John Chow Giving Away $6,000!

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That’s right, John Chow teamed up with XR.com to give away $6,000 for the holiday season.  $5,000 of the money will go to the charity of my choice (should I win) and the remaining $1,000 for holiday treats for the family.

Should I win, the charity I would choose would be Give Kids The World in Kissimmee, FL.  While I have been using XR.com since John first wrote about the TinyURL service, I am more excited about the opportunity to give $5,000 to Give Kids The World.  Give Kids the World was started by a respected hotelier in the Orlando area named Henri Landwirth when a little girl named Amy asked him to help her see the Orlando area theme parks, as her dying wish.  You see Amy had terminal leukemia.  Henri knows a little something about facing death — he is a survivor of Hitler’s death camps in World War II.  He got together with his fellow hoteliers and executives he knew at the local theme parks to ensure that Amy got her wish.  Henri wanted to ensure that every child with a terminal illness and a desire to go to the Orlando area theme parks could fulfill that wish.  Today, Give Kids the World has a 70-acre resort with 100 villas that have accomodated the wishes of over 88,000 families.  The Village resort provides a true get-away for the families by removing them from the outside world and setting them in an imaginary wonderland with characters, gingerbread houses, carousels, and castles.  They’re surrounded by other children, just like them and families dealing with very similar challenges.  Their every need cared for and all wishes granted.

Give Kids the World holds a special place for my family, not due to the terminal illness of a family member, but because my wife used to work at Give Kids the World, directly with the fundraising department.  We know first hand what these free trips mean to the families of the terminally ill children.  We’ve met hundreds of them.  We visit the Disney World Resort over 30 times per year and on almost every trip, we have the opportunity to see a Give Kids the World family, say hello, and learn about what a wonderful time they’re having and how, just for a little bit, they forget about the difficulties of life.

We also know how difficult it can be to raise money for the Village, even for such a worthy cause.  Every year since my wife left their employ, we’ve donated money to Give Kids The World and will continue to do so as long as we are able.

This is a fantastic opportunity from XR.com, regardless of who’s chosen as the winner.  Some charity out there will learn the true meaning of the holiday season when they receive the gift and we’d be honored to be chosen.  XR.com provides a great service for affiliates, also by not only shortening affiliate urls, but you can also customize your url, such as http://xr.com/custom.  XR.com touts itself as the shortest TinyURL service available.  Also, if you register with xr.com (free), they will save all your custom URLs.  I love this part of the service, so I can keep track of all the shortened, custom URLs I’ve made in one location.

So, what would I do with the remaining $1,000?  Since the contest won’t be awarded until after Christmas and my wife’s birthday occurs right after Christmas (Jan. 4), I would not only be overjoyed to present her with the gift of her donation to Give Kids the World, I would buy the jewelry that I promised her at the births of each of our two children and the surfboard she’s been wanting for years (along with lessons on how to use it).  This would be a minor re-payment for the joy and happiness she’s brought to my life.

Go to John Chow’s post and see how you can enter this contest and let me know about your posts.  I’d love to read other people’s stories about their chosen charities.

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