In April, I shared with you that fifty million Americans don’t know where their next meal will come from. There’s a lot of organizations and brands working to help with the issue of hunger in America and I’m pleased to let you know of just one more!

The Juicy Juice Fruit for All Project, is a joint effort between Nestlé Juicy Juice, Feeding America, and anti-hunger advocate Samantha Harris. The project’s goal is to put up to 35 million pieces of fruit in the hands of children and families in need. So, with every purchase of Juicy Juice for your home, Nestlé will provide a piece of fruit to hungry families.

Some interesting information I received regarding this project, is that a recent survey found that 1 in 4 moms don’t think hunger affects many children in the U.S. However, the sad truth is that over 16 million children live at risk of hunger, with summer meaning greater risk for them to be hungry. This is because during the school year, children in need often receive either free or reduced-cost meals at school.

How can you get involved in helping with the Juicy Juice Fruit for All Project? As I mentioned earlier, it’s as simple as purchasing Juicy Juice, which if you have small kids in the home (like me!) you probably already do this. From now through August 31, each time Juicy Juice is
purchased, a piece of fruit will be provided by Nestlé to hungry kids and families. Another way is to interact on Juicy Juice’s Facebook page – they have some games, quizzes and puzzles you can play to earn more fruit donations for needy families. This might be a fun way to get the kids involved and help them learn about hunger in America. Of course, volunteering at local food banks is always a great way to get involved too!

Local Food Bank Meal Giveaway

A giveaway like none before on ModernMami.com, in an effort to help feed more hungry children and their families, we’re giving away a charitable donation of 400 meals to your local food bank. We also get to donate 400 meals to a local food bank here in Orlando!

How to Enter

Required entry: If you’d like to enter this giveaway for a charitable donation of 400 meals to your local food bank simply leave a comment letting us know if you’ve ever volunteered at a local food bank.

Extra entries (optional):

Each of the following will count as 1 extra entry. You’ll need to leave a separate comment for each entry.

1. Follow @modernmami on Twitter.
2. Tweet the following (1 time only): Win a donation of 400 meals to your local food bank from @modernmami and help hungry children & families! http://bit.ly/LNXx3S #giveaway
3. Receive post updates by subscribing to our RSS feed. You can do so either via email or through a RSS reader. Leave a comment saying you did so or are already a subscriber.
4. Write a blog post on your own blog sharing the details of this giveaway. Be sure to include a link back to this post. Leave a comment with your post link.

All entries must be in by Saturday, June 30, 2012 at 11:59 pm EST. You must be 18 or older and a U.S. resident. No purchase necessary. Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be notified via email. (Please be sure to provide a valid email address with your entry.) Winner will have 48 hours to respond and claim prize, otherwise a new winner will be chosen. Prize will be provided and fulfilled by giveaway sponsor and ModernMami™.com is not responsible for lost or damaged goods.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Nestle and Juicy Juice in conjunction with the BabyCenter Blog Network.

Green Kiwi Photo: D Sharon Pruitt

What do you normally do on Mother’s Day? Do you stay home and relax? Go out to eat?

This will be my 5th year celebrating Mother’s Day for myself; before that it was all about my mami. Of course, that means that I share the celebrations with my mom now. Usually, this means I do a little relaxing at home with my family and then visit my mother for the other half of the day. I think once we all went out to eat together. But, we’ve never really done a family day out for Mother’s Day. I think maybe next year I will plan a beach trip so we can all enjoy the wonderful May weather and both my mom and I can relax by the ocean.

To celebrate Mother’s Day, Nestle Family is currently holding a national giveaway on their site and also offering a giveaway for ModernMami.com readers.

Mother’s Day to Remember National Sweepstakes

You could win $8,000 toward a family dream vacation plus $2,000 for a spa day or night out on the town with your friends. See details and enter at Nestle Family by May 31, 2010.

ModernMami.com Reader Giveaway

One of you could win a prize pack full of the following coupons and products ($150 value):

• $29.99 Shutterfly gift card
• 30-day supply of Glowelle
• Carnation Instant Breakfast Essentials
• Juicy Juice
• Dreyer’s ice cream
• Toll House
• Nesquik
• Cranberry Raisinets
• Stouffer’s
• Nestle Pure Life
• Wonka Exceptionals
• Wonka Sploshberries
• Recipe cards featuring recipes from meals.com

How to Enter

Required entry: If you’d like to enter this contest, simply leave a comment below and tell us how you normally celebrate Mother’s Day.

