Walmart's Mom of the Year Award . . .

Walmart Canada is hosting a Mom of the Year contest.  You are invited to submit nominations!  Eight finalists will be selected and treated to an award celebration weekend. The woman selected as Mom of the Year will receive $10,000 for personal use and $100,000 to their cause or charity of choice.  The remaining seven finalists will each receive $10,000 for personal use and $10,000 to their cause or charity of choice.  Can you imagine the impact you can have on your favourite charity with these generous prizes!?

Since I'm part of this campaign, my Mom and sisters are not eligible to be nominated, so I want to share their stories with you today.

First off, my wonderful and generous Mom.
Growing up, my Mom always worked in the home.  She ran a very successful catering business from our kitchen - double oven, two big freezers in the garage, and lots of work space.  All my siblings and I worked with her at one point.  She never forced us, we always worked willingly, and she always paid us minimum wage or better.  We loved having jobs and some spending money, and my Mom was always a fair and easy boss to work for.  Through her catering business, my Mom was able to help out the family financially, and when my Dad had to change careers we went through a time where we heavily relied on the catering to help out our family.  I also have many memories of my Mom coming on fieldtrips, being a part of the Ladies Aid group for our school, taking us on outings and shopping, and going on lots of family holidays.  She was a Mom that was always there and always involved.  Today my Mom works full-time assisting my Dad in the travel business that my parents purchased when my Dad switched careers 14 years ago.  She is also a proud grandmother of 13, and makes sure to give her time and attention to them all.

My oldest sister is a busy Mom of three little blessings.  She has also held a career for the past several years and helped largely to support her family while her husband has gone back to college.  On top of that, she has also been very active in the BC Down Syndrome Society (a worthy charity that I would love to see one of the finalists supporting).  The biggest reason for her involvement, is because her son was born with Trisomy 21.  And through a lot of research my sister has strived to give him every opportunity - from the right specialists, to learning sign language, to getting some much needed surgery, to getting him diagnosed with celiac and being diligent about his diet change, to helping the TA's at school understand what he is capable of learning and pushing them to teach it, and to every other challenge that has come up in-between.  Her son is thriving because of all the sacrifices and energy that she has put into advocating for his needs.

My second oldest sister is a busy Mom of two little blessings.  She has a successful full-time career in the law system.  I've had the privilege of helping her with childcare for several years, and getting to know my nieces.  Her oldest daughter is now in the school system, and her youngest is a busy toddler.  My sister and her husband do a great job of managing their careers, household, and daughters.

My little sister is a busy Mom of three little blessings.  She runs a successful photography business from home, is involved in her church and children's schools, sports for her boys, and has a great social network of friends and fellow photographers.  She's also one of my best friends - someone that I can call up for a last-minute drop-in coffee, a babysitter when I have an appointment, and just someone that I can confide in and bounce ideas off of.

I feel so blessed to have so many great woman in my life, and I know that you probably have a couple woman worthy of a nomination in your life too!  Nominations are being accepted until July 8, 2012 and can be submitted through www.momoftheyear.ca.  They can come from daughters, sons, family members, friends, colleagues, or community members.


Disclosure: I’m part of the Walmart program by Mom Central. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own. Mom of the Year Award: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY Internet access and valid email account required. Nominations open May 10, 2012 to July 8, 2012 for legal residents of Canada over the age of majority.  Entrants cannot nominate themselves. One (1) grand prize available to be won consisting of $10,000 cash, a $100,000 donation by Wal-mart Canada Corp. to charity/cause and a trip to Toronto (ARV $22,000). Seven (7) runner-up prizes available to be won consisting of $10,000 cash, a $10,000 donation to charity/cause and a trip to Toronto (ARV $22,000).  Charity/cause subject to verification and final approval by Wal-mart Canada Corp., at its sole discretion. Odds of winning depend on how the judging panel evaluates each entry according to the criteria. For Official Contest Rules and to nominate an entrant, visit [www.momoftheyear.ca].