Heart and Stroke Foundation Launches Calendar Lottery

Whether you’re ready or not, Christmas is coming. It’s is my absolutely most favourite holiday in the world, and I think I have more Christmas cheer than Elf and the Grinch (after his heart explodes) times ten. I love the music, holiday parties, and the atmosphere in the malls (not the lineups). But more than that I love buying gifts for people. So last week Kevin and I were sitting around talking about what we each wanted for Christmas. Last year I got him Xbox Kinect; he’s used it approximately three times. Before that I got him Rock Band (he claimed it would be good for parties), it’s now in my parents’ basement gathering dust. 

That’s when I realized that we don’t need any more things (mom, if you’re reading this, I still need a new vacuum cleaner). We’re in the generation that’s always pining for the newest, best, shiniest thing, and sometimes it’s good to sit back and realize how lucky we already are, and that if I put one more dress in my closet it might spit it back out at me. So when The Heart and Stroke Foundation approached me to help promote their Calendar Lottery with the Pay it Forward campaign I thought it fit in perfectly with my desire to forego the material for the charitable this holiday season.

They’re launching their Calendar Lottery again this year – the calendars are only $25 each or 3 for $70, and 100% of the net proceeds help fund life-saving Heart and Stroke foundation research. You have a chance to win three daily cash prizes of $5,000 all year long, while supporting heart disease. It’s a cause that affects 1 in 3 Canadians, and a cause close to my…well, you know. Heart disease and stroke is also the number one killer of women, taking more women than all cancers combined. 

The idea behind the campaign is if you get a calendar you give a calendar and pass it on. It really is the gift that keeps on giving! Oh and the calendar features photographs taken by 12 amateur photographers from across Ontario, so you’ll actually want to hang it on your wall. I have five sets of two calendars to give away – one for you, and one for someone you think deserves to have their day brightened, or someone who has touched your life in some way. To enter the contest either send a Tweet with @theHSF & #Giftandwin (with my Twitter name @erinbury at the end so I see it) or leave a comment on this blog post telling me who you would Pay It Forward to with a calendar if you won, and why.

For anyone who doesn’t win a calendar, and even if you do, consider supporting The Heart and Stroke Calendar Lottery further by buying a calendar at heartandstroke.ca/calendar. And since I know you want to help support The Heart and Stroke Foundation raise as much as they can this holiday season, help get the word out about the “Pay it Forward” campaign by Tweeting using @theHSF and the #GiftAndWin hashtag. You can also support them on Facebook. 

And for the record, Kevin and I have decided to donate to several charities and spend time volunteering in December instead of giving each other gifts. Hey, if the Heart and Stroke Foundation can pay it forward, so can we. 

*Note – all winners must be residents of Ontario.