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The old year isn't quite over, its many gifts settling in and the new one tentatively stealing a glimpse, and I'm celebrating by offering my readers a special treat on this special day: A brand new bottle of Amouage Dia perfume 30ml in a velvety pouch which will be given to one lucky reader who will comment on this post and suggest their favorite charity. The draw is open internationally until Friday 3rd 2014 midnight and winner will be announced in the weekend.
Below Pantelis Thalassinos sings the (fragrant!) folk version of the New Year's Carols from Chios island in Greece. I wish you all the many blessings of the lyrics.
"Good evening I say, ushering fragrant air,
from the frothing waves, sung a thousand times over.
No stone should crack in the house we came to
and may the landlord live for many years.
Saint Basil dear and my dear Saint Nicholas,
protect the sailors in the hour of the storm.
May you live many years and be merry, you and yours,
and may your immigrant beloveds and all your sailors come back.
We wish you all to get love, peace and good health,
a jolly heart, a smile and blessings too.
First day of the month and first of the year, my tall rosemary tree,
and first of January, the day of Saint Basil.
(St.) Basil, my dear, wherever you're coming from and wherever you're descending,
holding roses and anointing,
sit down and feast, sit down and drink, sit down and tell us your troubles,
sit down and sing, and welcome us and come out and treat us,
may you live, may you live and get to an old age. "
What a fabulous draw! :)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity is the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).
Thank you for hosting another great drawing, and many hopes for a happy new year!
My charity of choice is Immigration Equality.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year and thank you for your generous draw.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity is my local Meals on Wheels program - it provides food and company to housebound members of the community.
Habitat for Humanity, St Jude Children's Hospital and Meals on Wheels…all provide much needed help for different segments of our communities.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year! I'm excited to be entered into a draw for something I've never smelled, but have an enthusiasm based to the comments over the years of others on how beautifully made Amouage perfumes are.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity is the ASPCA, like the commenter above. Thank you!
World Wildlife Federation, Leket Israel - volunteers collect produce and other perishable food that would be left in the field or thrown out to help provide meals for the needy.
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of good charities out there, but I'll vote for the Salvation Army, who understand and help the poor in very real ways.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity is Planned Parenthood. Runner up is Doctors Without Broders/Medecins Sans Frontieres.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity is Catholic Community Services which helped us in a round-about way to adopt our dd!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win this fragrance....:).
I have been impressed with Modest Needs, a charity I first read about on the Perfume Posse. Thanks for the incredible draw, and best wishes, all!
ReplyDeleteMy vote goes to a Salvation Army-like Quebec City local institution that is called L'Auberivière. It started as a shelter for both men and women,but they grew into support and reinsertion programs that really work. They even have an organic garden on the top of their building!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing giveaway, thank you! My favorite charity is actually charity water, which builds wells in communities that have no access to fresh water.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely gift. This year my extra money has gone to Planned Parenthood, to make sure that women and children can get the health care they need, whoever they are and whatever they believe.
ReplyDeleteWOW!!! What a wonderful draw and how great it is to see how many animal lovers are here. I have so many favorite charities but my newest one is barcs.org It started in Baltimore,Md. but now has different locations across throughout the U.S. It is a program that spays/neuters animals of low income or seniors for $10.00, how GREAT is that. I'd also like to mention Hector's House (in Greece) that also helps with animal rescue. I do love charities for animals as they don not have a voice in what happens to them. Happy New Year Elena.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice way to end 2013 and begin 2014!! There are tons of amazing charities both big and small. My favorite is one called Hank's Hope in Wilmington, DE that was started by my dear friend Anne. It is named after her son who she lost when she was 8 months pregnant. Despite her loss and grief, Anne bravely began a charity called Hank's Hope that raises money to purchase teddy bears for mothers and fathers who lose a child in childbirth, miscarriage, etc. Included with the teddy bears it is Anne's desire that Hank's Hope can also raise money to provide therapeutic services for these parents. It's a wonderful charity and I have had the pleasure of seeing it from the beginning. It is amazing what a small gesture of kindness can do for someone who is grieving.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lovely New Year's Carol.
ReplyDeleteIn Australia we have a charity called Fitted for Work - they assist disadvantaged women in getting back into the workplace. These women have often had great tragedy, illness and bad circumstance happen in their lives. Fitted for Work gives them outfits to wear to interviews, coaching, training and most importantly confidence. A remarkable organisation who I support and admire and hope I shall never have need to be a client.
