*** 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…
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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.
Emily says
IKEA ME!
I would work with Big Brothers Big Sisters, where I have been a volunteer child’s mentor for years. I know firsthand that the program works and I would love to get more people involved.
Tiffany says
IKEA ME!! Love it! We’ve been needing a new bed frame since mine is so old and falling apart and my hubby has been so patient with it and even added more bolts to help it last just a bit longer!
I think I would volunteer with my friend’s mission program in India and parts of Africa – building schools and orphanages. I would so love for my girls to get to participate with me and the hubs in that!
Colleen says
IKEA Me!
I would volunteer in my community. I want to give back to the area I have lived in almost my whole life. I would also like to give those hardworking, dedicated volunteers who run our programs a day off!
Sara S says
IKEA ME!
I would volunteer to help children in need. I’d also help out at local food banks and homeless shelters.
Beth says
Ikea Me!
I would love to spend some time reading to children in underprivledged circumstances.
Heather says
IKEA ME!!!!! I would volunteer at the food pantry, Ive done it before and have really enjoyed it.
Shelly says
IKEA Me!
Gosh – an entire year to help others. I’d love to help women who are looking for jobs with their interviewing skills, how to dress for success, how to write a resume to get them hired.
Whitney says
IKEA ME!
jodi says
IKEA Me!
I would totally take a year off to work on my autoimmune disease portrait project to raise awareness about invisible illnesses. I have had so many people contact me from around the world, and I wish I could go visit them all and take their portraits.
Tracy says
IKEA ME!
I would work on preparing high schoolers to do college level work. Reading levels, research skills, and English skills are no where near where they should be in many high school graduates these days, and at least my community could use a program addressing this issue.
Jennifer says
IKEA ME!
I would volunteer at Habitat for Humanity.
Monique says
IKEA ME!
I would love to help teen moms finish high school and start a career path. Study after study shows that educating woman has a huge influence on the health and education of her family.
Amy Nutter says
Ikea me!
I’d take the year off to volunteer for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. My 9-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 5, and we need a cure!
Erin says
IKEA ME! We just moved and need a new sofa! And chair!
If I could spend a year helping others it would be in a school helping under-served children.
Molly says
IKEA ME!
I would love to spend a year in Albania working with underprivileged children. I did it once for a couple of weeks and the country and people have never left my heart.
James says
IKEA ME!
Madelyn says
IKEA ME!!
I once worked as a volunteer in a battered women’s shelter, doing child care. I’d really like to do that again.
Stephanie K. says
IKEA Me!! I would take the time to volunteer with the youth at my church. They are such a great group of young adults!
nikki b says
IKEA ME!!
I would take the year to travel around our country and do work with the homeless.
Elle says
IKEA Me! I would volunteer with the Read and Feed program in my community.
Heather says
IKEA me!
I would build a home for disabled children whose families cannot/will not take care of them. How cool would it be to have a place where they were nurtured and taught to overcome their struggles?!?!
Annapolitan says
IKEA Me!
I have to say, I was really inspired reading the ideas of others. Since I’m inclined towards helping animals, I think I would use the money to fund specific animal rescue projects in my area.
Gena says
IKEA ME!
I would bring my puppy in to the nursing home. Spread a little joy.
Shanna says
IKEA ME!!!!
I would love to work with young children with disabilities. Anything with kids would be my kind of thing. I whole year…that would be awesome!
Rhea says
IKEA me!
I would offer help to recently immigrated residents with their business ventures. I would also help beautify my town by cleaning up graffiti and bring light to the forgotten areas by planting flowers =).
Sarah says
IKEA Me!
I would want to help mentor kids, through The Mentoring Project, that are growing up without a father.
Kristina says
IKEA ME!!!
We’re moving soon and would love some help sprucing up the new place!
I think I would volunteer at all different places- children, animals, elderly, and hospital patients. There’s so many places that even just a friendly face and big smile can make a big difference!
beth says
IKEA me! I would develop a trap, spay/neuter, release program for the feral cats in my area.
