Do your children write letters to Santa?  If they do, you can add special meaning to this holiday tradition with Macy’s Believe Campaign.  At every Macy’s across the country there is a mailbox to collect letters for Santa Claus.  Bring your child’s stamped letter to Macy’s, addressed to Santa at the North Pole, and drop it into Santa’s special letterbox.  For every letter received, Macy’s will donate $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and will then deliver the letters to the Post Office for mailing to Santa.  The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.

To make the experience even more magical, you can download Santa Stationary in a variety of formats, suitable for children of all ages and writing levels.  The Macy’s website also lists an Activity Guide for the holidays.

Believe is inspired by a letter to the editor written by 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon in 1897 asking if there is a Santa Claus.  Journalist Francis P. Church responded with his famous essay on the importance of believing, including the iconic lines, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.  He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist…”

Take a moment to visit the Make-A-Wish Foundation and read some of the letters from wish kids, and believe that your generosity could help make their dreams come true.

There is just something about a little girl in a frilly pink dress, isn’t there? And yet you can’t help but picture her growing up and making her way in the world and pursuing her dreams, whether they involve family, a career, travel, or some combination of all her interests.  Heck, maybe she’ll become a powerful CEO, who comes home from time to time to remember her carefree days in a frilly pink dress.

Last week I was invited to attend the Women’s Foundation of Colorado luncheon to listen to Lisa Ling.  The Women’s Foundation focuses on advocacy and change to help women be economically self-sufficient, for many noble reasons.  As Lisa Ling spoke about drop out rates for women, the conditions many women live in around the world, and similar issues that tugged at my heart, I inevitably felt thankful for all of the opportunities my daughter has and hopeful that I will guide her to a happy, successful life, however she ends up defining it.  Also important was the motivation Lisa Ling provided to be involved, whether it be financially, or with time, on either a national, state or local level.

Sometimes, we hear daunting and discouraging statistics about negative things that are hard to listen to.  But Lisa Ling did an excellent job of reinforcing what we all know in our hearts – It’s real and there is something YOU can do about it.  Lisa ended her powerful presentation by quoting Oprah Winfrey, who said:  “Once you know about it you can’t pretend that you don’t.”

So, what is your issue of concern? And do you have tips for how to take action, rather than just listening and trying to pretend you don’t know about it?  Lisa Ling mentioned Maria Shriver’s most recent book, Just Who Will You Be? : Big Question, Little Book, Answer Within, as a good resource for thinking about who you are and what you will do to satisfy not just yourself, but to play an important role in facilitating change on the issues or problems that are important to you.   I have not yet read it, but intend to, and welcome any ideas or suggestions any of you have for getting involved and taking action.

If you’re looking for inspiration or places to start, check out our weekly “Do Good” Challenges or The Girl Effect.

This week, we’re combining our weekly “Do Good” Challenge with a giveaway. It’s kind of a Give-and-Get Challenge. Just help us help the ASPCA and we’ll enter you for chance to win one of ten Petz Prize Packages for the Nintendo DS worth over $120.  Our friends at Ubisoft have announced that they have teamed up with the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), and Honor Society, a New York based pop band, to celebrate the launch of their new Petz® games with Sharing and Caring Month. In support of ASPCA’s mission to teach kids about kindness to animals, the Petz video games for the Nintendo DS system, including Petz Nursery, will allow young players to care for and bond with a variety of virtual “petz.”

The Petz Caring portion of the program will feature the ASPCA in the Petz Cause House on UbiWorld (Ubisoft’s online extension for the Petz® video game). Inside the virtual Petz Cause House, kids and their parents can play a variety of Petz mini-games and earn “pointz” to show their support for the ASPCA in protecting animals. Beginning today through January 4, 2010, the total number of “pointz” that visitors earn will be announced weekly in the Cause House explaining to kids how their accumulated points are helping animals. To further support teaching kids about responsible pet care, Ubisoft’s Petz will donate funds directly to the ASPCA.