Happy New Year and thank you for bringing so much olifactory joy to my life! Melanie
What a generous draw! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteSome favorite charities include: the ASPCA, Planned Parenthood and I have a child I support through Children International.
I wish you a wonderful 2014 :)
It's hard to pick one but I have a particular affinity for Best Friends Animal Society. Some day I would love to visit their animal sanctuary in Utah. Thanks for this generous draw and Happy New Year to all!
ReplyDeleteThe children's hospital.
ReplyDeleteDagney Betty
Thank you for a wonderful year of posts!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity is Heifer International.
Have a lovely New Year darling Elena. Thanks for the wealth of knowledge and wittiness. My favorite thing in the world are cats so the charity of my choice is Big Cat Rescue.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your online presence.
xxx
Gosh give aways already.
ReplyDeleteWe give to, and think important, Médecins Sans Frontières, who help so many people see their next year with any hope of health in horrible situations.
What a generous giveaway! My favorite charities include RESIST, which supports community activists, and the Center for the Victims of Torture.
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing this giveaway! My favorite charity is UNICEF.
ReplyDeleteThank you for offering this great giveaway. It may not be a popular choice but I am impressed with Ronald Macdonald House. I have a family member who had a very sick child and the services and support provided to the families was really amazing.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you Elena
ReplyDeleteIt's so difficult to have only one charity. My heartfelt priorities at this time are for Traumatic Brain Injuries and for The Lucky Elephant.
Thank you so much for opportunity drawing.
One of my favorites is the Light of Day Foundation
ReplyDeleteIt funds research into possible cures, improved treatments and support for patients
suffering from Parkinson's disease and related illnesses.
Thank you for another year of wonderful blog entries!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to choose my favourite charity, so I'll pick the most obscure one: the Marmot Recovery Foundation. It works to protect the highly endangered (and adorable!) Vancouver Island marmot - probably the rarest animal in North America, if not the entire New World - by saving its habitat in the wild and carrying out captive breeding to boost its numbers.
I'm crying uncle! What an enticing giveaway. My favorite charities are CaringBridge, the Challenged Athletes Foundation, and Children's Hospital and Research Center Oakland...
ReplyDeleteThank you for a most excellent year of sometimes funny, sometimes profound, but always interesting blogs!
Ann
Great blog! Many wishes to all of you!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity is the House of Ruth in Baltimore, Maryland--a shelter, counseling, and every other human need for women who have been victims of abuse. Thank you for this awesome draw and for all your wonderful posts throughout the years. I'm looking forward to more of them in 2014. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome giveaway, thank you, Elena!
ReplyDeleteI'll say Doctors Without Borders, the work they've been doing in Haiti since the earthquake is pretty amazing.
Happy new year!!
Yad Sara providing paramedical relief for all in need, in Israel
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for the draw and a healthy and happy new year to all
Happy new year! let all the wishes and other goodness come true this year!
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the biggest charity in my city is pets.ee - the biggest estonian animal shelter, made by strong and gorgeous woman Larissa for thowe, who were thrown away and has no home now. Everyone has a permission to be loved and live with those who loves and cares about you!
I wish all of the creatures in our small planet to have their own home - a place, where you can rest and find your oun piece of heaven!
Let it be!
Happy New Year!!
ReplyDeleteMy two charity organisations are "World Wildlife Federation" and "Doctors Without Borders".
Happy New Year. The charity that makes a lot of sense for me is called CANTEEN and it is based in NZ for kids that have cancer. My friend's brother died of leukemia and I have always had a soft spot for this charity ever since. They do great work.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Elena.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite local charity is the cat shelter I work for, Celia Hammond Animal Trust. Amnesty would be my choice for an international one.
My favorite charities are ASPCA and local dog and cat rescues. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLovely draw! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMy last donation went to a consortium that distributes its collected funds to different NGOs working in Syria.
Happy New Year!
What lovely lyrics.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your generosity Elena:)
I`ll try my luck since it is an international draw.
Hard to pick one charity. If you`ll please excuse I`ll pick two:
Licht ins Dunkel (Austria)
and
(NRC)National Relief Charities (USA)
Blessings be.
Gina
Happy New Year to all.
ReplyDeleteI'd probably pick UNICEF for charity.
ty, fr the Giveaway.
