I went on a trip with Benjamin’s nursery school class this morning. We went to Green Meadows Farm in Floral Park, NY. 20 children, 3 teachers, 8 moms, 1 schoolbus.

The purpose of Green Meadows Farm is to bring farm animals and wildlife to city children who may never experience the joys of seeing, touching, holding, and interacting with nature’s wonders. It’s fun, educational and hands-on. The kids rode ponies and we saw and touched baby chicks, chickens, turkeys, fed goats, saw a 3 day old baby lamb, milked a cow and went on a hayride. Even though it was cold and damp, we all had a blast (and went through bottles and bottles of Purell).

For children in a private nursery school in NYC, class trips are pretty easy…at least funding them. But not all children in the city are as fortunate as mine. That’s why at GIFT HERO, we feel so strongly about giving back. As we have mentioned, we we partnered with Head Start Urban Horizons Early Childhood Discovery Center in the South Bronx, NY which serves a one of the poorest Congressional districts in the country. Our goal is to help fund school trips which their budget cannot support.

Coincidentally, the first school trip we are helping to fund is to Green Meadows Farms. Our customers have already been so generous in their support that we are on our way to funding this trip. Please help us make this happen soon by adding $1 (or more) to your total purchase at checkout. 100% of the money collected will be donated directly to the Head Start program to fund the trip and let the children touch the wonders of the farm (antibacterial wipes not included!).

So today I am forty! Actually, I am fine with it. I am in good health, have an amazing husband and two incredibly lovely children. I am blessed with friends and family whom I care deeply about. I relish life and try to enjoy it as much as possible. I really could not ask for more.

In that spirit, and because a big part of GIFT HERO is about giving back, Stefanie and I will donate $4 for every order that is placed on GIFT HERO on May 7th and 8th. The money will go to the South Bronx Head Start program that we support. And of course, as always, you will be invited to make your own donation to the Head Start program during the checkout process.

Here’s to 40!

We have always felt it is important to give back and to teach our children the value and importance of charity. Lisa built much of her career at Unicef and Save the Children and Stefanie worked on many cause marketing programs at American Express and is involved in local children’s charities in NYC. When figuring out what we wanted GIFT HERO to be, we always knew it must have a cause component – we wanted every child to feel as fortunate as our children feel.

To start, we are partnering with the Urban Horizon Early Childhood Discovery Center – an amazing Head Start program in the South Bronx, NY. Together with our (very generous) customers, we plan to fund enrichment programs such as school trips for these children and their families. We have both made personal donations to jumpstart the effort and many of our customers have added $1 – $5 to their shopping carts for this wonderful cause.