Thank you to Members Unite for sponsoring this post and sparking a creative discussion with children about the importance of giving. Visit MembersUnite.com for a simple, interactive, fun way to fund amazing projects every single month! 100% of your monthly contribution goes to the winning projects. I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective.

Members Unite is a simple, interactive, fun way to fund amazing projects and for as little as $5 a month you too can help out! The projects are funded through member contributions and because of that the members ultimately control the outcome each month.

Every month, they launch a 4-week cycle where they work together to determine which project gets funded. They start with 9 projects and through a voting process by the members the projects get narrowed down each week until they have determined the best project to fund for that month.

Lauren checking out the Members Unite projects

I sat down with my girls and explained the website to them and what it was all about and they loved it. I then let them read through all of the projects that they Members Unite has listed and before long they were talking about the projects and which ones they liked the best. It was unanimous the Fill up the Tanks of Struggling Detroit Residents was their number one choice! Why? Because we are only 2 hours from Detroit and we all know how hard things have been on the people of this state these past few years.

As the economy still struggles to recover, rising gas prices are making a tough situation even tougher for those living paycheck-to-paycheck. In Detroit, where the unemployment rate tops 10% and times are especially hard, putting enough gas in your car to go apply for a job opening or travel to an interview may simply be impossible. The city of Detroit is facing its own cash crisis, and additional local government help for residents is highly unlikely. If this project wins, we’ll give one gas station in Detroit a $5,000 donation to pay for local residents’ gas for a day on behalf of Members Unite.

I asked Lauren why she picked that one as her top choice and she told that it would do the most for people here (in Michigan). It would get people to work, school, and where ever they need to go. I think that she understands the rising cost of gas because of how often we talk about it and then explain what it used to be just a few years ago. Of course a few minutes later she wasn’t sure because she really liked the project to give the gift of self-esteem which would provide 5 hair prosthetics or wigs to children who have lost their hair.

My choice was a little different. While I agree with the girls that helping those in our state is important I feel that it’s also important to help out our service members and that is why I chose Send the Essence of Home to a Soldier.

Most of us can’t even imagine what it would be like to be thousands of miles away from home for months at a time. Think of the things you’d miss—our families and our friends for certain, but how about the little things like a good television show or one of your favorite snacks? For the men and women who serve in the US military, this type of scenario is just another day at work. MarineParents.com, Inc. wants to give our soldiers a little taste of home with care packages that contain a variety of snacks, from Ramen noodles to granola bars and even chewing gum. MarineParents.com, Inc. needs donations to cover the cost of the care package items. If this project wins, we will be able to send 227 care packages to Marines who are serving overseas.

This one is important because my sister and her husband are both active duty service members and have both been overseas several times. I know how difficult it was for them and how if they were to be deployed again it would be even harder because now they have two little boys. Every little bit helps show that we care.

Community service is an important part of the kids education here and they’re required to complete 20 hours each year starting in middle school. They have tons of fun with it and help out so many organizations and people in our community and Members Unite is a great way to expand their horizons and think outside of our community. They’re able to see other people and places that need our help and how we can do something which I love. Together we can review all the projects that Members Unite  has and talk through them and decide which one we want to champion. They can also show us how we can help more at home as well by planting trees in our yard, donating to a local baby pantry, or even by creating our very own smile cards and handing them out to someone who makes our day a little brighter!

Take a few minutes and check out the Members Unite site and sign up! You’ll love it…. I promise.