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Frosty for a good cause on Father’s Day 2010

Posted on June 14, 2010 4:43 pm by TheAngelForever

Last year, I heard about the Wendy’s Father’s Day Frosty Weekend thanks to a blog tour that I was a part of. I also wrote about it to let all of you know about this fun and delicious event that goes to a wonderful cause.

With Father’s Day weekend just around the corner, Wendy’s is trying to get the word out that they are doing it again. Here is more information:

Over the past four years, Wendy’s has started a tradition on Father’s Day weekend. They have what they call Father’s Day Frosty Weekend where they donate 50 cents from each Frosty sale to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Once again, this Father’s Day weekend (June 19-20), they will be holding this event at all Wendy’s. The money that is raised will go to the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program. This fund assists full-time adoption recruiters at local agencies across the United States. These recruiters them help to pair up parents with foster care children that need loving homes.

Other ways you can help:

Make your own Frosty Card here and for every FREE card created, Wendy’s will donate 50¢ to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (DTFA). NHL and I created one that we will share below. It was a lot of fun and we will make more to send to other specials Fathers in our family.

From now until June 20, you can also help with Twitter. Each time a user tweets from the Treat it Forward application found at www.facebook.com/frosty (Treat it Fwd tab), or uses the hashtag #TreatItFwd a donation will also be made to DTFA.

For those on Facebook, you can also send users a Virtual Frosty as a gift and help to spread the word via the Treat it Fwd tab on the Frosty page above.

Anyone that uses Foursquare and ‘check-in’ to a Wendy’s restaurant during Father’s Day weekend (June 19-20) will also have a donation made to DTFA.

Here is NHL’s card to my hubby:

With any luck, we will head to Wendy’s this weekend and I will certainly be sharing the information via Social Media. Always nice to get a tasty treat and have a donation go to a wonderful cause.

Will you be doing any of these? Let me know what you plan on doing.

Disclosure: I was reminded about this great cause by an e-mail from a PR representative and decided to share the information with my readers. All opinions are mine from previous experience with the Father’s Day Frosty Weekend.

Categories:
charity food glorious food holidays yummy

Thank a teacher – Bing Teacher Appreciation Tour

Posted on June 6, 2010 2:30 pm by TheAngelForever

As a classroom teacher, I spent a lot of my own money buying things for my classroom, students and beyond. It may have been a little here, and a little there, but it adds up quickly. Did I mind? Not one bit. To me it was part of my job and helped to make the classroom experience better for the kids.

Many people ask me why I became a teacher. It’s easy, I was inspired by my teachers. I loved how they spent each and every day trying to make us the best that we could be. They were the ones that taught me to read, write and have a fascination with the world around me. Although I am home with my boys right now, I am still a teacher at heart. When we go places, I am constantly thinking about lessons that could be taught. As I take photos, I inventory them for future use when I go back to teaching.

Right after I decided to stay home with my boys, I heard about DonorsChoose.org. This is an organization that works with teachers in the classroom to set up projects that need funding. Teachers submit plans for items that they need, you pick a classroom in need and donate money to them. DonorsChoose.org buys the requested items for the classroom with the money donated and kids and teachers benefit. One of my teaching friends, CityStreams, did a DonorsChoose.org project and wrote about it here. The possibilities are endless. Each teacher can submit an idea and donors help them to make their lesson plan a reality.

If you could take a minute to thank a teacher from your past or one that your child has now, would you? Would you do it if it meant you earned a $5 donation to DonorsChoose.org that you could put toward any project of your choice?

Now that I have your attention, let me tell you you can participate. Here is more about the Bing Teacher Appreciation outreach with DonorsChoose.org:

Starting on May 19th, Bing is encouraging students and parents to recognize teachers who have made a difference in their lives through a new philanthropic campaign focused on supporting kids’ education. Bing has committed to a gift of up to $500,000 and teamed up with DonorsChoose.org to provide both kids and adults with a way to express their thanks to a teacher and help another teacher or school in the process.

Visit www.bing.com/education to post a comment or share a story about a teacher who made a difference in your life (or the life of your child), and Bing will provide you with a $5 donation to DonorsChoose.org, which can be applied toward any classroom project of your choice. Each visitor can leave up to 5 comments, resulting in a total donation of $25. At the end of June, Bing will aggregate the comments and share them with each teacher in the form of a congratulations letter.

It really is that simple. You go to the Bing website, thank a teacher, and soon after receive a $5 DonorsChoose.org code to donate to any current project of your choice. So far I have sent thank you notes to NHL’s 1st grade teacher and the school Nurse Teacher. I will be doing an additional three to make sure that I get the $25 to donate by July 10.

Check out schools in your area. There are a lot in mine that are looking for donations. Right now, I am working with my son’s school to come up with a project. Why? Well, when I signed up for this Blog Tour I received a $100 code to use on DonorsChoose.org. I have donated with them before and seen projects that my teaching friends have accomplished thanks to them. I am looking forward to donating this $100 toward something that my children and others at our school will benefit from.

A big thank you to Bing for supporting teachers and all that we do in the classrooms to help the children that will be the leaders of the world in years to come. Now please do your part and thank some teachers to help classrooms that are in need. Let’s make sure that Bing donates the maximum amount to needy classrooms all over.

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Bing and a $100 DonorsChoose.org giving code to facilitate my review. Mom Central also sent me a thank-you gift certificate.

Categories:
Blog Tour charity Educational looking back me moments photos school

Thinking Pink for Cora

Posted on May 30, 2010 4:49 pm by TheAngelForever

On November 30, 2009, Cora Mae McCormick was born and has become a hero thanks to the devotion of her loving parents. Cora passed away on December 6, 2009 in her mother’s arms from undetected congenital heart disease (CHD) while nursing. Cora never could have known how much her precious life has changed the world, but no doubt she is looking down at her Mommy Kristine smiling proudly. Back in February, Kristine was my first and only guest blogger to date. She wrote a beautiful poem called My angel forever for Congenital Heart Disease awareness week.

