading the word about The March of Dimes and how you can help! Check back with us early and often from April through June and follow along on the #imbornto hashtag. Everyone's born to do something amazing. What's your super power?



Disclosure: It's our pleasure to partner up with The Motherhood and March of Dimes.We have been compensated for sharing this campaign with our readers. As always, all opinions are our own. 

ChiIL Mama's seriously stoked to be a part of this three-month social media program with a team of 39 “MoDSquad” mom bloggers and a team of dad bloggers, too. The I'm Born To campaign is designed to raise awareness of March of Dimes’ important work and programs that improve the lives of babies and families everywhere. These guys are the pros on preemies and they have over 75 years of staying power.

In our first few weeks we attended a virtual briefing, rocked a Twitter Party, and partied it up in person with our Chi, IL friends and loads of awesome goodies from businesses that have partnered with March of Dimes. 

Check out ChiIL Mama's full slide show here and favorites embedded below.

Help Out

Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are a great excuse to shop it up and help out. March of Dimes has partnered with businesses that want to help babies. Missed the March for Babies last weekend? Lots more you can do to help from the comforts of home. 

We already know many people who have walked for March of Dimes and donated time and/or money over the years. Now you can do your part by shopping at one or more of these merchants, donating, or taking part in partner promotions to support the cause. Visit imbornto.com to learn more about special Mother’s Day and Father’s Day offers from one of their partners:

• Mud Pie – will donate $2 to the #imbornto campaign for every Bella Bar, Mom Bar and Mommy and Me jewelry item purchased for Mother’s Day. In addition, Mud Pie will donate 10¢ from each baby headband or sock purchase to the March of Dimes throughout the year.

• Bon-Ton (and sister stores) – This May, with any $75 fragrance purchase for Mom (or yourself), you can receive a fragrance atomizer for just $1, filled with your choice of fragrance. 100% of the atomizer purchase will benefit the March of Dimes. Starting April 30 when you donate $3, you’ll receive a $10-off coupon for your purchase of $25 or more. Or shop online, donate $3 and receive 25% off!

• Martha Stewart – Join the #THX2U movement and share your appreciation of Mom with the world. Upload a baby picture of your child, grandchild, or yourself using the hashtag #THX2U, and $10 of the Emeril/MSLO/Meredith donation will be recognized for each uploaded photo in support of the imbornto campaign.

• eBay – Visit eBay’s Charity Shop for Mother’s Day gifts where proceeds from your purchase support the March of Dimes. Also, from May 4 – 11 you will be able to make a donation to the March of Dimes at checkout when making purchases on eBay.

• A&E Jewelers – will donate 20% of the price of each twinkling Swarovski encrusted sterling silver March of Dimes Enchanted “Healthy Beginnings” Necklace available in three stone options.

• Alex and Ani – will donate 20% of the purchase price* from each Special Delivery Charm Bangle sold, with a minimum donation of $25,000, between March 2015 and December 2015, to the March of Dimes.

• Kmart – Now through June 20, 2015 Kmart, the #1 March of Dimes fundraiser for more than 30 years, will donate $1 from the in-store or online purchase of each puppy figurine to the March of Dimes (minimum donation of $30,000). Kmart and the March of Dimes are proud to work together for stronger, healthier babies.

ChiILin' with ChiIL Mama & #ImBornTo in Chi, IL

   ChiIL Mama had a blast finding out how our friends complete I'm born to... and giving away lots of adorable goodies from March Of Dimes' partners ALEX AND ANI, Kmart, Mud Pie, & Bon-Ton!! All are donating a percentage of their proceeds from sales to March of Dimes. Check out this rockin' "wear your PJs" 
party at the play ground!

#ImBornTo be a mama

Meet Erin who is expecting her 3rd son in June & the adorable big bros to be, Asa (pictured) & Silas!  

#ImBornTo blaze my own trail

Meet Carrie who is due in September & big sis, Madeline (7)

#ImBornTo break down barriers

Meet our awesome friend, Sandia (11), who is in my daughter's class in Montessori school.

#ImBornTo be wild

Meet our super friend, Serena, Sandia's little sis & fearless team gymnast.

#ImBornTo rock & roll

Meet the family with the kindie rocker mama & the coolest collection of names: Mama Sarah, Lyric & baby Pixie (pictured) & Luna

Finally, we have a quartet of 6th grade girls: twins Claire & Laine, Mia, & my daughter, Sage Ani.

#ImBornTo 

Create-Mia

Write-Claire

Run-Laine

Flip-Sage

What are you & your kids born to do? We'd love to hear in the comments below.

