Mandey Hearts Mapleton

I am originally from a small town named Oscoda, Michigan & I know you guys often read about how much I miss it there. Small towns rule. Seriously. Everyone has each other's backs. Everyone is there for one another. People aren't all about the rat race & are all about each other. I love my small town & all the people in it.

 My friend, Mandey (from Mama & the Dudes), is also from a small town named Mapleton, Iowa & on April 9th, her small town was hit by an EF3 tornado. When I heard about this from Mandey, I was devastated for her. I instantly thought of my hometown after seeing this photo that Mapleton's governor posted on Twitter:

I imagined my beloved, "downtown," Oscoda completely destroyed like the photo above. I imagined all of the people in my simple home town whose lives would be forever changed. Who were now homeless.

To give you a little insight to what these people are going through, here is an excerpt from Mandey's blog:

"On April 9, my rural hometown of about 1,200 people, Mapleton, Iowa was hit by an EF3 tornado. It is estimated that 120 homes have been damaged or destroyed, along with many businesses. Thankfully, and almost by a miracle, no one was seriously injured, including my parents, brothers and sister and lots of other friends and family. 

But there is a lot of work to be done. The streets, once lined with beautiful green trees are now littered with piles of debris from all over the city. Many people have lost everything. In a town so small, something like this is devastating."

A group of insanely generous bloggers has come together to donate some fantastic things for a giveaway so Mandey can help raise some money for her home town. To enter, you don't need a blog or even a Google account. You just need $5. And when you see some of these prizes, that's kind of nuts. The people who are donating are listed below. To see the super fun prizes, stop by Mandey's blog; she has some faboosh photos up of everything you can win.

You can find all of the rules & learn how to donate over at Mandey's blog. For serious people....I think you can sacrifice a grande vanilla latte for a day & donate to these people who have lost their homes & livelihoods. The HUGE amount of prizes is just a bonus after helping out these people who need it so badly.