And the Winners are…

• Angela G of Spanaway, WA
• Melissa D of Baltimore, MD
• Kathryn T of Saint Albans, VT
• Renee T of Shelby Township  MI
• Julie M of Grosse Pointe, MI
• Heather C of Orlando, FL
• Crystal F of Maiden NC
• Tawnda M of East Greenville, PA
• Beth S of Xenia, OH
• Laura P of Milford, CT

The “Do Good” Challenge Giveaway Entry Requirement

So here’s the “Do Good” Challenge and Giveaway: Do what you can to help raise the number of “pointz” at the ASPCA Petz House this week at http://ubiworld.com. Set up a user account on UbiWorld, then head over to Petz Island and collect coins and play mini-games at the ASPCA Cause House. After you’ve played around for a bit, head back to this post and leave a comment telling us how many “pointz” you earned for the ASPCA and leave us your user name so we can verify it. The game is really cute, very easy, and you’ll find lots of “pointz” in no time at all.

In return for all of your hard work, Five Hens and UbiSoft would like to show our gratitude by entering you into our drawing to win one of ten great Petz Prize Packages. Each prize package will contain one copy of each of these Petz games for the Nintendo DS:

• Petz Nursery
• Petz Dogz Talent Show
• Petz Dolphinz
• Petz Hamsterz Supertarz

Wow! That’s a total prize package worth over $120 each!!!

Bonus Entries

And, if you really want to win, after you complete the required trip to UbiWorld and earn some “pointz” for the ASPCA, you can also do any of the following to earn bonus entries:

1. Follow Five Hens on Twitter and post the following Tweet:

@fivehens is giving away 10 Petz Prize Packages worth $120 for Nintendo DS. http://bit.ly/3kQ3sD #videogames #giveaways #nds #gaming

2. Subscribe to the Five Hens monthly newsletter “The Hen House” here.

3. Subscribe to the Five Hens blog via email subscription here.

4. Subscribe to the Five Hens FriendFeed here.

The Fine Print

No purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be selected randomly through http://random.org. Nintendo, UbiSoft, ASPCA, Honor Society, and Five Hens employees and their families are ineligible to participate. All entries received after Sunday, November 22, 2009 at midnight PST will not be considered. Entries that do not follow the entry requirements will not be considered. Winners will be notified and will have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the e-mail. If they do not reply within 24 hours, another winner will be selected. Open to participants in the US and Canada 18 years and older.

Your information is safe with us! Here’s why.

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One of my most enduring Halloween memories was receiving a small orange milk carton from my school teachers every October.  The box had the acronym UNICEF emblazoned upon it.  And every October 31st, I would diligently tramp around my neighborhood, ringing doorbells, and asking “Trick or Treat? UNICEF?”.  And I would always smile when I heard the sound of pennies or dimes drop into that little orange milk carton.  UNICEF and Trick-or-Treating always went hand in hand for me.  So, I find it fitting to challenge our readers to find a way to help UNICEF this Halloween.

What is UNICEF?

UNICEF is the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (now technically known as the United Nations Children’s Fund).  UNICEF provides long-term humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries. According to UNICEF, the tradition of ‘Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF‘ began in 1950 in the United States, when Philadelphia schoolchildren first went door-to-door at Halloween collecting money in decorated milk cartons to help their global peers. They raised a grand total of $17, kicking off a campaign that has since brought in millions of dollars each year to help UNICEF provide medicine, better nutrition, safe water, education, emergency relief and other support to children in more than 150 countries.

According to Charity Navigator, UNICEF is rated a four star charity.  That means, they’ll use their donations the way they say they will.  View UNICEF’s full Charity Navigator profile here.

What Can You Do?

