Family, travel, mom blog | Theme Park Mom (Leigh Caldwell)

Make your family gathering this summer about more than fun. I found out that it’s pretty easy to also make your grilling time about giving back this year, when I teamed up with Hebrew National to host a Picnic With a Purpose in Orlando.

The idea is simple, as many brilliant ones are: Invite friends and family over for a fun time of grilling (Hebrew National all-beef hot dogs, of course!), games and giving back. Choose a charity to be your purpose, and ask what you can do to help.

My chosen charity was Give Kids the World. You can learn more about them by watching this quick video. With one quick phone call, I discovered the village was building a new, wheelchair-accessible Garden of Hope, and my idea was born. At our picnic, we had all the kids (and many of the grown-ups!) paint a clay pot to be used in the garden. And we asked our guests to bring kid-sized gardening gloves and gardening tools to add to our donation.

What could you do at your Picnic With a Purpose? Build and paint a park bench or picnic table for use at a group home, collect outdoor toys for a children’s charity or create children’s artwork to brighten the halls of a nursing home. The possibilities are endless. (more…)

As my daughter starts to count the days until summer vacation, my thoughts are turning to our plans for the summer and how to be sure we set aside some quality time with our family and friends.

That’s why I’m thrilled to be partnering with Hebrew National to host a fun “Picnic with a Purpose” this Saturday in Orlando. We’re going to be grilling some Hebrew National kosher beef hot dogs Saturday evening, along with all the picnic fixings, like coleslaw, fresh fruit and chips and dip.

I’ve always been a fan of Hebrew National because there’s no mystery meat in their hot dogs. I’m reminded here of John Candy’s description of hot dogs from “The Great Outdoors.” “You know what they’re made of, Chet?” This is a PG-rated blog, so I can’t share the next line, but it’s here via imdb. And since I like to be confident that there’s none of that in my hot dogs, I’ve always been comfortable with HN dogs. The company says they do not contain any fillers or by-products. (more…)