Well folks, it's official!  I am participating in this year's Menu for Hope program.  "What does that mean?" you may ask.  A few weeks ago, I stumbled across this charitable program on the www.seriouseats.com website that unites food bloggers around the world to raise money for charity.

I have donated a prize that one of you – my dear readers – can win with only a $10 donation to the UN World Food Programme.  

Please note that I do not collect or handle the money in any way – I only donate the prize.  An organization called First Giving will collect the money and choose the winners, then notify me of where to ship the prize.

You see, three years ago, food blogger Pim Techamuanvivit has organized what became a yearly Menu for Hope charity fund-raiser.  Now in its third year, Menu for Hope is a raffle in which food bloggers donate prizes and then solicit readers to buy tickets to win the goods in a drawing.  Proceeds this year will go to the UN World Food Programme, which provides hunger relief for needy folks worldwide.  Last year's MFH took in more than $17,000 for Unicef.

I am happy to offer a prize of two homemade goodies:

Deb's Homemade Heirloom Tomato Sauce:

As a supporter of sustainable, local organic agriculture, Deb makes her homemade tomato sauce comes from ingredients grown organically in New York's Hudson Valley.  The heirloom tomatoes are only available for a limited time in August and September, so Deb spends her late summer weekends furiously making sauce from a recipe she learned (and later modified) from her childhood friend's Italian grandmother.

Homemade Fig and Ginger Preserves from Provence

While traveling in France, Deb discovered some of the most fantastic preserves made by a British ex-pat chef living in Provence.  These jams far exceeded any other jam Deb had previously tasted.  She painstakingly arranged to have Chef Sarah's jams shipped back to the United States and has graciously offered to include the Fig and Ginger preserves to one lucky raffle winner.

 My prize code is: UE22

Professional journalists and businesses within the food industry write many of the other sites that participate.  So if you don't like my humble, homemade prizes, be sure to check out the full range of wonderful prizes Serious Eats.

TO ENTER
If you're interested in buying into the raffle, here's what you need to do:
1. Go to the donation page at First Giving.
2. Make a donation. Each $10 will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. Please specify which prize or prizes you'd like in the 'Personal Message' section in the donation form when confirming your donation. The prize code for my Homemade Tomato Sauce and Sarah's Provencal Jam is UE22.  Do specify how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code—for example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for UE22 and 3 for UE20.
3. If your company matches your charity donation, please remember to check the box and fill in the information so Menu for Hope can claim the corporate match.
4. Please also check the box to allow Menu for Hope organizers to see your email address so that you may be contacted in the event you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.
5. Check back on Chez Pim on January 15, when the raffle results will be announced. (The drawing will be done electronically.