Thank You from Operation Frontline + Goldstar

Thanks to you guys and gals, we not only had an absolute blast at this year's blogger prom, to date we also have raised $2,400 for our benefactor charity, Operation Frontline Los Angeles. And here's a little note of thanks from their program coordinator Catherine Luu, who was staffing the OFL:LA table at the event:

I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone for donating to Operation Frontline Los Angeles. We had a fantastic time at Blogger Prom and really enjoyed the opportunity to meet with all those who came by the OFL table!

Thanks to you all, Blogger Prom raised $2,400, and 100% of your donations will go directly towards supporting an Operation Frontline class for underserved families in Los Angeles. One OFL course for 15 individuals and their families costs about $3,500, and your contributions will enable us to cover course costs including food, class curriculum, staff time, graduation materials, and cooking supplies.
OFL relies heavily on the resources that are available to us from our community. In our first program year since our LA launch last May, we completed 18 courses and reached over 225 low-income families. Our goal for this next program year is to offer 24 courses and reach over 275 families. Your generosity will go a long way towards empowering families with the knowledge and skills to prepare healthy meals for a lifetime. Thanks for partnering with Operation Frontline LA, Share Our Strength, and the Center for Community and Family Services to support healthy families and build sustainable communities.

A special thanks to the Blogger Prom Committee, Yamashiro, and Goldstar for making this event possible!


Best,


Catherine

And speaking of @goldstar, not only have they generously donated their energy & time to help us process our OFL:LA donations and RSVPs, they are also giving all bloggerprom donation ticketbuyers a $25 account credit good towards a future purchase from their roster of fun and significantly-discounted events! Woo hoo!

Last but not least, our Operation Frontline donation page is still up and live through the end of October, so please do consider donating more, and encourage your readers, followers, friends and fans to do so by including a link in your recap blogposts, tweets, facebook updates, etc. Thanks!

Giveaway Time @ Blogger Prom!

One of the highlights of the inaugural prom was the giveaway, so you can definitely count on us doing it again this year. Thanks to a stellar, well-connected committee and a slew of generous sponsors, we have some amazing goodies for attendees to win!

But first, a few things different with the giveaway this year:

1) Our theme may be retro, but we are modernizing the announcement process. Instead of straining to call out numbers over conversation and music and all that fumbling for the itty-bitty ticket, we'll be tweeting out winners by their twitter handles! (We'll even have a projector screen with a live feed, so you don't need to be checking your newfangled techy devices every 5 mintues.)

2) If you happen to be a plus-one without a twitter account, we'll call you out by your companion's name (e.g. "@carolineoncrack's +1 won the XYZ prize!")

3) We're also tying this year's giveaway to our charity benefactor, Operation Frontline LA! All attendees (invited and their plus-ones) will receive one entry for the giveaway, but if you want to up your chances, you can donate $10 (or more) at the door for an additional giveaway entry! 100% of the proceeds goes to the charity, and guests who have already RSVP'd with additional donations will receive the corresponding number of extra entries (e.g. if you donated $40 on top of your $10 admission, you will receive 5 entries total.)

4) We'll be tweeting our giveaways @ regular intervals from 7:30 p.m. until the end of the evening, so donate for your extra entries early to increase your opportunities to win.

5) Finally, you don't need to be present to pick up your prize (in case you leave early, didn't notice it on the twitterfeed, etc.)

Phew! Having said all that, here's all the fab goodies that you can win this year:
From ChocolateBox Cafe (also our official chocolate sponsor for the event) a build-your-own box of sweets, simply bring the box to their Malibu location and fill it to your heart's fancy.
1933 Group is providing a sweet set of drink tokesn good for free cocktails at any of their bars.
Church & State is donating a $50 gift card for its bistro grub.
At Ortega 120, you can win 2 spots to their Tequila University classes, plus a $20 gift card for food or drinks at another time.
CakeMonkey donated a gift certificate good for their Snack Treat Gift Box for one sweet-loving soul.
The House of An family of restaurants is providing $75 gift certificates for AnQi and Crustacean
A gift basket of goodies, including teas, a bottle of wine and a $70 gift certificate, courtesy of Hugo's Restaurant
A tasty dinner for two gift certificate at Comme Ca in West Hollywood
And another dinner for two @ Zengo/La Sandia in the swanky renovated Santa Monica Place
For movie-goers, a ten-ticket pack for American Cinematheque's Egyptian and Alex Theaters
At La Descarga, you can win a rum & cigar aficionado package with 1 bottle of Zaya 12-year-old aged rum with sipping glasses, 2 hand rolled Payne Mason Haban Unos Corojo #5 cigars with cutter and a $50 gift certificate at the bar itself.
Nic's Beverly Hill donated a dinner for two with a full VODBOX experience.
Culina is giving out a "lunch for 4" to the fortunate winner.
Shell Vacations Hospitality donated a two-night stay in their Las Vegas Desert Rose Resort
At the Raymond in South Pasadena, someone will get $300 (equivalent of 2 chef's tastings w wine pairings) to spend on fine cuisine.
The Edison is generously giving a person and a downtown dream package with a $200 gift card, a night's stay in a downtown LA hotel plus a bottle of copper-encased Beau Joie champagne!
And The Sunset Strip is donating a package of its own, with a night's stay at the Andaz Hotel (our bloggerprom venue last year!), dinner for 2 at its restaurant, the RH, and 2 VIP passes plus 4 drink tickets for The Comedy Store.

Good luck to everyone, but feel free improve your odds (and do more good) with an extra donation!

About This Year's Featured Charity: Operation Frontline

The Blogger Prom Committee is pleased to announce that 100% of the proceeds from this year’s event will benefit the Center for Community and Family Services in support of Operation Frontline Los Angeles, the regional OFL program at Share Our Strength "that teaches families how to prepare healthy, tasty meals on a limited budget" with the belief "that negative health and economic effects of hunger and poor diet can be avoided if families know how to shop for and prepare healthy, low cost meals."When we decided to raise charitable funds at this year's prom, the big question was, on behalf of what organization? We decided upon Operation Frontline Los Angeles because we believe so unwaveringly in its mission to help fight hunger and improve nutrition education.

While not all of the bloggers invited to Blogger Prom write about food, hunger and poor nutrition are issues that affect the L.A. community and the nation as a whole. It is through these classes and education that families can learn first-hand how to apply nutrition principles in their shopping for and preparation of healthy, low cost and delicious meals.
We look forward to helping Operation Frontline Los Angeles continue to directly impact the lifetime dietary habits of families through their classes held throughout the city. Together, we can help more Angelenos to enjoy nutritious, tasty and affordable food options.

The highlights of last year’s Operation Frontline program include:

• 80% of graduates are participants in federal food assistance programs like WIC, Head Start and free school meals
• 94% of kids who took an Operation Frontline LA course made the healthy recipes they learned in class at home and would recommend the course to a friend
  
• Upon graduating an Operation Frontline LA course, 80% of adults said they were eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains than before the course.

Your admission and any additional donations made on behalf of Blogger Prom: Hollywood Confidential will go directly toward connecting professional chefs and nutritionists with those who benefit from the education the most. Proceeds will alleviate class support costs like groceries, staff coordination time, staff volunteer training and more. Be sure to visit Operation Frontline Los Angeles' Blog, Operation Frontline’s home page, “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter to keep up-to-date on what they’re doing in the community.

For those attending the prom, please consider donating more than the $10 minimum per person. Also, please spread the word about donating by mentioning something on your blog in your preview and/or recap posts.