About March of Dimes

President Franklin D. Roosevelt founded The March of Dimes in 1938 to combat polio and they succeeded. In the decades to follow, they never stopped protecting the health of America’s children. March of Dimes-funded research has saved millions of babies from death or disability. New research offers hope for treatments and preventions for serious problems, like birth defects and premature birth.

Today, the March of Dimes is inspired by all babies – those born healthy and those who need help to survive and thrive. These babies are the millions of reasons behind our urgent mission and why the March of Dimes:

• supports all important research into the causes and preventions for premature birth and birth defects

• fights for health insurance for all pregnant women and children

• pushes for expanded newborn screening that could save lives and prevent disabilities

• reaches out to women with healthy pregnancy information and services

• provides comfort and information to families with a newborn in intensive care

Disclosure: Once again, it's our pleasure to partner up with The Motherhood and March of Dimes. We have been compensated for sharing this campaign with our readers. As always, all opinions are our own. 

HELP OUT: No Kid Hungry With Shop Your Way, Kmart & Sears

SEARS HOLDINGS’ SHOP YOUR WAY MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM LAUNCHES ONE-OF-A-KIND CHARITY GIFT REGISTRY

Celebrities Sandra Lee and Ty Pennington Encourage Donations to Benefit Kids in Need as Part of Share Our Strength‘s No Kid Hungry^® Campaign

ChiIL Mama's a member of Shop Your Way... are YOU?!  Sears Holdings’ Shop Your Way membership program has introduced a unique and simple way for its members to give back – the Charity Gift Registry. Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry^® campaign, which is ending childhood hunger in America by surrounding kids with healthy food where they live, learn and play, is the first cause to be supported by the registry.

Photo credit:   No Kid Hungry

At the World’s Largest Bake Sale in May, Shop Your Way and Kmart^® joined forces with Sandra Lee, and many event celebrity co-chairs including Ty Pennington, to raise money for the No Kid Hungry campaign and the Food Bank for New York City and help connect kids in need with one million meals. To celebrate the launch of the Charity Gift Registry and to raise funds that will help connect kids to another million meals, now through Aug. 31, Sears Holdings will match each dollar spent on items purchased in the registry. Members and customers can also make a donation directly at www.RecipeforNoKidHungry.com, and those donations will be matched as well (up to $50,000).

“With more than 16 million children struggling with hunger in America, Shop Your Way is proud to launch the Charity Gift Registry by supporting this important effort,” said Imran Jooma, executive vice president & president, Marketing, Online & Financial Services, Sears Holdings. “We know that many children who are hungry also lack other daily necessities, including educational toys, games, and art supplies. The No Kid Hungry campaign perfectly aligns with both our philanthropic efforts through the Charity Gift Registry and breadth of our Sears, Kmart and Lands’ End products.” 

The Shop Your Way Charity Gift Registry is easy and convenient to access in-store, online and via mobile devices. It functions the same way as a traditional wedding gift registry. To access the Charity Gift Registry, visit www.ShopYourWay.com/charityregistry, select “Charity Gift Registry” and then “No Kid Hungry.” Purchase any item, and it will be enjoyed by a child in need. Items available on the Charity Registry range from sports equipment, yard games and puzzles, to toys, art supplies and board games.

To spread the word about the No Kid Hungry campaign within the Shop Your Way Charity Gift Registry, Sandra Lee, Ty Pennington, @kmart and @shopyourway, will host a “Summer of No Kid Hungry” themed Twitter Party on Aug. 8 from noon – 1 p.m. CDT using hashtag #1MillionMeals. 

Gifting Birthday Wishes for a Cause with Birthday Club

The Charity Gift Registry is one of many registries available on Shop Your Way, including wedding, baby, housewarming, graduation and birthday. All of the registries available on Shop Your Way make gifting fun, including the new Birthday Club “Birthday Wish List Registry.” This new registry allows parents to create wish lists for their kids and share those lists with family members and friends.

The Birthday Wish List Registry is the latest addition to Birthday Club - an online destination for party ideas and tips. Birthday Club provides easy gifting solutions for Shop Your Way members and customers through the toy finder and “ages and stages” toy suggestions based on a child’s age and developmental stage.

Upon signing a child up for Birthday Club, Customers and members get $5 Birthday Bucks. Now through Aug. 31, Sears Holdings will donate $1 to the No Kid Hungry campaign (up to $50,000) for each new registered user on Birthday Club.

Shop Your Way is a free membership program and shopping community that offers rewards, personalized deals, product reviews, contests and sweepstakes. Through Shop Your Way, members can also earn and redeem Shop Your Way Rewards points when they shop at Sears and Kmart. Members also enjoy exclusive perks like personalized deals and special shopping events.

