Put a smile on someones face this holiday :)

Holidays are all about family, friends, and celebrating. We often get so caught up in buying and receiving gifts that we forget what it's really all about. We give gifts to put a smile on the faces of our loved ones. Seeing them happy makes us happy. Every year I try to help out by donating to different organizations in order to put a smile on the face of a needy child. My church participates The Angel Tree , an organization that gives gifts to children who's parents are incarcerated during the holiday season. Last year I was able to pull a tag from the Starbucks Tree (help a kid and grab a coffee at the same time..easy as can be). They participate in the  Aspiranet Gift Drive , collecting gifts for kids in foster care.

This year I have decided to give back to people that are in the hospital or struggling with health issues. As a nurse, I always tried to do a little something extra for my patients that were in the hospital during the holidays. Our hospital has carolers that come on Christmas and it really makes our patients feel special. Last year I got a small taste of what it feels like to be stuck in the hospital on a holiday. I was still recovering from my stroke last year and was on the Stroke /Traumatic Brain Injury Recovery Unit when Fourth of July rolled around. I was so sad that I was going to be stuck in bed in the hospital, fortunately it was getting close to my discharge date and I was able to go on a home visit for a few hours to eat with my family and see everybody. This was only fourth of July and I was able to see my family, I can only imagine how tough it is to be hospitalized during the holiday season .

HERE ARE 3 ORGANIZATIONS THAT YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE TO WITHOUT HAVING TO EVEN LEAVE YOUR HOME

Amazon Shoppers : Before making your purchase click on this link. The Amazon button is located at the top right of your screen and you can search any item that you would like ( just like on the amazon site). 4-6% of your total purchase will be donated to Dysautonmia Research  to help fund new research projects in hope of find new treatment options and a cure for those of us suffering from Autonomic Dysfunction. Just search each item on the Dysautonomia page before adding it to your cart.This is the easiest way to give back, make your normal purchases and help out at the same time! Thank You supporting me and others like me :)

Sacred Heart PICU Gift Drive : Fellow blogger Amber  at Averie Lane started a PICU gift drive three years ago in honor of her beautiful daughter Averie. You can read Amber and Averie's story Here . For three years Averie's family has been collecting Kohl Cares gift sets to give to each child in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Sacred Heart Hospital during the month of December. You can contribute by spending just $10 to help brighten a little boy or little girls day. Your ten dollars will be used to purchase one book and one stuffed animal. The Kohls cares program gives 100% of the profits to kids healthcare and education initiatives. Top that with giving the gift to a sick child and you've helped out not once but twice!CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE

Go Fund Me:Many of you have read my story and know that I have been looking into getting treatment to stop the progression of my illness. Earlier this year I found the POTS Treatment Center in Dallas, Texas but wasn't able to afford the expensive program. With the help of family and friends I started my donation page and was able to raise the money for my treatment which starts next week! Go Fund Me is a fundraising website that helps people spread their stories and raise money for various needs such as medical bills and treatments, funeral costs, houses to support those who have been affected by natural disasters ect.. You can find people in need of money in order to get POTS treatment by searching "POTS" or "Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome" in the search engine on the go fund me page. You can search for specific needs to donate to if you have a different cause that is near and dear to your heart.Even the smallest donation helps :)

Thank you for reading and contributing what you can this holiday season