Happy new year and what a fine draw. My favorite charoty is doctors without borders.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a single favourite charity: while there are some that I give to every year (usually at or near year's end), I will often spontaneously give to whatever charity seems to need my support at the time. But if I had to choose one, it would probably be Planned Parenthood. They do good work.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you and thanks for a wonderful opportunity. My favourite charity is Macmillan Cancer Care - they provide nurses to care for terminal cancer patients in their own homes.
ReplyDeleteHiya,
ReplyDeletewhat a fabulous prize, I would love the chance to win!
My 2 favourite charities are very similar..........guide dogs for the blind & hearing dogs for the deaf.....they both do such wonderful work & help people with impairments lead much fuller lives.
Happy new Year to you all
Wow, what a luxurious perfume draw!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite charity is Amnesty International,they do incredible work and have prevented the untold misery of countless unfairly imprisoned people across the world.
Wishing everyone a wonderful and fragrant 2014!
My favorite charity is Habitat for Humanity. Thanks, Judy
ReplyDeletethanks for the draw !! our favorite charity is our local food bank.
ReplyDeleteİncreadible giveaway! As for charity, "To Hamogelo tou Paidiou", for it's variety of activities regarding children (physical & mental health support, supporting hospitalised children with various activities, having home complexes to accommodate childen in need, as well as helping with their education and so on). İ can't believe they almost shut down due to financial crisis, İ am more than happy they made it, hope they never face such issues again :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful draw!I've heard of Modest Needs over Perfume Posse and I find it a very inspiring,down to earth concept.Medecins sans frontieres is another one I like,ISPCA which protects animal rights,Meals on wheels.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity is BiNA farm, an organization that gives hippotherapy to disabled kids. I volunteered a number of years there when I was in high school. Wonderful kids, wonderful staff, wonderfull horses, small organization. Over the years I saw definite improvements in so many kids, both physicallya nd mentally.
ReplyDeleteHappy new year too and all my best wishes in return! thank you for this merry song, I love to discover folk culture (such a lovely change from what we find everywhere)...
ReplyDeleteDifficult to choose only one charity.. though I would say there is one I find very touching and always doing such a good job: it's called Les Petits Freres des Pauvres, helping the poor elderly people who are on their own and very poor (they do an amazing job of visiting, helping them...).
Thank you again for your generosity:-)
Living in Memphis and getting to know a few of the amazing folks at St Jude's Children's Hospital makes it my most admired charity.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this fabulous draw and Happy New Year! My favorite charity if Feeding America - providing food to hungry children all over the country.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity is UNICEF
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Anna
anna_k67@yahoo.com
So many worthy charities, but Smile Train is one that can so drastically change a child's life for a small amount of money. Thanks for a year's worth of reading pleasure.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this lovely offer. My favorite charity is Childfund. I have sponsored a little girl in Sierra Leone, and we are pen pals as well.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoy sharing my love of fragrance as a hospice volunteer and at an eldercare facility.
Happy New Year to all!
What a fabulous give-away. Thank you! As my grandmother always said, charity begins at home, so we give frequently to the local community Food Bank. Nationally, the Canadian Red Cross and internationally, World Food Plan; both do great "boots on the ground" work.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Elena, My favorite charities are Doctors Without Borders, ASPCA,the Red Cross,and the local food bank here. What a lovely draw. Thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteDress For Success is my favorite charity. Thanks so very much for the draw!
ReplyDeletesome of my favorite charities are Best Friends Animal Society, Mercy for Animals, and Alley Cat Allies. Please enter me in the perfume giveaway. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGreat giveaway! My favourite charitable organization is the Trevor Project
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity is Medecin sans frontier and Save the Children. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteBest Friends Animal Sanctuary for abused and abandoned animals nationwide, in Angel Canyon, Utah. Thanks for the draw.
ReplyDeleteCharity I support every year is WWF (World Wildlife Fund). Thank you for this giveaway. And Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway! The charity I regularly support is Kiva, making microloans to women to support their businesses or their educations.
ReplyDeleteThank you for such a generous giveaway! My favorite charities are CARE, Red Cross, and the Salvation Army. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI give to Saint Jude,our local animal shelter and I occasionally give to Feed the Children. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year! My favorite charity is Autism Speaks! My son has been diagnosed with Autism and they are a great organization. Thank you for the lovely draw! ---Tati
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity is called Fare Start. It provides homeless people with the training to enter the food world, along with other support that they might need. It is a wonderful program.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the drawing!
Thanks do much for the generous draw opportunity.
