Freebies and free stuff

EDIT: This contest has ended.

Social Goodies is a new daily deal site about to launch. In celebration, they are holding a contest where they’ll give away 100 free $50 Target gift cards. In addition, for every person who enters the contest, they’ll make a $1 donation to the American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Fund.

I was fully prepared to make fun of them because the last thing we need is another Groupon clone. Yet how can I ridicule a site giving away $5,000 in prizes and making donations to the Red Cross? Turns out I actually have some of those “standards” everybody is always talking about!

This may be the first post for HIF that I wish I didn’t have to write. You’ve seen the pictures and videos by now. I’m barely qualified to make self-deprecating and absurdist jokes, so when it comes to the recent tragedy in Japan, there’s not much I can add that hasn’t already been said. However, there’s actually a freebie related to this calamity.

AT&T and Verizon are both offering free long distance calls and texts to Japan for the next few weeks. AT&T is offering free calls and texts from the US until March 31 while Verizon is doing the same through April 10.

Chances are if you’re making calls and texts to Japan, then you know somebody there. Google has set up a Crisis Response page that includes a free “people tracker” tool for locating missing loved ones. I hope that no Hiffer has to use it, but it’s there if needed.

[thanks Sample Stuff.]

EDIT: Just go ahead and smack me now. Link added.

You can either get a free $1 check from Miller High Life or donate said dollar to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. This is cool, I’ve never been sponsored by a company before. But now I can say HIF is sponsored by Miller High Life!

The fine print says residents of AK, AZ, CA, CO, DE, DC, FL, IA, KS, MT, MS, NE, NV, NH, NM, OK, SC, WI, and WY can also get a $1 off Miller High Life coupon. I don’t know if that means these residents aren’t eligible for the $1 check or if they simply get an extra option on how to get $1. If you live in one of these states, leave a comment and let us know what your choices were!

Remember the 100,000 days of free drinking water campaign that P&G Give Health was running? Well I’m proud to announce that they reached their goal weeks before their deadline and that Hiffers alone contributed 7325 days! That’s over 20 years of free drinking water. As a bonus, P&G will add an additional day to their 100,000 count for each new fan they receive on Facebook through January 31, 2011.

I can’t tell you how proud I am of our little community. For years we’ve been getting freebies for ourselves and yet when it came time to help out those in need, so many of y’all stepped up and took just a few minutes out of your day to make a difference. Rock the eff on!

Now for the even better part. P&G gave me a $50 prepaid American Express gift card for every 1,000 people I got to participate. For the math dunces out there, that means I now have seven $50 gift cards! While some webmasters might pocket a few, I’ll be giving them all away to Hiffers because y’all deserve them way more than I do.

So for today’s gift card, leave a comment on this post and let me know what your favorite holiday treat is. For instance, mine is anything that’s 90% sugar. I’ll use Random.org to pick a comment on Friday, December 24, at 8:00pm est and email the winner! And seriously, thanks again to everyone who helped make a free donation.

It’s that time again! P&G Give Health want to give away 100,000 days of clean drinking water by the end of 2010 and by now we all know how this works. I’ve already received the three $50 gift cards we earned in November, so I’ll probably start giving those away this weekend

Remember, you can donate once per day! When you donate water for the first time, you have to verify your email address by clicking a link they send you. However, every day after that you can simply come here and enter in your same address again without going through any more verification steps!

If you enter your email above and “Click to Donate Water,” then you just gave 2 liters of drinking water to somebody in a developing country through P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program. Feels pretty good, huh?

The freebies are dried up today, so while I slog through my pile of drafts and possible posts, I figured I’m mention the P&G Give Health offer again. They’re trying to give away 100,000 days of clean drinking water by the end of 2010 and for every person who enters their email in the widget below, one donation will be added. To sweeten the pot, for every 1000 Hiffers who enter their email below, P&G will give me a $50 gift card to give away. We’re almost at the 6k mark, so that’s six $50 gift cards for sure!

Remember, you can donate once per day! When you donate water for the first time, you have to verify your email address by clicking a link they send you. However, every day after that you can simply come here and enter in your same address again without going through any more verification steps!

If you enter your email above and “Click to Donate Water,” then you just gave 2 liters of drinking water to somebody in a developing country through P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program. Feels pretty good, huh?

Just a handy reminder about the P&G Give Health offer. They’re trying to give away 100,000 days of clean drinking water by the end of 2010 and for every person who enters their email in the widget below, one donation will be added. To sweeten the pot, for every 1000 Hiffers who enter their email below, P&G will give me a $50 gift card to give away. We’re over the 4k mark, so that’s four gift cards for sure!

Remember, you can donate once per day! When you donate water for the first time, you have to verify your email address by clicking a link they send you. However, every day after that you can simply come here and enter in your same address again without going through any more verification steps!

If you enter your email above and “Click to Donate Water,” then you just gave 2 liters of drinking water to somebody in a developing country through P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program. Feels pretty good, huh?

Just a handy reminder about the P&G Give Health offer. For anyone who missed it last month, they’re trying to give away 100,000 days of clean drinking water by the end of 2010. For every person who enters their email in the widget below, one donation will be added. To sweeten the pot, for every 1000 Hiffers who give a day, P&G will give me a $50 gift card to give away. We’re over the 3k mark, so that’s three gift cards for sure!

New Feature: When you donate water for the first time, you have to verify your email address by clicking a link they send you. However, every day after that you can simply come here and enter in your same address again without going through any more verification steps!

If you enter your email above and “Click to Donate Water,” then you just gave 2 liters of drinking water to somebody in a developing country through P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program. Feels pretty good, huh?

Just a handy reminder about the P&G Give Health offer. For anyone who missed it last week, they’re trying to give away 100,000 days of clean drinking water by the end of 2010. For every person who enters their email in the widget below, one donation will be added. To sweeten the pot, for every 1000 Hiffers who give a day, P&G will give me a $50 gift card to give away. We recently crossed the 1k mark, so that’s one gift card for sure! What say we make it a few more?

If you enter your email above and “Click to Donate Water,” then you just gave 2 liters of drinking water to somebody in a developing country through P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program. Feels pretty good, huh?

One of my many side projects is a site where people can make free charity donations. It’s still in development, but the general premise is that there are ways we can make donations to legit charities for free. I figure if we’re already taking 10 minutes a day to get freebies, why not spend a few more minutes to make sure others less fortunate get some as well?

But in the mean time, P&G Give Health has a current offer where they’re trying to give away 100,000 days of clean drinking water by the end of 2010. For every person who enters their email in the widget below, one donation will be added. To sweeten the pot, for every 1000 Hiffers who give a day, P&G will give me a $50 gift card to give away.

If you enter your email above and “Click to Donate Water,” then you just gave 2 liters of drinking water to somebody in a developing country through P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program. Feels pretty good, huh?