So by now I’m sure most of you have heard of the great 5 Minutes For… Blogs - well this morning I read a post on 5 Minutes for Mom that truly brought tears to my eyes – I’d heard of Parker and his mother, Tammy, the managing editor for 5 Minutes for Special Needs in a few other posts, but never really gave it much thought – because sometimes it’s hard to see past our own lives and hardships, no matter how trivial they are once in perspective.
But when I read the title of this post, “Blogs can change lives… wanna help us change one?” my thoughts were quite obviously, “Um YES!” So I click and read this story of Parker and his mother Tammy, who doesn’t have a laptop which might not seem like a big deal if you don’t know her whole story – I mean I know a lot of us don’t have laptops (I just gave mine to my husband last night when his old laptop finally bit the dust, without a moment’s hesitation I might add – I don’t need mine, he does). But Tammy’s options – not so easy and her situation – truly heartbreaking but also upliftingly inspirational:
Tammy’s son Parker has a myriad of life-threatening, critical health concerns which have devastated their family of eight financially and which make Tammy home bound with Parker. Parker can rarely leave the house – and Tammy can rarely, if ever, leave Parker’s side.
Really you should go and read the post over at 5 Minutes for Mom, because I won’t do it justice without literally copying and pasting the entire thing into my post – but here’s the point of the post – after hearing Tammy’s story and thinking to herself how it just wasn’t right Janice – she did something about it – and she actually managed to get Tammy a laptop from HP (who is already helping students get ready for school with top of the line laptops for under $800 and printers for under $100) – how amazing is that? Just like that guys? This is the kind of difference our community can make when we work together and help each other out and just simply reach out once in awhile – because really, for HP, what difference does one lap top make and the publicity they could potentially achieve from this gesture could be huge – meanwhile the difference that laptop can make for Tammy? Huger. She says, so herself:
If I had a laptop I’m pretty sure I could rule the world.
I could blog from the hospital………where, you know, we tend to spend a great majority of our time. And I wouldn’t have to fight my older kids for computer time. They use the desktop for homework, etc. Especially my kid in college year round.
How great is it that essentially the bloggy universe could make that happen for her? She can now actually DO those things and probably more! But the story doesn’t end there – our job isn’t finished. Because not only did HP respond to Janice’s request with a laptop (and a printer!) for Tammy, but they threw in a SECOND laptop and printer for 5 Minutes for Mom to give to SECOND family in need! And THAT dear readers, is where YOU come in!
They still need to FIND that other family – and you may be able to help. Do you know another family like Tammy’s perhaps that could truly benefit from the use of a laptop and printer, but is equally unlikely to afford such a treat anytime remotely soon? You could really make a difference in that family’s life by entering them for that chance at 5 Minutes for Mom! Here are the specifics of the the drawing they are throwing and the prize one lucky family will win:
We want you to nominate one student or family who you believe truly needs a new laptop and printer.
Try to think of a family who has extraordinary circumstances and whose lives could be changed by a laptop and printer.
You can submit your nomination on your own blog and sign the Mr. Linky below, or if you don’t have a blog, just leave a comment.
Please keep private details (including names and financial information) out of your story. If you feel you need to email us additional information privately, you can reach us at 5minutesformom at gmail dot com. Please put NOMINATION in the subject.
We will select a few nominations and then let random.org help us with the final decision.
Before we announce the winner, we will require that we talk on the phone with that family and confirm the situation. Please be HONEST.
Prize Details
Here’s the details on what HP is providing to our winner.
- Get extra protection from data loss with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection.
- Play Blu-ray movies using the optional built-in Blu-ray drive.
- Features a clean 15” diagonal HP BrightView Infinity display.
- Create personalized, silkscreen-quality DVD and CD labels with optional LightScribe
- Chat face-to-face or capture video clips using the HP Webcam and integrated microphone.
- Simplify your password management with the integrated fingerprint reader.
- Available from $799.99
- Print, copy and scan all from an affordable printer great for students
- Save paper and ink using the HP automatic paper-type sensor that detects the paper being used and then selects optimal print or copy settings.
- Print lab-quality photos in a few easy steps without a PC – simply insert a memory card and navigate the 1.5-inch color display.
- Achieve fast and efficient printing and copying with speeds up to 30 pages per minute (ppm) black and up to 23 ppm color, plus photos in as fast as 25 seconds.
- Available at $99.99
- Print what you see – HP Smart Web Printing automatically adjusts web pages to prevent cutoff edges and optimize web printing by allowing users to easily combine portions of numerous web pages onto one page.
So if you think you know a family that can truly benefit from an opportunity like this, be sure to either post about it on your own blog and then link up over at 5 Minutes for Mom or go directly to their post and leave a comment if you are not a blogger – and of course you can also email if you feel that would be better.