Kristin says
IKEA ME!
I would love to spend a year helping the underprivileged in my city of New Orleans.
Kelley says
IKEA ME!
I would spend a year (with my family) volunteering in a Latin American country so we could use our Spanish to help people who have so much less than we do, and also teach my daughter about how little people live on in other places in the world and the importance of helping others.
Michelle says
IKEA ME!
I would like to offer my finance experience to lower income and unemployed families. I think education is key and that financial and budgeting skills can help people in trouble.
stacey says
IKEA ME. I’d spend the time working with seniors…there’s nothing more gratifying than spending time with someone and making them feel valued
Sarah Bragg says
Ikea me!! Oh how I need this! If I could take a year I would help my husband while a documentary on world poverty.
Anne-Marie Cain says
IKEA Me!!!!!!!
I would like to work in my own community, helping those who really need it.
Penny says
IKEA ME!
I would spend the year helping other single mothers MAKE IT WORK!
Jessica says
IKEA ME :)
I would love to help feed the school children in our country. So many school aged kids go home from school on Friday and don’t eat again till their cafeteria meal on Monday… breaks my heart
Rosie says
IKEA Me!
If I had the luxury of taking off a year…
I would definitely travel to overseas to help all the young girls that are in need of breaking free from being sex slaves. It’s such a huge problem that we don’t hear about everyday yet it’s going on all the time. So many young girls and even boys have their youth stolen from them daily and it needs to come to an end.
Secondly I would love to volunteer at a zoo or some sort of shelter for abandoned, abused & ill wildlife. There are great organizations for domestic animals and I feel that sometimes our wildlife get forgotten in the shadows and they too need our help sometimes!
Rachel says
IKEA me!!
If I could spend a year helping others I would record audiobooks for the blind and dyslexic with RFB&D. http://www.rfbd.org/
Athena says
IKEA ME!
I use some of the money to help schools that are in need. The remainder would go to homeless shelters and food pantries.
Elle S says
Ikea me!
If I could spend a year helping others – it would include reading to children or the elderly or teaching people how to read since I feel like literacy is still somehow a problem!
Brooke says
IKEA ME!!
I’d love to travel with Habitat for Humanity building homes for those in need, while stopping in to soup kitchens.
Amy says
IKEA me! I’d love to spend $350 at IKEA!
Ruby says
IKEA ME!!!!!
I would love to open an after school program and help struggling students.
mike says
IKEA Me! Just moved and I need a new.. everything! Once free year of volunteering? Back to Afghanistan. There are 1,001 opportunities I would like to support if only i could not worry about the $$$. I would start with my favorite Kandahar orphanage.
Sheena says
IKEA ME! We could definitely use some updates in our townhouse, which is a combination of things people have given us, things we got on sale, etc.
I would spend a year volunteering at hospitals (such as St. Jude) where terminally ill children or children who have cancer are undergoing treatment. I would use my time there to read to them, play with them, sing, do arts and crafts, and just generally cheer them up and bring some sunshine into their lives.
Amy says
IKEA ME!
If I could take a year off I would start a program to help the obesity epidemic in this country!
Fallon Ramage says
“IKEA Me!”
I would spend a year volunteering in another country. I spend so much time here in my community, it would be nice to travel and make a difference.
Jackie E. says
IKEA ME!
I would spent my year building houses with Habitat for Humanity and spend time with local children in the area who have been removed from their abusive family situations.
Jackie says
IKEA ME! I would spend the next year volunteering in Palliative Care for Hospice. I’m going to school to become a massage therapist (graduating Dec. 18!) and am already volunteering for Hospice as a driver for their pharmacy department delivering meds to clients. Working for such a fabulous organization to provide caring, loving touch to those in pain would be an amazing blessing.
Tina says
IKEA ME!
I would spend a year creating and working in community gardens that would supplement community food pantries with fresh fruit and vegetables.