I’m so happy to report that from what I saw, both Haiti fundraisers were a huge success! We brought our bag of food, diapers, and first-aid stuff to the Super Sunday event right when it kicked off around 11. It was so great! They were setting up the food (vegetarian and meat barbecue, awesome) and music and everyone was so friendly and energized. We brought our donations to be sorted by the volunteers, who were bustling putting everything in the right boxes — so good to see how generous our community is!!

There was a forklift (which Pearl LOVED) putting those same boxes, once they were filled,

right into the freshly painted container (which I loved).

So inspiring. Thank you, Jeff!!

Then we zipped over to the vegan bake sale to drop off our blondies. I have to admit that I was feeling shy about my vegan baking skills, and the list of treats was full of pretty and delicious-sounding stuff. I wanted to make it as easy as possible to turn my humble little blondies into cash money for Mercy Corps, so I added little heart toppers to each one to fancy them up. I think it definitely helped move them along!

If you would like to make some heart toppers for your blondies, cupcakes, club sandwiches, or Valentine’s Day treat of choice, here’s how I made mine — they couldn’t be easier. I cut out nine hearts freehand out of felt, each about 3/4 of an inch tall. Then I used tacky glue to add a colored rhinestone to each one and let them set for 20 minutes or so.

After that, I flipped them over and added a generous dab of glue to attach a plain old wooden toothpick to the back of each one and let that set too… and there you go! Pearl sat in my lap the entire time intently watching me glue each little bit together (let’s hear it for non-toxic craft glue) and it was so cool to do a project with her instead of rushing to finish it during her nap. It’s been so exciting to see her turn into such a big kid!

So this morning I was thrilled to hear that the vegan bake sale raised more than $3,000 for Mercy Corps! Way to go! I haven’t heard exact details on the Super Sunday wrap-up (I hope that Jeff, the one-man-operation himself, is taking the day off), but judging from the amazing start to the day I am sure it was a fantastic success.

Okay, here comes the favor I mentioned, if you’re up for it. If you are in Oregon, concerned about the environment, and have a few minutes, the new Oregon Senate Bill 1032 is coming up for vote very soon. It would ban the toxic chemical BPA from all reusable food and beverage containers (like baby bottles and sippy cups) and formula cans and baby food jars (single use) intended for children under 3 — protecting the youngest, smallest and most vulnerable from this pervasive and toxic chemical.

If you also support the bill, please take a minute to call or email your representatives (find all their info here and email them here) and let them know that you encourage them to vote YES on 1032. It took me less than five minutes to call both of mine this morning and they (well, their staffers) were glad to hear from a voter about it! My thanks for reading and especially for considering adding your voice to the effort to get this bill passed — I am hopeful.

More hearts tomorrow!