Ronald McDonald House Charities

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A Purchase will not improve your chances of winning. Internet Access & Valid E-Mail Address Required. Many will enter, but one will win.

PROMOTION DESCRIPTION: The Share. Give. Hope. Contest (the “Contest") begins in the United States of America, except where prohibited by law, (the “Territory”) at 12:00:01 A.M. Eastern Time (“ET”) June 24, 2009 and ends 11:59:59 P.M. ET August 9, 2009 (the "Promotion Period").  All entries must be received by 11:59:59 P.M. ET on August 9, 2009 (the "Entry Deadline").  After the Entry Deadline, a panel of independent judges will review all eligible entries and select between five (5) and ten (10) potential winning entries.  The potential winning entries will be further reviewed as detailed below and a single winner will be chosen.  By participating in the Contest and submitting an entry, each participant unconditionally accept and agree to comply with and abide by these Official Rules and the decisions of Ronald McDonald House Charities, Inc. (“Sponsor”), which shall be final and binding in all respects.  Computer of Sponsor’s judging agency (Golin Harris) shall be the official clock for all purposes of this Contest.

ELIGIBILITY:  Contest is open only to legal residents of the Territory age 18 or older.  Children between the ages of 13 to 18 may enter with their parent or legal guardian’s consent.  Children under the age of 13 are ineligible to participate.  Persons in any of the following categories are NOT eligible to participate or win the prize in the Contest: (a) persons who on or after June 24, 2009 were or are directors, officers, employees or agents of Sponsor or any of its Local Chapters, franchisees, directors, officers, employees, or agents of McDonald’s Corporation or any of its affiliates, Golin Harris,  Fjord, or any parent, subsidiary, affiliate, franchisee, service agency, independent contractor or prize supplier of any of the above organizations; (b) individuals engaged in the development, production or distribution of materials for this Contest; and (c) persons who are immediate family members (defined as spouse or biological or step - mother, father, sister, brother, daughter, or son and each of his/her respective spouses, whether actual or purported) of any person in any of the preceding categories, regardless of where they live, and/or individuals who reside in the same household, whether related or not, as any person in any of the preceding categories.   Void outside Territory and where prohibited.


1.    HOW TO ENTER:
a.    Participants must submit an original story detailing out how the participant was impacted by Ronald McDonald House Charities programs (“RMHC Programs”).  The RMHC Programs include, but are not limited to, Ronald McDonald House Program, Ronald McDonald Family Room program, and the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile Program.  This original work should include specifics about the nature of the program, the impact on the participant and/or their family, and the resulting outcome.

b.    Participants (or their parent/legal guardian) must submit their entry through one (1) of two (2) entry methods.  Participant (or their parent/legal guardian) can submit their original story by visiting www.rmhc.org and following the instructions contained therein.  When submitting through www.rmhc.org, Participant (or their parent/legal guardian) will be required to provide contact information in the event their submission is determined to a finalist.  

Alternatively, if Participant (or their parent/legal guardian) maintains a Facebook account, Participant (or their parent/legal guardian) can submit their entry through Facebook Connect on the rmhc.org story page.  If Participant (or their parent/legal guardian) desires to create a Facebook account, there is no cost to do so.

All entries, regardless of the method of submission, may be posted publicly on www.rmhc.org.  If an entry is posted via Facebook  Connect, the Participant’s Facebook ID will be publicly available.  If a submission is received through www.rmhc.org, only the Participant’s First and Last Name will be available.

c.    Submitted entries MAY be posted on www.rmhc.org for public viewing.  Participant (or their parent/legal guardian) understands and agrees that only eligible submissions will be posted (eligibility being determined in the sole discretion of Sponsor and its agencies).  Such posting, however, does not constitute a representation by Sponsor that Participant (or their parent/legal guardian) have won the Contest; the potential winners will only be notified via the procedure set forth in Rule 5 below. Participant (or their Parent/legal guardian on behalf of him/herself and his/her child) releases and agrees to hold harmless Sponsor, McDonald’s Corporation, and each of their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, and franchisees, and their respective agencies (collectively, the “Released Parties”) from any and all liability associated with posting of submission, including his/her express acknowledgment that (a) the original work as posted online may differ from the submission as submitted by Participant (or their parent/legal guardian); (b) Sponsor may accompany the submission with comment/commentary, in its sole discretion; and (c) Submissions may be displayed on-line in any pattern or sequence, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. IF A PARTICIPANT UNDER THE AGE OF 18 SEEKS TO PARTICIPATE IN CONTEST WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE CHILD’S PARENT/LEGAL GUARDIAN, ENTRY WILL BE VOID AND DISQUALIFIED.   

