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Archive for the ‘Charities/Contests’ Category

Chew On This

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GumRunners LLC is proud to support our troops and their families by donating a portion of its proceeds to organizations that support them.

“We really believe everyone should understand and appreciate the sacrifices made by the individuals of the armed forces and their families. Over the years we’ve gotten a lot of emails and actual letters from servicemen and women and their families. Since we’re a gum maker, the letters are usually about gum – and to tell us how Jolt Energy Gum helped them or how much they enjoy it,” said Kevin Gass, co-founder of GumRunners, LLC. “With every letter, it humbles us to realize what they achieve and endure in support of our nation. As a small thank you, we are donating 7% of all sales from ‘Support our Troops’ Jolt Energy Gum packs to charities that assist wounded or fallen members of the military or their families, including the Wounded Warrior Project, The Intrepid Fund for Fallen Heroes and The Fisher House.

“It’s wonderful that GumRunners is donating part of their sales to those who have served their country so honorably,” said Jose Dee, event director of several benefits for the Wounded Warrior Project. “Now even people who can’t write a large check can contribute even by buying a pack of Jolt Gum.”

“The tagline for Jolt Gum is Chew More. Do More,” said Kevin Gass, co-founder of GumRunners, LLC. “And who does more for our country then the members of the armed forces?”

“Support our Troops” Jolt Energy Gum will be sold online at www.joltgum.com and in many of the supermarkets, drugstores, convenience stores and specialty retailers across the country that carry Jolt gum, including CVS, ampm, Sheetz, CircleK and 7-Eleven. Two pieces Jolt Energy Gum contain enough caffeine, ginseng and guarana to give the energy boost of a coffee or energy drink. The gum is available in sweet spearmint and exhilarating IcyMint flavors and has a suggested retail price of $1.59.

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SUPPORT OUR TROOPS THIS JULY 4 WITH JOLT® ENERGY GUM

GumRunners LLC, makers of Jolt Energy Gum, launches limited-edition “Support our Troops” Jolt Gum benefiting wounded members of the military and their families.

JERSEY CITY, NJ – GumRunners LLC is proud to support our troops and their families by donating a portion of its proceeds to organizations that support them.

“We really believe everyone should understand and appreciate the sacrifices made by the individuals of the armed forces and their families. Over the years we’ve gotten a lot of emails and actual letters from servicemen and women and their families.  Since we’re a gum maker, the letters are usually about gum – and to tell us how Jolt Energy Gum helped them or how much they enjoy it,” said Kevin Gass, co-founder of GumRunners, LLC.  “With every letter, it humbles us to realize what they achieve and endure in support of our nation.  As a small thank you, we are donating 7% of all sales from ‘Support our Troops’ Jolt Energy Gum packs to charities that assist wounded or fallen members of the military or their families, including the Wounded Warrior Project, The Intrepid Fund for Fallen Heroes and  The Fisher House.

“It’s wonderful that GumRunners is donating part of their sales to those who have served their country so honorably,” said Jose Dee, event director of several benefits for the Wounded Warrior Project. “Now even people who can’t write a large check can contribute even by buying a pack of Jolt Gum.”

“The tagline for Jolt Gum is Chew More. Do More,” said Kevin Gass, co-founder of GumRunners, LLC.  “And who does more for our country then the members of the armed forces?”

“Support our Troops” Jolt Energy Gum will be sold online at www.joltgum.com and in many of the supermarkets, drugstores, convenience stores and specialty retailers across the country that carry Jolt gum, including CVS, ampm, Sheetz, CircleK and 7-Eleven. Two pieces Jolt Energy Gum contain enough caffeine, ginseng and guarana to give the energy boost of a coffee or energy drink. The gum is available in sweet spearmint and exhilarating IcyMint flavors and has a suggested retail price of $1.59.

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$20,000 Blogger Bounty for a VA Loan Underwriter

YouServed.com’s parent company is currently offering any blogger who can refer the company a VA Loan Underwriter $20,000. You read that right - send VAMC an underwriter who gets hired and you get $20,000!

This offer is open to all bloggers, including military bloggers who are rabid fans of CJ and Troy here at You Served.

Visit the $20,000 Blogger “Bounty” page here to learn more and register. You need to register your blog to be eligible. Spread the word to anyone who might be interested.

Thanks for letting us take a moment here and please keep reading the fantastic bloggers we feature here on YouServed.com and listen to our Radio Show.

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Operation Shower

I love finding creative and innovative ways to support fellow military members and their families. This is one of those occasions! I came across this doing an internet search a while back on support opportunities. If you are interested in helping this organization, it sounds like baby items are the number one need (makes sense!) Visit their website that is linked below and you will find a great list already for you to buy from as a donation. If you are pregnant military spouse and your husband is deployed, you may qualify for this type of support.

