Hallow's Eve

Happy Halloween y'all! I must say I have had a festive few days celebrating the end of October. Halloween is not my favorite holiday but I do enjoy the decorations, dressing up and CANDY! I hate being scared though so I opt out of the haunted houses and scary movies.
This weekend we hosted a Halloween party at our apartment with a few of our best friends. I was Dorothy and my boyfriend was the Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz and I'd have to say we were pretty cute.

Of course Ashley-Anne's Bakery (reference previous post) made an appearance at the party as well. Olivia and I baked two types of cupcakes, Frankenstein and Mummies! 

The cupcakes were a huge hit, who could resist, they are super cute! Sunday night I baked pumpkin cookies for mine and Reid's work and they were enjoyed as well!

Since we live in an apartment complex we didn't have any trick-or-treaters, so we decided to eat all of our candy and sit on our couch watching Hocus Pocus. I'd say 2011 brought a great Halloween. I hope everyone enjoyed theirs as well!

Blog Action Day 2011-Food

Blog Action Day 2011's theme is FOOD! Everyone enjoys talking about food. It basically makes the world go around. Food brings cultures together, nourishes our bodies and provide enjoyable conversation topics. Narrowing down the topic of food into one blog post was a little difficult, but after a few minutes of thinking, the decision was evident. Today I am going to educate you on MANA (Mother Administered Nutritive Aid). 

Beginning in 2009 in Matthews, North Carolina, Co-Founders Mark Moore and Bret Raymond made it their mission to provide solutions to address malnutrition, its root causes and devastating effects. They decided to distribute a Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) made of peanut butter mixed with fortified milk in an over-sized ketchup packet to Rwanda and Guatemala. RUTF helps grow the brain. The first six years of a child's life are crucial for brain growth and development. If kids do not eat, their brains starve and they will die. Because peanut butter is a high protein snack, it is the perfect snack for a growing kid. 

There are over one billion hungry people in the world. Hunger develops into chronic malnutrition and kills 1-2 million kids each year. A child diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition can be revived with three packets a day for six weeks. The total cost is less than $60 per child. Deciding to cut back on eating out a few times a month will save the life of a starving child, isn't that worth it?

MANA is a trust worthy non-profit. Their values include:

Quality – In every aspect of MANA, we will give fanatical attention to quality.

Faith – We are motivated by our belief that God loves all people, has a strong affection for those who are suffering, weak, and oppressed, and desires that we invest our lives in theirs.

Innovation – We understand that more breakthroughs are needed to end malnutrition, so we will work with experts in many disciplines to discover the next big thing.

Responsibility – We understand our role as a corporate citizen and will act responsibly in every community in which we live and work.

Sustainability – We desire to make a long term difference in the lives of millions of people. This necessitates that we are around for the long haul.

Transparency – We will share as much as possible with anyone who wants to understand how we are using resources to accomplish our mission. And we will remain open to constructive ideas that will enable us to be more effective with what has been entrusted to us.

 

If you are interested in donating to this wonderful cause, click here . They have made the process very simple in monthly recurring donations. 

For more information visit their Facebook page or website. 

I am thankful I was able to participate in Blog Action day 2011 and share this wonderful cause with you all! Enjoy reading the other participants blogs!