d.    All eligible entries must be received by August 9,, 2009 at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time.  Limit one (1) entry per Participant (or their parent/legal guardian) during Promotion Period. Any person who uses any device or artifice to attempt to enter Contest multiple times in violation of the entry limitation will be disqualified (i.e., the Participant or their parent/legal guardian will be disqualified).

•    Entry Restrictions.  All submissions must be original and factually true in all respects and must not be embellished or exaggerated. Sponsor may verify or require, as a condition of eligibility, that Participant (or their parent/legal guardian) provide proof of claims in any submission; and, failure to timely provide such proof or inadequacy of such proof (as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion) will result in disqualification. In creating a submission. Participant (or their parent/legal guardian) must NOT copy the work of anyone else or include any content in submission that is not an original work and owned solely by Participant (or their parent or legal guardian) such that it violates the rights of publicity, privacy, trademark, copyright, intellectual property or other rights of any third party; and, if Sponsor suspects, in its sole opinion, that such a violation of a third party’s rights has occurred, Sponsor will disqualify such entry. Any such entrant (Participant or their parent/legal guardian, on behalf of him/herself and his/her child) will indemnify and hold harmless Released Parties from any claims to the contrary. Entries will also be disqualified if Sponsor, in its sole opinion, determines that content of submission (i) is inappropriate or unfit for publication (e.g., submission contains profanity or racist content); (ii) intends to promote a commercial/business enterprise, a charity, political, religious cause or any cause other than Share. Hope. Give.; or (iii) defames, misrepresents or contains disparaging remarks about Sponsor or any McDonald’s® products, or other people, products or companies. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing that may be interpreted to the contrary, Participant (or their parent/legal guardian on behalf of him/herself and his/her child) understands and agrees that Sponsor acts merely as a passive conduit for the online display of submissions and has no obligation to and expressly disclaims any and all responsibility for (and liability in conjunction with) monitoring or reviewing the content of submissions. By entering, Participant (or their parent/legal guardian on behalf of him/herself and his/her child) acknowledges that Sponsor has no obligation to use or post any submission. Submissions must not have been previously published or submitted to another contest or competition, or won any award or prize, nor may submission be (contemporaneously) published elsewhere; such additional publication will result in disqualification.


JUDGING:  On or about August 13, 2009, all eligible entries received by the Entry Deadline will be evaluated by Sponsor and Golin Harris, the independent judging agency, at its offices in Chicago, Illinois.   The judges will collectively review all submissions and compile a list of five (5) to ten (10) potential winning entries based on objective scoring of the submission.  Such criteria for scoring shall include, but not be limited to, description of the impact the RMHC Program has had on Participant (or their parent/legal guardian), ability of person to convey experience in an engaging manner, and the overall content of the original submission.  Judges may contact the potential winning Participants (or their parent/legal guardian) to obtain additional information regarding the submission, including photos of the Participant and Participant's family, and verify all the required eligibility requirements have been met.  Judges will, in a second round of judging, review all of the potential winning entries, and, including additional information gained from Participant (or their parent/legal guardian), if any, and determine the final winning entry.  If the winning entry is ineligible or otherwise disqualified, or chooses not to accept winning title, then the next highest scoring submission will be selected.

2.    PRIZE INFORMATION:
Grand Prize: One (1) winner will selected to be featured in one (1) advertisement created by Sponsor to feature the winner’s submission (or portion thereof) and the winner’s photograph in conjunction with Sponsor’s Programs.  Such advertisement will run in a newspaper of general circulation through the United States of America on a date to be determined.  Winner (and their parent/legal guardian) must be available for a professional photography session at a mutually agreeable date and time to be determined between Sponsor and Winner.  Additionally, Winner understands and accepts that Sponsor may edit for length or content Winner’s entry to be displayed in the advertisement.

