Wow Monday already! Thanks for returning for more light and love from the Make A Difference Mondays community. I hope this is a place of refreshment, encouragement, inspiration, and fellowship for you. I’m excited to welcome another inspirational new friend to the blog today. Her mission and ministry behind her family’s new non-profit have captured my heart and it’s a privilege to be able to introduce you to Pamela and Project Lead Kindly. Please join me in cheering Pamela on and welcoming her to this next round of MADM community interviews today 🙂
– Tell us a little about yourself and your family?
My name is Pamela Macdonald and I am a blogger over at
Macdonald’s Playland. In my blog, I share my life, creative outlets, and a smorgasbord of other topics I enjoy as I adventure through wifehood and motherhood (also, I can write words like “smorgasbord”). One of my biggest goals with my blog is to inspire and help (even in some little way) fellow women, wives, and mommies going through their own adventure…all while documenting my own.
I’m from southern California and I’m a wife, mother of two, a registered nurse (worked in postpartum & labor and delivery before having my kids), and my amazing husband and I co-founded Project Lead Kindly, a nonprofit organization that assists mothers & children affected by homelessness and domestic violence.
– Where did you get your passion to make a difference?
I can remember always having a desire to help others, even when I was little, and I think that came directly from my two wonderful parents and their examples. I would say my passion for making a difference grew even more after I became a wife and mother. I had a greater desire to be a good example to my family. I mean, my husband and I first had the idea for Project Lead Kindly when we were discussing how we could better teach our children and be good examples to them. They were our inspiration for this nonprofit.
I also feel a passion to serve when I know there are other people out there who struggle and, through circumstances that may or may not have been under their control, have lost their hope and ability to see their great potential to do good. There have been moments in my life when I have certainly felt that low and the thought kills me to think that other mothers and children may feel that way in their lives. I know it helped me to remember my worth and to realize I can always make a difference, even in some small way, and so my goal is to help more people to believe and to remember their potential to do good and to find hope again, no matter how hard life may get. We hope to help them to see that there are still people out there who care and believe in them.
– Tell us about your organization and it’s mission?
Project Lead Kindly is a nonprofit organization that assists mothers & children affected by homelessness & domestic violence. We are also on a mission to spread a message that all have the potential within to help others, make a difference, and to “lead kindly,” no matter what life has thrown at them.
There are 3 ways we accomplish our mission.
1)
Lead Kindly Message:
Our message is about helping others to remember their potential to do good, no matter what life throws their way. We spread the “lead kindly” message through presentations to groups of the mothers or kids we service at shelters or centers, and we also try to spread the message to everyone who comes in contact with our organization (whether on social media, in conversation, etc.). There are various ways to get involved and to help spread our message or learn our message yourself. You can find those here:
http://www.projectleadkindly.com/p/volunteer.html
2)
Lead Kindly Awards: We offer grants that assist mothers & kids affected by homelessness & domestic violence to achieve educational or professional goals, as well as safer/permanent housing. Individuals can apply for these awards on our website. Part of the application process is to give thought to how they have “lead kindly,” or how they want to “lead kindly,” in the future. The awards not only help these families financially, but we strive to help them see that they can still make a difference in their own families and in their own lives, no matter what. You can find out more about our awards here:
http://www.projectleadkindly.com/p/grants.html.
3) Lead Kindly Projects: We do service projects (ie: donation drives) at various times in the year. We collect donations (in-kind items like clothing or canned goods, etc) that will help a specific group of mothers or children affected by homelessness or domestic violence. We have an upcoming Christmas project where we will be donating items to a certain shelter.
– How do you hope to change the world for the better through this mission?
It is our hope that we can truly help break cycles of homelessness & domestic violence within families.
-When children see good examples of kindness, they can follow suit.
-When mothers remember their potential to do good, they can find hope & healing from what they’ve gone through when they involve themselves in kindness and service.
-When we provide our grants, we help get these families further away from a life of homelessness & domestic violence.
-By spreading our message, we are hoping to help ALL to realize their potential within to do good, no matter what life throws their way. We hope our message can be heard and felt by all who come in contact with our organization.
Everyone goes through their own sets of trials. We are all dealt struggles and weaknesses and hardships. However, it is our belief that all have that light within to do good. Even if you were to lose everything, you still have that light within you. It just sometimes needs to be uncovered, or you sometimes need to be reminded that it is still there. It is our hope to help people, especially these mothers & children going through some of the harshest realities of life, to remember that light within them.
If anyone would like to find out more about Project Lead Kindly, our mission, and our message, definitely check out our website, or follow along on facebook, instagram, and twitter! You can also participate in our upcoming online instagram auction at www.instagram.com/auctionleadkindly (runs from November 4th-8th) where 100% of proceeds goes towards assisting the mothers & kids we reach.
Make A Difference Mondays is a weekly linkup designed to encourage and inspire us to live each day on purpose—making a meaningful difference in someone’s life in even the smallest of ways. There will be five women regularly co-hosting this link-up that will appear on all five of our blogs and we also have three wonderful co-hosts who will fill in as guest hosts on the occasional day that a regular co-host is not able to post. Read on to learn more about our vision, mission, and how to link up!
Our mission is to provide a consistent gathering place for like-minded women to build online connections, share inspiration, and provide mutual encouragement and accountability as we seek to live intentionally and make a difference in the lives of those around us.
Every Monday we will invite bloggers to link-up any blog posts that encourage women to live life on purpose. This could include testimonies or goals from your own life, small acts of kindness or service, creative tips or ideas for showing consideration to others — the possibilities are endless. Our objective is to use our God-given time and resources to His glory!
Have you found us on
facebook yet? If not, what are you waiting for?
LINK UP YOUR POSTS HERE:
[inlinkz_linkup id=460837 mode=1]
It’s so inspiring to read about people who are going out in their communities and DOING things! Thank you, Pamela, for following your passion and being a light to your world.
Thanks for that encouragement! Couldn’t agree more 🙂
Project Lead Kindly sounds like a wonderful organization. Thanks for sharing this inspirational story.
Yes! the best kind of wonderful 🙂
It’s a joy to meet an organization who is out there trying to make a difference every day! Awesome! Thanks for hosting and for sharing this great cause!
Yes! Thanks for cheering them on with us Sarah! 🙂
I love the simple reminder that everyone can make a difference! So true! Doesn’t matter how old you are, what you do, what you can’t do – a small act of kindness toward another person can be such a difference maker! Thanks for sharing!
You nailed it Holly! Soooo true! Thanks for chiming in 🙂
So inspiring! I’m loving these features! This week I am sharing two posts: one on my journey to health and holiness (because BOTH things are important, though one is more important!) and the other on how to be married to the most attractive man on earth (I know you want to be!). 😉
Thanks for hosting again Sybil!
Love love love it!