AVEENO Garden Giveaway Contest to Honor Rachelle Roper and Her Feed the Need Garden

AVEENO's Be An Active Natural Fund has named its third $10,000 winner, Rachelle Roper of Belleview, Florida and her organization Feed the Need Garden! So, who is Rachelle, besides a saint who wants to end hunger? While growing up, Rachelle learned all there is to know about gardening and producing her own food. During the economic downturn, she recognized the need to share her insight with others in her community. From there, her Feed the Need Garden was born, a non-profit with the mission “to end hunger locally by teaching those in need how to grow and preserve their own food.”

Even as a young girl, Rachelle was helping to plant the family garden. She grew up learning how to live off the land. Fast forward, and as an adult she began to realize just how many children and families were going to bed hungry in her own county, Marion County, Florida. She began to hand out non-perishable food from her bookstore. This didn’t strike her as enough. She wanted to not just give a handout, but a hand up. It was time to make her dreams of teaching people how to grow their own food a reality, and her Feed the Need Garden was born.

Rachelle works full time on Feed the Need Garden's programs and has acquired a permanent location to teach hands-on classes. She is invited regularly to speak and teach at various groups and organizations throughout the county. For Rachelle this has been a life-long quest. She is excited to share the knowledge that she has about growing your own food, hoping to end hunger locally - one family at a time. She believes that no one should have to go to bed hungry at night, and with the proper training and tools, we all have the opportunity help end hunger.

To honor of Rachelle’s passion for gardening, AVEENO has offered one of you a garden-themed giveaway! The winner will receive a special garden starter kit (image above) as well as seeds to plant a select few of the coveted AVEENO Active Naturals ingredients in your own backyard. Even if you aren't into gardening, this will be a stunning gift for one of your friends who is passionate about the beauty of the garden.

You really need to check out Rachelle's charity at Feed the Need Garden. It would be nice if you would donate $1 (or more) to completely fund her good work. I did (make sure to "Update Total" at the top of the page. If you continue to fill out the form without clicking that button, you may have to start again). Feed the Need is a 501(c)(3) charity, so your donation, if you make one, will be tax-deductible.

To celebrate Rachelle's good deeds and her program, AVEENO wants to help one of you a start at your own garden - or encourage a friend to dig. As a gardener, I drooled when I saw the prize. Do you know how much those tools are worth? While I don't have an exact dollar amount to disclose, anyone who has shopped for gardening tools will know this is an amazing prize.

When you grow too many zucchini in your own garden? Donate some to a local food bank or soup kitchen. The needs are great, and we (the United States) aren't doing as much as we should to ensure that no one goes hungry.

How can you enter to win this giveaway contest (technically a sweepstakes)? Just leave a comment on this feature (not in another BTiB post). After you comment here, feel free to send me an e-mail at bestthingsinbeautycontests@gmail.com (the contest address, not my "personal" e-mail) and identify your comment. You can never be too careful about sharing an e-mail address you care about on a blog, so feel free to follow this step (an alternative is to code your e-mail, e.g., myname at gmail dot com, in your comment). Please make sure I have your e-mail. If I can't notify you, you can't win - even if your number is drawn. I can't believe the number of entrants I haven't been able to find in the past.

You can earn extra entries. Follow this blog (through an e-mail subscription, GFC, or though one of the many Google readers - see sidebar at right) to earn a second entry. If you are a follower, it would help me tally entries if you tell me in your comment how you follow. You don't have to follow to enter. I want everyone to have a chance, but I also want to reward my followers. I must be able to track this entry.

You can earn a third entry by tweeting this contest. You must include "AVEENO" (without the quotes) and the contest title in your tweet. Remember, tweet the contest title - if you don't, that entry won't count. I will tweet the contest this evening, and you can simply retweet it to earn that second entry - if that's easier.

The deadline for entries will be Saturday, August 18, at midnight. The next morning, I will use a random number generator (random.org) to select the winner. I will e-mail the winner on Sunday morning. The winner will have 48 hours to reply to my message and provide a shipping address. After 48 hours, the prize will be forfeited, and another winner will be selected. Make sure to check your e-mail - and look in your spam folder - when the contest ends.

This contest is open only to residents of the United States (sorry). AVEENO will send the prize to the winner. For the rest of the legalese related to this contest, please see the Contests/Sweepstakes page at the top of the blog. Good luck!

Photos courtesy of AVEENO and Feed the Need Garden