I just received a notice today (June 3, 2014) from Omaze about a Star Wars Celebration opportunity being added to an earlier offer,
Just 13 days ago, J.J. Abrams unveiled the first glimpse of the new ‘Star Wars’ set before revealing a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win a role in “Star Wars: Episode VII”. Today, we’re excited to announce there’s even more!
From now through this Friday (June 6th), anyone who contributes just $10 or more to the Star Wars: Force for Change campaign to benefit UNICEF Innovation Labs and programs will ALSO be automatically entered for the chance to win a second once-in-a-lifetime experience, an exclusive trip for 2 to Star Wars Celebration VII in Anaheim [California]!
This ultimate fan experience includes flight and hotel for you and a friend to a four-day festival of costumes, screenings, exclusive merchandise, celebrity guests, and other Star Wars surprises!
And the best part is you’ll be helping support UNICEF Innovation Labs and programs to provide assistance to children in developing countries.
It sounds like a fun way to donate. I clicked on both links in the excerpt and found myself in the same place and I don’t see anything about the Star Wars celebration in California. I gather that enthusiasm about this new offer led them to sending the information before updating the campaign webpage.
For anyone curious about the original offer to appear in the movie, I found a May 21, 2014 press release on the UNICEF website which describes both the opportunity and the Star Wars: Force of Change initiative supporting UNICEF’s (United Nations Children’s Fund) Innovation Labs,
Today [May 21, 2014] in a special video message from the set of Star Wars: Episode VII, director J.J. Abrams announced the creation of Star Wars: Force for Change, a brand new Star Wars initiative from Disney and Lucasfilm in collaboration with Bad Robot dedicated to finding creative solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems. The first Star Wars: Force for Change campaign will raise funds and awareness for the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) Innovation Labs and its innovative programs that are benefitting the world’s most vulnerable children.
Disney has committed US $1 million to support the launch of Star Wars: Force for Change. Fans can now contribute directly at Omaze.com/StarWars for a chance to appear in Star Wars: Episode VII. For each $10 contribution made through the Omaze fundraising platform, eligible participants will be automatically entered for a chance to win this once-in-a-lifetime experience. The campaign runs from 12:01am PST on May 21st until 11:59pm PST July 18 [2014].
The Star Wars: Force for Change Grand Prize includes:
- Airfare and accommodations to London for one winner and a guest
- Behind-the-scenes access on the closed set of Star Wars: Episode VII as VIP guests of J.J. Abrams
- Winner will have the opportunity to meet members of the cast
- Winner and their guest will then be transformed by makeup and costume teams into a Star Wars character and filmed for a scene in Star Wars: Episode VII
“The Star Wars fans are some of the most passionate and committed folks around the globe,” says director J.J. Abrams. “We’re thrilled to offer a chance to come behind the scenes as our VIP guests and be in Star Wars: Episode VII. We’re even more excited that by participating in this campaign, Star Wars fans will be helping children around the world through our collaboration with UNICEF Innovation Labs and projects.”
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By pledging support for Star Wars: Force for Change, fans are helping UNICEF create a brighter tomorrow for kids and families around the world. Through its global network of Innovation Labs, UNICEF helps create sustainable solutions to major issues facing children in the areas of nutrition, water, health, and education. The Star Wars: Force for Change campaign will help fund innovative, life-changing projects in communities around the globe.
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Visit StarWars.com/ForceForChange to learn more about this new charitable initiative and the work of UNICEF’s Innovation Labs and programs, and be sure to enter through contribution or free entry for your chance to win at Omaze.com/StarWars.
May the Force be with you.
About UNICEF
UNICEF has saved more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization. We work tirelessly to help children and their families, doing whatever it takes to ensure children survive. We provide children with healthcare and immunization, clean water, nutrition and food security, education, emergency relief and more.
UNICEF is supported entirely by voluntary donations and helps children regardless of race, religion or politics. As part of the UN, we are active in over 190 countries – more than any other organization. Our determination and our reach are unparalleled. Because nowhere is too far to go to help a child survive. For more information about UNICEF, please visit www.unicef.ca.
Star Wars: Force for Change Program: Restrictions and Limitations
No purchase necessary to enter or win. Void where prohibited. Must be at least eighteen (18) years of age or the age of majority in your domicile, to enter and a resident of Argentina, Austria, Canada, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, USA, or the UK, and not a resident of Belgium, Italy, Malta, Singapore, or Thailand. Residents of Australia, Brazil, China and the Republic of Korea are not prohibited from participating, but local rules and laws may restrict or prohibit the award of certain prizes or impose additional restrictions on participation.
Rewards are separate from sweepstakes prizes. Rewards are limited in quantity. Odds of winning depend on number of entries. For free entry: (i) send post card to Sponsor at PO Box 3190, 1217 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, California 90408 by applicable mail date; or (ii) visit www.Omaze.com/StarWars. Entrants may receive additional entries via Facebook. Maximum number of entries: 10,000 per Entrant. Travel and accommodations are at Sponsor’s discretion and subject to availability and change. Winner and Guest may be required to pass a background screening or security check, to receive the prize and/or reward. Visa conditions may apply. All taxes are Winner’s responsibility. Not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook®. Residents of certain territories may be required to successfully complete a trivia question to qualify. For full entry requirements, details, limitations and restrictions see Official rules at www.Omaze.com/StarWars. Sole Sponsor: Omaze, Inc., PO Box 3190, 1217 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90408.
UNICEF Innovation Labs has a Do-It-Yorself Guide here. The Labs and the guide are described on the About page,
Innovation Labs create global interoperability. They are physical spaces that allow for collaboration among private sector, academia and civil society. The labs profiled in this guide allow UNICEF to convene dynamic, new partners around specific local issues—and, importantly, allow the solutions that are created to go to global scale.
The lab in Kosovo works with technology created in Prishtina, in Kampala, and elsewhere, and adapts it to the needs of a young, determined population. The lab in Uganda connects academia from the US, Europe, and Kampala, and creates system change at a national scale. The CCORE lab in Zimbabwe takes best practices from the world of operational research and applies them to pressing programmatic issues. These are just the beginning.
This guide gives you the information you need to create your own lab. This could be a UNICEF lab—or could simply be a space of creativity that is aimed at solving significant global problems through the application of dedicated local resources.
There is no ego in the concept of a lab. Pioneers like the iHub in Nairobi, INSTEDD in South East Asia, the Global Pulse in Jakarta, and Un Techo para mi Pais in Chile show the demand for methodologies of openness, collaboration, and experimentation.
The document is structured to give a sense of what a lab contains, to provide the specific, operational steps needed to get a lab up and running, to provide a few examples of existing labs, and finally to provide the technical documents (terms of reference, partnership agreements, etc.) that you can adapt for your own use. Most importantly, it is designed to be extended.
This is an evolving version of this Do-It-Yourself Guide—and we invite you to submit your lab structures, your documents and your knowledge to the project so that future versions can grow, learn, and build. You can submit your input to both innovateforchildren_at_unicef.org and to the UNICEF Innovation blog at: http://unicefstories.org/submit/.
Good luck to all!