To learn more about about the Charity Gift Registry visit, www.ShopYourWay.com/charityregistry and to learn more about the Birthday Wish List Registry, visit www.ShopYourWay.com/birthdayclub, and to learn more about No Kid Hungry, visit www.nokidhungry.org.   

Sears Holdings is making a guaranteed donation of $100,000 to Share Our Strength regardless of the total value of purchase transactions through the Shop You Way Charity Gift Registry and the number of new Kmart Birthday Club registrations that take place through August 31, 2013. Share Our Strength is a non-profit organization recognized as tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code 501 (c) (3). For more information, visit http://NoKidHungry.org/Kmart.

HIGHLIGHTS:

·         You’re Invited! Please join @Kmart, @PlaydatePlace (Kmart Toys), Sandra Lee, and Ty Pennington on Aug. 8 from Noon – 1 p.m. CDT for a Twitter party to benefit No Kid Hungry^® (hashtag #1MillionMeals).

·         Help a Child in Need. Sears Holdings’ Shop Your Way membership program has introduced a unique and simple way for its members to give back – the Charity Gift Registry. Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry^® campaign is the first cause to be supported by the registry. To celebrate the launch of the Charity Gift Registry and to raise funds that will help connect kids to another million meals, now through Aug. 31, Sears Holdings will match each dollar spent on items purchased in the registry. Members and customers can also make a donation directly at www.RecipeforNoKidHungry.com, and those donations will be matched as well (up to $50,000).

·         Happy Birthday! Join Kmart’s Birthday Club “Birthday Wish List Registry,” and upon signing a child up, customers and members get $5 Birthday Bucks. Now through Aug. 31, Sears Holdings will donate $1 to the No Kid Hungry campaign (up to $50,000) for each new registered user on Birthday Club.

About Sears Holdings Corporation

Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) is a leading integrated retailer with more than 2,500 full-line and specialty retail stores in the United States and Canada and the home of SHOP YOUR WAY, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through ShopYourWay.com. Sears Holdings is the leading home appliance retailer as well as a leader in tools, lawn and garden, fitness equipment and automotive repair and maintenance. Key proprietary brands include Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard, with a broad apparel offering, including such well-known labels as Lands' End, the Kardashian Kollection, Jaclyn Smith and Joe Boxer, as well as Sofia by Sofia Vergara and The Country Living Home Collection. We are the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 14 million service and installation calls made annually, and have a long-established commitment to those who serve in the military through initiatives like the Heroes at Home program. We have been named the 2011 Mobile Retailer of the Year, Recipient of the 2013 ENERGY STAR® “Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award" for Product Retailing and Energy Management and one of the Top 20 Best Places to Work for Recent Grads. Sears Holdings Corporation operates through its subsidiaries, including Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Corporation. For more information, visit Sears Holdings' website at www.searsholdings.com.  Twitter: @searsholdings || Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SHCCareers

About Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign

No child should grow up hungry in America, but one in five children struggles with hunger. Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry^® campaign is ending childhood hunger in America by ensuring all children get the healthy food they need, every day. The No Kid Hungry campaign connects kids in need to effective nutrition programs like school breakfast and summer meals and teaches low-income families to cook healthy, affordable meals through its Cooking Matters program.  This work is accomplished through the No Kid Hungry network, made up of private citizens, public officials, nonprofits, business leaders and others providing innovative hunger solutions in their communities. Join us at NoKidHungry.org.

Back to Back to School--Chicago Teachers' Strike Recap

After 7 days on the picket lines, CPS and CTU reached a compromise on the Chicago teachers' strike and classes resumed Wednesday.   We still have a long way to go, to create a stellar school system that's fair and fabulous for all neighborhoods.   Public support for the teachers was huge.   The city had to take notice at the public outcry to fix what's dysfunctional, provide basics, limit over the top standardized testing and stop selling off our schools for private profit.

One of my favorite stories about the end of the strike came from my son's 6th grade teacher.   When news of the strike's end came on Tuesday, Mr. Z and his wife were at home, doing a happy dance and singing that the strike was over, when they heard a little voice from the other room saying "Boooooo."   Their pre-school daughter wasn't quite as elated to be going back to school as her dad was.   

Our kids had mixed feelings.   They were glad to get back to friends and back to school-especially my studious son, Du-Jay, who read, wrote and kept up with school work every day we were out.   The kid even took homework to RIOT FEST!   I figure that's how the kids of punk parents rebel, eh?

Still, we had a great strike break.   We spent family time at the free lakefront archery range and the beach, walked the picket lines with the teachers, kept up with reading and educational games, and Sage went to 4 days of camp at Girl Scouts' Journey World.   We're very relieved the walk out didn't last for weeks like the last CTU strike in the 80's, which dragged on nearly 20 days.