At Sponsor’s sole discretion, additional prizes may be awarded to winner; however, Sponsor is under no obligation to award any further prizes.

3.    PRIZE RESTRICTIONS:
Winner may not transfer or otherwise assign their prize, or any portion thereof, to any other person, for any reason.  In the event Winner transfers or assigns their prize, or otherwise attempts to do so, winner shall be disqualified and Sponsor may select the next highest scoring submission as detailed in the “Judging” section above.

4.    WINNER NOTIFICATION:  
The potential winner (i.e., Participant or their parent/legal guardian) will be contacted via phone (if available) and via e-mail message.  In the event of a potentially winning submission submitted through Facebook Connect, Sponsor or its agency shall attempt to contact Participant (or their parent/legal guardian) through the communication methods available via Facebook.     Potential winner will be required to execute a declaration of eligibility, a liability release and, where legal, publicity release on behalf of him/herself or his/her child (collectively, “prize claim documents”). Potential winner will have two (2) days from date of notification to contact Sponsor or its agency (as detailed in the written communication) and obtain the prize claim documents.  Potential winner will have five (5) days from the receipt of the prize claim documents, to complete the enclosed prize claim documents and dispatch those documents in the provided, pre-paid federal express envelope to Sponsor or its agency. Failure to return the prize claim documents by the deadline indicated in the prize notification will result in prize forfeiture.  If, despite reasonable efforts, prize notification is returned as unclaimed or undeliverable to potential winner, potential winner will forfeit the prize and an alternate potential winner will be selected (as per Rule 2 above). If potential winner is found to be ineligible, or if he/she (and/or his/her child) has not fully complied with these Official Rules or the deadlines designated in the prize notification, or declines the prize for any reason prior to award, potential winner will be disqualified and an alternate winner will be selected (as per Rule 1 above). Sponsor shall have no liability for prize notification that is not received by potential winner for any reason, including but not limited to lost, late or misdirected mail or other mode of delivery of a prize notification.  

By accepting a prize, the winner agrees that its submission will be deemed a Work Made For Hire under the Copyright laws of the United States, but if it cannot be so deemed, then the winner irrevocably assigns and transfers to Sponsor all of his/her right, title and interest in and to his/her video, including all but not limited to all copyright and trademark rights which he or she may have, in the United States and worldwide, therein, for consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged.  Winner hereby waives in favor of Sponsor, all rights of “Droit Moral” or “Moral Rights of Authors” or any similar rights or principles of law that winner may now or later have to their Video.  Sponsor reserves the right to alter, change or modify the winning submission, in its sole discretion.  Upon request of Sponsor, winner shall execute and deliver such additional instrument of assignment, as may be solely deemed by Sponsor, reasonably necessary to establish the ownership of record of the right, title and interest in and to the submission and of the copyrights transferred and “Moral Rights of Authors” waived under these Official Rules.  Should Sponsor fail to request the said assignment as stated, that shall not be deemed a waiver of Sponsor’s rights and Sponsor may at a later time request the assignment.  SUBMISSIONS ARE THE VIEWS/OPINIONS OF THE INDIVIDUAL ENTRANT AND DO NOT REFLECT THE VIEWS OF SPONSOR IN ANY MANNER.  Any waiver of any obligation hereunder by Sponsor does not constitute a general waiver of any obligation to entrants.


