For this month’s meetup, The Rising Tide Society gave back to others in need. We focused on a big meetup in the evening for one organization and a donation drop in the morning for another organization. During the day, the lovely Sydney, owner of Sydney Appleton Wedding + Design, and I dropped off hygiene products, kid craft supplies, and gifts for mothers that all the RTS members had graciously donated ahead of time to House of Hope. House of Hope offers a safe, supportive place where young mothers learn to become competent adults and independent, successful parents. They support and encourage young women during tough times in their lives. After we dropped off the donations, we sipped coffee with their staff members as they gave us a tour of the facility! It was amazing to see everything they are doing to better the lives of so many young women and children in our community!

For the evening gathering and donation collection, we met at Starrys Realty for a night of wine, food, desserts, and helping Jake’s Diapers. Jake’s Diapers is a 501(c)3 non-profit cloth diaper organization dedicated to changing the lives of babies, children, and adults in need; whose caregivers have to choose between food and diapers. Their mission is to provide cloth diapers to those in need wherever they may be. They donate thousands of cloth diapers and supplies to people in need all around the world!

RTS members donated cloth diapers, formula, and baby wipes for diaper drops in Guatemala and Haiti. We spent the night packing all the donations into suitcases to be delivered. We all had so much fun learning about how cloth diapers can really make a huge impact in people’s lives and in helping the environment.

Thanks to Karli of Cake and Cookie for baking delicious desserts for our meetup!

Thanks to Bridgett from 416 Cuisine for making the yummy appetizers. Her artichoke dip was AMAZING!

So grateful for the wonderful Starry Family for allowing us to use their beautiful space! Huge thank you to their awesome daughter, Stella, who put out the word about donating and with her help we were able to receive so many diapers, formula, and cash donations totaling over $500! What an amazing girl!!

Stella is so excited about all the items we collected!!

Co-founder of Jakes Diaper’s, Stephanie, is teaching everyone about cloth diapers and how it can positively impact the lives of so many beautiful babies all over the world.

We then packed up ALL the donations in about ten suitcases and boxes to be hand-delivered to homes and orphanages in Guatemala and Haiti! Look at those RTS members hard at work! They make me so proud!!

I am beyond thankful for this AMAZING group and all who donated and attended our meetups yesterday!! This group is so much more than just getting together for wine and business tips. This group is CHANGING the world for the better. To say I’m proud to lead this group of wonderful individuals would be an understatement.  The kindness and generosity the members demonstrate warms my heart. Together we are not only making waves, we are making a difference.

If you are interested in finding out more about these organizations and how you can help, email me (shaunae@shaunae.com) with the subject line “RTS Volunteer Opportunity” to find out how you can join us in making a difference in our community and our world!