When I was asked to join the Check-in for Checkups program as a social activist, I was highly intrigued by the mission of the campaign. The goal of Check-in for Checkups is to help the Children’s Health Fund provide health checkups to children in need. This is being accomplished through a partnership with Clorox where for every healthy habit shared on checkinforcheckups.com by folks across the U.S., Clorox is donating $.10 to the Children’s Health Fund, up to $100,000. This means that if they reach their goal of 1 million check-ins this summer (that’s $100,000 donated), then half a million checkups can be provided to children who need them. How very cool, don’t you think?

To help raise awareness of the Check-in for Checkups campaign, I’ll be hosting a Twitter Party next week, along with Clorox and the Children’s Health Fund. Our discussion will focus on healthy habits and you’ll have a chance to learn more about how you can help the Check-in for Checkups program just by sharing your healthy habits. During the chat, we’ll also be debuting the first Check-in for Checkups video from Bethenny Frankel, “Random Acts of Wellness.” Plus, there will be giveaways, including autographed copies of Bethenny’s book A Place of Yes and Clorox prize packs.

I hope you’ll be able to join me next week for this Twitter party as I think it’s such a great cause and I’m excited to be a part of it. Here are the details so you can make sure to add it to your calendar.

What: Clorox “Check-in for Checkups” Twitter Party
Date: Thursday, August 11, 2010
Time: 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET
Where: On Twitter via #checkinforcheckups
RSVP on Facebook (not required to attend)

See you there!

Disclosure: I am currently working on a compensated campaign with The Clorox Company for the Check-in for Checkups program that benefits the Children’s Health Fund.

This post is part of a paid campaign.

My baby girl started Prekindergarten this past Monday. Here in Florida they actually call it Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK), and the state funds the program. So, if you properly enroll your child with the state, various local child care centers will provide VPK free of charge 3 hours a day, five days a week. But, even though the state funds the program, I found myself receiving a school supply list from her preschool and having to purchase school supplies. We didn’t mind at all, and of course, it was very exciting for her to get her school supplies and take them to school. After all, starting next year when she starts Kindergarten, I’ll be buying school supplies every year thereafter – so this was good training.

Still, it reminded me of how underfunded the general school system is. Here in Florida, there have been many budget cuts for the Education industry, some that even recently affected the program where just eight months ago I was working full-time. The program no longer exists. I also know that most teachers purchase school supplies for their classrooms and students out of their own pocket. I know this because my mother-in-law is an elementary school teacher in South Florida and she is constantly looking for items at stores for “her kids” and her classroom. And, I think that’s how most teachers feel too – their students are “their kids” and they wholeheartedly embrace their role of educating those kids.

A major way that schools are affected by budget cuts are through critical enrichment programs such as music, arts, and sports. Sadly, many schools have had to cut back on or eliminate such programs. This year, Clorox wishes to help schools by awarding four grants, totaling $110,000, to help fund school programs that will brighten and enrich the lives of kids. Through the Power A Bright Future grant program, Clorox is seeking nominations for schools to win a $50,000 grand-prize grant or one of three $20,000 grants. All you have to do, is visit the Clorox site from August 12 to September 27, 2010 and submit a photo and information about the program in the appropriate category for your idea: Learn, Play or Create. For more information, official rules and to nominate a school program, visit Clorox.

Additional Ways To Help Your School and Children

• I’m sure this is stuff we all already know, but as a reminder, taking several easy steps can help prevent the spread of germs:
  • Sing and Scrub: Wash hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds (the time it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice).
  • Do the Elbow Cough: Cough and sneeze into your elbow instead of your hands to help prevent the spread of germs by touch.
  • Disinfect Hot Spots: School staff and adults should routinely clean areas that people touch often, like desktops, remote controls and light switches.
• In addition to nominating a school, there’s also plenty that can be done to support teachers in keeping his or her classroom clean and ready to inspire students. Consider bringing teachers hand sanitizer or canisters of Clorox Disinfecting Wipes to help make clean-up easier. Similar to school supplies, many teachers also provide cleaning supplies at their own expense.

Power A Bright Future and Have Fun Too!

