*** This giveaway is no longer accepting entries – scroll down to see who won!***
Perhaps you’ve heard of a little store called Ikea? And perhaps you’ll be interested in a $350 gift card from them for this week’s giveaway? Yeah we couldn’t believe it either when they emailed us. Hooray is right, Ikea catalog. Well said.
And not only are they generously offering up this week’s sweet prize, Ikea’s also presenting “The Life Improvement Project” where they’ll award one philanthropic individual $100,000 to take a one year sabbatical to help others (start a non-profit, volunteer for a year, etc). Plus they’re hosting free seminars in their stores about improving your life through your living space.
But back to how you can get your mitts on that $350 gift card:
- PRIZE: A $350 gift card to Ikea!
- TO ENTER: Comment on this post with the words “IKEA Me!” and…
- BONUS QUESTION: … tell us what you’d do if you could spend one year helping others. Would you open an after school program? Volunteer at a homeless shelter? Rescue animals?
- GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Wednesday, October 27th at 8pm EST
- NUMBER OF WINNERS: One
- PRIZE SHIPS: The United States
- USUAL STUFF: One entry per e-mail address is permitted. The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on Thursday as an update to this post. That’s right, come right back here Thursday morning for the announcement of our winner. Good luck…
******************************
You guys are quite impressive with your nearly 11,000 entries. So impressive in fact that Ikea decided to change their plans and give away not just one, not just two, but THREE $350 gift cards. That’s over $1000 in gift cards! Thanks Ikea!
So let’s see who the lucky three winners are according to random.org:
- Alyssa Allen (who’s Life Improvement Project would include moving her fam somewhere in the world to help the poverty crisis)
- NEPD (who’d give her wedding florist services away free of charge)
- Jill (who’d give a year working with the Wildlife Conservation Society)
Note: We weren’t paid or perk’d for hosting this giveaway, we just take them on to reward our lovely readers! See our Giveaway FAQs page for more info. Pics from Ikea.
Krista Major says
IKEA ME! I would love to do some volunteer work in another country or an under-served part of the country once I finish my MD :)
Bella says
Ikea Me!
I would work with hungry kids in my area, help out a food bank, definitely something food related. Hopefully something that would last past the year in terms of the impact – like maybe start a garden or something so they could always have food. – kind of like the sow many smiles above
kelly v says
IKEA ME!!
I would go overseas, most likely SE Asia and work with women and children in some capacity.
Kayla says
Ikea Me!
Buy books to give to kids that don’t have books.
alexis says
“IKEA ME”
Oh, we would LOVE to get a sleeper sofa from there to finalize our guestroom makeover.
I would spend my year working to improve the lives of the women who live in domestic violence shelters- somehow, someway.
Amanda R says
IKEA ME!
I would help homeless animals! I have two mutts of my own from the shelter and would love to help more!
Kirstin says
IKEA Me! I would work on a literacy project.
Marlo Iverson says
IKEA ME!!!! I’d love to spend a year helping animals. I think it would be difficult at times but oh so rewarding :)
Andnowlights (Kristen) says
IKEA ME!!!!
I like the idea of working with the homeless, but I feel like just volunteering in a homeless shelter isn’t enough. I want to get to the root of why the homeless ARE homeless, whether it’s substance abuse, lack of job, crime, etc. I’m sure people do large scale interviews with the homeless, but I’d like to do it myself and see what can be done to help them for the long term.
Mandi says
IKEA ME! I would love to help out at an animal shelter. I love dogs!
Jillian says
IKEA ME!!
I am a Bronx 1st grade teacher. If I had that money I would start a program to teach parents how to teach their children at home. It would be early intervention for the children that they have and will have in the future.
Megan Bradley says
IKEA Me! If I could take a year off, I’d volunteer at my daughters’ school and offer free tutoring services.
Marie says
IKEA ME!! :)
I would start a nutrition program for school-aged children – using my background as a Registered Dietitian and my experience as a mom-of-3.
Drasylve says
IKEA me! I would start a foundation to teach child development and appropriate parenting behaviors to at risk moms and dads.
Tara says
IKEA ME! Ahhh…so many things I would love to do. I love to help people and work in my community but I would have to say the first thing I would do is have an animal shelter but it wouldn’t be an animal shelter per se considering I would want to keep them all. The other option would be a low-income senior living community with lots of love, attention and hey, little animals to cuddle with the seniors.
kyle says
IKEA ME! I would create a retreat center in the north woods of MN for people to come and encounter nature and God.
E @ Oh! Apostrophe says
IKEA ME! Oooooh I’d love to win and find something for the nursery I’m putting together!
I’m not sure what I’d do but I’d hope to have it include travel/living abroad for a year.
Emily says
IKEA ME! I’d love to find a way to bring together the elderly and latch-key kids for an intergenerational after-school program.
Kelley says
IKEA Me!
I’d do something with teaching kids.
Juliana Mack says
IKEA Me! I would put my time and efforts towards a program that traps feral and stray cats, neuters/spays them, vaccinates and then returns them.
Eli says
IKEA ME!
I’d volunteer at an animal shelter.
Meredith H says
IKEA me!