The following is taken from their website.

Showers

WHAT IS A UNIT WIDE SHOWER?

A unit-wide shower is a great event! Operation Shower’s goal with a unit-wide shower is to show our appreciation to expectant mothers who have spouses serving overseas during their pregnancies. After gathering donations, Operation Shower prepares a shower in a box for each mom-to-be in a chosen unit of the military. The showers in a box are then delivered by the Operation Shower stork at an Operation Shower baby shower for the entire group of moms. It is a wonderful celebration for these deserving families.

Shower in a BoxWHAT IS A SHOWER IN A BOX?

A shower in a box is a wonderful way to shower a miltary mom! Operation Shower gathers donations for a particular mom-to-be whose spouse is deployed during her pregnancy. After gathering enough wonderful donations to fill a large box and packing it with festive paper and ribbons, the Operation Shower stork delivers the box to the unsuspecting mom-to-be!

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

There are many ways to contribute to a shower in a box:

  • Donate new goods for the mom or baby;
  • Donate money;
  • Join with a group and sponsor a box to be sent by your group; and
  • Host a shower or party and collect/donate goods for a shower in a box.

See the Contribute page to donate.

It is a wonderful surprise and a great way to show our support for the mothers who are at home caring for the family while their spouses are deployed and serving our country.

Please email Lena at lena@lenasnotebook.com or Kris at kris@cleverparents.com if you are interested in donating to a shower in a box or if you know of someone who should be the recipient of a shower in a box.

Find out what you can do to support their efforts!

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Laptops for Flattops

AllAmericanDirect.com, a leading e-commerce provider of consumer electronics and satellite services, today announced the company’s second Laptops for Flat Tops contest, which will award one laptop with an embedded Webcam (for the family) and an additional Webcam (for the soldier) to two families who have an immediate family member serving in any branch of the U.S. military overseas.

This contest arrives on the heels of April’s successful Laptops for Flattops contest, with a new twist to the submission process. June’s contest now accepts video submissions. Participants can either submit a 400 word essay or a one minute video that explains why their family deserves to win, and how a laptop can improve their lives and communication with their loved one serving overseas. Families must be able to verify their loved one’s military enlistment.

Videos can be submitted by going to www.youtube.com/group/laptopsforflattops, joining the Laptops for Flat Tops group and uploading a one minute video. At the beginning of each video, participants should state their name, city, state, email address and telephone number.

“After hearing all the compelling stories from military families that participated in our first contest, we have become even more passionate about helping to provide more interactive means of communication for soldiers overseas,” said Mike Mountford, CEO of AllAmericanDirect.com.

Entries for the contest can be submitted as early as 12:00 AM EDT (24:00 GMT) on Monday, June 1 via allamericandirect.com/military for essay submissions and via www.youtube.com/group/laptopsforflattops for video submissions. The contest closes at 11:59 PM EDT (15:59 GMT) on Friday, July 3.

Judging will be done by a panel of three judges including: Col. (Ret.) Dale A. Kissinger, partner at MilitaryAvenue.com and a colonel (retired) in the U.S. Air Force, Mr. Scott Davis, an Air Force veteran of Operation Desert Storm and father of Army PFC Sean Davis, who is stationed in Vicenza, Italy, and is preparing for his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, and Ms. Jenna Richards, the sister of Capt. Phillip Richards and his wife Capt. Michelle Richards who are active in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and will be deployed to Iraq for their second tour of duty in September 2009.

Winners of the first contest will be announced on Monday, July 13. Families may re-submit a new essay for each bi-monthly contest if they were not previously selected. The contest will continue every other month through December 2009.

To learn more about Laptops for Flattops, visit http://www.allamericandirect.com/military.

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Don’t forget to Check out the You Served Ebay Store

The You Served crew has a store up on ebay selling items donated to us from our guests on the You Served radio show. Please take a few moments and head over to stores.shop.ebay.com/userved__W0QQ_armrsZ1 and check out what we have there. The sales run Thursday thru Wednesday every week. This week we have for sale our last Gina Elise signed calendar. Even if you don’t want one, I guarantee you a troop downrange will want it. Make a winning bid and drop it in a care package to a warrior serving away from home.

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Get $400 off your custom unit shirt

My buddies over at Vision-strike-wear.com are again running their monthly promotion that is supported by SoldiersAngels.com. What this promotion does is provide to any unit or group (company, platoon, embedded team, etc.) a chance to design and have made a custom unit shirt for cheaper than it would cost them otherwise. Soldier’s Angels will cover the first $400 of the costs for the designing and creation of the shirts. The rest is up to the unit. This $400 is a large part of what the total bill would be, so it only leaves a little bit for the unit to incur (costs depend on the complexity and number of colors in the design)

The total number of shirts has to be less than 48.

