Giving Up To Give: The Ramirez Family

Today Emily and Adriel Ramirez have signed up to Give Up To Give. Emily explains below what they are Giving Up and why.

 

 

Why did you sign up for Giving Up To Give?

I signed up because of my sister, Maria..and her family, who told me about her passion, convinced me it should be one of our passions, and gave us a place to give back.

Do you have a personal connection to the Congo?

My nephew, Oliver, is my personal connection. He is super special and greatly loved by all of us (our family) and makes us excited to learn more about the Congo and how we can give back to this country.

What are you Giving Up?

We are giving up some Christmas gifts we felt we could live without and so returned them as well as a book Eliana (our daughter) has given up that we are trying to sell on e-bay. We might continue to find items we can give up each month to sell, or we might switch it up each month to keep it interesting. It honestly has created so much discussion and thought between all of us that now I am taking everything we spend our money on so much more seriously and wondering how we can give back even more. I love how it is changing our family.

What would you say to others to encourage them to join Giving Up To Give?

I would say Eliana has been the most encouraging to me and Adriel. I don't know if it helps anyone else to give more, but our 4 year-old, who finds all things she has very special and dear, is excited about giving up her toys or books and eating rice and beans for a week so she can give back to kids that are from the same country her nephew Oliver is from. Seeing Eliana's joy in giving back has done great things in our hearts and has motivated us to continue on in all endeavors that encourage our children to give back to others.

 

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Giving Up Bottled Water: The Friesens

For the whole month of January Dustin and Bethany Friesen have been Giving Up bottled water so they can Give to Giving Back to Africa. We love this idea! I will let Bethany tell you more about it in her own words.

Why are you Giving Up To Give?

We admired the communal aspect of the project - it's one thing to privately give, and another to put together a huge project like this that brings together many families and individuals.

Do you have a personal connection to the Congo?

We have laptops and cellphones. And connections to the Browns, and other friends who are personally connected to the Congo.

What are you Giving Up?

We decided to give up bottled water for the month of January and drink tap water instead. To make it "easy" to be healthier, we'd gotten into a bad habit of spending a lot of money on bottled water (to replace pop cans). So it's an opportunity to retrain ourselves as well as give to a good cause. It hasn't been too hard to avoid bottled water while I grocery shop, but it's a lot harder to avoid buying just one bottle at the movie theater or mall - but worth it! Even if it's a long trek down a shady hallway to find the drinking fountain.

What would you say to encourage others to join Giving Up To Give?

It's so easy to do, and feels so great to be a part of this community of people - to know that you're not the only one giving up to give - that other families all over are thinking of ways to do the same thing - it connects us. And it's such a small thing for us to give up - and to give to people who have such a greater need.

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