Extra entries (optional):

Each of the following will count as 1 extra entry. You’ll need to leave a separate comment for each entry.

1. Follow @modernmami on twitter.
2. Tweet the following: Enter to win $150 worth of Nestle products at @modernmami. Ends 5/13. http://bit.ly/dcoTFJ #giveaway #contest
3. Like ModernMami.com on Facebook and leave a comment on this post with your Facebook name.
4. Subscribe to this blog via email and leave a comment with the email you used to subscribe. (You can use the email field to do this instead of putting your email in the comment if you prefer.)
5. Subscribe on friendfeed and leave a comment with your friendfeed ID.
6. Write a blog post on your own blog sharing with your readers how you celebrate Mother’s Day and make sure to link back to this contest page in your post. Leave a comment with your post link.

All entries must be in by Thursday, May 13 at 11:59 pm EST. Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be notified via email. (Please be sure to provide a valid email address with your entry.)

Hope all you mamis have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Disclosure: In conjunction with hosting this giveaway, I will also receive a Nestle Family prize pack.

Back in late-September, I attended the Nestle Family Blogger event along with 18 (or so) other bloggers. We learned a lot about the different Nestle brands, initiatives, and the overall atmosphere at their California headquarters. What I was most surprised about was the amount of brands owned by Nestle that I already used on a near-daily basis.

With New Year’s this week and the holidays wrapping-up, there is still time to enter Nestle’s Holiday Memories Photo Contest for a chance to win a $500 gift card (and some other prizes). You have until 1/4/10 to enter their contest.

But, you can enter another contest, right here on this post.

Giveaway

One of you will receive a gift package consisting of free coupons for products from Toll House, Carnation Evaporated Milk, Carnation Breakfast Essentials, Stouffer’s, Juicy Juice and Boost Kid Essentials, as well as products from Wonka and Rasinets. You will also get a 4×6 silver photo frame and the Carnation holiday recipe guide, which has recipes you can use year-round, really. The total prize is valued at about $40.

How to Enter

If you’d like to enter this contest for a Nestle Family gift package, leave a comment below with your preferred Nestle brand. (mandatory entry)

For extra entries:

1. Tweet about this contest with a link back to this post and include @modernmami in your tweet. You must leave a separate comment with a link to your tweet for your entry to count.
2. Subscribe to this blog via email and leave a comment with the email you used to subscribe. (You can use the email field to do this instead of putting your email in the comment if you prefer.)
3. Subscribe on friendfeed and leave a comment with your friendfeed ID.
4. Write a blog post on your own blog and link back to this contest page. Leave a comment with your post link.

All entries must be in by Friday, January 1 at 11:59 pm EST. Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be notified via email. (Please be sure to provide a valid email address with your entry.)

Disclosure: I will receive the same gift package from Nestle that is being given away. No other compensation received for hosting this contest.

I’m in LA. And I arrived just two days after coming home from the Type-A Mom conference.

I’m here visiting the Nestle headquarters and learning more about Nestle Family and the various brands they offer.

Nestle invited a group of bloggers to come out for two days to be a part of their Happy, Healthy Gathering. They’re listening to our input as moms and dads and providing us with information on what they do for parents.

And, yes, I know there’s a big uproar on twitter regarding the trip. I’m trying to stay out of it for the most part.

I’ll get into the details of my trip at a later time, just like I’ll also post about the Type-A Mom conference.

Later….

First, I have to recover from both trips. (No, I haven’t yet recovered from the first one.)

As if that wasn’t enough, I leave late tonight to head back to Orlando and arrive tomorrow morning. My airplane seat will be my bed tonight. And hopefully, I can be awake enough when I arrive to head out to Seaworld for IZEAFest. I may just miss a few sessions on Friday morning, though.

It’s been a very busy end of September and now beginning of October. Seriously, people, do you have to plan these conferences/events so close together?

Thankfully, I have a loving and supportive husband.

But, I do miss my family.