Two Clicks Can Raise Money for Two Breastfeeding Friendly Groups

Looking for The Lactivist? She's retired. But you CAN still find Jen blogging. These days, she's runs A Flexible Life. Join her for life, recipes, projects and the occasional rant.

Friday, January 18, 2008

It's time to mobilize again ladies (and gents.)

Project The First: Help the Mother's Milk Bank of New England Raise $10,000

There's a web site called Ideablob that is sponsored by Advanta, the company responsible for a huge portion of the small business operating loans in this country. It's a new site I discovered a little ways back while doing some research for my day job.

When I saw it, I noticed that it didn't take more than several hundred votes for a busisness idea to win, so I contacted Tanya Leiberman of the Motherwear blog and suggested the New England Milk Bank submit in an attempt to gain some much needed start-up funds.

Tanya emailed me back last week to let me know the bank had submitted their proposal and that the race was on to get enough votes to get into the finals. The milk bank is in the lead right now, but voting runs until the 21st. Please register at Ideablob and cast your vote for the milk bank so we can make sure they get into the finals. (When they do, I'll let you know again so we can rally to get enough votes to make sure they win.)

Project the Second: Help Raise $50K for One of My Readers to Launch a "Cafe and Play"

Some of you may recognize the name Alissa DeRouchie from the comments section here on The Lactivist. Alissa has been a long time reader and an active player in the conversations that take place here. As it turns out, she's also been bitten by the entrepreneur bug.

Alissa and her husband are looking to open a new kid friendly cafe with healthy, affordable options. Picture the benefits of a Chik-fil-et or Burger King play area with the bonus of yummy, healthy food like you might find at a place like Panera Bread. What parent of toddlers wouldn't want a Cafe where their kids could safely play?

Alissa's idea is one of five finalists in QuickBook's Just Start small business contest. Voting for the contest runs through the end of this month and the business idea that gathers the most vote will win $50,000 in start-up funds.

I'll tell you, I live here in the Columbus area where Alissa is located and I would LOVE to see this idea come to fruition. I've cast my vote and am asking my readers to consider adding their votes as well. Alissa is in second place right now, we need to get the votes moving.

You can follow Alissa's blog following their journey for this contest at Vote Cafe and Play. You can watch their video entry for the contest to get an even better idea of what they're planning.

I had hoped to get word of these out sooner, but my laptop has been out for repairs all week. I just got it back about an hour ago. The good news is that I've seen both of these stories circulating around email lists and parenting boards, so both are already getting really great exposure. That said, let's add some more votes for each cause and make SURE we advance breastfeeding and parenting.

Please go vote and then spread the news of each of these stories as far and wide as you can!

Labels: Life as a Mom, Milk Banking and Sharing, Nursing in Public

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