As most of you all know by now, I got an idea to do a Holiday Fundraiser benefiting Toy for Tots back in 2009. I’ve done it ever year since then and it’s that time again this year. I really can’t believe it’s been this many years now but here we are.
This year, we’ll be doing like we did last year thanks to some amazing people and businesses donating some gift cards and items to me to use in a giveaway. The way you can donate will be the same with the addition of being able to send through Google Wallet instead of just paypal, the way I do the fundraiser in general will be the same & the prizes will work the same as they did last year, too. As a refresher, everyone that donates will be entered into a contest to win a prize or prizes. For every $5 you donate to the holiday fundraiser, you get one entry into the contest to the drawing of your choice. So $5 gives you one entry into the drawing of your choice. $20 is 4 entries into the drawing(s) of your choice and so on and so forth. If you get multiple entries, you can either put them all towards one thing or split them up between multiple things.
Give away prizes this year include:
$50 Hand and Stone Spa gift card
$50 Adrift Float Spa gift card
$20 LUSH gift card
$25 Game Stop Gift card
$20 Amazon.com gift card
$20 Target gift card
$20 Paciugo Gelato Caffee gift card
$20 Twisted Root gift card
$20 Starbucks gift card
$25 Sonic Drive-In gift cards (5 up for grabs)
OPI Breakfast at Tiffany’s 4 piece mini nail polish set
NYX Cosmetics Liquid Suede Lip Cream trio
ULTA Macaroon Bake Shop Bath Fizzers Gift Set
3 month Nerd Block subscription (choice of either Classic box or Arcade box)
The Small Gift Box by Lucky Scruff (Original Beard Oil, Original Mustache Wax and the Lucky Scruff Wooden Beard Comb)
6 sets of Cinemark movie passes (2 passes per set)
Handmade soy candles trio
Handmade soap set. Soap scents are Citrus Punch, Cinnamon Oatmeal and Spearmint.
Some of these gift cards are to local businesses so only people that live locally will benefit from trying to win them. And of course the physical items will be fine for anyone to try and win.
Drawing will be held after the fundraiser ends in mid-December and items will be shipped out to the winners in January.
Once you donate, I'll need to know which item you want to be put into contention for and you can do that by emailing me or holler at me on the Twitter machine
@AshlyStar and then letting me know which item (or items depending on the amount of entries you get) you want to be entered in for.
A lot of people often say, "I just don't have time to do anything even though I'd love to." Which is the truth for some people. Which is how I got the idea to do the holiday fundraiser. I will take all the money that gets donated and go buy as many toys for Toys for Tots as I can. I keep them all in bags and then go deliver them to the main Toys for Tots drop location in the area. That way, you can do some good but you don't have to really do anything aside from donate to the cause. For proof that I'm doing what I say I'll be doing with the donations, there will be pictures of the toys as I buy them and pictures of all those toys being loaded into the car and more upon being delivered to a Toys for Tots location.
I know some people see this and think about donating but think they only have $5 or $10 to spare and think that's not worth it. Well, that's not true because through the years I've received tons of $5 and $10 donations! Every little bit adds up to something bigger!
With $5 I can buy an action figure, toy cars, Legos, a stuffed animal, various kinds of dolls, PlayDoh sets and various other things. $5 will buy a toy and in some cases more than one toy. I can get 8 or 9 Hot Wheels cars on $10 so no amount would be too small. If 15 people donate 5 dollars, I have $75 and that will buy quite a few toys to brighten a child's day. You can do something to help and leave all the work up to me.
And yes, I know Christmas isn't about the toys and other presents but imagine being 7 and not looking forward to waking up Christmas morning because Santa couldn't bring you anything this year. It's a bummer.
To donate via paypal or Google Wallet, send whatever amount you want to amorousrocker [at] gmail [dot] com.
Every little bit will help. If you don't have the ability to do paypal but want to donate anyway, let me know and we'll work something out. A few people last year just gave cash or sent me a check since they didn't have a paypal account and didn't want to create one either. Other people have sent me Amazon gift cards to buy toys that way and other people just purchased toys and dropped them off to me to add to the pile. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. ;)
I started buying toys this year in January.
Just 2 or 3 out of every check, so I have a nice
little stash going already.
If you want to see pictures from the last 6 years of holiday fundraisers, you can see the photo albums below:
2009 Pictures: HERE
2012 Pictures: HERE
I need to have the donation turned into the Toys for Tots warehouse by December 16th so they have plenty of time for sorting everything out and delivery. So we have around 5 weeks this year to get going! I’ll probably go shopping for toys on December 15th so I’ll need all PayPal donations and checks in to me by December 13th at the very latest. Then the 16th I’ll be taking everything out to the warehouse for delivery. Let’s go! :)
