A few weeks ago, Reliant Energy reached out and asked if I would participate in their annual charity gingerbread house contest. By participating they would donate $1,000 to a non-profit of my choosing. A few hours of my time for a $1,000 for a charity? DONE.
Supporting Local Public Schools
My daughter and I teamed up to support the Foundation for Lovejoy Schools, a non-profit that gives back to our local public school district, teachers and students.
With 4 kids who attend 3 different school in the Lovejoy school district, anyways we can give back to the schools that support, love and shape our kids – we are in.
We raised $1,000! Thanks to all who entered, voting is now over
And HUGE congrats to my fellow 7 and pug mama, Trista at Mommy Upgrade and LovePacs for winning an extra $2000!
Gingerbread House Competition
You guys, let me tell you about this Reliant Gingerbread House competition. When they initially emailed me, the whole reason I did this was because charity. Reliant Energy donated $1000 for me to participate so yes of course.
Here is the deal, I had not decorated a gingerbread house though like other than with the kids so I was worried.
We were given a table of basic supplies and a pre-built gingerbread house. Then there was a back table featuring an array of better baking and decorating supplies. When the countdown was over, we had to run – grab supplies from the back table and then decorate our house in 45 minutes. My 15-year-old daughter was my partner. It was intense.
You guys, I am a creative who likes to try things. What does that mean? I MAKE COMPLETE MESSES EVERY TIME I CRAFT. This is fine in my home, but was a bit crazy in public.
Log Cabin Gingerbread House
We decided on doing a log cabin gingerbread house. We used the chocolate icing and pretzels to complete the look. We put extra chocolate icing on the roof and sprinkled coconut flakes for a snow effect. The sides were crush pretzels which gave the house a cool appearance.
Overall, I am impressed that we even finished but am happy with the outcome. We didn’t win best in show but you know what, we did get $1000 for charity.
We had so much fun that we have added decorating a gingerbread house to our Family Christmas Traditions list!
Texas Public School Funding
I am not big on getting political on this blog, but one of the main reasons I support this foundation is that we have a major Texas public school funding crisis.
It’s all over the news here in Texas Basically, the state has significantly limited the funds given to public schools. While property taxes have significantly increased – the amount of that money funneling back to public schools has not.
Our teachers and students deserve a good education. As much money as the state of Texas has, it’s a shame that we don’t have a state that will help better fund our public school districts.
Foundation for Lovejoy Schools, the non-profit we are supporting finds creative ways to raise money and uses those funds to give back to our school district.
This comes in many forms – but of course the tech mom that I am, I get most excited about seeing all of the new technology donated to our students!
Thank you for your vote and support!
Special thanks to Reliant Energy for donating a $1000 to the Foundation for Lovejoy schools and for having Digital Mom Blog out for the Gingerbread House competition!