This post isn’t about food, per se (a following post will detail our holiday offerings, or you can see them here).  As the holidays approach, a lot of us are reminded about our more altruistic nature.  We get donation requests, see the Salvation Army signs, and generally are consistently aware that it’s a season of giving. 

Many of us also are reminded at other times throughout the year.  Here at the bakery, we have a relatively long and diverse donation request list.  We try to stay close to home, supporting our local West Seattle community, and also out in the wider Seattle area.  Schools, programs for women and children, the elderly, jobs training, the arts, animal shelters- many institutions and organizations with these programs need funding throughout the year.  Helping within our community helps to strengthen our community.  We don’t write or talk about it much, because, well, it’s just the right thing to do. 

Sometimes though, you come across a unique effort that goes outside your locality.  Quite recently, through our Twitter feed, we came across a charitable organization started by a group of travel bloggers right here in Seattle.  Pam M., traveler, writer/reviewer and Twitter-, um, -er (yes, your blog writer is something of a curmudgeon) worked with a small group of other writers and bloggers to start something called Passports with Purpose.  They leverage the wide and diverse connections available to bloggers/reviewers to raise funds for a chosen charity each year.  Therein lies the uniqueness- It’s a creative way to ‘use what you know’ and also to reach a much wider audiance that you might otherwise be able to.   Bloggers are putting their connections to good use, and finding ways to give back to the places they’ve visited

We’ve agreed to add a gift certificate to their fundraiser, which is similar to a raffle (see the link above).  There are quite a few other really interesting travel associated prizes as well (these are travel writers, after all), and for you musicians, a chance at a ukulele. 

Again, normally we don’t write much about who we donate to, but as this is a blog-based fund raiser that you probably wouldn’t hear about otherwise, we wanted to write a little this time.  Essentially though, we’d like to encourage you to think a little about what you can give back this season, and any other time of the year as well.  Whether it’s your own community, or one someplace across the globe, every little bit truly does help.