ReplyDeleteMy current favourite charity is Medicins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders.
Wishing you all the best in the New Year!
-- Lindaloo
I love idea of "Nota bene" newspaper. It is streetpaper sold by homeless people that can help them to gain some money and also to cover another projects with homeless people. Thanks for great giveaway - I wish you blessed and successful new year 2014! Lubica K. Slovakia
ReplyDeleteI'm passionate about animals and the environment and really like what the World Wildlife Fund does!
ReplyDeleteHappy, happy 2014! My favorite charity is called Living lands and waters.
ReplyDeleteDia! I have been trying to try this beauty yet my tiny little pocket this year did not let me.
Thanks!
What a wonderful question you have posted. My favorite charity is the Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica. My dream is to go there and volunteer. Now I need the money for the ticket ;)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There are a lot of great, legitimate charities out there. One that I have been donating to for a while is Heifer International. Thirty dollars can purchase the gift of honeybees for a family in need. And that family will have vitamin- and mineral-rich honey to eat and sell, wax for making candles and up to three times the crop yields. I like this gift because I love bees, and the family has so many different outlets for income in raising them including improving their harvest.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charities are Meals on Wheels and Courage Center (an organization in my part of the US that helps people with disabilities and provides employment opportunities for them).
ReplyDeleteThank you so much and Happy New Year! My favorite charity is
ReplyDeletehttp://www.companiondogsplus.com/
which trains service dog which they have recued from kill shelters. I think they are wonderful. xox jean
Thank you for the generous gift. My favorite charity is St. Jude's Hospital.
ReplyDeleteWhat a generous offer!
ReplyDeleteI'm singling out "Doctors without Borders" for their quiet work and resilience; so many people depend upon this charity and its volunteers for help.
Happy Hogmanay:-)
OOPS! I forgot to say that I was Anna in Edinburgh wishing you a "Happy Hogmanay" above!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to give a shout out to the American Jewish World Service, which is run by the sage and charismatic Ruth Messenger and works in so many lands.
ReplyDeleteI admire the work of the RSPCA and make a donation every month, and the Red Cross for humankind.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite charity here in Australia is the RSPCA - Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your generosity.
Jennie
My charity of choice is a local one, Lazarus House in Lawrence, MA. They provide emergency food and shelter along with more long-term services (such as transitional housing, training, and various forms of advocacy) in the poorest community in the state.
ReplyDeleteAlso a fan of Doctors Without Borders. Thanks for the giveaway/shout-out to charities!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity is the American Cancer Society. Thanks for the draw!
ReplyDeleteI have several local dog and cat charities to which I donate. One in particular assists in paying vet expenses for rescued dogs with serious medical needs.
ReplyDeleteI also donate to Autism Speaks.
Thank you for the draw. I have three not-for-profits that I donate to: the Wilderness Society, Amnesty International and a the Kianh Foundation which uses donations directly into care for children with special needs in Hoi An, Vietnam. This last charity is well worth supporting as even a small donation can make a huge difference to the lives of these children.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful draw! The charity that I really like is Naked heart that is organised by Vodyanova. She is so good to the children in Russia!
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to choose one since all rhe legitimate ones are doing such admirable work. I think Doctors without Borders is the one I choose, with UNICEF and ASPCA as close "runner-ups".
ReplyDeleteHappy new year and thanks for the giveaway!
Thank you for the lovely draw and a Happy New Year to you!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite charity is Medecins Sans Frontieres.
Amouage Dia has been in my wishlist like forever. I still could not afford it because it's way too pricey in my country.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity is the local SPCA organization which saves stray cats & dogs.
Thank you for this lovely opportunity & I wish you a very Happy New Year!
My favorite charity is a small one- Brazos Feral Cat Allies in College Station, TX. In a college town, trap-spay-release is a constant job with careless young people moving off and abandoning their cats daily. These folks really maintain the feral populations like I have never seen anywhere else. Wish my city had a program as effective and dedicated.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite kind of charity is helping animals by supporting shelters...
It's a tie, my charities of choice are the Wounded Warrior Project and Charity Water. Happy New year, all!
ReplyDeleteWonderful draw- My favorite charity is HSUS, the Humane Society of U.S.
ReplyDeleteNot sure the last one posted. CHarity HSUS.
ReplyDeleteThe Reil House on Yakima Wa. They help moms who. Suffer from drug addiction get healthy so they can raise their children many of whom have been removed by CPS and become a productive member of society. The work they do is phenomenal. It's about the babies.