The unit can be any branch of the military.

The unit can be stateside or deployed overseas.

Soldiers Angels will get a donation of 5.00 for each additional t-shirt sold after initial order.

The first unit that puts money down on the order at the beginning of each month wins!

This is limited to one unit a month and June is still open to the first unit to commit.

 

So if you or your group/unit are looking to have a customized shirt made, then head over to www.vision-strike-wear.com and make contact with the guys over there to start the process. Remember this is first come, first serve at the beginning of each month.

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Laptops for Flat Tops

The name of the program is catchy, but really the laptops are for the spouses and family members of the flat tops. The All American Direct company is giving away 2 laptops equipped with webcams every month to the spouses and family members of deployed military members. If your loved one is deployed right now you qualify to enter. All it takes is an essay and the information below.

Taken from the All American Direct website:

Would a brand new laptop and webcam help you keep in touch with your husband, wife, son or daughter, mom, dad, brother, or sister?

Would a brand new laptop help to improve your quality of life, especially since an important contributor to your home is now serving our country overseas?

Submit a 400 word essay below, telling us your story of need, and detail why your family should be picked out of thousands of Americans to win this month’s laptop.

You may also submit an entry by going to http://www.youtube.com/group/laptopsforflattops, joining our group, and submitting a one minute video. When you submit your video, please remember to begin it with your name, and then submit an entry to www.allamericandirect.com/military with the words “see video”, so we can send you your laptop when you win!

The prize package includes a laptop with a built-in webcam, as well as an additional webcam that can be sent to your loved one who is serving overseas.

If you win, you will be contacted by our executives, and a laptop will be sent to your door!

    The entries will be judged by the following criteria:

  • Intensity of need as expressed in the essay
  • Immediate family member is an active member of the US military and is stationed overseas, as confirmed by their military identification number.
  • Winners will be selected from entries collected in April through May, June through July, August through September, October through November, and December through January 2010.
    Contest Rules:

  • Submissions must come from a family who has an immediate family member (husband, wife, mom, dad, brother, sister, son, daughter) who is serving in the US Military in a location not in the continental United States.
  • Submissions may come on behalf of a third party who has an immediate family member (husband, wife, mom, dad, brother, sister, son, daughter) who is serving in the US Military in a location not in the continental United States.
  • Entries must be submitted through allamericandirect.com/laptop
  • All entries must be associated with a AllAmericanDirect.com registered email address
  • Entries must be associated with an “opt-in” email address
  • AllAmericanDirect.com submissions must include name, email address, phone number, and physical mailing address.
  • Families that submitted essays in previous months may resubmit a new essay each month if they are not selected
  • Essays should be no longer than 400 words
  • Entries cannot be from an employee of or immediate family member of an employee of AllAmericanDirect.com
  • No purchase necessary to enter or win

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VAMC Scholarships for Military Students - May 2009


For over 2 years at VA Mortgage Center.com, we’ve awarded academic scholarships to students who have served in the military (or have a family member who has served). It’s a cool program that we absolutely love because we get to read a ton of essays from students and parents around the country each semester.

Our May 2009 winners have been announced and you can read about them here.

Congrats to the winning students and their families. One thing to note about this program - every single dollar sent to these kids is donated directly by VAMC employees voluntarily. I’m proud to work with each of you - thanks for making this program possible over the years.

P.S. If you’re a student who’d like to apply for the scholarships, the next ’round’ is in the Fall. Visit our http://www.vamortgagecenter.com/scholarships.html page to learn more.

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Why Afghanistan Matters

Joint Forces Command HQ in Brunssum, Netherlands is sponsoring a video contest called “Why Afghanistan Matters”. The intent is to provide a "boots on the ground" perspective of the military mission in Afghanistan from the point of view of those most closely involved.

They will not edit clips for content, but will exclude contest submissions that jeopardize troop security, or show objectionable, disturbing or offensive material.

The contest is open to military personnel who are serving, or have served the mission in Afghanistan. You can follow progress by subscribing to RSS updates. or checking out our Twitter feed.

The contest will be open for submissions during June, July and August. They will post your videos once approved as a qualifying submission. From 1 to 30 September, they will allow further video rating, and winners will be selected on 1 October.

Winners determined by highest average rating. One (1) winner will receive a digital camcorder, valued at approximately $600 US; three (3) winners will receive digital camcorders valued at approximately $150 US each.

So make your video, upload it and tell NATO and the World, why Afghanistan Matters. Go to their website at contest.afghanistanmatters.com/ to learn more, see the official rules and upload your video.

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