Hello friends, Cassidy here! For those of you who don’t know, a part of my role here at Living in Yellow is Social and Community Outreach! This year we are excited to announce and introduce LIY Giveback Week! The team wanted to do something together, including both the team and our online community [that’s YOU!], where we could join forces and participate in giving back together. We are taking initiative to reach out to the women in our daily lives, our local community, and our community at large through random acts of kindness, volunteering, donation, and much more! The thought process behind this week is simple:

Our Focus:
Throughout the next week, we will be encouraging you to support, encourage, and empower women through volunteering, donation, activities, and events.

Our Process:
As the days of the week advance, we encourage you to reach further out, beginning with the women of your daily life [family, church group, coworkers, etc.] and ending with women across the globe! [How cool, right?!] We will be offering nonmonetary as well as monetary options, but however you choose to give is up to you and always appreciated!

LIY Giveback Week:
[Monday, July 23rd] – Women in Your Daily Life
The power of saying thank you. 

We encourage you to empower the women in your daily life/family by showing gratitude freely and genuinely. A small act of appreciation may deepen a friendship, repair a bond or make sure another person knows what they mean to you! Saying thank you and showing someone that you care is much more powerful than you may think!

Download these printable cards to give the women of your daily life and leave them a note of appreciation!

Download here:
 

[Tuesday, July 24th] – The Women of Your Local Community
Host a women empowerment party!  

Bring together women of your local community [friends, extended family, church group, coworkers, etc.] and engage in uplifting, confidence building, and empowering exercises to recognize the power of women in your community. The LIY team recently hosted our own empowerment party and despite how silly it may seem, it was eye-opening and empowering! We encourage you to give it a try!

Download these printables and activities so you can host your own empowerment party! Here is everything you will need:

1. Invitations: Send these to the women in your local community to invite them to your empowerment party!
   Download here:
   
2. Toot Your Own Horn Activity: The purpose of this activity is to push yourself, and the women around you, to explore your talents, build positive self-esteem, and allow yourselves as women to OWN your personal power! Work independently then share as a group!
   Download here:
   
3. What Makes Me Feel Beautiful Activity: The purpose of this activity is to explore and define what beauty is. As women, we are often subjected to strict and limiting beauty standards. Use this activity to explore the various ways that make YOU feel beautiful [from physical attributes to your mind and everything in between!] Work independently then share as a group!
   Download here:
   
4. Mason Jar Drop Activity: After you have gathered your jars and labeled them with names, print this sheet [one per participating woman] then cut along the dotted lines! Next, everyone will drop a slip with a saying or phrase into the jar of the woman they think of first! This is a great and simple activity to do at the office [even if you don’t have time for the other activities!]
   Download here:
   
5. Positivity Poster Activity: This one is simple! All you have to do is label each poster board [one for every participating woman] and then hang a few up at a time on the wall or laying out on a table and have everyone go around and write what they love about that person on the poster board! The best part is, they will get to take it home and look it for a little boost of confidence!
   
   

[Wednesday, July 25th] – The Women of the Community at Large
Connect with a local and/or national nonprofit organization!

Join us and connect with Dress for Success!
“Help provide women with professional attire to secure employment and improve economic situations. Aside from styling women with professional attire and fun accessories, empower her with a confidence that she carries forever and the knowledge that she can actively define her life, the direction she takes and what success means to her.”

The Living in Yellow team is SO excited to announce that as a part of our LIY Giveback Week next week, we are partnering with Dress for Success and hosting a local donation drive for women of the community! We will be accepting gently used blouses, jewelry, and closed toe shoes! We are so excited to meet our local readers, enjoy a cocktail, get to know each other, and together, empower women in our community.

Download here:

If you are not local or unable to participate at this time, you can easily get involved by hosting your own donation drive, or continually donating gently used items as you clean out your closet! There are also plenty of other ways to give back to the local Dress for Success chapter near you! Click here to find out more: Dress for Success Worldwide

[Thursday, July 26th] – Women Internationally
Connect with an international nonprofit organization!

This week the Living in Yellow team has chose to support women through the organization Kiva. This organization is absolutely amazing! Kiva helps people internationally gain economic independence through the power of micro-financing and loans. A borrower applies for a loan, the loan goes through an approval process, the loan is supported by lenders for as little as $25 until the fundraising is complete! The borrower then repays the loan and then lenders use repayments to fund new loans, donate or withdraw the money.

“By lending as little as $25 on Kiva, anyone can help a borrower start or grow a business, go to school, access clean energy or realize their potential. For some, it’s a matter of survival, for others it’s the fuel for a life-long ambition.

100% of every dollar you lend on Kiva goes to funding loans. Kiva covers costs primarily through optional donations, as well as through support from grants and sponsors.”

The Living in Yellow team has decided to focus our loan on upcoming business women who are pursuing fashion. We will share who we donate to on our social media platforms, and we encourage you to do the same! Click here to find out more: Kiva

[Friday, July 27th] – The Women of the LIY Tribe
We want to highlight YOU!

This week as we venture out we will share our journey on Instagram and Facebook so follow along if you’d like! Thank you for EVERYTHING that YOU do to giveback to the women in your community. We are so excited to create a difference and inspire others to do the same. Feel free to share your experiences [if you are comfortable] with us too by using the hashtag #LIYGIVEBACKWEEK so we can see what you have been up to! We would love to share what our tribe constantly does to giveback and volunteer on our social platforms. WE CAN’T WAIT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

If you are also participating in any other giveback events, we’d love to know what you are doing or if you have any suggestions for future LIY Giveback Weeks!