Random Acts of Zhu: Giving Away 104 Zhu Zhu Pets!

by Lori Cunningham

What a thrill it was to give away 104 Zhu Zhu Pets last week.  In November, the makers of Zhu Zhu Pets, Cepia,  contacted WellConnectedMom.com to see if we would be interested in giving away 100+ Zhu Zhu Pets as a part of the Random Acts of Zhu event.  As you can imagine, I didn’t hesitate, I said “yes” right away.

Cepia loves to give back to the community so they created the Random Acts of Zhu campaign in which 100 bloggers were given 104 Zhu Zhu Pets to give to charities of their choice.  As a result, over 10,000 Zhu Zhu Pets were given away to charities all over the nation.  Wow!  Thank you, Cepia, for giving the WellConnectedMom.com the opportunity to be a part of it!  We had an awesome week giving out the pets!  Here are the results of our Zhu Zhu Pets giveaways….

We chose two charities to receive Zhu Zhu Pets as a part of their Christmas celebration.  The first charity was AlternateAvenues.org which helps women and men through unplanned pregnancies by providing free counseling, pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, and support.  As moms-to-be anxiously await the birth of their baby, Alternate Avenues helps prepare them through parent education, fellowship with other moms, and getting them resources to ensure needs are met.

On Tuesday, Dec. 14th, we attended Alternate Avenue’s Christmas party for women and  their families in the

Bridges program.  We had a great time!  There were pregnant women and babies everywhere!  What a joy to see so many women with hope in their hearts.  We jumped

right in and helped to serve dinner, hold babies so moms could eat, hand out desserts,

and pick up trash.  Then we handed out the Zhu Zhu pets to the

older siblings and boy were they thrilled!

The second charity chosen was Pacific Lifeline.  Pacific Lifeline  is a transitional home for women who were self-supporting and then found themselves in a crisis.  Pacific Lifeline empowers women and children facing chronic homelessness to achieve personal and social stability.

On Thursday, Dec. 16th, we attended the Pacific Lifeline women’s’ shelter alumni Christmas party.  This party was for graduates of the shelter – women who made a new start for themselves on their own.  The party was a lot of fun.  It was like a big reunion because many of the women there had lived with each other at the shelter before going out on their own again.  It was really neat to see the strong bonds

s these women had created during one of the toughest times in their lives.

Later in the evening, Santa arrived with a bag full of….well….Zhu Zhu Pets of course!  Kids of all ages received a Zhu ZhuPet–from toddlers to teenagers.  Most, if not all the kids had never owned a Zhu Zhu Pet before.  I’ll never forget the excitement and thrill a  group of boys had when they took their Pets out of their packages and raced them towards each other in pure delight.  Even the teenagers liked the cute little furry hamsters.  Zhu Zhu Pets are so whimsical, how could you not fall in love with these cute furry little critters?

We loved seeing the faces on the kids as their moms took their new pet out of the box.  The moms were as delighted as the kids with the cute little noises the Pets made.  It was an honor to be a part of the Random Acts of Zhu campaign.  My kids and the kids of friends who joined us really had a blast.  It was a great teaching opportunity to teach our kids about giving and putting focus on others this Christmas season.

The director from the center was very appreciative.  Before she received my call about the donation last month,  they were worried about how they would be able to collect and wrap enough gifts before the big party.  They were so relieved to hear that their kids would be receiving Zhu Zhu Pets.  They had never had the luxury of giving every child the same type of gift before.  It worked out really well this year as every kid was excited about their gift and there was no hurt feelings about someone else getting something better than they received.

A Mom’s Perspective

We had enough Zhu Zhu Pets to ensure that all the current families living in Pacific

Lifeline’s shelter received Zhu Zhu Pets too.  Mission accomplished.  Giving out the Zhu Zhu Pets was very rewarding.  Cepia’s intent in creating Random Acts of Zhu was to 1.) give back to the community and 2.) encourage others to give this holiday season.

As we are all too busy with buying presents, wrapping presents, sending out Christmas cards, buying the tree, decorating the tree, baking cookies, etc.,  are we missing the true meaning of Christmas?  Why is it that for many people Christmas is the most stressful time of the year?  Are your family traditions based just on your family?  Is this Christmas time peaceful and contemplative or stressful and hurried?

Helping those less fortunate at Christmastime is a powerful way to help you re-prioritize your to-do list and relish in the peace, hope, faith, and joy that Jesus’ birth was meant to bring.  I thank you, Random Acts of Zhu, for reminding me of the importance of giving  back at Christmastime and releasing some of the duties I once felt were more important.