At the beginning of the year I volunteered to head up the fundraising team of Knox’s school.

I know right?  What was I thinking?

The thing is, I’ve always wanted to be that parent.  The one that’s super involved and not only has a good relationship with the teachers, but helps the school out too.  My Mom was like that and even though I didn’t appreciate it as a kid, I secretly loved that she was involved.  I was a nerd like that.  Anyway, I was really excited that it was my chance to give back to the school and try and see how I could use my varied resources to help the school out.  In hindsight, while that has happened to some small degree, it has also exposed me to the fact that I may have a habit of spreading myself too thin.

I am the queen of good intentions.

So despite having all these grand plans of what I could do, I only managed to get to doing enough to keep everything afloat.  But this post is not about my short comings in time management.  (You can read the rest of the blog for those).

What I really want to chat about is the huge help that #MySchoolSA is to Knox’s school.  I love his school because aside from taking the best care of my sweet baby boy, they are an NPO which means that their school fees are really affordable.  YAY!  The reason that they can keep fees to a minimum is because of a combination of My School and fundraising.

The contributions from parents using My School to support the school makes a difference.

I know that every swipe of the MySchool card, though small, means a lot to our school who are super conscious about how they spend money (being an NPO and all).  Even a little bit can go a long way when you didn’t have that little bit in the first place.  So how much more so for underprivileged schools in other areas.

Which brings me back to My School again.  Just think that every time you go to your local Woolies, buy something off Loot or stop at the other My School participants, you could be helping not only your school but another school of your choice.  You can even link it to your Woolies card so you just end up doing it automatically.

It’s so freaking easy guys, but it makes such a difference.

If you haven’t already signed up for your MySchool card or want to link your Woolies card let me help you.  Check out this post with all the details.  If you’re anything like me, I suggest you go and get your wallet now and do it right now, or else you’ll forget.  It’s OK.  I’ll wait.

No really go do it now.

I said go!

Don’t make me put you in the naughty corner!

OK, thank you.

I’m glad that you are now also a wonderful member of the MySchool community.

You won’t regret it.

Oh and did I mention that…

20 lucky people will each win R20 000 Woolworths gift card for themselves plus R20 000 for their MySchool cause. Post about the school or charity you support and use #MySchool20 to stand a chance to win. Details, T&Cs: https://goo.gl/gpCrxa

Now with your help you can be one of the awesome people that contribute more than R6 million per month to various Schools, Charities or Conservation Organisations.  (So you see, you don’t even have to contribute to schools only, if you prefer animals over children you can totally get behind that too.  I mean I’d judge you just a little, but it’s OK, you do you boo.)

Now it’s my turn to give back

When the lovely people at MySchool offered to donate R5000 towards a school of my choice to celebrate 20 years of giving back, I couldn’t wait to get on board.  Not only was I helping schools that I have a heart for through my shopping swipes, but I had a chance to give back something substantial.  A real amount that they could do something big with.

At first I obvs thought about giving it to Knox’s school.  But the reality is that our parents are obviously a lot better off than the bulk of other schools across the country.  So I went to the next school that has a little spot in my heart.  It’s called Timmy Tots Educare and it’s located in Woodlands Park.

My mother used to teach there back in the day.  Which means there was a long period of my life where I spent my holidays there helping out by looking after babies and basically living my best life.  So that is whom I have chosen to give my R5000 donation.  I know that they are going to put it to good use to help support the children in their community and school.

You know, I know it’s going to sound ridiculously cheesy, but one of the best parts of hosting this blog is that I get to do things like this.  Give back to places that mean something.  That uplift our children and give them a good starting point in life.  YAY.

Now go out there, get swiping your new MySchool card and start giving back.