Brookside Foods "Giving Back with Chocolate" Charity Tour Launches in NYC

Company's Coast to Coast Tour Recognizes, Rewards Individuals and Organizations Who Give Back to Communities

NEW YORK, Sept. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Brookside Foods ( www.brooksidefoods.com ), a unique chocolate company, today launched the "Giving Back with Chocolate" U.S. coast-to-coast tour. From October 1 through November 6, Brookside's team of traveling Super Agents will recognize and reward unsung, hard-working volunteers and organizations that serve others by giving them the gift of chocolate...and much, much more. Throughout the tour, Brookside Super Agents will also surprise consumers who volunteer their time with random acts of kindness - be it picking up their tab for groceries or gas, or stopping by a deserving local charity to make a donation. The tour begins in New York City on Saturday, October 1, 2011 and makes its way across the country with stops in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Baltimore, San Diego and Los Angeles, as well as additional stops in markets along the way.
"With our 'Giving Back with Chocolate' tour, we are truly on a mission to create a nationwide movement, bestowing rewards to those who deserve it the most, whether it is helping out in their community at large or donating time to a charity," said Deborah Shork, Director of Marketing, Brookside Foods, Ltd. "A key part of America's ethos is the dedication to philanthropic causes, and Brookside wants to take a moment and really treat those individuals."

Throughout the journey, Brookside will be offering samples of their Dark Chocolate Super Fruits product line - real fruit juice pieces dipped in pure dark chocolate, a natural source of flavanol antioxidants. Included will be Dark Chocolate Acai with Blueberry, Dark Chocolate Pomegranate, and new Dark Chocolate Goji with Raspberry.

Beginning October 1st, consumers can go to www.brooksidefoods.com and enter the "Giving Back with Chocolate" sweepstakes for the chance to win $15,000 to be donated to the charity of their choice, or to keep as a reward for themselves. They can also share the gift of chocolate with others through the "Giving Back with Chocolate" Facebook application and spark conversation about charity with other consumers who give back through the Vyou.com/GivingBackWithChocolate microsite.

About Brookside Foods

Brookside Foods is a unique chocolate company dedicated to bringing enjoyment to peoples' lives through their mouth-watering combinations of Super Fruits or wholesome nuts drenched in pure milk or dark chocolate...you'll love them at first bite and every bite after. For more information about Brookside, the "Giving Back with Chocolate" tour, or for the sweepstakes rules, please visit www.brooksidefoods.com .

Facebook Reportedly Giving Small Business $10M in Free Ads

Facebook and Google to continue competition for small business ad dollars
As businesses anxiously await the launch of business profiles on Google+, Facebook is reminding small businesses of the power of its social media dominance (it’s up to 800 million users now).
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Facebook has teamed up with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Federation of Independent Business to launch a program that includes giving away $10 million in advertising credits to small businesses. The publication reports:
The new program will officially kick off next month with a cross-country road show in coordination with state and local chambers of commerce and regional NFIB offices. At locations still to be determined, Facebook officials and members of the two business groups will meet with local businesses to discuss best practices for marketing to customers through Facebook.
Then in January, Facebook will begin giving away $50 per business in free advertising credits to as many as 200,000 small businesses. Such companies will be able to redeem the discount on a first-come, first-served basis when purchasing ads on the social-networking site, which can be targeted to specific users as a business sees fit.

“When you look at small businesses, there are probably fourteen to fifteen million active small businesses in the country, and we think over nine million of those are using Facebook to connect directly to consumers,” she said.
“One thing that makes Facebook easier for small businesses to use, is we’re not asking them to use a new product,” she added. “Most people who are attached to the web actually have a Facebook profile, and if you look at a page, which is what they tend to use to market their small business, it works pretty much the same way. So if you’re on Facebook and you’re posting something to your friends….they might post, ‘hey, we’re having a sale today.’”
Google, on the other hand, is asking people to use a new product. Recent estimates indicate that Google+ is up to around 43.4 million users so far. Last week, they announced a bunch of new features and opened it up to the public (as opposed to invite-only).
Google+ has a long, long way to go to achieve Facebook-like user numbers, but the fact that it’s tied (and will be tied even more) to other Google products businesses are already using is a key factor

