menu for hope is an initiative by pim at chez pim to raise money for the united nations world food programme’s school lunch programme in lesotho.

pim has chosen the school lunch programme because, as well as providing food for the children which keeps them alive, it keeps them in school. importantly, the programme buys from local farmers which in turn helps them and the local economy.

last year over $60,000 was raised for charity and this year, again, i am keen to do my bit and get involved. find out more about how the event runs here, but in essence you buy a virtual raffle ticket for $10 (pim’s based in the usa so all monies are in us dollars) for the chance to win the prize of your choice.

the prize that i am offering, which i hope appeals to you, is a customised foodie day out in london. with me acting as organiser, host and guide!

depending on what aspects of london’s culinary abundance you are interested in, we could spend some time visiting the world-famous borough market, soho’s china town or tooting’s asian shops and markets.

or maybe you’d prefer to visit some of the fabulous food-halls in our famous department stores, stopping off at some of their in-house food destinations – laduree at harrods or obika mozzarella bar at selfridges.

or maybe we should explore the capital’s chocolate shops?

it’s all up to you! let me know what you fancy and i will do all the research and create a special day just for you.

the small print:

• you will have to cover your costs when in london, apart from travel around the city (i will provide travel cards that cover the area we will visit).
• you’ll have to get yourself (or a friend if you are giving this to someone else as a gift) to london at some point before 1 december 2008, on which date this prize expires. maximum of 2 people to attend.
• the day out will comprise c4 hours of shopping, eating and exploring.
• i will cover the cost of coffee and cakes (or equivalent) to keep our energy supplies up.
• the date we choose is obviously dependent on my availability (i’m not cancelling any holidays!).

donate here for your chance to win this (the reference is uk04), or one of the other amazing prizes – cooksister lists details of all the uk prizes and pim has the total list. you must make sure to check the terms and conditions for the individual prizes before you bid, as some will come with restrictions regarding where they ship to or how long the prize is valid for.

how to bid for a prize:

• go to the donation page on first giving.
• make a donation! each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. please specify which prize you'd like in the 'personal message' section in the donation form when confirming your donation. you must write-in how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code—for example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for uk01 and 3 for uk02. (please use the double-digits, not uk1, but uk01. the code for my prize is uk04).
• if your company matches your charity donation, please remember to check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.
• please also check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win. your email address will not be shared.

check at chez pim on january 9 when results are announced, to see if you have won!