The Island News

On occasion I receive emails from various companies and organizations asking me to forward their messages on to you. So, here they are in their own words . . . well, mostly.

JUST FOR FUN

Beginning July 6th through August 8th, mom and cartoonist Terri Libenson is taking readers down memory lane with a special five-week series that tells via flashback the untold story of the strip’s stressed-out protagonist Jill Kaplan’s first pregnancy and their journey towards impending parenthood in The Pajama Diaries. From the life-changing, first sonogram that prompts Jill to rethink her career to the inevitable labor and delivery, Libenson deftly crafts a storyline about the progression of a pregnancy with the warmth, insight and humor that only true experience can inform. The Pajama Diaries can be found in select newspapers and select online news sites.

Help us celebrate Happy Meal’s 30th birthday with a search to find the Happiest Cities for Families  in America. Check out the new Happy Meal Birthday website, www.mcdonalds.com/happymeal30th, where you can test your Happy Meal knowledge and download resources to create the ultimate birthday party. In July, we’re throwing a red carpet birthday celebration which will take place in the Happiest City for Families, and we’ll also be announcing the special 30th Birthday collection of Happy Meal toys.

Random House will be introducing a new children’s book series this summer aimed at girls, ages 7 – 12, called The Fairy Godmother Academy. The first book in the series, entitled Birdie’s Book, isn’t being released until August 25th, but a new social community centered around games, music and social networking is being launched very soon. Get a special sneak peek at the website at www.fairygodmotheracademy.com. Check out their YouTube video here.

Kideos, a new entertainment destination for kids launches this week, featuring the most popular children’s videos, with an easy to use interface that children can navigate on their own. Parents can feel confident allowing their children to interact with the site, as each video has been vetted and approved by the Kideos Video Advisory Council. This process ensures that all of the content on the Kideos site is appropriate for viewing by children, offering parents peace of mind that their children will be both safe and entertained when visiting Kideos. The site also offers personalization tools that allow parents to limit the videos their kids can see to specific age ranges.

WORTHY CAUSES

Thirty-five years ago, the first Ronald McDonald House opened its doors in Philadelphia to help children and families in need.  To honor this milestone, McDonald’s and Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) are inviting you to share inspirational stories of how you, or someone you know, have been impacted by RMHC through the Share.Give.Hope. campaign. To participate, visit www.rmhc.org/stories to share and read personal accounts of hope and inspiration; RMHC and McDonald’s will feature one of the stories submitted online in a national print advertising campaign for RMHC.

GREAT OPPORTUNITIES

Helium, the world’s largest community for writers, has just launched a starter kit specifically for moms. The kit, which can be found at Helium.com, is designed to make it as easy as possible for moms to get started on Helium and begin earning money for their writing. Moms willing to write on topics in demand by Helium’s 500 magazine, Internet and newspaper publishing partners should dive into Helium’s Freelance Marketplace and check the new titles posted each day. Articles range from short lifestyle pieces to longer pieces that require research. Earnings average $70 per article, with ranges from $35 to $200. Additionally, Helium runs approximately 20 writing contests each week, as well as select journalism award challenges. Helium writers also retain copyright to all of their articles.

CONTESTS

Cetaphil, the #1 dermatologist- and pediatrician-recommended brand of cleansers and moisturizers, has teamed up with Brickfish for its Comfortable in My Skin two-round social media campaign. The campaign, located at http://www.comfortableinmyskin.com/entersweepstakes/default.aspx, asks entrants to create collages by picking their favorite Cetaphil products, their favorite Kate Spade getaway bags, and their favorite destination getaways. Entrants are then asked to complete the sentence “I feel comfortable in my skin when I am . . . “  The Grand Prize winner, selected by a panel of judges from Cetaphil Cleansers and Moisturizers from the top five highest scoring entries that advanced from Round 1, will receive a seven day, four person getaway to a Marriott & Renaissance Caribbean & Mexico Resort destination of his or her choice.

Ounce for ounce, the mighty kiwifruit packs more nutrition than 27 of the most common fruits in the world. Yet many moms still fall back on the old standbys: bananas, apples, oranges and grapes, when packing lunch. To demonstrate how to create, pack and enjoy kiwifruit for lunch, ZESPRI® Kiwifruit is holding its first-ever Lunch 2.0 Blogger Recipe Contest. We’d like you to create your most imaginative and packable lunch recipe using kiwifruit. Take a photograph of your creation and post it on your blog. Your recipe can be an appetizer, entrée, dessert, snack or beverage, and can make use of either green or gold kiwifruit. The Grand Prize is $2,500 in cash, and fame: your recipe and its photograph will appear on the ZESPRI US website. Each semi-finalist will receive a signed copy of Ayer’s Cookbook, Food 2.0 (a $25 value).

LensCrafters, NCM.com and Sony Pictures Animation invite you to enter the “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” sweepstakes for the chance to win fantastic prizes, including a Grand Prize trip for one fan and up to three guests to see the World Premiere of the highly anticipated new movie from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (in theaters beginning September 18th). Others prizes include LensCrafters gift certificates, the DVD version of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and movie tickets. For complete details, visit: http://www.ncm.com/Lenscrafters/Sweepstakes

With summer in full swing – which means family trips to Disneyland, the beach, camping, and more – families can turn these exciting summer moments into cash for the next family vacation! With just a quick 60-second video of summer fun, families can enter to win a $1,000 in weekly prizes and a grand prize of $5,000 courtesy of SanDisk! All you need to do is post the video at http://www.youtube.com/sandisk for a chance to win.