Chris Crum | September 26, 2011

Widow of New York officer killed on 9-11 gives badge to Mansfield officers

Ten years ago, a group of Mansfield police officers and firefighters drove to New York in the wake of 9-11.
Their assignment: Help out however possible and deliver donations from the people of Mansfield.
For two of those police officers, that trip was the start of a remarkable, unexpected journey, culminating last week with the wife of a fallen New York City police officer giving the men a humbling gift: one of her husband's badges.
Cmdr. Kyle Lanier and officer Thad Penkala were among four officers who went to New York.
"We were sent there to work and donate money," Lanier said.
In a city reeling from an unprecedented assault and still recovering the bodies of victims, the officers mostly helped man security posts around the five boroughs.
They were also ordered by their superiors to donate $10,000 that had been raised from the community in a matter of days.
"They had kids throwing in their lunch money into this jug," Penkala said.
After a shift one day, the officers found themselves at a police precinct where a shrine had been put up for Sgt. Tim Roy of Massapequa Park, who had a wife and three kids.
Roy, they soon learned, had been on his way to traffic court when he heard about the attack. He was reportedly last seen helping a burn victim from one of the buildings.
The officers from Mansfield donated to the New York City Police Foundation, which assists departments with equipment and other needs. In the memo section of the check, they wrote that the donation was in Roy's memory.
Fateful journey
A decade later, Lanier and Penkala traveled back to Manhattan for the anniversary. They learned that the memorial at ground zero that day was reserved largely for families of victims, so they spent the morning meeting with other police officers and walking around downtown.
After taking some photos of a special memorial for fallen firefighters on the wall of a firehouse, Lanier saw a young boy standing nearby. He was dressed like a New York City police officer, lacking only a gun.
Lanier noticed the name on the badge: "Roy."
Lanier asked the boy whether his dad's name was Tim.
The boy said it was.
Lanier couldn't resist telling him the story of the donation from Mansfield.
A friend of the Roy family standing nearby overheard the conversation and asked Lanier, by then joined by Penkala, to start from the beginning. Pretty soon, Roy's wife, Stacy, and daughters were there.
Then members of New York's finest who happened to be nearby stepped closer. Lanier and Penkala were now retelling the story to a small crowd.
As they heard about the donation and why Lanier and Penkala wrote in Tim Roy's name on the check, relatives and friends cried.
'You guys are family'
Soon, that friend of the Roy family asked whether they had seen the new memorial. Lanier and Penkala said they hadn't because they weren't family to any of the victims.
"Well, you guys are family. Come on," the friend told them, Lanier said.
The new collection of mourners made the emotional walk to the memorial, all of them connected to Tim Roy -- by blood, friendship or the gift made in admiration of Roy's courage.
They walked along the enormous reflecting pools and the thousands of names displayed around the edges. They stopped and saw where Roy's name was carved in bronze.
While Lanier and Penkala were taking it all in, Stacy Roy told them she had hoped to come to downtown Manhattan that day and give her husband's badge to someone special. Lanier was told the badge was one of just a handful.
One had been buried with Tim Roy. Another was on his 13-year-old son's chest that day.
She handed the badge to Lanier.
"I stood there, and I couldn't say a word. I didn't know what to say," Lanier said.
He and Penkala accepted the gift, profoundly moved and aware that they had forged a lifelong bond with the family.
'It belongs to everyone'
Back in Mansfield, the two are working to find a way to display the badge and Roy's story in a place accessible to the public.
"The badge, the way I see it, doesn't belong to Kyle and myself," Penkala said.
"It belongs to everyone, especially the kids that threw their lunch money in a jug and didn't know where the money was going and didn't care. They just wanted to help."