If I could take a year off to do anything, I’d love to re-open the Baraka School. The Baraka School was a boarding school in the Kenyan outback that hosted at-risk preteen boys from Baltimore school systems. Unfortunately, the Baraka School was shut down in 2003 because of security issues surrounding terrorist actions in a nearby embassy and the US invasion of Iraq. The Baraka School was a place where young people had a chance to escape from their discouraging home and school environments, came to expect great things from themselves, and learned the life and educational skills needed to reach their dreams once back at home. With a year off, I’d reignite the Baraka School and open a sister school for at-risk girls.
Sonja says
IKEA ME!!!!!
I would love to take a year off and volunteer in Africa!
Heather Edwards says
IKEA Me! I would love to set up an after-school program for children suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome. My 14 year old bro has been diagnosed with Asperger’s and it is very hard for him to find good friends who can relate to his struggles as well as find solace in the same hobbies.
Lindsay says
IKEA ME!
Since I am already a kindergarten teacher and LOVE my job, it would be pretty tricky to take a year off… However, I would love to help parents who are in a situation where they are a bit over their heads and have kids to take care of. So often do I see parents who can’t keep up with their child’s school demands that I would love to create some sort of after-hours help session… for either the kids or the parents!
Karan J says
IKEA Me! If I had a year to give, and I just did that through VISTA, I’d spend the year developing a small school for school challenged teens teaching using the Socratic method…lots of discussion, lots of reading, lots of field trips and lots of sharing.
Eric says
IKEA Me!
I’d help the USO.
Lili L. says
Ikea Me!
With 1 year and 100K, I would love to work on a therapeutics program that would bring unwanted elderly pets to nursing homes. There are a lot of elderly folks without much family to visit them. Senior pets can provide them with mellow companionship, and in return, receive a loving home. Senior pets are more difficult to place, as people who are willing to adopt, often want younger companions.
margaret says
IKEA me. I would love to clean up peoples homes and yards for those who cant do it physically themselves
Stephanie says
IKEA ME!
If I could give a year away volunteering, I’d volunteer for two organizations: my church and Joni and Friends. Both do so much for the kids in our city.
Alicia says
IKEA ME!
I’d split my time between Girls on the Run and my local food pantry.
Rachel Powell says
IKEA me! I’d help women who suffer rape or violence at the hands of men “get back on their feet” after leaving the men. Whether they need someone to foster their pet while they find a new home or whether they need furnishings for a new apartment, I’d love to help.
Rebecca Gardner says
Ikea Me! I’d read, read, read with kids that don’t get it at home.
Jana says
IKEA ME!! (I want to go to there.)
I would love to hang with inner city teenagers after school.
Kristie says
IKEA Me! If I could spend one year helping others I would help abused and neglected children somehow.
Elizabeth says
Ikea Me!
With some extra time, I would continue my work with dog rescue, as well as working on improving nutrition quality and education in schools!
Carey says
IKEA ME!
We’d go to a third world area and either 1. install wells for clean groundwater (the hubby is a hydrogeologist) or 2.work with Operation Smile which repair cleft lip/palate in areas where kids with congenital deformities are literally thrown away (I’m a speech-pathologist)
Elena says
IKEA ME!
I would help kids somehow – promoting literacy, mentoring young kids, helping them stay on track for college. you know, stuff like that :)
Michelle says
Ikea Me! I would figure out how to create a supply chain to allow micro-entrepreneurs in developing nations to be able to sell their goods globally!
patty siegmund says
IKEA ME
Jolene says
IKEA me!
I grew up an Army brat and would like to volunteer my time for an organization that supports military families who sacrifice so much.
patty siegmund says
I would take a year and counsel at risk youths. Burden on my heart.
Amara says
IKEA ME!
I would volunteer working with special needs children: building community and parent support groups.
Andrea says
IKEA ME! Pretty, pretty, please with sugar on top??? :)
If our family could use the $100,000 to take a year off and help people what would we do???
I think my husband would love to use his MA in Counseling to counsel others for free. And I have always wanted to work as a cook, cleaner, or whatever is needed in a homeless or women’s shelter.
Jeremy says
IKEA Me!
If I could take a year off to do philanthropic work, I’d probably either volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, or do similar work for a village in Africa. I know of many friends that have been in parts of Africa for as little as as two weeks to over a year, and some that are there now. But I also love building stuff, so doing Habitat full time for a year would also be a blast.
Allison J. says
Ikea me!
I would start new school programs to make sure that kids had medical, dental, counseling, housing, and food. As a teacher, I work with so many kids who have a hard time learning because of such simple and controllable problems outside of school.
Kathryn S says
IKEA Me! I would love to spend time mentoring/tutoring kids interested in technical careers (math/science related) who have no access to good education opportunities. I saw way too many kids in college who were let in vastly underprepared and failed out before reaching engineering classes in their chosen field.
Sandy says
IKEA ME! I’d love to take a year off and work with women and children in the community that are at risk for developmental delays.
Whitney J says
IKEA ME!
Wow, there are so many different things you could do…I would probably like to work with refugees that come to our country helping them develop the everyday skills they need to work and be a part of society or maybe work with an addiction recovery program. I don’t know for sure.
Sarah says
IKEA ME!
If I had that moolah to spend the year volunteering, I’d spend it helping out teachers like myself. Imagine what I could do with two me-s in a classroom. Working with an underserved population, I’d make sure they got a little extra serving!