seva projects – mindful littles

March 2018 Highlights

March 21, 2018March 26, 2018tanukargordon

March has been a busy month with lots of exciting projects and workshops. Here are just some highlights from March!

Shelter Workshop at the Animal Rescue Foundation

Always a hit are our shelter workshops at the Animal Rescue Foundation. Families had a chance to make animals with clay, do some fun animal yoga poses and get a wonderful interactive tour of the shelter with ARF.

Cooking Meals for Operation Dignity

We had the chance to cook meals for Operation Dignity in Oakland. Local families joined us to make stuffed pasta shells and croissants with hazelnut spread. This was the first time we had Youth Leaders from Boys Charity League join us to deliver the meals to the shelter.

AWE workshop at Temple Isaiah Jewish Sunday School

We are doing more and more educational workshops at local institutions. Temple Isaiah in Lafayette welcomed us to facilitate workshop on a Jewish value called Awe. Families had a chance to learn about Awe, practice yoga outdoors and make treasure chests filled with awe-inspiring goodies to take home.

Lamorinda Moms Egg Hunt

Some of our youth leaders, Reagan and Harper, ran an entire station at the Lamorinda Moms Egg Hunt and visited with hundreds of families. Mindful Littles is the exclusive charity partner for Lamorinda Moms, and we are excited to be teaming up for the April 29 backpack event to help Oakland Unified School District.

Emergency Backpacks for the Homeless with White Pony Express

A special event to help to a special nonprofit organization- White Pony Express- which dedicates itself to helping low-income people with a lot of love. We organized an Emergency Backpack project to help provide cold weather supplies and kits that the homeless could use.

Cookin’ for a Cause: Bay Area Rescue Mission

Mindful Littles and My Sustainable Table are partnering to helping Bay Area Rescue Mission by cooking meals for families in need. We will cook the meals at a local commercial kitchen in Berkeley and the meals will be delivered to our nonprofit.

During our event, families will get to:

Learn mindful nutrition tips with some tastings
Practice gratitude exercises
Learn about the cause we are supporting
Make meals for families in need

We will provide all supplies needed to cook the meals, so all you have to do is show up with a big heart and be ready to have some fun.

Spreading Holiday Cheer for “Seniors Around Town”

There’s no better way to spread some holiday love than getting seniors and littles together to have some fun. Seniors Around Town is having a holiday party. Mindful Littles has been invited to join the festivities. During this sweet get-together, littles will get to walk around and pass out candy to seniors. Afterwards there will be an opportunity to mingle with seniors and get to share in the holiday spirit.

Baskets and candy will be provided by Seniors Around Town for the event. Littles will also get sandwiches and snacks. Come with a big heart for a relaxing and fun social before the winter break.

Cookin’ for a Cause: Shelter Inc.

Mindful Littles is thrilled to be partnering with My Sustainable Table to start a program called “Cookin’ for a Cause.” For our first event, we are helping Shelter Inc by cooking meals for 10 families in need. We will cook the meals at a local commercial kitchen in Berkeley and the meals will be delivered to Mountain View Emergency Shelter in Martinez.

During our event, families will get to:

Learn mindful nutrition tips with some tastings
Practice gratitude exercises
Learn about the cause we are supporting
Make meals for families in need

We will provide all supplies needed to cook the meals, so all you have to do is show up with a big heart and be ready to have some fun. Register on EventBrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cookin-for-a-cause-shelter-inc-tickets-39675792363

Mindful Little Spotlight: Ellie Shandalov

May 25, 2017May 31, 2017tanukargordon

Our #MindfulLittleSpotlight story is about a special young lady named Ellie Shandalov. Ellie is 13-years old and first came to Mindful Littles during our inaugural event last fall, when we partnered with a wonderful organization called Youth Homes. Read more →

Hope and Courage for more Dannys

March 27, 2017March 27, 2017tanukargordon

So often many of us, myself included, go through each day taking for granted some of the most simple pleasures in life. I almost never stop to think about the fact that I get to have toothpaste, a toothbrush, shampoo, soap and so much more; and that truly we are so lucky to get to have these luxuries. In fact, World Bank projects that as of 2015, based on the poverty line of $1.90 per day, “global poverty may have reached 700 million, or 9.6 percent of the global population.” This statistic alone sets things into perspective. I spend double the global poverty line in a single Starbucks visit. What’s even more jarring is to realize that there are kids that live right by us, in neighboring towns, who have been severely abused and neglected. These kids are worried about their safety, whether they have a home or a family to rely on- let alone the simple pleasures of life that we so often take for granted. Read more →

A Big Valentine’s Thank You to our Local Firefighters

February 13, 2017February 13, 2017tanukargordon

Gratitude was the theme of this weekend’s Mindful Littles community service event. Yesterday we got together with several families from our community to give a big Valentine’s Thank You gift to our local Moraga-Orinda Fire Department (MOFD) to thank them for their service.

During our event we heard from two local firefighters, got to tour a fire engine and learn about the different equipment they use. In addition to explaining the types of calls they get and some fire safety tips, the firemen also explained to the kids how they deal with their own fears when fighting fires by relying on their training and camaraderie. Read more →

Mindful Little Spotlight: Caden Morrow

January 18, 2017January 18, 2017tanukargordon

We have learned about some incredible stories about a few local children doing some amazing mindful work and giving back to the community. Some of these kids have been inspired by our Mindful Littles community service events and have started campaigns to help the causes they learned about. We want to start featuring these awesome littles and share their stories with our community.

Our first #MindfulLittleSpotlight is about a big-hearted 1st grader, Caden Morrow. Read more →

84 hygiene kits made with love and a jump-start to end the night

January 9, 2017tanukargordon

We had our second “Helping Haiti Kids” event yesterday which was another heartfelt event with local families. We had a wonderful turnout despite the super stormy weather. Our event followed a similar agenda as our first one in December, which you can read about here. Because of both events, we completed 84 hygiene kits and now every child in the Center of Hope Haiti school will receive a personalized hygiene kit- each kit showcasing a polaroid picture and special wish from the family who made the kit. Read more →

Mindful Littles Gives Back to Haiti Schoolkids

December 6, 2016December 8, 2016tanukargordon

This last weekend we were very excited to host another Mindful Littles community service event. This time we partnered with a wonderful organization called Center of Hope- Haiti (COHH). COHH has built an orphanage and school in the small town of Hinche in Haiti and has an incredible mission: “To foster livelihood and hope for the future of orphaned children of Haiti by providing shelter, education, nutrition, emotional security, healthcare and life skills to the children and their caregivers.”

The children who attend the COHH school have an ongoing need for hygiene supplies, so during our event we put together hygiene kits and created personalized cards for the schoolchildren. We also taught the littles (and their bigs) at our event about the country of Haiti, about the children in Hinche, and about some mindfulness and compassion practices.