Giveaway: Pink Together

I hate being sick. For me, sick is a few days of something that makes me feel cruddy before it goes away. That's not what being sick means for Brandie and far too many others. For them, living with breast cancer is a daily experience, and a miserable and painful one at that. October is - as you'd have to live under a rock not to know - Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So many brands do so much to try to raise awareness and funds, and General Mills is no different.

For the fifth year, they're working on the Pink Together campaign. There, you can share your personal stories as well as messages of hope. The stories aren't just to go into the ether. General Mills will donate $1 to the Komen organization for each Message of Hope that is sent to someone who has shared their story on PinkTogether.com (up to $25,000) during October. This is in addition to a $2 million donation General Mills is making to the Komen organization.

Beyond the fact that the donation comes from something I can do rather than requiring me to make a purchase appeals to me. Even better? For the first time, we can choose how $1 million of this donation will be shared between two different Komen programs: the Treatment and Assistance Program, which assists women in securing care they otherwise may not be able to afford, and Prevention Research, which helps unlock the keys to preventing breast cancer. You can vote from September 19 to April 14 next year on the Think Pink site. Results will be announced on Mother´s Day 2012 - Sunday, May 13, perfect timing, I think!

In support of this campaign, General Mills via MyBlogSpark is offering a giveaway, and I have a prize pack to give to one lucky reader. The prize pack includes a box of Total cereal, coupons valid for one box of Cheerios and Multigrain Cheerios cereal and one cup of Yoplait yogurt, a Betty Crocker Living with Cancer Cookbook Pink Together Edition, a water bottle and removable silicone awareness bracelet, a sport backpack, and rhinestone ear buds. So what do you have to do to win? First of all, let me stress that you must follow all the rules. If you do not follow the rules, your entry will not count!

This contest is open until Thursday October 20 at 7pm CST. I must have a valid way to reach you, so leave me your email address in your comment or be sure your profile has your email address visible. No duplicate comments will count. This giveaway is open to US residents age 18 and older. Winners will be selected via random.org and must respond within 48 hours of being notified by me or I will select a new winner.

Mandatory Entry: Tell me how you have been touched by breast cancer.

Bonus Entries (leave a comment for each entry - if you put it all in one comment, I'll count it as one entry):

1) Earn one additional entry for following me on Twitter, then tweeting this contest with the following tweet: "Think Pink and share your breast cancer stories. Learn how via a #giveaway from @honestandtruly http://bit.ly/rohgcu" (leave a link to your tweet as your comment and make sure you do all the steps!)
2) Earn one additional entry by following this review blog publicly via Google Friend Connect.
3) Earn one additional entry by following my “regular” blog Honest & Truly! publicly via Google Friend Connect.

And no, you won't earn any extra entries for it, but you will get good karma for liking me on Facebook!

Good luck!

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a prize pack as described above for review purposes from General Mills through MyBlogSpark. I was not compensated for this campaign. That said as always, all opinions expressed remain my own.