“This review was made possible by Double Duty Divas and Pampers. I was provided the featured product free of charge to facilitate my review, but all opinions are 100% mine.”

I was selected to be a part of an amazing campaign through Double Duty Divas and sponsored by Pampers.  I was given a $100 prepaid gift card and 2 packages of Pampers diapers and told to “give the gift of sleep” to a baby/family in my community.  These are the directions I was given:

Pampers is looking for bloggers to give back to a baby/family in their community all in the spirit of the “gift of sleep.” We want creative bloggers to surprise a deserving family with ways to promote sleep and capture your experience in pictures and/or video.  Maybe a gift basket of cozy linens, soft pajamas and lavender candles?  Perhaps a date night planned for the new Mom and Dad so they can sleep in?  It’s totally up to you!

My first thought was to surprise my next door neighbors.  They have a 9 month old daughter and the husband works off shore most of the month and is only home 8 days at a time.  This leaves his wife to take care of their baby by herself most of the month.  She works from home but as their daughter gets older and more mobile, it has gotten harder to work, get things done around the house, etc.

Planning my neighbor’s gift inspired me to do more.  I didn’t want to just “give the gift of sleep” to my neighbors, I wanted to give to as many people as I could.  That’s when I came up with the idea to buy pajamas to donate to a local shelter.  I decided to contact several companies to donate items for my neighbors’ gift so I would have the entire gift card to use to purchase pajamas.  (You can read about my gift of sleep to my neighbors here.)  But where would I find pajamas that were a decent quality but also inexpensive enough for me to purchase a decent amount of them to donate?  I searched the internet and came up empty handed.  Then I happened to glace over at a store ad for the week.  In the small corner section of the ad it said that they were having a summer clearance sale that included pajamas for only $3.99.  It was as if this sale was meant for me!
I rushed over and purchased 10 pairs of pajamas to donate (and some clothes for my daughters).  When I got home and checked my rewards account from the store I saw that I had earned $27 back in bonus rewards from that purchase.  I spent the next few days going to several different locations to purchase pajamas using a combination of the money on the gift card, the bonus reward points that I was earning from my purchases, and my own money.  In all I ended up buying 40 pairs of women’s pajamas to donate to a local women’s abuse shelter!

I was so excited and felt so blessed to be able to donate 40 pairs of pajamas and the 2 packages of Pampers to the shelter this morning.  It feels so good to be able to give back to the community.  I had planed on asking if I could take some pictures of the shelter employees accepting my donation and whatever else they would have let me take pictures of.  I figured that because it was an abuse shelter I would only be able to photograph certain things.  What I hadn’t realized was that the shelter’s office would be closed for Columbus Day.  DOH!
Once I arrived the security guard buzzed me in and then helped me bring everything inside.  At that point I couldn’t turn around and say, “Sorry, I’ll come back tomorrow to make this donation so I can take pictures for my blog.”  So unfortunately I do not have pictures from today, but I do still have the warmth in my heart from knowing that I helped so many others.  I spent a long time talking to the security guard after I dropped the pajamas off.  She was telling me how so many women (and men too) come to the shelter with only the clothes on their backs, some even without shoes.  They have such a need for new items.  It was then that I knew that I would be back to the shelter again soon.  I plan on going back soon to donate toiletry items from my stockpile.

I want to thank Pampers and Double Duty Divas for this opportunity that has really had a huge impact on me.   This “gift of sleep” has turned into so much more for me and I hope it inspires you, too.

Pampers diapers have superior overnight dryness and protection!  By interviewing over 9,000 moms about what was important for their baby, Pampers found the number one unmet need is a diaper that provides superior overnight dryness. Pampers incorporated this firsthand insight, as well as the brand’s deep understanding of baby and baby’s needs, to design a diaper that both mom and baby can count on for up to 12 hours of overnight protection.  Pampers Swaddlers, Pampers’ softest diaper and the #1 choice of hospitals, is now available through size 5.  Pampers Cruisers are now more absorbent and offer Pampers’ best fit for all the ways babies play freely.

Click the image below to learn more about Pampers’ new innovations:
Connect to Pampers on Facebook and Pampers on Twitter.