The next leg of the Card Me National Summer Tour could not have been more fun!  First we stopped off in Pittsburgh, PA, where we teamed up with Bryan Douglas and the People Helping People group for an afternoon in the park.  At the appropriately named Card Me in the Park event there was great music, free food, and lots of gift cards, all going to benefit a local restaurant called Conflict Kitchen.  The socially conscious chefs at Conflict Kitchen prepare a dish every four months from a country that the United States is in conflict with and then educate those eating the diverse cuisine on the culture and lives of the people from that country.  Currently Conflict Kitchen is serving up kubideh (spiced ground beef) in a tasty barbari bread with onion, mint, and basil, just like it is served in Iran, and the newest dish on the menu will be something scrumptious from Afghanistan.

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Next we took a scenic drive down to Morgantown, West Virginia, and it felt like the country roads took us right on home (John Denver fans, anyone?).  We had a fun evening of games at Sozo Coffeehouse and were able to support the wonderful work of Nuru International, who are currently working in the Kuria District of Kenya to improve the agriculture, water and sanitation, healthcare, education, and community economic development in the surrounding 23 villages. If you want to join with Nuru in their initiative to eradicate extreme poverty, you can learn more about their life changing work here.  It was hard to leave the beautiful scenery, but back we came to Pittsburgh for two parties in one night – talk about epic fun!

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One party was held at Duquesne University with the proceeds going to an orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya, and the other was held in a local coffee shop with the funds going to Aliquippa Impact, a community based youth development organization serving the young people and families of Aliquippa, PA.  So far we’ve been taking The Steel City by storm – and we hope it stays that way!  If you want to see if the Gift Card Giver Team is coming to take your city by storm please visit our Gift Card Drive Summer Tour Site or our Gift Card Giver Website.  Looking forward to another two weeks of fun!