Hooray! Five times we have given books and other items away to recognize this special day and we are back a sixth time to do it again! After all, what is better for our hearts, our souls, and our spirits than to be part of giving something away.
So for anyone who hasn’t read my past posts on Darlene’s blog, Give Something Away Day is July 15th. I love a day that encourages us to give something away. After all, you can declutter, dejunk, and lighten your own load. You can also celebrate this day giving away a kindness. You can give away your time with a phone call, check-in on a neighbor, or share a lunch with a friend. How wonderful does lunch out sound after this past year of staying so secluded? Even a picnic lunch that maintains a social distance sounds delicious.
With the pandemic raging over this past year, it is important to still stay safe while also thinking of others. And sadly with this pandemic the news also shows the horrendous uptick in anti-Asian racism. That there has been so much anger, animosity, and racism is even more reason to reach out and give something away especially something heartfelt.
After watching the Free Bystander Intervention Training by Hollaback! the amount of anti-Asian violence and harassment cannot be overlooked. I am convinced more than ever that giving away kindness is an absolute necessity. With that in mind, Darlene and I have chosen to focus our giveaway this year on books by Asian authors or author-illustrators.
Readers who leave a comment will have a chance to win one of three books. I will give away one copy of Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho Illustrated by Dung Ho. It is a beautifully written and illustrated picture book that lyrically celebrates a young girl discovering her own beauty. 
My second giveaway is one we can all relate to—a copy of LeUyen Pham’s Outside, Inside that celebrates essential workers and a community coming together to face the challenges of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Darlene’s giveaway is WISHES, a picture book by Muon Thi Van.
“This rich and nuanced tale illuminates the closely held wishes of refugees the world over. It’s unforgettable.” ― BookPage, starred review
Darlene’s review: “A beautiful story, profound in its simplicity. Seventy-five words of heart-wrenching and soul-stirring wonder. Beautifully illustrated and tenderly rendered. A book that transcends time and should be part of every child’s collection.”
To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment telling us about a kindness you recently gave or received. Your name will be put into a hat and three winners will be drawn at random and announced later this month on the blog. If you share this post on social media, Darlene will give you a second chance to win.
Below please find links to learn about anti-Asian Intervention Training and more by Hollaback! and the links that can always use your time or donations.
Hollaback!: https://www.ihollaback.org/bystanderintervention/#bystander-stop-harassment
The Innocence Project: https://www.innocenceproject.org/
The Trevor Project: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
The National Immigration Law Center: https://www.nilc.org/
The Loveland Foundation: https://thelovelandfoundation.org/
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum: https://www.napawf.org/
Embrace Race: https://www.embracerace.org/
Books for Soldiers: http://booksforsoldiers.com/donate_to_the_soldiers/
Donate Books – Find your public library: http://www.publiclibraries.com/
Dress For Success: https://www.dressforsuccess.org/
Food Bank: http://www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-localfoodbank/?referrer=https://www.google.com/
Vietnam Veterans of America: http://www.pickupplease.org/
Volunteer Match: https://www.volunteermatch.org/
Kim Pfennigwerth lives in South Carolina with her husband and bouncy boxer and is a lover of books, beach walks, family, kayaking, and kindness in no particular order! She is often spotted reading piles of books while revising her own manuscripts.
Darlene Beck-Jacobson 
This is SO amazing!
Thanks for reading Jennifer! Good luck.
Thanks for reading, Jennifer! What’s something you like to give away?
I’m feeling even better about choosing today to donate blood! I’ll have to remember to make this an annual tradition. I shared on tumblr: https://yesreaderwriterpoetmusician.tumblr.com/post/656800228464377856/via-our-6th-annual-give-something-away-day-post
The gift of life is an awesome thing to give…thank you for your donation, Danielle. Good luck.
Thank you! I had a trainee nurse, so the donation took much longer, but was a success.
Thanks Danielle for sharing and I love that you donated blood today. You can’t give away anything better than something that helps sustain life – hooray for you!
Thank you for saying that!
A friend is coming over today to help dig a deep hole (by hand!) so we can check out a foundation issue. Horrible chore; terrific friend.
that is a wonderful friend! Thanks for sharing Janet.
What a gift of friendship of that is, Janet! Thank you for giving us something to smile about – we hope the foundation issue is something that can be easily solved!
You guys are great for doing this every year! And a really good choice of books. They look amazing! I’m a big fan of all your efforts to spread kindness and give something away!!!
Thanks for your kind words Barbara. I look forward to this every year as well. Good luck.
Thanks Barb! We will take all kind words given our way! And I am especially thrilled to giveaway these books from such creative writers and illustrators!
It should be there by tomorrow Barb!! 🙂 So glad you joined us!
What a great idea! I love giving books to people. I took three writing books to our last writer’s group meeting to give away. A lady, who had just started writing, took them. I hope she finds them useful. And my cousin was next door the other day with 2 of her grand-kids. I took some MG books up with me in my bicycle basket for her to pick out what she wanted. She only took one, but I hope she enjoys it. And we always share homegrown veggies with each other in our neighborhood.
I love that you’ve shared so many books, Janet! And this is a great time of year to be giving and sharing the gift of fresh produce! Thanks for commenting!
Reblogged this on Teresa Robeson 何顥思 and commented:
I love this altruistic event that Kim and Darlene teamed up to do every year! Go forth and spread kindness…
Teresa, your kindness is well known. Thank you for giving our post some extra social media time!
I don’t want to be in the drawing, but I just want to say that this is an awesome annual tradition, Kim and Darlene! I love the first 2 books and need to read the 3rd.
ok – and thanks again, Teresa, for your kind words. It really felt that this was an important year to showcase the amount of harassment aimed at the Asian and the need to give away kindness. I loved choosing and highlighting the books by Joanna and Dung Ho and LeUyen Pham and I also added WISHES to my tbr list!
Amen to that sKim. 🙏❤
As an Asian-American, I truly appreciate your devoting this year’s post to us and fighting the hate crimes against us. x
I love and appreciate your enthusiasm and kind support Teresa. Thanks for sharing the post and spreading the word.
This is a phenomenal event. Thank you, Kim and Darlene for spreading kindness!
Thank you for giving us your time to read our post, mdk45! We hope it’s proof that anything you give away from your heart adds a bit of happiness for someone else.
What’s fabulous idea! And thanks for the links and info about the books. I definitely want to check out Wishes.
Good luck Amy.
So glad you joined us, Amy!
A wonderful idea, and a beautiful selection of books.
So good to hear from you Ellen. Good luck with the give-away.
Ellen congratulations on being one of our winners! I’ll be in touch to make sue the book arrived.