We were surprised to learn that Emily was featured as one of the '100 Ohio State University Buckeye's You Should Know.' Emily was featured for her work with Grandma's Gifts. You can check out her profile on the Ohio State University Alumni Association website here:

http://www.ohiostatealumni.org/volunteer/celebratingalumni/Pages/100BuckeyesDouglas.aspx

Emily Elizabeth Douglas, founder and executive director of Grandma's Gifts, was mentioned in the Ironton Tribune today for the work the organization did to help Lawrence County for the 2010 Christmas season. Volunteer, George McNab, was also with Emily when delivering the gifts. He was not mentioned in this article.

You can read the article by clicking HERE.

Note: Article Corrections/Errors - In the article, Emily's grandma's last name was misspelled ("Atkinison"). The correct spelling is Norma "ACKISON."

In February, ABC issued the 'Made in America' challenge stating that, "If every American spent an extra $3.33 on goods made in the U.S.A., it would create almost 10,000 new jobs in this country." Then later ABC issued the 'Made in American Christmas: Are you In?' challenge stating that,  "The average American will spend $700 on holiday gifts and goodies this year, totaling more than $465 billion... If that money was spent entirely on US made products it would create 4.6 million jobs... If each of us spent just $64 on American made goods during our holiday shopping, the result would be 200,000 new jobs."

After hearing about the challenge we knew we had to take part! Not only do we do a TON of shopping but we (obviously) love helping people here in the USA. Thus, this year we plan to donate 'I Spy' books,  Harry Potter books, Highlights, ZooBooks, clothing, shoes, puzzles, toys,  and more made in the USA!

We like helping out the country and ask YOU to help create 200,000 jobs by spending at least $64 on American made gifts for Christmas! Here is a list things 'Made in the USA' by state to help you out: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/MadeInAmerica

Good luck! Let us know how your endeavors work out!

This year the Marines in Columbus, Ohio teamed up with ABC Channel 6 (WSYX) to get the word out about how people could donate to Toys for Tots. And on Saturday December 3, 2011, Columbus residents donated over 10,000 toys filling a full tractor trailer full of toys. (Nice work Columbus!) It's great to see that the season of giving is alive and well here in central Ohio.

For more than ten years Grandma's Gifts has received toys from the program to assist children living in Appalachian Ohio. This year we are helping children in many Appalachian counties including Adams, Ross, and Lawrence. These toys will go along with stockings full of personal hygiene products, coats, shoes, blankets, and clothing from Grandma's Gifts donors from across all over the world.

While picking up toys today in the pouring rain, Channel 6 caught me (Emily) and asked me a bit about where the toys go from here... to share with all of the Columbus residents to helped the US Marines via Toys for Tots.I had no clue this was going to happen. Thank you to the Marines, Toys for Tots, and Channel 6!

You can check out the video of the Toys for Tots program HERE!

If you're interested in helping out Grandma's Gifts with our Secret Santa project, you can do so by checking out the Secret Santa page or reading the post below.