Chicken of the Sea #100YearsOfGood Giveaway Winners And Great American Gratitude Tour Stops

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This post is brought to you by Chicken of the Sea. Please note that as always, any personal opinions reflected in this post are my own and have not been influenced by the sponsor in any way.

Remember in March I published my post on the Chicken of the Sea 100 Years of Good Celebration?  That’s the program where they are investing $1 million in individuals who do good in their communities. And at that time I also offered a giveaway of $1,000, which was to be split into four $250 prizes?

To be eligible, entrants needed to leave a comment describing how they “did good” or “give back” in their community. The submission needed to include four things:

• What do you do?
• How long have you been doing it?
• What is the reason or inspiration for why you do it?
• How will you pay it forward if you win, meaning what will you do with the money if you win?

Well, the winners have been chosen and it’s time to announce them. Here they are, in alphabetical order, along with their submissions

Ellen Beck

I do out of pocket rescue and TNR (trap/nuter/release) in our community for feral cats. I have been doing this for almost 20 years now. It benefits our community because by spaying/neutering there are far fewer animals being destroyed or becoming ill in our neighborhood. TNR is the only way to coontrol the cat population. By putting the cats back into thier own territories after they are fixed new cats are less likely to move in and to repopulate.

I teach the neighborhood about the benefits of having feral cats (that have been fixed) and encourage them to to be kind to them. I tell them the cats help control rodents and although they cant be pets they are a very valuable part of the town.

I became involved with this when I moved to this neighborhood and saw so many cats being abandoned by careless owners. I live in an economically depressed area where animals are secondaary to their own survival. One day after we first moved in a cat who was obviously in pain and at one time had been a housecat headbumped me while I was outside planting in the garden. This big brown cat who had been left, been abused, been mistreated by humans put his trust in a human one more time for help. He got neutered, and taken care of. He was my inspiration.

If I won, I would use the money to spay a female that has wandered up during this last winter. Spaying is expensive and I have been saving up for it, but winning would mean I could apply it to more vetting and food for all of these poor wandering souls who through no fault of their own are abndoned and alone.

What I do can be heartbreaking but it is also joyous. To find a cat a forever home, to know they wont be alone or lost, I wouldnt have it any other way.

Thanks for the chance Chicken of the Sea, I cant tell you how many times your product was used to help trap cats , its rather fitting you are sponsoring. The cats love you (and I do too) !

Julie Kennedy

Thanks Val for all that you do!

I am a member of the Gigi’s Playhouse Central NJ start up committee. I have been involved for about the last month since I heard about it. My son Logan is 4 1/2 and starting to transition to kindergarten. Expenses with therapy and tutors are beginning to mount. Gigi’s playhouse sets up tutoring, math programs, etc for adults and kids with Down Syndrome, in addition to the other things they do.

I would donate the money, or have you donate the money from Val and/or JSDSA to Gigi’s to get us toward the goal of $100,000.00 for the first year’s operating expenses.

Thanks Val!

Kathleen Kennedy-Leon

I have always been involved in Girl Scouts. I was a Girl Scout for many years myself. Then when I had my two daughters, I knew my love for Girl Scouting would continue with them.

I have been a Girl Scout co-leader & medical mom for both of my daughter’s troops. I have been involved in this capacity for over twelve years. I have taught girls skills such as cooking, project management, giving back, paying it forward, the value of community and that if they believe in themselves they can do anything. One person’s actions can make a difference.

I have led the girls in all sorts of community services, from coats/ hats & gloves at Christmas time with the giving tree, numerous food drives and community clean up projects.

Our most recent project which we used to achieve our Silver Award was to start a lending library specifically aimed for children and teens at a family shelter / soup kitchen so that the kids would have access to books. This project really helped the girls see that even though some places we asked to participate didn’t want to, it didn’t matter, because other places that we didn’t expect to help did. Good work and paying it forward ripples outward. We originally had requested 12 local schools and businesses be collection points and ended up with 18. The troop collected close to 1500 books. Box load after box load was picked up and brought to the shelter. It was quite eye opening to girls to be at the shelter and see a very long line of people waiting to get in on a cold day to have a meal.

Not only did they help others, they helped themselves as it was a huge reminder of the many blessings we have and take for granted.

I am very excited to see what lies ahead for these girls. The Girl Scout Gold award is the highest award available and I have no doubt that most if not all of our troop will go for the gold!

My way of paying it forward to use the money for the troop and have the girls decide what we would use the funds for-(not a trip or craft) but something community related to help others. I’m sure it would be something worth while as I’ve never been disappointed by kindness of our girls.

If we were awarded one of the prizes, I would be happy to blog about what we used the funds for and link back to you and the sponsor so everyone would know where this great prize was used.

thank you for your consideration!

Brett Martin

I’ve been a girl scout leader for 3 years now, and will be again in the fall for year four. I’ll also add a second troop to my life- my younger daughter’s daisy scouts.

It started out because there weren’t parents willing to step up to BE a leader, but I loved it the moment I started and have so much fun introducing the kids to new experiences and learning all about scouting with them!! It’s as good for me as it is for them.

If I won, I’d do a small part of the money to buy supplies to start my Daisy troop off, and the rest of the money would be donated to help families afford the costs of scouting so that no one is excluded for any reason.

Congratulations to all of the winners! I appreciated receiving as many entries as I did, and enjoyed reading all of them. It was difficult to pick four winners, there were so many great entries. If you didn’t win here, don’t give up! There’s still an opportunity to win big.

The Chicken of the Sea Great American Gratitude Tour kicked off in March and runs through September. The tour is visiting visit local communities throughout the country to thank Americans for making it a mealtime staple for a Century. While out on the tour the famous brand will be presenting 100 $10,000 Gratitude Awards – and then personally honoring many of the recipients right in their hometowns during the 39-city, coast-to-coast Tour.

The tour will be stopping in 39 US cities. At each tour stop, the Chicken of the Sea Mermaid (newly resurrected since her singing debut in 1952) will emerge from her specially outfitted vintage Airstream to take pictures with the public; distribute coupons, autographs and other free giveaways; offer Mermaid tattoos for the kids; and provide healthy-eating tips. Participants can also receive special commemorative coins that offer the chance to win $10,000 instantly.

The next few stops in the tour are:

May 8, 2014 from 11am – 2pm – Walmart, Omaha, NEBRASKA

May 10, 2014 from 11am – 5pm – Mall of America, Bloomington, MINNESOTA

May 12, 2014 from 11am – 2pm –  Walmart, Bloomington MINNESOTA

May 15, 2014 from 4:30pm – 10:30pm –  Iowa Cubs Game, Des Moines, IOWA

May 16, 2014 from 11am – 2pm –  Walmart, Des Moines, IOWA

Find specific dates and location information on the tour map on the Chicken of the Sea website.

Wait, there’s one more thing!

Remember, Chicken of the Sea launched a commemorative product line with special packaging. These products are available in single and quad packs at supermarkets. If you’re into nostalgia you’ll want to hurry because they’ll be gone soon as they’re only in stores for a limited time.

Be sure to stay up to date with the latest info in any or all of these places:

• Chicken of the Sea on Facebook
• Chicken of the Sea on Twitter
• Chicken of the Sea on Instagram

While you’re following along, be sure to join in the fun. Share your stories, photos and videos and express your gratitude! Be sure to use the hashtag #100YearsOfGood, as many will be appearing on the 100 Year of Good story wall.

This promotion is created and owned by From Val’s Kitchen, who is entirely responsible for rules and all legal considerations. Chicken of the Sea provides award money only.