This post is sponsored by CARE, but my passion and support for making the world a better place for everyone is all my own.

We are all familiar with the term “care package,” but do you know where it originates from?

CARE.org was founded in 1945 after the end of World War II. 22 American organizations and thousands of people, including President Harry S. Truman, banded together to send lifesaving packages to starving survivors of the war in Europe. On May 11, 1946, the first 20,000 CARE packages arrived at the battered port of Le Havre, France, delivering supplies and a respite to the war-torn area and the vulnerable people who called it home.

Since then, CARE has grown to become a leading global humanitarian organization dedicated to fighting global poverty with a commitment to empowering women and girls.

I have been committed to social justice issues for as long as I can remember, and have always wished to live in a world that is equal, fair, compassionate, free from pride and greed, and with respect for culture and the melting pot of traditions all people have. I have been called an idealist for my legitimate wondering as to how there could possibly be people in this world who don’t prioritize peace and equality, and I have been called naive. All I can say is that if I am still naive about the world around me at 28, then I hope I never lose that.

I think more people would realize that radical change could happen around the world if they knew how — how it happened, how they could make it happen, how it is happening. Luckily, CARE Knows How.

CARE facilitates lasting change for people all over the world by thinking outside of the box and within the constraints the people and communities with whom they are working. They have a proven track record for coming up with strategies that really work to solve problems and change lives. They do this by:

• Strengthening the capacity for self-help
• Providing economic opportunity
• Delivering relief in emergencies
• Influencing policy decisions at all levels
• Addressing discrimination in all its forms

CARE has proven that it is possible to lift the world’s poorest people out of extreme poverty. Unlike what many people here in the U.S. are told and tend to believe about the poor, people living in poverty do not want handouts, they need a helping hand. These are human beings who want to provide for themselves, but are unable to start. CARE’s innovative work has given families and entire communities back their dignity.

In Ecuador, they implemented a system that saves people time and eliminates hard labor by harvesting water for drinking and washing from fog. Through this system, people are able to collect up to 200 liters of water that is filtered and safe for home use.

In Malawi, the CARE Village Savings and Loan Association was established to give people micro-loans so that they could start their own businesses and become self-sufficient. One woman, Biti Rose, joined the association and was given a $2 loan to purchase ingredients she needed to make donuts. Her donuts become wildly popular, earning her several dollars a day so that she and her husband could provide for their family, reinvest their profits into their children’s educations, and care for their farm. CARE literally found a way for this family to beat poverty with donuts. How amazing is that?!

In December 2014, the Water for the World Act was passed. This piece of legislation improves access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene for 750 million people around the world who lack access to safe drinking water and the 2.5 billion without access to adequate toilets. The Water for the World Act was informed and advocated for by CARE, with their citizen advocates playing a critical role in its passing after the bill confronted several barriers to passage.

CARE is helping heal and empower the world through their tireless work — work that spans so many different areas of life and wellness in immeasurable ways. Visit CARE.org to learn more about what they do to fight poverty and injustice while empowering the world, and please consider making a donation to their cause if you can.

LEGO is one of the most beloved toy brands ever, and has been since the 1950s. Interlocking bricks gave way to thousands of playsets in every theme any kid could possibly think up, including towns and cities, space, robots, scientists, pirates, trains, Vikings, castles, dinosaurs, scientists, undersea exploration, superheroes, the Wild West, and even a minifig-scaled Star Wars Millennium Falcon in all of its 5,000+ piece glory.

These prized toys have branched out to make up an entire wildly in-demand franchise. There are 90 LEGO retail stores and six LEGOLAND theme parks worldwide. Numerous popular characters have undergone LEGO makeovers for branded video games, and “The LEGO Movie,” the toy line’s first full-length animated feature, was released in February 2014 and has grossed nearly $258,000,000 in just the US.

The Wall Street Journal reported just last month that LEGO had dethroned Mattel, makers of Barbie, as the world’s top toy maker.

With all of its marketing and branding efforts and worldwide commercial success, it seems odd — nonsensical, even — that LEGO would carry on a several decade-long “strategic partnership” with Shell Oil Company.

LEGO collaborated with Shell from the 1960s through the 1990s. They rekindled their partnership in 2011, creating branded minifigs, cars, and trucks as a direct ploy to advertise to young children.

Shell has spent billions of dollars in attempts to convince the public and brainwash children that they are a company that cares. Their money speaks loudly, but their actions speak louder.

Shell Oil has one of the worst safety records [PDF] of any company operating in both the United States and the United Kingdom. They have repeatedly showed a brazen disregard for worker safety, for the rights of local communities and human rights, and have a lengthy record of significant environmental violations.

In the United States alone, Shell Oil Company has paid nearly $1 billion in fines for safety and environmental violations, settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for $450 million for fraudulent crude oil trades, were fined $500,000 for five toxic releases near schools in Texas, and as of 2007, they hold the #1 mortality rate of any large western company. Not to mention, it is Shell who recklessly spilled 10 million gallons of oil in Nigeria in 2008 and 2009 and 4,380 barrels of oil in the North Sea over the course of 10 days in 2011.

