GIVING BACK Being a teen travel and life-style blogger is more than I could ever have dreamed of. Having the opportunities to travel all over the country and world have been such a blessing. I am grateful for each and every trip, journey, excursion and adventure.
But now it is time for me to give back. Since I began travel blogging with my mom, we have both said we want our purpose to be meaningful. At first, we weren’t sure exactly what that looked like. Inspiring girls to travel and take risks seemed obvious at the time, and is still an aspiring goal.
However, being an influencer, I feel there are more important jobs to be done. There are animals suffering, refugees ill and lost without homes, homeless people cold and alone, girls that cannot attend schools due to lack of hygienic products, schools that barely have resources for students to learn and the list unfortunately goes on and on. I have been asking myself for months, ‘What can I do to make a difference?’
Well, a few weeks ago my mom was contacted by another mom whose daughter follows Pedis-N-Passports. Her name is Gabi Frank, a 13-year-old girl from Downers Grove. She told me she has collected 2,000 books for children in the Caribbean through Pack for a Purpose and Sandals Foundation. I was so thrilled to hear about this noble charity and immediately wanted to partake.
Pack for a Purpose was founded by Rebecca Rothney and a team of a few wonderful volunteers. Their mission is “to positively impact communities around the world by assisting travelers who want to bring meaningful contributions to the destinations they visit.”
If you are planning a vacation, you should definitely go to their website and see if the community you are visiting is in need of any supplies. I mean what is better than going on an amazing vacation and helping people simultaneously.
Pack for a Purpose provides supply lists on its website for destinations in over 60 countries. The needed items range from school supplies, to personal hygiene, to clothing and all sorts of items (many other requested items). People all over the world are in need and if you are fortunate enough to travel, it is a humanitarian responsibility to give back.
So Gabi and I are asking for your help. We would like to collect 3,000 new and gently used books for children ages 3-6 years old for a new school in Jamaica.
If you are willing to donate a book or two, please email us at: pedis.n.passports@gmail.com. Please spread the word and help make a difference one book at a time.
ABOUT THE BLOGGERS
Naperville mom and teacher, Kristen Kainrath and her teen daughter, Brooke, are a mother-daughter travel-blogging team who have always shared an incurable case of wanderlust. Their goal is to inspire girls to follow their passions and appreciate the diversity of our global community. Follow them on their journeys at www.pedisnpassports.com and watch for their monthly article inside Glancer Magazine in 2017.
