POSSESS Giveaway Preview!

mood: philanthropic
pandora/ipod: "rainbow connection" by kermit the frog

I know I've mentioned this about a bazillion times, but I have some amazing friends. Talented, driven, smart, caring - I'm truly blessed.

My friend Tara fits the above criteria and then some, and her upcoming efforts to combat homelessness and poverty in El Salvador through Habitat for Humanity just proves it.

I'm helping Tara spread the word about her fundraising for the trip to El Salvador. Here's her "pitch":

Hello Friends and Family,

I have been selected along with 16 other Horizon Media employees to help build houses through Habitat for Humanity in El Salvador in early May.

Habitat for Humanity is an organization that believes that every man, woman and child should have a decent, safe and affordable place to live. As our group has collaborated with the organization, we have learned some unfortunate truths:

· Nearly 2 billion people around the world live in slum housing and over 100 million are homeless.

· Approximately 50% of the homes in El Salvador have been impacted by natural disasters over the past two decades.

· A single income household in El Salvador may only bring in $144 US per month.

Your dollar donation will help cover the costs of our travel to El Salvador plus a donation to the Habitat for Humanity organization. Horizon Media has generously offered to match the number raised by our group, so your donation will really impact our efforts!

I realize that everyone has expenses and there are so many other charities out there, especially with the recent devastation in Japan. If you are able to, your donation will continue to help so many others that would benefit too.

To make a charitable contribution, please contact me or you can submit online by 4/6through our team leader, Laura Ashton, via:

https://www.habitat.org/cd/gv/participant/participant.aspx?pid=93444722

I am excited to be able to donate a week of my life to make an impact on another's.

Thank you so much for you consideration!! I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Tara

How badass is she? I luff her.

But Gretchen, how does this relate to a POSSESS giveaway?

The official announcement will go up here and on Goodreads Wednesday, March 23rd, but I thought I'd give you all a head's up.

On the 23rd of each month between now and August, I'll be doing an ARC giveaway! Grand prize will be a signed POSSESS ARC, and there will be 5 "runner's up" prize packs of bookmarks, St. Benedict Medals and "Vade Retro Satana" temporary tattoos of Bridget's unique charm bracelet from the book!

For this first giveaway, you'll get ONE (1) entry for blogging about or retweeting the donation information for Tara's Habitat for Humanity fundraiser (make sure you email me the link or @reply me on Twitter), plus if you actually make a tax deductible donation you'll receive ONE (1) entry for each dollar you donate. Simply forward your donation confirmation to me at gretchen (dot) mcneil (at) gmail (dot) com!

I'm going to vlog about all this on Wednesday and explain the official rules again as well as show off the fancy swag/prizes. Winners will be announced Monday, March 28th!