I would like to introduce you to our latest Christmas Gift Guide 2019 Sponsor Oliver the Ornament. Which I can’t wait to share with David and Charlie.
Perhaps the latest example of how the world seems to have lost touch with basic human kindness came this weekend when NFL fans booed the league’s nicest quarterback, Andrew Luck, for putting his health and family welfare ahead of a potential $500 million paycheck.
Charlie saw this information online and asked me why are people so mean. I didn’t have the answer to this question. Just like I couldn’t tell Charlie why kids would bully Charlie when he was younger.
I could share Oliver The Ornament with Charlie and let anyone know who was being bullied deserved Oliver and if possible we would purchase one for them.
Need more examples of how mean we are to each other? They’re easy to find. Here’s one. Here’s another one. And another. I could go on and on and on.
It’s high time something was done to help combat this kind of behavior. Thankfully, there’s a new partnership that is trying. And it’s launching just as kids head back to school where bullying remains rampant.
The Grange, a national organization that’s supported families for more than 150 years, and Oliver the Ornament have teamed up to spread a message of kindness.
A Fundraiser Powered by Kindness:
The Grange and Oliver the Ornament Join Forces
First of its Kind Partnership Launches This Week as Kids Go Back to School
CHICAGO – August 26, 2019 – For more than 150 years, the Grange has worked to support and help the American family and promote civility and tolerance between people and as part of that mission is now partnering with a new author whose children’s book-series focuses on kindness and offers a range of children’s activities taught by a set of animated Christmas ornaments.
“We’ve offered programs in years past to address bullying and sadly, that issue isn’t going away,” said National Junior Grange Director Samantha Wilkins.
“The Oliver books and programs are a wonderful, and we think effective, way to really communicate with our young people because they’ll really connect with the characters in the books.”
The partnership includes a fundraising program that Grange chapters can use to generate funds for kindness or anti-bullying programs at the local level, with the use of those funds directed by vote of local Junior Grange members age 5-14.
At the national level, the organization will earmark the funds for a scholarship for the Junior Ambassador program and that face of the Junior Grange will help promote tolerance, understanding, kindness and anti-bullying.
“We love this idea because we’re not just selling a product that will be consumed and forgotten – we are promoting a much-needed value today. This will solidify some of the lessons inherent in the Junior Grange and remind our older members how important these are as well,” said Wilkins.”Oliver’s message of kindness and anti-bullying is, for us, a perfect fit.”
Wilkins said Oliver’s kindness campaign materials will be available to all 1,700 Granges across the nation and will be used as they see fit at conventions, regional and state meetings and other places where Granges have display booths and events.
The Grange, a national organization founded in 1867, strengthens individuals, families and communities through grassroots action, service, education, advocacy and agriculture awareness.
“One of the best things about this partnership is the flexibility it gives each Grange to take on the issue and be part of the solution,” National Grange President Betsy Huber said.
“Since our Grange structure is grassroots, each local Grange can choose to work on projects most important to their communities in ways that make the most sense for them.
We know this is an issue that is nationwide and believe our Granges will make good use of Oliver as a resource to get out the message that we need civility and kindness now and always.”
Todd Zimmermann, Oliver’s creator, will be attending the Grange National Convention in November to share insights about the book series’ impact on a culture that seems to be heading away from kindness rather than toward it.
The Grange partnership launch coincides with back-to-school season, which can be a time when bullying issues resurface.
- More than 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year.
- For kids with disabilities, the percentages are dramatically higher.
- School-based anti-bullying programs can help decrease bullying by 25%
“When I wrote this book, it was because I had the idea that every Christmas ornament tells a story and then Oliver’s story came to me,” Zimmerman said.
“Since then, I’ve had hundreds of teachers tell me how impactful the story is and how much the message needs to be told and retold. I’m ecstatic to work with the Grange, which has worked for more than 150 years to support families and spread kindness.”
In the two years since the launch of the first book, Zimmermann has expanded the Oliver the Ornament book and ornaments line, to include a script for Oliver the Musical that chapter members can perform, along with lesson plans and kindness programs teachers across the country are already using free-of-charge.
He’s donated more than 3,000 books to children’s hospitals across the country and sets aside a portion of profits from each book for additional charitable donations.
Oliver the Ornament is a seven-book series and related gift line that celebrates the tradition and stories of Christmas ornaments. Every ornament has a story and teaches the importance of kindness especially in the face of bullying, which has reached epidemic proportions.
The first story focuses on Oliver, a Christmas ornament who has been with his human family since Mom and Dad’s very first date. Years later, Oliver, now injured and bullied, still has the magic of Christmas in his heart.
The story follows Oliver’s anticipation of Christmas, his heartbreak, and his determination to overcome all odds to save the day.
The unique appeal of Oliver’s message of kindness has been having a major impact around the country. Not only was Oliver the Ornament named as one of the Best New Books by People Magazine, but it was also featured on Fox & Friends as one of the Hottest Toys of 2018.
Oliver’s anti-bullying theme has even struck a chord with the White House. First Lady Melania Trump chose to read Oliver the Ornament at the annual holiday visit to Children’s National Hospital in Washington D.C., a continuing tradition begun by Bess Truman some 70 years ago. The first lady’s own initiative, Be Best, echoes the concerns of Oliver in teaching kindness and combating bullying.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
