You don't have to be a parent of a Special Needs child, a teacher, or a therapist to enter able2able giveaways but you do have to be a public follower of able2able to enter this one. This giveaway is open to the U.S and Canada and ends at 11:59 pm (CT) on Thursday, April 21st.  You DO NOT need to be a public follower of able2able to enter this particular giveaway! New to blog giveaways, and a little nervous? Check out able2able's Blog Giveaway FAQ's.


Books are a wonderful source of inspiration. Just listen to how passionately people talk about a book that really moved them. But when's the last time someone told you that a book inspired them to stop talking and start doing? How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist: 330 Ways to Make a Difference in Your Home, Community, and World - At No Cost (by Nicole Bouchard Boles, Workman Publishing) is a book that will inspire you to take action!

Nicole has erased every popular excuse blocking us from giving or volunteering.  She offers readers 330 different ways to combine their charitable interests with no cost resources to make a positive difference.  Nicole's philosophy of "use what you have, not what you earn" makes charitable giving and community involvement possible for all.  Time, ability, and money are no longer a reason not to get involved if you truly care about a cause!


How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist encourages readers to make giving choices based on personality, talents, passions, and time. There are eleven tip filled sections:

• Use Your Body
• Use Your Family
• Use Your Computer
• Use Your Talents
• Use Your Belongings
• Use Your Trash
• Use Your Time
• Use Your Community
• Use Your Decisions
• Use Your Awareness
• Use Your Resources

Contact information for the tips are included and readers are encouraged to use the book as a starting place for developing their own ways to give.  Nicole stresses that you have to feel comfortable with the way you are giving to be a successful Everyday Philanthropist.  She wants readers to break out of the traditional volunteer/donation rut and think about how they are giving.  If you have a giving heart but believe that a huge time commitment or extra money is what giving is about then you need to read this book!

My favorite suggestion? Plant an extra row in your garden to grow vegetables for a food bank. I've heard of motivated individuals growing entire gardens for this cause. This never seemed doable for us since we don't have the time, talent, money, or space for a donation garden. We do have the resources to grow some extra tomatoes and basil.  Gardening is a family activity so this will be a way to teach Clara-Bear and Alan that God has blessed everyone with the ability to help others.

My favorite feature of the book? It comes with thirty reusable note tabs. How cool is that? There are blank sticky tabs as well as tabs labeled "Do This!" and "Follow Up". The excuse of not having a way to take notes or flag a page has been erased!

I started off using the tabs to flag items of interest for this review. Then I started flagging items I wanted to refer to on Facebook. Then I found myself flagging items I was personally interested in or thought friends might like. I used 24 tabs and still wrote notes while reading How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist!

One of the unexpected perks of writing this review was getting to spend time on the website of Workman Publishing, the sponsor of this review and giveaway.  I love them!  Their site is easy to read and their books and gift items really appeal to creative and imaginative people of all ages. I just added them to my secret list of "Cool Companies I Want to Work for Someday as Long as I Can Stay in My Pajamas and Do Laundry at the Same Time."



If you're a book lover and enjoy browsing in book stores then spend a little time exploring the Workman Publishing Blog. It's one of the better business blogs that I've seen. It's easy on the eyes and fast loading with entertaining posts about their products and authors.  It makes me want to buy, buy, buy!  Too bad for them - I'm an Everyday Philanthropist instead of a check writer for a reason!

You might also like:
Are You Ready to Practice Everyday Philanthropy?

One lucky able2able reader in the U.S. or Canada will win a copy of How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist: 330 Ways to Make a Difference in Your Home, Community, and World - At No Cost. (ARV $10.95 US, $14.95 CAN)

Mandatory first entry: Publicly follow able2able and "Like" Workman Publishing on Facebook.  Leave a comment thanking them for being so cool and stating that you have entered the Everyday Philanthropy giveaway on able2able.  IMPORTANT - if I don't have a way to contact the winner then a new winner will be selected!

The mandatory first entry must be completed before you can complete any of the following additional entries. You can choose to do one or all of these additional entries in any order. There are a total of 13 possible entries.

For 1 additional entry:

• Follow Workman Publishing on Twitter.
  
• Follow able2able on Twitter.
  
• Like able2able on Facebook and post a shout out comment on the wall.
  Current Facebook & Twitter followers may post an entry.
• Enter another able2able giveaway, then come back a leave a comment here telling me what giveaway you entered.
  

For an additional 2 entries (post a comment for each entry):

• Subscribe to the Workman Publishing blog.
  
• Post a link to this giveaway on your Facebook status.
  
• Tweet the link to this giveaway.

For an additional 4 entries (post a comment for each entry):
Blog about this giveaway! Your blog post must include links to this giveaway and mention able2able. Include a link to your blog post in your comments.

It is very important that you post a comment for each entry. Why? Because a random number generator will be used to select the winner. Each comment will be numbered by Blogger, and I will use those numbers for the drawing. So if you combine entries into one post all your entries will not be counted. There will be no do-overs!

I will verify that the winning entry has met the requirements above, so if your comment for a FB status update is the winning comment then I might ask to see that link, etc. If I cannot verify your entry, then all your entries will be removed from the list and the drawing will be repeated.

This giveaway ends at 11:59 pm (CT) on Thursday, April 21st May 5th.

The winner's name will be posted on able2able and I will also contact you. The lucky winner will have 72 hours to reply.

This post was not influenced by any products I received and has not been edited by the sponsor.

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