If you or your children have a UNICEF box, put it to good use and fill it up this Halloween while you’re Trick-or-Treating. If you don’t have a UNICEF box, don’t worry, you can still help:

• Make a donation right now on the Five Hens UNICEF Trick-or-Treat Online page.  Our goals is to raise $200 for UNICEF this year.  Please help us reach it by adding your donation, large or small, to our drive.  Head over to our UNICEF site, donate what you can, and “Do Good” today.
• Create your own Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF fundraising webpage in just a few easy steps. Then invite your friends and family to help you raise funds to help kids all over the world survive and grow! Click here for all the details on how to create your own UNICEF website.
• Volunteer! If you have an undergraduate degree, several years of work experience and are interested in long-term volunteer opportunities in developing countries, you may be eligible for entry into the United Nations Volunteer (UNV) program. This is a United Nations common program, which recruits volunteers for assignments throughout the United Nations system, including UNICEF. Application procedures and information are available at the UNV Web site.
• Support UNICEF through charitable donations and purchases.  UNICEF relies heavily on people like all of us to help build a world fit for children.  There are many ways you can give to UNICEF, including purchasing unique cards and gift from the UNICEF store.

Today is World Food Day, a worldwide event designed to increase awareness, understanding and informed, year-around action to alleviate hunger. Please watch this video from Mercy Corps and Tina Fey to get an understanding of how extensive world hunger really is.

Ideas in Action

Head over to the World Food Day website today and download their PDF “Ideas in Action” to find out how you can help. Getting started is simple:

• Learn more. Hunger is a multi-faceted problem, so there are many different ways to get to solutions.
• Find out what is being done at different levels to provide food security for all. Review the list of National WFD USA Sponsors. Many of the organizations have local chapters or offices in your area. Contact them for additional information or ideas.
• Talk with others about the issue of hunger and think of ways that you can involve the people your local community.
• Try something.
• Share your experience and ideas with others by sending information to the World Food Day National Coordinator’s office or submitting an event/activity to their website.

An Easy Way to “Do Good” Today

Now it’s your turn to “Do Good” today and help stamp out world hunger. And it’s easy. The Hunger Site and Click-to-Give have teamed up with sponsors around the world to make it easy for YOU to do something today to alleviate hunger around the world. Simply visit The Hunger Site and click the button that says “Click Here to Give”. it’s that simple! For every click you make, the site and their sponsors give 1.1 cups of food to a hungry person. And it’s FREE, no cost to you at all. To date, generous “clickers” have help to give over 657 MILLION cups of food to hungry people around the world. So please, head over to The Hunger Site, get involved, click to give, and “Do Good” today!

Did you know that when Lance Armstrong received his cancer diagnosis 13 years ago, he didn’t have health insurance?  No one should have to battle cancer while worrying about health insurance coverage.  That’s why we just signed the LIVESTRONG Action petition, to tell our leaders in Washington that any health reform bill must include two principles:

• No American should be denied health insurance coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
• No American should lose their insurance due to changes in health or employment.

Thirteen years ago, Lance received his diagnosis for advanced testicular cancer.  He was in-between contracts and had no health insurance—and his insurer used his diagnosis as a reason to deny reinstatement.  Lance was lucky because one of his sponsors stepped in on his behalf.  But not every American is so fortunate.

Livestrong and Five Hens’ goal is a world without cancer—and the first step is making sure all survivors can get the insurance they need to fight against cancer.  It’s not right for insurers to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions, or to drop people when they get sick and need insurance the most.

Will you join the Five Hens and sign the LIVESTRONG Action petition to show your support?  The petition will be delivered to Capitol Hill this month as the debate reaches its climax.  It only takes a few moments, and it’s a critical message to send to our representatives in Washington.  Head over here to add your name: http://www.livestrongaction.org/campaigns/healthcare.

And if you really want to show your support publicly, you can add a Livestrong band to your Twitter avatar like we did.  Just click here http://twcauses.com/ls/start.php.  Please note: A support Tweet will be posted on your behalf to your Twitter account automatically stating “Support Lance and #LIVESTRONG global cancer fight. Add wristband to your Twitter with 1-click – http://twcauses.com/ls/“.  This change is permanent until you change your avatar back.

While we’ve made tremendous progress in the fight, we still have a lot of work to do.  We need our world leaders to take action now and your support really makes a difference.  So please, get involved and “Do Good” today.