Today is Cora’s 6 month birthday. On this day, we celebrate and remember Cora by wearing pink along with Kristine and her family. This beautiful little girl is helping to spread the word about CHD and save other lives in the process. Although I do not own pink summer clothing, I will be thinking about Cora as I knit a special pink item for Kristine. You can read the letter to Cora on her 6 month birthday here.

When I send Kristine some special pink items, I will also be giving her a check. I want to support her non-profit organization and have my own Cora Bracelet. Here is where you can go to get your own Cora bracelets like the one seen below.

Please stop by to visit Cora’s Story to support Kristine and Cora in their quest to get the word out about CHD. Big hugs going out to Kristine for being such a wonderful mother.

Categories:
birthday bloggy friends charity health awareness

U Taste We Donate Campaign from Pringles Multigrain

Posted on May 15, 2010 8:28 pm by TheAngelForever

A lot of people may not realize that I am not a huge chocolate fan. Instead, I often crave salty snacks. Growing up, I remember begging to take Pringles Light Crisps in my lunch to school. My obsession continued into college, where I would often have a canister in my car for emergencies. They also were easy to pop into a bag for a hockey road trip back in the day.

These days, we are always looking for items that are multigrain and a little more health conscious fun for occasional snacks. Recently, I was asked by Mom Central to participate in a Blog Tour about Pringles Multigrain and their new campaign.

More about U Taste. We Donate.:

From the Press Release:

Pringles, America’s favorite stacked potato crisp, introduces consumers to new Pringles Multigrain, a surprisingly tasty twist on multigrain snacks. As the latest addition to the Pringles family, Pringles Multigrain is packed with multigrain flavor and crunch and comes in three mouth-watering varieties: Truly Original, Creamy Ranch and Cheesy Cheddar. As part of the nationwide rollout, Pringles and Celebrity Chef Tyler Florence are working together to make it easy for consumers to also make a difference while trying new Pringles Multigrain with the “U Taste. We Donate” campaign. Enter the UPC code from any can of Pringles Multigrain between March 15 through June 30, 2010 at www.PringlesMultigrain.com and Pringles will donate one dollar (with a total donation of up to $100,000) to Share Our Strength®, the leading organization working to end childhood hunger in America.

My family received each of the varieties of the the new Pringles Multigrain crisps to try. It was like a trip down memory road hearing the air release as I popped the top of the canister. The smell of the snacks was enough to get my mouth watering. I am a traditionalist and prefer the Truly Original, but the boys are fans of the Cheesy Cheddar. What really impressed me was they are Kosher. We often have a hard time finding multigrain flavored items that are marked as Kosher, so it was a very nice surprise. When we are looking for a special multigrain snack, we will definitely buy more Pringles for our house.

Of course, I also went to the website and entered the UPC codes from my packages of Pringles Multigrain container. The box to enter the UPC code is easy to spot on the first section of the website. Kuddos to Pringles for teaming up for such a great cause.

Confession time, do you like Pringles? If you do, have you tried the Multigrain variety and which one would you love to try to help "U Taste. We Donate."?

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Pringles Multigrain and received a tote bag with samples to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central also sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Categories:
Blog Tour charity food glorious food looking back Product review

Hershey’s Better Basket Blog Hop at The Angel Forever

Posted on March 30, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I must admit, at this time of year I get a little jealous. Those cute Easter baskets are something I have never had and always thought they looked like so much fun to make and receive. Thanks to Christina at Cutest Kid Ever, I received an amazing virtual Easter basket that even I can enjoy during Passover.

What is the Hershey’s Better Basket Blog Hop?

Do you have a blog? If you do, you could help to raise some money for a great cause. Hershey is donating up to $5,000 to the Children’s Miracle Network with this promotion – $10 for every blog that participates in the Better Basket Blog Hop. The post that you are reading right now is another $10 that will be given to children’s hospitals all over North America. An additional $5,000 to this charity would be the world of difference to many sick children.

In my post, I need to pass along a virtual Easter basket to some of my blogging friends. Here is what my baskey will contain for you. Please remember I am a nice Jewish girl that is dreaming big and has never received anything like this before. All of the items are ones that I like and hope you will enjoy along with me.

Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme Eggs
Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs
Movie tickets for your entire family to have a fun time out together
Eggs to color and design together (loved doing this with friends as a child)
A Nalgene water bottle to make sure you drink your water each day
Some hand knitted wash cloths to pamper yourself with
Vanilla scented body wash

Not sure how this stacks up with the basket that you are used to, but it sounds like fun to me.

Here are the lovely bloggers who are receiving this virtual Easter basket from me:

Nancy from Life With My Boys
Renee from Life with my Special Ks
Mommy Cracked
Holly from Topic of Mom
Cathi from Simply Cathi
If you would like you name here. . . just let me know!

Hershey’s Better Basket Blog Hop Rules

Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.
Create a blog post giving a virtual Easter Basket to another blogger – you can give as many Virtual Baskets as you want.
Link back to person who gave you an Easter Basket.
Let each person you are giving a Virtual Easter Basket know you have given them a Basket.
Leave your link at BetterBasket.info/BlogHop comment section. You can also find the official rules of this #betterbasket blog hop, and more information about Better Basket with Hershey’s there.
Hershey’s is donating $10 per each blog participating to the Better Basket Blog Hop to Children’s Miracle Network (up to total of $5,000 by blog posts written by April 4th, 2010).
Please note that only one blog post by each blog URL will count towards the donation.

Have fun and please share what you put in your basket with me.