Through this campaign, Clorox is offering us a few ways to have fun while learning more about the Power A Bright Future program and helping schools. First up, there is a contest at the bottom of this post for you to win a prize, and next week, I’ll be co-hosting a Twitter party to discuss the program and learn tips from each other – with more prizes!

Bilingual Power a Bright Future Twitter Party

Come ready to share and receive advice from fellow moms on how you can help in keeping a healthier and happier school. The party will be in both English and Spanish, so feel free to tweet in either language! Be sure to follow the party hosts and organizers:

• Migdalia Rivera – @MsLatina
• Silvia Martinez – @mamalatina
• Melanie Edwards – @modernmami
• Ana Flores – @laflowers
• Clorox – @clorox

Party Details:

Date: Thursday, August 26
Time: 9-10 pm EST
Hashtag: #CloroxBrightFuture
Prizes: Three (3) $25 AMEX gift cards will be given out during the twitter party.
RSVP: It’s not mandatory to RSVP in order to join us, but if you want to connect with fellow party attendees ahead of time, RSVP on the Facebook Event page.

Twitter Party Giveaway Rules: Three winners will be chosen at random from all #CloroxBrightFuture tagged tweets between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m EST 8/26/10. Winner must be present and using the tag between these times to win. Winner must be 18 years of age or older and have a valid U.S. address.

ModernMami.com Reader Giveaway

One of you could win a $50 AMEX gift card.

How to Enter

Required entry: If you’d like to enter this contest, simply leave a comment below answering one of the following questions:

1. Now that you’re preparing for back-to-school, how can you help in keeping a healthier and happier school for your children?
2. If you had $50,000 to fund one program in your child’s school, what would it be?
3. How have state budget cuts affected your child’s school?

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 a $50 AMEX gift card from @modernmami. Ends 9/3. http://bit.ly/cloroxmodernmami #giveaway #contest #CloroxBrightFuture
3. 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.)
4. Subscribe on friendfeed and leave a comment with your friendfeed ID.
5. Write a blog post on your own blog sharing the Power A Bright Future program with your readers; 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 Friday, September 3 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.)

Be sure to also check out my co-hosts’ blogs for additional giveaway opportunities. They are each hosting the same giveaway.

• Migdalia Rivera – Latina on a Mission
• Silvia Martinez – Mamá Latina Tips

Official Rules: Entrants can only win a $50 American Express gift card on one (1) Bilingual Power a Bright Future Twitter party host’s blog. If an entrant chooses to comment on more than one host’s blog post, he/she is only eligible to win one (1) prize, even if randomly selected as the winner more than once. Entrants for the Giveaways may not participate with multiple e-mail addresses. Any entrant who attempts to enter with multiple e-mail addresses, under multiple identities, or uses any other device will be disqualified from participation in the promotion, and all entries submitted by that entrant will be void.

Disclosure: I am being compensated for co-hosting the Bilingual Power a Bright Future Twitter party. This post was written in conjunction with the campaign, but all opinions and thoughts are original.

I cannot believe it’s already the middle of October. And here in Florida, it’s still in the mid-90s most days! It definitely doesn’t feel like fall. Yet, many stores around here already have their Christmas sections up. Unbelievable.

Anyway, I wanted to take the time to share with you some recent and upcoming events going on in the blogging community.

Article Republished

• My post on Latino terms of endearment and cultural differences has been republished at MyBrownBaby. Denene has shared my post with her readers and I’m so glad that there’s so many out there that can relate.

ModernMami part of Community Site Warming Party

• This Friday, there will be a #community site warming twitter party hosted by the queen of twitter parties, Amy from Resourceful Mommy. You can RSVP for the party here and join us on Friday night as my site is one of the blogs featured!

Tastemaker Challenge

• The U.S. Potato Board has partnered with nine bloggers, who have officially been deemed the “Tastemaker” Challengers. And guess what? I’m one of them! You can read all the details here, but just know that I’ll be playing Iron Chef a bit. Only thing is, we already know the secret ingredient…potatoes! Follow the conversation on twitter with hashtag #tastemaker.

Got any news to share yourself? Go ahead and let us know in the comments. I’d love to hear about it.

And don’t forget to join the twitter party this Friday! See you there.