Heart&Stroke Calendar Lottery for 2012! A Great Pay It Forward Gift!

The Heart&Stroke Foundation has a great opportunity for Ontarians that just want something easy, yet unique, to get everyone on their gift-giving list this winter season. This gift is particularly awesome if you have an office Kris-Kringle or are looking for adult stocking stuffers (which is ultimately more fun when putting the stocking together for someone older than 12, but occasionally harder to fill-up!)

Help the Heart and Stroke Foundation to “Pay it Forward” by gifting a Heart&Stroke Calendar Lottery to someone who touches your life. It could be a neighbour, a teacher, a family member, anyone who you feel deserves to be recognized! By purchasing a calendar for $25 you’re supporting the Heart and Stroke Foundation life-saving research and giving the possibility of winning daily cash prizes every day of the year. It’s simple; we want to create a chain of giving and paying it forward: get a calendar, give a calendar.

Imagine being the office hero when your gift recipient wins one of the 3 daily prizes of $5000 next year!! (… note to self: Be sure to add a sticky note to the Calendar that they owe you a nice dinner if they win!) And if your peer eats horseshoes every morning for breakfast, they can win more than once with the same calendar. So be sure to purchase one before December 1st to use in this year's Kris-Kringle!

This happens to be the 2nd year the Heart&Stroke Lottery has published the Calendar, and its the very first time it's been available online for purchase!

The gorgeous pics throughout the calendar were captured by amateur photographers in Ontario of places you can find in Ontario. In three days, Heart&Stroke received more than 3000 photo submissions for the Calendar contest through Facebook, and the top twelve submissions were added to the calendar, one for each month.

Here's a sneak peek of three calendar pics:

Where would you start when having to look at 3000 photos and only choose 12? I do not envy that person's job. Particularly because the photos in this calendar are just *gorgeous*. Can only imagine what wound up not-winning in the semi-finals.

Purchasing a calendar is easy! It’s available online at www.heartandstroke.ca/calendar or order by phone at 1-888-514-7767, ext. 25 (Toronto local: 416-514-7767 ext. 25); and the chance of winning cold hard $5000 cash every day next year sure is a fun thought, but WHY should you support the Heart&Stroke Foundation?

Well, let's look at some of the facts:

Regardless of Age, Sex, or even Race, heart illnesses affect us all.
• Heart disease and stroke take one in three Canadians before their time. Every seven minutes, someone dies of heart disease or stroke;
• Heart disease and stroke is the #1 Killer of Women – taking more women than all cancers combined;
• Almost 70,000 Canadians die each year from heart disease and stroke;
• 9 in 10 of us have at least one risk factor for heart disease and stroke;
• 80% of premature heart disease and stroke is preventable;
• In Canada, up to 45,000 cardiac arrests occur each year;
• Less than 5% of those who have a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital survive;
• Younger people are facing obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes – putting them at risk of early heart disease;
• New groups are facing a heightened risk of heart disease and stroke, such as the Boomers, Aboriginal peoples and some of Canada’s fastest growing ethno-cultural communities;

With that in mind, 100% of the net proceeds help fund life-saving Heart and Stroke Foundation research. So not only are you getting a chance to win $5000 a day, everyday next year, but you're also donating the necessary funds to help kick heart disease and stroke in the butt!

Important Calendar Lottery Dates to Remember:
• Holiday gift deadline – December 1
• Early bird deadline for $250,000 – December 15
• Final sales deadline – December 20
• Draws begin in January 3, 2012 and continue daily for the entire year

Prize Details:

• 3 Daily Cash Prizes of $5,000, everyday of the year
• 52 Weekly Cash Prizes of $10,000
• 12 Monthly Cash Prizes of $100,000
• 12 Bonus Holiday Jackpots of $25,000
• 1 Early Bonus Cash Prize of $25,000 (new)
• 1 Early Bird Cash Prize of $250,000!

Price:

• $25 Each
• 3 for $70
• 6 for $125 (you get one free)

Like so many Canadian families, heart disease is an unfortunate reality in my family, so I will definitely be filling stockings with calendars this year! I am very grateful to the current advances in today's medical technology for the heart already, as both my Nana and an uncle of mine have had extended leases on life because of it.

Okay, so here's some FUN stuff for you!! Want to win a calendar? How about one Calendar for you as Heart&Stroke's Pay It Forward link, AND a Calendar for someone of your choosing to continue that chain? Five lucky winners will get TWO Lottery Calendars to use as they please. 🙂

How awesome is that?!

So here's what ya gotta do to win!

Please note: this post has been compensated as part of a review, but all words and opinions are MY OWN. Please be advised that although I do accept work ('cause I need to make a living,) and discuss the results of that work on this blog, I am in no way offering you, my valuable readers, lemons… unless it'll be used for drinking. Bottom line: if I don't believe in it, you won't see it here.