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/09/15/3371934/widow-of-new-york-officer-killed.html#ixzz1Y5dvX5xx

Name that Acarebox

  Boys back2school Acarebox

Girls back2school Acarebox

Get well soon theme Acarebox

Contest, contest, contest these 3 boxes above made while being  stuck in the house during Hurricane  #Irene!! I need name ideas! Post your ideas and get your friends to like it the person with the most likes will win a customized Spa Acarebox. Let the games begin!!  Contest ends 9/12/2011
Also visit us on twitter @acareboxcom

This Three Weekend Event Comes to a Close with GoGo squeeZ Donation to City Harvest

SOURCE GoGo squeeZ

GoGo squeeZ, the fun applesauce with an active attitude, is on a mission to help kids squeeze a bit of GoGo Time—simply good, active fun—into each and every day. As part of that mission, GoGo squeeZ teamed up with  the New York City Department of Transportation for the fourth annual Summer Streets event, held on Manhattan's Park Avenue, which is completely closed to vehicles and wide open for family fun. For the past two Saturdays, New York families have been turning up at the GoGo squeeZ Free Play Zone in Foley Square (the event's starting location near Worth, Centre and Lafayette Streets in downtown Manhattan) between 7:00 am and 1:00 pm to get their share of GoGo Time, while taking part in family-friendly activities and eco-friendly crafts.
Now, GoGo squeeZ is giving back to the New York community by donating 2,000 snack pouches to City Harvest, a leader in food collection and donation to New York's hungry. And to celebrate the final weekend of Summer Streets, GoGo squeeZ has pledged to donate an additional snack pouch for every Four Square check-in at their Free Play Zone this Saturday, August 20.
GoGo squeeZ is the first squeezable, re-sealable, all natural, 100% fruit applesauce snack for kids in the U.S. Packaged in convenient pouches with a built-in straw, GoGo squeeZ is gluten free, dairy free, and made with no refined sugar.  All five delicious flavors are Kosher-certified and provide 3/4 serving of fruit.  Available in flavors including AppleApple, AppleBanana, ApplePeach, AppleStrawberry and AppleCinnamon, GoGo squeeZ may be found at major retailers nationwide for a suggested retail price of $2.99 per four-pack.
This summer the GoGo squeeZ team is bringing their fun and active snack solution to families on the go.  The brand's Free Play Zone at Summer Streets delivers imaginative play to New York City along with its wholesome, no spoon=no mess snack.  GoGo squeeZ's Free Play Zone hosts organized games and activities, the Family Flipbook project, and the squeeZ More out of Life conversation wall, through which each participant will become an official member of the GoGo Gang, and help bring GoGo Time to others.
By joining the GoGo Gang online (http://www.gogogang.com/) or by attending Summer Streets, members will support a nationwide brigade of parents and kids that are dedicated to getting a daily dose of GoGo Time. When the GoGo Gang is 100,000 members strong, GoGo squeeZ will team up with national play partner  Action for Healthy Kids (http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/) to renovate a playspace in an under-served community, making it easy and fun for children in the area to get their GoGo Time.  
Additionally, families who visit the Free Play Zone will have the chance to turn excess pre-consumer GoGo squeeZ packaging into new items like a change purse or decorative bow through GoGo squeeZ's partnership with upcycling and recycling pioneer TerraCycle®, Inc, which launched earlier this year.
By visiting the Free Play Zone this Saturday, families will not only enjoy simply good, active fun, but will also help GoGo squeeZ give back to the New York community through a product donation to City Harvest. For every virtual "check-in" via Four Square, GoGo squeeZ will donate an additional snack pouch to this leading organization in food rescue, ensuring that all New Yorkers have access to healthy food options.
"We are delighted to bring GoGo squeeZ and safe space for outdoor play to New York City through Summer Streets, as a part of our ongoing commitment to supporting the goals of Let's Move!," said Meena Mansharamani, Managing Director for Materne North America, in reference to the First Lady's initiative to promote healthier lifestyles among today's youth. "Our Free Play Zone allows families to enjoy healthier snacking with GoGo squeeZ, which lets kids enjoy the simplicity and goodness of childhood, while supporting a wonderful local cause through our product donation to City Harvest."
For more information on joining the GoGo Gang, visit http://www.materne.us/, or visit the GoGo squeeZ Facebook page
About Materne's GoGo squeeZ
GoGo squeeZ all natural squeezable applesauce is simple, yummy fun, and it delights like a game of tag or a run through the sprinkler in the backyard. We believe in real fun foods that are easy, smart and fit into moms' busy lives, giving them the freedom to say "yes" more often when their kids want a treat.
Since 1998, billions of Materne's innovative pouches have been sold to families around the world to enjoy for breakfast, in lunchboxes, on the run, during errands, at games and always with a smile. It's a happier way to get just a little bit healthier every day.
GoGo squeeZ is sold at Whole Foods, Costco, Walmart, Target, Publix and a growing list of other major retailers, and was recently featured on "Good Morning America", CHOW.com, and in Parents magazine as a top healthy snack for children.
For more information, please visit: http://www.gogosqueez.com/ or find us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
About TerraCycle
TerraCycle, Inc. is an international upcycling and recycling company that takes difficult to recycle packaging and turns it into affordable, eco-friendly products. Founded in 2001, TerraCycle (http://www.terracycle.net/) is the world's leader in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable post-consumer waste.
TerraCycle works with over thirty major brands in the U.S. (and in a growing number of other countries) to collect used packaging and products (chip bags, candy wrappers, juice pouches, pens, toothbrushes, etc.) that would otherwise be destined for landfills. It repurposes that waste into new eco-friendly materials and products that are available online and through major retailers.
The waste is collected through TerraCycle's Brigade programs, which are free fundraisers that pay schools and non-profits for every piece of waste they collect and return. For information on how to join a TerraCycle Brigade and on purchasing TerraCycle products please visit us at http://www.terracycle.net/.
About Summer Streets
Established in 2008 by the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), Summer Streets takes valuable public space—the city's streets—and opens them up to people to play, walk, bike, and breathe. For three Saturdays in August, nearly seven miles of car-free streets in Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park provide space for healthy recreation and echo the goal of PlaNYC, Mayor Bloomberg's sustainability agenda, to engineer a greener, greater New York City by 2030. Each year Summer Streets features a diverse range of all-inclusive, free programming along the route – including picnic areas, outdoor fitness classes, musical performances and art exhibitions – designed to engage people and appeal to different types of interests. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/summerstreets.

