Cold Stone Creamery and Make-A-Wish Foundation-Sept 30 FREE Ice Cream and GIVEAWAY

CONGRATULATIONS TO #6 AS CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG! Please respond to my email within 72 hours. Thanks everyone for participating and look out for a new giveaway soon!
*************************************************************************

While I've been training for the San Jose Half-Marathon and raising funds for Ullrich CMD research, I've been thinking a lot about kids who have life-threatening illnesses and how lucky I am that my boys are healthy. R was sick every day from month 1 to month 11 of his life with one infection after another. I remember being so frustrated and agonizing over what we could do to help him feel better. At one point the infection was so bad it spread throughout his upper respiratory tract and turned into pneumonia, for which he was hospitalized. Life finally got better for all of us when he had ear tubes surgery in month 11. When I think about what a big deal I made about it and compare it to what parents of really sick kids go through, I do feel a little ashamed of myself.

I found out about 11-year-old Kate at the Dinner’s On Us event sponsored by Bloganthropy.org and Child's Play Communications at the Blogher conference in New York last month. Kate has a life-threatening congenital spinal-cord condition. Her Make-A-Wish Foundation wish was to be the Cold Stone Tastemaster and she’s hoping ice cream lovers around the country will dig into the exclusive ice cream Creation that she developed. Cold Stone Creamery and the Make-A-Wish Foundation are inviting the country to help make Kate’s wish come true by participating in the “World’s Largest Ice Cream Social.” I had a chance to sample her creation and was amazed that the young chef could come up with such a flavorful Creation. I was also inspired by her making a wish, unlike a trip to Disneyland or another amusement park, that means part of Kate's life will always be a part of our national zeitgeist.  


Throughout September, every Cold Stone store nationwide will sell paper wish stars for $1 each. The month-long fundraiser will culminate in the ninth-annual “World’s Largest Ice Cream Social” this Thursday, Sept. 30. During the social, Cold Stone locations will give away three-ounce portions of Kate’s Creation from 5-8 p.m., while encouraging guests to make a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Cold Stone Creamery has supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation since 2002, generating more than $3.6 million in donations.

Kate, who hails from Tampa, Fla., was inspired to become this year’s Cold Stone Creamery wish kid after she attended last year’s social. An ice cream connoisseur, Kate discovered that a wish kid has the responsibility of creating an exclusive Creation for the “World’s Largest Ice Cream Social.” When the Make-A-Wish Foundation asked Kate for her most heartfelt wish, she knew she was the perfect candidate for the position. In March, Kate traveled to the Cold Stone Creamery World Headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz., to work with the Cold Stone Tastemaster to mix up this year’s Make-A-Wish Creation. Kate was named “Junior Tastemaster” and invented Kate’s Creation: caramel apple ice cream mixed with graham cracker pie crust, chocolate shavings and apple pie filling. Her exclusive Creation will be featured at Cold Stone locations throughout September. “My wish day at Cold Stone was the most delicious day of my life!” Kate exclaimed.

I hope Random Mommy ice cream lovers and supporters of the Make-A-Wish Foundation will be part of Kate’s wish and visit their local Cold Stone Creamery on Thursday, Sept. 30. You will get FREE ice cream this Thursday, and to help you continue to enjoy Cold Stone creations, Random Mommy is giving away one $10 Gift Card for future use!

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY: Contest period runs from Sunday, September 26, 2010 at 3:01 PM (Pacific) until Sunday, October 3, 2010 at 11:59 PM (Pacific). Enter by leaving the name of your favorite dessert, and leave your e-mail address OR sign in to comments using your Blogger ID, making sure your Blogger profile is public and includes your e-mail address.


Bonus Entries (leave a separate comment for each entry, it counts if you've done any of these so leave a comment for each one)

1) Follow me on Twitter
2) Tweet this contest and leave the tweet url
3) Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect by clicking on the sidebar

If you don't leave a qualifying comment and your e-mail address or public Blogger profile, your entry will be disqualified. I reserve the right to extend the contest period. At the end of the contest period, I will utilize Random.org to randomly choose the winner. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have 72 hours to respond to my e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, the prize will go to the next place winner as decided by Random.org. This contest is open for US Residents only. A huge thank you and much appreciation to my friends at Cold Stone Creamery for their generosity! Good luck!

I did not receive compensation for this post. I received product samples at the Bloganthropy event to facilitate my review.