Random Acts of Zhu – giving during the holidays

As a blogger, I feel blessed that I can come online each day and share my finds, tips and pieces of life with you, my readers. I love the act of turning on my computer daily and either researching a new post, finding something to share in my e-mail, or letting you in on some of my personal secrets to getting the most out of life.

This past week, I had the opportunity to do something for the children in my community as well, thanks to Cepia – the people who make our favorite hamster friends – Zhu Zhu Pets. This holiday season, Cepia invited bloggers around the country to participate in their charity initiative and allowed us to perform Random Acts of Zhu. I was (and am) thrilled to have been chosen to be a part of this wonderful program to bring Zhu Zhu pets to children who otherwise might not get a holiday gift this year.

Cepia sent me a total of 104 Zhu Zhu Pets and asked me to identify the charity (or charities) of my choice to donate them to. I immediately knew who would be the recipients.

The Love Doctor’s Charities was started by my favorite radio hosts here in Florida. Rich Dickerson (AKA Dr. Rich) and Glen Curtis (Dr. Glenn) otherwise known on-air as The Love Doctor’s. They began their toy drive back in 1994. That first year they were able to provide toys for 51 deserving children. This year, The Love Doctor’s Toy Drive will help 8500 children and 38 social service agencies have a happy holiday.

Last Thursday I filled the trunk of my little hybrid with 104 of those furry little creatures and headed to the Love Doctor’s Charity office.

I had e-mail the Doc’s on-air and was asked if I could bring them directly to the charity office.

I needed help getting them out of the car….and local radio personality and producer – Luke of Josh and the Hometeam helped me load them all into the area where they prepare the toys for distribution.

There were toys stacked from floor to ceiling, waiting to be taken to various social service agencies to be given out for the holidays.

They were SO excited to get the Zhu Zhu Pets. One of the things that I learned is that they get money donations and have to go out and buy most of the toys at retail. In order to stretch the money to be able to provide for so many children, they are not able to buy the newer, more popular toys. They are thrilled that this year some of the kids will get gifts that are actually on their wish list (Zhu Zhu’s).

Laura (shown above) and Terry, work tireless year round at The Love Doctor’s Charities to provide

• Holiday Toys for Children in Need
• Scholarships for children to attend the FL Diabetes Camp
• Wheelchairs & ramps for those with physical disabilities
• School supplies for new teachers
• Care packages for members of the armed services
• Support for programs targeting at risk children
• Equipment for horseback riding program for autistic children
• Assistance to families struggling with medical or financial challenges
• and more

I can’t thank Cepia enough for allowing me to be a part of this wonderful act of charity, and helping in need children have a very happy holiday season.