On a sunny day in May, I chatted with Katie Couric and 25 members of the Silicon Valley Moms Group on a conference call.  The conversation turned heavy and deep, because we were talking about children affected by the recession.  Katie was calling us to action.

Now, six months later, I’m completely out of my comfort zone. In addition to the million other things I do to keep my juggling act of a working-mother-life in the air, I’ve taken on the task of introducing Help a Mother Out to Los Angeles.  It started slowly with a few tweets.  It gained some momentum with blog posts and talking up HAMO at social media events.  I even have my own business card!

We’ve partnered with three local agencies:  LA Diaper Drive, PATH Achieve Glendale, and Ocean Park Community Center in Santa Monica.  We’ve set up Amazon wish lists for them, and we’re ready to roll!  Ready to accept awesome donations of diapers, etc!

But.  Nobody knows about us here.  Yet.

Naturally, then, we’re going to throw a party!  It’s a kid-friendly “playdate” that child-free adults can attend, too.  Sponsored by Huggies and five other donors, our gathering in the afternoon of December 13 will take place at the wondrous, fantastical Treehouse Social Club in Beverly Hills.  Instead of the usual $9 per child admission, your price?

A pack of diapers.

If we collect enough diapers, Huggies will match the donation up to 3,000.  You don’t even have to be there to help.  Visit the event page and send a few bucks using the Paypal button.  Every dollar donated online will be used to purchase more diapers and those will go into the event’s final tally.

I get invited to events like this all the time.  Only now am I realizing just how much impact an effort like this can have.  It won’t fix the problem, but efforts like these will make a difference in the lives of children in our communities.  I have to thank Katie Couric and my fellow mom bloggers for inspiring me.  I’m just the connector.  I hope you can be a part of it.

[photo by Global Green USA via Flickr]