ChiIL Mama will be celebrating the end of the strike with some sweet back to "back to school" features including:

• Pinch me I'm dreaming:   Back to School With Dream Dinners

• Back to School Funky Fun With Gutzy Gear

• Back to School Back to You With Kmart

Brief Basics of What We've Won Via CTU:

Chicago Teachers Union members’ determination and your support during the strike forced the Board of Education to agree to:

• Hire over 600 additional teachers in Art, Music, Phys Ed and other subjects
• Maintain limits on class size, increase funding for smaller classes
• Add a parent voice on class size committees
• Make textbooks available on the first day of school
• Increase racial diversity in hiring at CPS
• Lessen the focus on standardized testing – keep the focus on teaching instead of tests
• Provide more attention from school Social Workers and Nurses
• Increase funding for Special Ed teachers, social workers, psychologists, classroom assistants and counselors in schools with high caseloads.

The strike is not the end of the fight for the schools Chicago’s students deserve. We need a better school day, not just a longer one. We will keep working together to stop the Mayor’s plan to close 100 schools.  The Board of Ed will continue starving schools in low income neighborhoods, denying them air conditioning, libraries, playground facilities and resources unless we fight back. We need your help to continue the fight for Educational Justice in Chicago.

We are in this together – for the schools Chicago students deserve.

(from CTU's web site) 


How You Can Help Via Raise Your Hand:

We are happy to transition back to school and finally settle into a routine. As you know the House of Delegates of the CTU voted to suspend the strike but they didn’t yet vote to approve the contract. Most everyone we heard from expressed great relief that their kids are back in school. There remain different opinions regarding the purpose of the strike and what it signified or didn’t. The press keeps asking who “won” and who “lost?” People have asked what the kids got out of it. These are complicated questions. If nothing else, the events of the past ten days have worked to elevate the discussion around public education in this city and nation, which is a good thing. We think this will prove to be an intangible positive but we don’t think it can be distilled to a “win” or “loss”.

Regarding some of the details, CPS added two extra weeks to the school year this year, so our kids will not have less school than they had last year. Many are happy with that change. We do not know when or if the missed days will be added to the calendar but will let you know as soon as we find out.

Despite some of the wins touted by both sides, RYH still has the same concerns we had two weeks and two years ago.

• There is still no sustainable plan to fund education; We would like to help get a state-wide referendum on the ballot in 2014 to ask the public if they want a graduated income tax; We want to look more at TIF reform to see how changes can be made to improve funding to the school
• There is still no mechanism to employ democratic decision making in how policies are formed at the district level with our mayoral-appointed school board. We need policy experts, teachers, parents, community leaders, etc. to help shape public education here. For too long in Chicago, decisions have been made in a vacuum. That’s why we’re continuing to work on an elected school board campaign.

We hope you will sign up to help on one of these campaigns this year. We need your help. Consider making a donation to help power our efforts this year. We have a multitude of costs and need support to take trips to Springfield, create materials and signage, run our website and much more. Think about making a $10 or $25 donation to help us fund these campaigns this year and please email us at info@ilraiseyourhand.orgto help join the effort to transform public education.

UPCOMING EVENTS

9/27 (1pm) Last chance for public input on new CPS Arts plan; Art Institute, Ryan Ed. Ctr., 159 E. Monroe 1pm. Free but preregister here.

9/27 - (6pm-8pm) RYH co-sponsoring a discussion with Jonathan Kozol at NW Law School on his new book: “Fire in the Ashes: Twenty Five Years Among the Poorest Children in America. He is the author of "Savage Inequalities" and a nationally known voiceo on the perils of corporate education reform.

Northwestern Law School - 375 E. Chicago

9/27 (7pm) Author

Kevin Kumashiro (contributor to CREaTE piece about teacher evaluation) is having a talk on his new book:

Bad Teacher! How Blaming Teachers Distorts the Bigger Picture.

Revolution Books, 1103 N. Ashland.

(from http://ilraiseyourhand.org/)

Why Charter Schools Aren't A Great Idea

Check out the free documentary, "The Inconvenient Truth About Waiting for Superman", which provides an insightful analysis of charter schools.



Teaching Rahm from Right

We were embarrassed that Mr. Rahm Emanuel spent 1 million dollars to spin the strike, with an ad staring himself.   Think how many school supplies that would have bought in underserved communities!!    Check out the full story here on Huffington Post.




ChiIL Strike Coverage

Check out my CNN op-ed here and our photo filled strike coverage here.

Strike Day 5-neighborhood march

Strike Day 4-photos from the picket lines

Strike Day 3-Chicago Teachers' Strike Day 3--Books & Sites To Explain Strikes To Kids of All Ages

Strike Day 2

Strike Camps

We've got our beloved teachers back...Now how 'bout those striking Blackhawks?!