Valentine's Day and Volunteering - Blogging from A to Z Challenge

This year for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, I'm focusing on going through my homeschooling files that I've created from the time that Sophia and Olivia were in preschool.

Some of the files are still relevant while others I will be decluttering and recycling in the process. Each day during April, I will pick one of the files to focus on - either doing a hands-on activity or sharing some information from one of the files.

For the 22nd day - Letter V - I am focusing on Valentine's Day and Volunteering.

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Valentine's Day

Something special that anyone from around the world can do is send Valentine's Day cards to Loveland, Colorado's Valentine Program. The Loveland Chamber of Commerce has instructions about how to mail cards to the city. Volunteers open the envelopes and stamp the current year's cachet on each envelope and the special postal cancellation.

My Mom having some fun near Valentine's Day 2013.

She was looking forward to showing her hat to

her Stephen's Minister who came to visit her regularly

after my Dad died in 2012.

(Yesterday would have been her 87th birthday.)

The instructions give the deadlines by which the letters need to be received and how to ship them to Colorado.

Sophia and Olivia holding felt hearts

that they embroidered.

(Mosaic created on February 7, 2008.)

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Volunteering

Sophia, Olivia, and I have done quite a bit of volunteering throughout the years.

Coloring a sheet for Color-a-Smile.

The sheets are donated to seniors at nursing homes, the homebound,

veterans, or servicemen/women.

(Taken on February 8, 2011.)

It has become an integral part of their homeschooling/education.

Over 1,000 books we collected, packaged, and

sent to Africa to establish a library at a school.

(Taken on December 7, 2012.)

Although we have done a variety of projects and activities, there were a couple of volunteer opportunities that interested me as I looked through this file:

- Soles4Souls - Collects and distributes shoes and clothing to those in need throughout the world.

- Minnesota Search and Rescue Dog Association - As I looked a bit closer at the website, there seems to be more opportunities to donate in many different ways versus volunteering.

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In the process of going through the files that began with "V," I recycled 1/4 of a bag of papers.