Today I want to talk about the joy that can come from giving to others. The South has recently been afflicted with one of the worst storms we have ever encountered in our known history. EVER.

The day of the storms, my family took cover 3 separate times as we heard information that multiple tornadoes were on the ground in our area. MULTIPLE. And this turned out to be over 300 in the entire storm area that crossed Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.

The devastation is widespread. Hundreds of people lost their lives. And thousands of people who knew those individuals lost people they love, which is heartbreaking. And beyond that, thousand of people lost everything they own. EVERYTHING.

Just try to imagine for a moment suddenly having nothing but the clothes on your back, and having to start over. It’s difficult to wrap your head around, I think. But this is the reality for so many people throughout the South. It is the reality that faces anyone when they lose their homes in fires, which happens all over the country every single day. It is the reality of a woman who decides to leave an abusive relationship, and this also happens every day. The needs of this world are very great; really overwhelming when you stop to think about. But please don’t get overwhelmed by the need and decide that there’s nothing you can do that will make a difference!

Today I’m partnering with Pampers who has launched Little Miracle Mission. The campaign kicked off at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York by providing gift baskets to families with babies in the NICU. These parents are beyond stressed out, and having people reach out to them and show they care really means a lot. Please check out the Pampers Facebook page for more information on this fantastic campaign aimed at celebrating little miracles and reaching out to the families who support them in their time of need, whatever it may be.

Pampers sent me a $50 Visa gift card to spend on a little miracle in my own community, in whatever way I saw fit. I agreed to do this campaign just days before the tornadoes came through, and I knew as soon as it happened that I would want to find a family with a baby who had been impacted. I was made aware of a family who completely lost their home to the tornadoes and who had a 15 month old baby boy. My heart was particularly touched since this family had a son so close in age to my daughter. I tried to imagine not having diapers or snacks or….ANYTHING that I needed to keep my daughter healthy and happy, and it really broke my heart.

I took my gift card, along with some coupons I had, to a few drugstores and came back with this:

Yes, I would have loved to have bought the family some cloth diapers, but honestly, this is really not the time to push my own diapering preferences on someone. Diapers is what the parents especially needed, so I used coupons to buy them as much as possible. I also bought them wipes and diaper rash cream, and then realized that they probably don’t have any baby shampoo, so got some of that, as well (again, I wish I could have bought more eco-friendly options, but I don’t know how much help this family will get, so I decided that I needed to stretch my dollars as far as possible). Finally, I saw those two cute stuffed animals marked 75% off, so I snagged them so that the little boy could have a few buddies.

Overall, I got quite a bit for $50! But I didn’t feel satisfied with it. So I raided my linen closet (where all our toiletries are kept) and found unused deodorants, razors, soap and toilet paper to add to the gift basket. Later that day, while I was reading to Darah, I thought of this family…they don’t even have books to read to their child, now. So I pulled a few from Darah’s shelf to give. She won’t miss them, and they will make a big difference to a family with nothing.

While I originally didn’t think I had much to offer those in need, simply because I personally don’t have much money to give, I quickly realized that I was wrong. When I think about having nothing, and when I think about that through the eyes of a mother, I suddenly saw many things in my own home that could be put to better use elsewhere. I felt so blessed to be able to give.

Win it!: So now it is your turn to celebrate a little miracle in your own community! Pampers wants to offer one lucky Stuff Parents Need reader a $50 Visa Gift Card, with the idea that you will pay-it-forward and extend some kindness to a family who is expecting a baby or who currently cares for one. I’ll randomly select one winner on May 19th at 11:59pm EST using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

REMEMBER, YOU MUST BE A PUBLIC FOLLOWER OF THIS BLOG VIA GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT (FOUND ON THE SIDEBAR) TO QUALIFY FOR ANY GIVEAWAYS

Mandatory entry: Simply tell me your idea for how you will use the money to make a positive difference in the life of a baby or babies in your community. Please be specific with your ideas! Comments that are really vague such as, “I’ll give it to someone” won’t count! Let’s all inspire each other right now with our ideas!

Additional entries:

1. Sponsor love: “Like” Pampers on Facebook

2. Blogger love: Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need by email or RSS

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage.

Here’s a great video to get your inspired!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary gift card so that I could give to a family in need. All opinions expressed here are strictly my own.