Since we focused a lot on indoor things to do with your kids this week, we thought a good challenge for everyone would be to take your kids outside this weekend.  The International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) will celebrate its sixth annual International Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day tomorrow, Saturday, October 3, 2009.  This is a great opportunity for you to pass your passion for pedaling on to kids!

We’re sure this year’s event will be even bigger and better than ever.  Here are some things you can do to participate:

1. Find a local event in your area and take part in it.  Click here to find an event near you now!
2. Spread the word.  This event is a great opportunity for kids and groups to experience mountain biking for the first time or to get back on the saddle again.
3. Take a kid on a ride.  Plan to go mountain biking tomorrow – and bring a kid along for the ride!  You can take your own kids, or even better, take disadvantaged kids along that might not ordinarily have the chance to get out and try something like this.
4. Kids – ride your mountain bike tomorrow and tell your friends!

IMBA’s International Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day celebrates the life of Jack Doub, an avid teenage mountain biker from North Carolina who had a true passion for the sport from an early age but passed away in 2002. Funding is provided by the Jack Doub Memorial Endowment.  The event takes place every year on the first Saturday in October.  We urge you to get outside, get on your bike, get involved, and “Do Good” today!

In honor of the Smithsonian giving away a free day at their museums, maybe there’s something we can all do to repay our local museums.  Museum funding, especially for smaller museums, is really difficult. Even the major established institutions, unless they are well-endowed, are having a hard time figuring out how they are going to continue their operations.  Some museums are being forced to make the hard decision between shutting down for good or selling off portions of their collections to private collectors.  That means, we, the public lose access to timeless art, culture, and knowledge.

So how can YOU help?

Well, there’s one simple and obvious way to help, and that’s to make donations to your local museums.  Cash is always a good thing.  But here’s a real challenge for you. Instead of giving cash, give your time.  Almost every museum has a museum “volunteer” program of some sort or another.  By giving your time as a museum volunteer, you can help reduce museum operating costs and stretch their funding dollars just a little further. In a recent conversation I had with Heather Hope, Public Relations Manager at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science she told me:

The museum is powered by over 1200 volunteers.  They help to serve our visitors and make visiting the museum fun.

And what’s so great about this is that it’s actually fun being a museum volunteer.  You get to learn things that you wouldn’t ordinarily know.  You get to go behind the scenes and see some really cool things. One of  The Hens and her Rooster volunteered at a local aquarium and had amazing experiences with all kinds of animals…and aquarium visitors too! Please get involved and “Do Good” today.

Hooray for free chocolate from Mars. Now you can help Mars do even more in this week’s “Do Good” Challenge. Mars is making a big commitment to sustainably harvested cocoa for their chocolates. They recently contracted their first batch of sustainably harvested cocoa beans certified by UTZ. Similar to other sustainable certifications, UTZ “helps coffee growers to be more professional and competitive in production and selling, and it enables coffee brands to incorporate and credibly demonstrate responsibility in their entire product range,” according to the company’s website. Mars also plans to source cocoa for all of its products from sustainably harvested farms by 2020. In addition to working with UTZ Certified cocoa, Mars announced it will source some of its cocoa from suppliers that bear the Rainforest Alliance Certification symbol, which also certifies agricultural crops grown in an environmentally friendly manner.

So how can you help?

Head over to the Rainforest Alliance website and support their work through membership, donations, endowments, corporate sponsorship, or cause marketing. And gere’s you’re challenge for everyday starting today: Think about the products you eat and purchase and support those that are grown and harvested in sustainable ways. And look for the Rainforest Alliance Certified, Fair Trade Certified, or UTZ Certified seals on your future purchases.  Please get involved and “Do Good” today.

Sonic and DonorsChoose.org have an exciting new program called Limeades For Learning. With your help, schools can get the funding they need to inspire their students to learn.

Your part is simple. Just order any drink* at Sonic during September to get a vote code, and then go to LimeadesForLearning.com to vote for a project you like. Sonic will donate more than half a million dollars to the projects that receive the most votes. Grants will be awarded weekly. But hurry, voting ends October 1.

* Wacky Packs and Premium Roast coffee-based drinks excluded.