ReplyDeleteHappy new year!my favorite charity here in Germany is Vier Pfoten, a charity for animals.
ReplyDeleteI would like to mention my favorite charity which is Children's Craniofacial Association which helps children with head and facial disfigurements, both medically and emotionally. If you can imagine a child with a disfigured face and wanted to know how you can help, this is the charity. (Website: ccakids.org Phone: 800.535.3643)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the generous draw, Helg!
ReplyDeletei think my favourite charity is PEN-a human rights group who promotes the transmission of free thought through literature at all times to all countries.
Sincerely,
Carole
Medecins sans Frontieres-
ReplyDeleteDoctors without borders
phcon
My favourite charity is The Smith Family, an Australian charity supporting families in need. I've sponsored a child through the Smith Family for some years. The money goes to educational costs, usually.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the draw!
My favorite charity is a pleasure, giving treats to the local Animal Shelter and collecting towels and sheets. The charity that I need is giving to The International Red Cross. I give immediately because otherwise I can not speak to my siblings about emergency situations unless I have done something. We have a mutual pact amongst ourselves.
ReplyDeleteAnd a very Happy New Year to you and yours! Thank you so much for this song. Many Blessings to everyone! (Rosemary next to the sea, with roses too. I can imagine it right now.) Also thank you for the drawing. How lovely!
ReplyDeleteHard to choose one charity. I help out some of our local animal rescue groups, including my own vet. Dr. McCashion is an angel in a lab coat! Heifer International has always been a favorite. Oceana... help save our oceans! Walk Free... PLEASE check them out!!!! So much need... so many people stepping up to help. Restores my faith in humanity.
My favorite charity is Salvation Army!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity? Is it awkward to say WWF? I love animals!
Happy new year! My favorite charity is Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program. They do great work!
ReplyDeleteMédecins Sans Frontières is my favorite charity.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the draw!
Thank you for this wonderful opportunity. My favorite charity is Old Friends farm in Georgetown KY (outside Lexington) which provides a loving retirement space for retired thoroughbreds.
ReplyDeletekayceebee
My favourite charities are SOS Kinderdorf and Save the Children.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to all!
Thank you for hosting this drawing. My favorite charities are Unicef, Habitat for Humanity, and my local church which hosts a Hypothermia Prevention week for homeless people in our area in cooperation with other churches and our county government.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the opportunity! Cancer Research UK and Unicef would be my top charities.
Imagine what your lives would be like not only without perfume, but without the ability to smell or taste anything at all. I encourage you all to consider Fifth Sense (www.fifthsense.org.uk), the UK's first charity devoted to anosmia - smell and taste disorders. It is being launched by Duncan Boak, a remarkable guy I met on a perfumery course I took last summer (which I found out about
ReplyDeletehere) - he is doing everything from scratch himself, from bringing together top science and medical experts; relevant industry participants (food, fragrance, other); to reaching out to potential members around the world, in order to establish a resource for all things anosmia.
Please be generous with your support - either financial, professional or moral.
My favorite charity is the Belfast Soup Kitchen and Good Shepard Food Pantry in the town where I live. Officially, 17% of the town lives below the poverty line; I know the number is much higher. Small charities do much good and their resources are limited, to say the least. In this case, as with most (if not all) local charities, it's neighbor helping neighbor. Thanks for the draw and Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome draw to start the new year!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity is the Human Rights Campaign, for the wonderful work they have been doing for equality for all. Thanks in part to their efforts, my partner and I were able to be married in 2013!
Thanks,
Michael
Hello--
ReplyDeleteMy favorite charity is World Vision.
ReplyDeleteTerre d’Abeilles
http://www.sauvonslesabeilles.com
Happy New Year everyone. My favorite charity is SPCA. They do great work taking care of unwanted animals and finding them a home.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the generous draw.
Thank you for the opportunity to take part in the draw. My favourite charity is Gorgie City Farm in Edinburgh. Happy New Year.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
ReplyDeleteFavorite charity: Apopo HeroRATs.
My favorite charity is Emerge global. Thank you for the giveaway and happy new year!
ReplyDeleteMay your new year be full of all good things.
ReplyDeleteMy charity is Loving Orphans Global.
Thanks for the draw and the reviews throughout the year.My charity is St Raphaels a local hospice
ReplyDeleteSave the children. xxx, drnini
ReplyDelete