Enter Codes on Specially Marked #GeneralMills Products 2 #Help #FeedingAmerica #OutnumberHunger + Get a Free #Pandora Plus #Trial

If you buy General Mills products, look out for specially marked packages with a promotional code on them (products feature an on-package ad mentioning Feeding America and Thomas Rhett). 

For every code entered by January 31, 2018, General Mills will donate 45-cents ---- enough to secure 5 meals on behalf of local food banks --- to Feeding America. Maximum total donation of $700,000. (GM has already donated $500,000 and will donate up to another $200,000 based upon online code entry and other consumer actions.) To enter codes or for more information on the program, go to OutnumberHunger.com.

To thank consumers for helping, code submitters can get access to stream an exclusive mixtape from multi-platinum, singer-songwriter Thomas Rhett and some of his friends at Big Machine Label Group that's only available on Pandora streaming service. (Code submitters get an offer for a FREE Pandora Plus trial in order to stream the mixtape.)

I will update this list as I come across more participating products, but so far I've discovered codes on:

Totino's Party Pizza

I wanted to get the word out. Please if you get codes, enter them. It only takes a few moments of your time and you may help someone in need. Hunger is no joke. This is an easy way to help combat a very manageable problem. (Now, I'll step down off my soap box.)

Spreading Good #Cheer! @DrinkCheerwine #ROAK

I happened to catch a tweet the other day, wherein a fellow Tastemaker in the Cheerwine Authentic Soda Society stated that although she loved telling others about Cheerwine, she loves the soda so much she's had a difficult time sharing her coupons. This made me chuckle.

I'm lucky, however, I've got more than enough Cheerwine to share. As mentioned earlier, I ended up with 25 coupons, each one good for a Free* 12-Pack of Cheerwine, Diet Cheerwine or Cheerwine Squeeze. Yes, twenty-five free 12-Packs of soda! So far, I've redeemed 10 coupons (and have 15 left). But don't worry, I'm not drinking all that soda by myself. I've been sharing with everyone, family, friends and neighbors alike. Sometimes handing out single cans, sometimes handing over entire 12-packs --- introducing new folks to this iconic soda brand.

I enjoy spreading good cheer and good Cheerwine. In my book, these are one in the same.

*Note: The Cheerwine Free 12-Pack coupon is good for up to $4.49 value, which is apparently the going rate for a 12-pack in the Salisbury, NC area, but here in the metro Atlanta area 12-packs regularly cost $4.99+, thus one will generally end up having to pay $0.70-$1.00 difference when redeeming a coupon.

#ValentinesDay: #DoRight #RAOK #Love #Hallmark

In my early twenties, I worked at a Hallmark Gold Crown store for a time (while on leave from university) and I unfortunately worked on Valentine's Day that year. It was not a pleasant experience. Never have I encountered so many grumpy, crass and downright rude people in such a short amount of time. It's really sad that a holiday which is supposed to be about love (and not only romantic love, mind, but love of one's fellow man) seemingly brought out the worse in people. I told myself to never turn out like all the people I witnessed in the Hallmark that day.

Personally, I've never been one to harp on holidays, I don't need an arbitrarily approved date to be nice, give gifts, forgive transgressions or play fair. That said, there's nothing wrong with celebrating Valentine's Day. (One can never have too much love.) It's merely an observation that if you have to get so bent out of shape and overwrought in the quest to impress someone on this one day, then things probably aren't right the other 364. Valentine's Day, if anything, should be an enhancement of bonds, not a catchall panacea for all the crap accumulated throughout the rest of the year. But to each his own.

I try to treat the people about whom I care well every day of the year. Certainly, I fall short of this goal upon occasion; I am human and can be a grumpy cuss at times like anyone else. But I would like to think I succeed much more than I fail. (My family and friends would have to confirm this.) Thus, I don't have any special plans for today. I'm not out running around buying gifts at the last minute, in a harried attempt to make the day special (as an afterthought). No, I plan to go about the day much like I go about each day, with a smile and a wave. As for me and mine, I do know there will be pizza and cake (though sadly, not by the ocean, as I'm landlocked this year). And, that's a pretty good start to one fine day, let me tell you.

Happy Valentine's Day! May the true spirit of this day not elude you (or those whom you encounter).