Due to the economy, New York City has faced a slew of budget cuts. Many programs were closed or drastically reduced. Sadly, children were not spared.

Come September when schools open their doors in New York City, many children will be left without after-school programs, tutoring services, and sports and arts classes. Parents will also be forced to provide the basics that were normally given to our generation, like books, pencils, crayons, and even cleaning supplies!

The lack of cleaning supplies is particularly disturbing since children spend most of their days at school; consequently, it can become a breeding ground for germs. Knowing this Clorox wishes to remind families that we should teach our children the below three easy steps to prevent the spread of germs and maintain environments that inspire brighter futures:

 

1. Sing and Scrub: Wash hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds (the time it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice).
2. Do the Elbow Cough: Cough and sneeze into your elbow instead of your hands to help prevent the spread of germs by touch.
3. Disinfect Hot Spots: School staff and adults should routinely clean areas that people touch often, like desktops, remote controls and light switches.

 

What’s important to note is that even if a classroom starts out clean, germs can – and do – build up all day. In a study done at the University of Arizona by Dr. Charles Gerba*, evidence of Influenza A virus was found on 13.6% of swabbed surfaces in the morning and jumped to about 50% by the afternoon! As a parent, this concerns me; as such, I plan to support my children’s teachers in keeping their classrooms clean by providing teachers with hand sanitizers and canisters of Clorox Disinfecting Wipes to help make clean-up easier.

Clorox is also helping needy schools via its grant called “Power a Bright Future”. Power a Bright Future is a grant program that will provide resources to schools in need of support. They program will give away a total of $110,000, one $50,000 grand prize grant and three $20,000 grants.

You have until September 27, 2010. There are two ways to get involved – by nominating a school or voting for your favorite nomination. To nominate a school or to vote for your school go to www.powerabrightfuture.com. Nominations can be submitted in one of three categories, Learn, Play or Create, between August 12 to September 27, 2010. For more information, official rules and to nominate a school program, visit www.powerabrightfuture.com.

For more tips on helping keep classrooms cleaner, visit Clorox.

*University of Arizona workplace study, Fall 2005, Dr. Charles P. Gerba

 

Bilingual Power a Bright Future Twitter Party

In order to get the word out about the Clorox Power a Bright Futureprogram and give a voice to your ideas on how YOU can help create a healthy and happy school, Clorox is sponsoring a twitter party and giveaway with Latina On a Mission and two other bloggers. Giveaway information can be found below.

To join in the Twitter fiesta/party follow the party hosts and organizers :

• Migdalia Rivera – @MsLatina
• Silvia Martinez – @mamalatina
• Melanie Edwards – @modernmami
• Ana Flores – @laflowers
• Clorox – @clorox

 

Party Details:

The twitter party will be conducted in ENGLISH and SPANISH so feel free to join in whichever language you feel comfortable!

Date: Thursday, August 26

Time: 9-10 pm EST

Hashtag: #CloroxBrightFuture

Prizes: Three (3) $25 AMEX gift cards will be given out during the twitter party.

RSVP: It’s not mandatory to RSVP in order to join us, but if you want to connect with fellow party attendees ahead of time, RSVP on the Facebook Event page.

Twitter Party Giveaway Rules:Three winners will be chosen at random from all #CloroxBrightFuture tagged tweets between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m EST 8/26/10. Winner must be present and using the tag between these times to win. Winner must be 18 years of age or older and have a valid U.S. address.

Bilingual Power a Bright Future Giveaway

Prize: One Latinalicious reader will win a $50 AMEX gift card.

 

MANDATORY ENTRY- YOU MUST DO THIS BEFORE YOU CAN RECEIVE ANY EXTRA ENTRIES:

Leave a comment answering one of the following questions:

1. If you had $50,000 to fund one program in your child’s school, what would it be?
2. How have state budget cuts affected your child’s school?

NOTE: You must be an e-mail subscriber to enter. Click HERE to subscribe.

 

EXTRA ENTRIES – LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY:

1. Follow my blog with Google Friends and/or ”Like” my Facebook page for 1 entry EACH. If you’re already do, let me know!

2. Follow @MsLatina on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway, stating the below. Provide me with the tweet url in a comment. One tweet per day till the giveaway ends, so go ahead tweet away!

Enter to win a $50 AMEX gift card from @MsLatina. http://tiny.cc/GW35 (Ends 9/10) #GIVEAWAY #MsLatina #CloroxBrightFuture

3. Blog about the Power A Bright FutureGiveaway, linking back to this post, and provide me with the url for 3 extra entries.

4. Leave a comment on a non-giveaway related post for 3 extra entries. Note the post in your comment and don’t forget to enter each entry in a separate comment! Wouldn’t want you to miss an entry!

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GIVEAWAY ENDS September 10, 2010 at 3:00 P.M. EST

Open to US, including Puerto Rico

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Be sure to also check out my co-hosts’ blogs for additional giveaway opportunities. They are each hosting the same giveaway.

• Melanie Edwards – Modern Mami (Expires 9/3)
• Silvia Martinez – Mamá Latina Tips (Expires 9/7)

 

Official Rules: Entrants can only win a $50 American Express gift card on one (1) Bilingual Power a Bright Future Twitter party host’s blog. If an entrant chooses to comment on more than one host’s blog post, he/she is only eligible to win one (1) prize, even if randomly selected as the winner more than once. Entrants for the Giveaways may not participate with multiple e-mail addresses. Any entrant who attempts to enter with multiple e-mail addresses, under multiple identities, or uses any other device will be disqualified from participation in the promotion, and all entries submitted by that entrant will be void.

As always, I will use random.org to select the winner. The winner will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be selected. Also, don’t forget, in order for random.org to count all of your entries a separate comment must be entered for each item that is completed. Random.org will not count it otherwise.

Disclosure: I am being compensated for co-hosting the Bilingual Power a Bright Future Twitter party. This post was written in conjunction with the campaign, but all opinions are mine.