Meal for a Meal program by Barilla

An integral part of Italian food and culture is sharing the table with family and friends, and Barilla will be giving New Yorkers the opportunity to do just that as the Barilla Pasta Truck takes Manhattan by storm.
From August 15 to 18, the Barilla Pasta Truck will be stationed at busy commuter hubs between 4 and 8 p.m., giving New Yorkers an easy way to share the table with families and friends in the form of Spaghettata To-Go dinner kits. Each kit will include a box of Barilla spaghetti, fresh greens, a jar of Barilla sauce, exclusive Academia Barilla olive oil and vinegar and two tickets to Casa Barilla™ (a $10 value).

For every dinner kit distributed, Barilla will donate $1 to the Food Bank For New York City. Every dollar will provide five meals to New Yorkers in need.

August 16 at 7^th Ave between West 31^st Street and West 32^nd Street

9-Year-Old Rachel Beckwith’s Final Wish Inspires Thousands to Give

For her 9th birthday, Rachel Beckwith asked for donations to a charity to promote clean water around the world. After her tragic death in a car accident, thousands have given to her cause.

By Kathryn Hawkins

For Rachel Beckwith’s 9th birthday, she didn’t ask for toys, dolls, or a new pair of shoes. Instead, the Seattle-area girl made a selfless wish: She wanted her friends and family to donate money to the nonprofit group charity:water, so that people in developing countries could have access to the clean drinking water.
“On June 12th 2011, I’m turning 9,” she wrote on her fundraising page. “I found out that millions of people don’t live to see their 5th birthday. And why? Because they didn’t have access to clean, safe water so I’m celebrating my birthday like never before,” her fundraising page says. “I’m asking from everyone I know to donate to my campaign instead of gifts for my birthday.”
Rachel’s goal amount was $300, but she fell a bit short, raising $220 from her network of friends and relatives. That didn’t bother her much, though—she figured she could raise more the following year.
Tragically, that’s not to be: Rachel was a passenger in one of the 14 cars involved in a highway accident. After spending several days in a hospital, she was taken off of life support on Saturday.
But as news of her death spread, so did the story of her fundraising wish. Now, Rachel’s fundraising page has received donations from more than four thousand people, totaling over $84,000. All of that money will go towards building wells in developing countries, which will go a long way towards preventing the spread of disease.
“Life is coming out of this death, with Rachel’s generosity,” Rachel’s pastor, Ryan Meeks, told CNN.
To make a donation, check out Rachel’s fundraising page.