Shell has long had plans of drilling for oil in the Alaskan Arctic, a plan that has faced criticism since 2012. Not-so-coincidentally, during the time Shell was facing public outcry about their drilling plans, 16 million Shell-branded LEGO playsets were sold or given away at gas stations across 26 countries. This PR move didn’t just help Shell’s public image, but it also accounted for a 7.5% worldwide spike in LEGO sales. This made Shell a major contributor to LEGO’s global sales. But while this business arrangement may be lucrative for both companies, it is a partnership that is bad for kids, bad for the environment, and bad for the wholesome, family-friendly image LEGO has worked hard to maintain.

Shell’s strategy to partner with a beloved brand to clean up its dirty image as an environmental destroyer came to an end when Greenpeace launched a successful 3-month campaign to get LEGO to block Shell.

The campaign kicked off with the most viral video in Greenpeace history: an Arctic environment made entirely of LEGOs, a devastating oil spill depicting the very real consequences of Shell drilling for oil in such a uniquely stressed and fragile ecosystem, and the most depressing rendition of the song everyone knows from “The LEGO Movie,” “Everything Is Awesome.”

The video gained audiences and momentum all over the world.

Children staged a playful protest as they built giant Arctic animals out of LEGOs on the doorstep of Shell’s London HQ. Miniature LEGO people from Hong Kong to Buenos Aires held “small but furious protests” against the partnership, some recreating famous protests at international landmarks. LEGO climbers were placed to protest at a Shell gas station at LEGOLAND in Billund, Denmark. Finally, 1 million people made their disapproval of the strategic partnership heard by signing petitions, creating their own protest signs, and showing up at the flagship LEGO store in New York City dressed in costume.

After a fierce 3-month campaign by Greenpeace and their supporters, LEGO broke up with Shell Oil Company for good. Now it’s time for Shell to leave the Arctic in peace.

Due to scientifically-proven climate change, the Alaskan Arctic sea ice cover reached its lowest point on record this year. Shell still plans to drill for oil there in 2015, even though they have proven time and again that they cannot be trusted to do so safely. When they attempted to drill in 2012, its rig ran ashore, one of its ships caught on fire, and the Environmental Protection Agency found that they had violated the terms of their permit.

You can donate to Greenpeace here to help them in their efforts to put an end to Shell’s Arctic drilling plans once and for all, and to protect other fragile ecosystems around the world.

The holidays are a wonderful, magical time of year for a lot of people, but for those who are struggling, the holidays can simply be a reminder of all of the things that they are not able to do or make happen for their families. That is precisely why while it is so important to do good in the world around you all year, it is especially important during the holiday season.

Last year, Athena over at The Stuff of Success created a really great project all about performing random acts of kindness and doing what you can to make a positive difference in the lives of others. It was a huge success, so she brought it back again this year and we’ve hopped on board to help spread the word.

Athena is giving away a $25 Amazon gift card, which you can enter to win daily, from now until December 31. The entry form is below.

This giveaway is unlike any other event you’ll see. There is no sponsor, there are no Facebook pages to like, no blogs to visit, no promotional statuses to post to Twitter. All you have to do to claim your entry into the giveaway is perform one act of kindness for someone else and come back to tell us what you did. Just love your neighbor, people in need, friends, family, and so on, every single day throughout the month of December, and claim your entry.

Need some ideas?

• Hold the door open for the person behind you.
• Donate your old clothes to someone in need. Your old is someone else’s new.
• Write a positive review of a local business, artist, musician, author, etc.
• Listen to someone. REALLY listen.
• Donate blood. One pint of blood can save up to three lives.
• Give the gift of your time by volunteering at a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, nursing home, hospital, etc.
• Share your umbrella with a stranger on a rainy day.
• Check up on someone who looks lonely or who lives alone.
• Let someone with only a few items go before you in line at the grocery store.
• Give words of encouragement to someone about their dreams, no matter how big or small they are.
• Help someone get your parking space in a crowded parking lot when you’re leaving.
• Babysit for couples or single parents who don’t get out much so that they can have some precious alone time.
• Look for ways to save a few extra bucks throughout the month and then donate that money to a charitable organization you support.
• Shop locally so that the money you spend can help support the family who owns and operates that business.
• Spend a few clicks of your time at Free Rice.
• Pay for the person in line behind you.
• Put together a care package and send it to an active duty military unit.
• Create a box of Christmas cards and send it to Holiday Mail for Heroes (guidelines can be found here.)
• Redirect gifts. Instead of having people give you birthday or holiday gifts, ask them to donate gifts or money to a good cause.
• The next time you see someone pulled over with a flat tire or car trouble, stop and ask if you can help, or simply keep them company until help arrives.
• Become a mentor or tutor to someone in need.
• If your family, friend, or neighbor is sick, bring them some soup, tea, and tissues.
• Put some change in an expired parking meter.
• Offer your seat to someone when there aren’t any left.
• Bake some Christmas cookies for your mail carrier and delivery people.
• Donate pet food to your local animal shelter.
• Teach someone a skill.
• Instead of accepting payment from someone, ask them to pay it forward.
• Tip more than you normally would.
• Be extra nice to customer service reps — especially if they seem stressed.

No incentive was provided for this publication. Woman Tribune is not responsible for prize fulfillment. Opinions are my own.