Your questions about the Tomato Nation/DonorsChoose.org Spring 2013 Contest, answered. (I hope.) Updated May 19, 10 AM.

WHATCHA DOIN’?
Welcome to the Tomato Nation/Donors Choose Spring Contest 2013: Goin’ All The Way. Want to donate right now? Click right here. 

Keep an eye on the homepage for daily updates and tallies, or follow me on Twitter, @TomatoNation. The hashtag is #TNProm.

THE LOGISTICS
Starting on May 13, we’ll start polishing off projects that have less than $100 left to completion. We’ll also tackle field trips (“goin’ all the way”…to the theater, say); dance classes; bio projects involving blood (…Carrie? …No? Look, just go with it, we’re trying to be inclusive here (hee)); sewing; prom and grad projects; pink…things? The idea is to help a bunch of kids in a bunch of different communities, and tie it to a prom theme. The more hilariously tenuous the connection, the better, in my view.

tl;dr? Get out your wallet. Kids need crayons. Kids need YOU. You don’t get to stay home for this one or go to a midnight movie instead. Put on a mental bubble skirt and let’s get this done, Nation, because if you can raise fifty grand, I will throw a prom. That’s right. $50,000 = party city, and we’re the mayor. 

HOW DO I ENTER?
When you donate, you’ll get a receipt; forward it to bunting at tomatonation dot com. If you donate more than once, forward allll your receipts; we have general prizes, AND we have daily prizes, so just forward that receipt eeeeevery time. You’ll get an automated email from me notifying you that you’ve been entered.

Again, the daily updates will tell you what to do in more detail; if you have questions, leave a comment, or email me.

I’M BROKE, YO. CAN I HELP SOME OTHER WAY?
Sure! You can donate a prize if you’d like; you can Facebook/Tweet/email your friends, relatives, strangers, and enemies about the contest. And remember, even a buck or two counts. Skip your 3 PM Frap for a week, that’s $20. That could finish buying an iPad or some bongos. You can still be prom king for a buck forty-six. Get after it.

But if it’s all going to your damn student loan, I get it. Spreading the word really helps too, and it’s free.

THE PRIZES
$50 Amazon gift card
knitted dragon
Etsy gift codes
Starbucks cards
a custom knitted hat
$100 Gap card
a signed copy of Recipes Every Man Should Know
a set of “Anne of Green Gables” Literary Lacquers nailpolish
seven (7) hours of logo design work from LindaGrahamDesign.com
two (2) pairs of VIP tickets to The Colbert Report tapings in July
a set of two (2) knitted cat toys in the shapes of your choice (mouse, fish, eg.) from Sara T.
a $10 Donors Choose gift card from Ellen
a three-month Netflix subscription from Kate G.
a $25 Amazon gift card, also from Kate G.

Want to donate a prize? That’s awesome; thank you. Email me at bunting at tomatonation dot com. And not to be Violet Buntregarde over here, obviously, but for simplicity’s sake, gift cards, gadgets, and things you can email or transfer electronically are the best this year. Feel free to send me a Vine letter about my rudeness. Heh.

PICS OF CHARLES BEST WEARING A TIARA OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN.
Oh, that WILL happen, friends.

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