5.    GENERAL CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION:
 Participation in Contest  is subject to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use http://www.rmhc.org  and, to the extent that a Participant (or their parent/legal guardian) submits using Facebook Connect,  http://www.facebook.com, the latter being a separate web site that is owned and operated by Facebook, Inc. and over which Sponsor has NO authority or control.  IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF USE OF BOTH WEB SITES, DO NOT ENTER THE CONTEST; IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF USE OF ONE OR BOTH WEB SITES, DO NOT PROVIDE ANY INFORMATION ON SUCH WEB SITE(S) OR OTHERWISE USE SUCH WEB SITE(S).  Acceptance of prize constitutes permission of the prizewinner (i.e., Participant or their parent/legal guardian) for Sponsor or McDonald’s Corporation, and their affiliates and franchisees to use the name, photograph, likeness, voice and biographical information of prizewinner (i.e. Participant or their parent/legal guardian and/or his/her child), for advertising/trade/promotional/publicity purposes, and any and all rights to said use, without further notice of compensation or authorization, except where prohibited by law.  Prizewinner (or their parent/legal guardian, on behalf of him/herself and his/her child) agrees that Released Parties and each of their respective franchisees, affiliates, subsidiaries, local corporate advertising cooperatives, advertising/promotion agencies, and all of their respective directors, officers, employees, representatives and agents (collectively, the “Promotion Entities”) shall not be responsible or liable for any losses, damages or injuries of any kind resulting from participation in the Contest or from acceptance, receipt, possession and/or use or misuse of  prize. Promotion Entities are not responsible for incomplete, illegible, misdirected, late, lost, damaged entries; or for lost, interrupted, inaccessible or unavailable networks, servers, satellites, Internet Service Providers, web sites, or other connections; or other technological malfunctions/errors/failures of any kind.  Persons who tamper with any aspect of the Contest, as solely determined by the Sponsor, or who attempt to participate with multiple email addresses or under multiple identities will be disqualified.  Any use of robotic, automatic, macro, programmed or like entry methods will void all such entries and disqualify any entrant using such methods.  Should any portion of the Contest be, in Sponsor’s sole opinion, compromised by virus, worms, bugs, non-authorized human intervention, technical failures or other causes which, in the sole opinion of the Sponsor, corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness or proper play, or submission of entries, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the Contest.  In case of dispute, the authorized subscriber of the email account used to enter the Contest at the actual time of entry will be deemed to be the participant, and must comply with these Official Rules. Sponsor, McDonald’s Corporation and its franchisees, officers, directors, employees and affiliates, and their agencies also assume no responsibility for any incomplete, incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by web site users, tampering, hacking or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest (including any web site used in conjunction with participating in the Contest) or by any technical or human error. If Sponsor so elects, potential winner (i.e., Participant or their parent/legal guardian and/or his/her child) may be required to submit to a confidential background check to confirm eligibility and help ensure that the use of such person(s) in advertising or publicity for the Contest will not bring Sponsor into public disrepute, contempt, scandal or ridicule or reflect unfavorably on the Contest as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion.

6.    MISCELLANEOUS:

a.    DISQUALIFICATION: It is the participant’s (or their parent/legal guardian, on behalf of him/herself and his/her child) responsibility to ensure that he/she (and his/her child) has fully complied with the conditions contained in these Official Rules.  Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual who is found to be tampering with the operation of the Contest; to be acting in violation of these Official Rules; or to be acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with the intent to disrupt or undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest, or to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person.  Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages and other remedies from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law.  The potential winner (or their parent or legal guardian) may be requested to provide the Sponsor with proof that the potential winner is the authorized account holder of an email address. If a dispute cannot be resolved to the Sponsor’s satisfaction, the entry will be deemed ineligible.  No illegible, incomplete, forged, software generated or other automated multiple entries will be accepted. Entries made by any other individual or any entity, and/or originating at any other mechanism, including but not limited to commercial sweepstakes subscription notification and/or entering services, will be declared invalid and disqualified for this Contest. Sponsor is not responsible for printing or typographical errors in any Contest – related materials, for stolen, lost, late, misdirected, damaged, incomplete, illegible, email; or for transactions that are processed late or incorrectly, or are lost due to computer or electronic malfunction. Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any damage to an entrant’s or a third party’s computer by participating in this Contest (including but not limited to the corruption/loss/destruction of any information/data stored therein).

b.    FORCE MAJEURE:  Subject to any governmental approval which may be required, Sponsor reserves the right, without prior notice and at any time, to terminate the Contest, in whole or in part, or modify or suspend the Contest in any way, if it determines, in its sole discretion, that the Contest is impaired or corrupted or that fraud or technical problems, failures or malfunctions have destroyed or severely undermined the proper play, integrity, and/or feasibility of the Contest.  In the event Sponsor is prevented from continuing with the Contest as contemplated herein by any event beyond its control, including but not limited to fire, flood, natural or man made epidemic of health or other means, earthquake, explosion, labor dispute or strike, act of God or public enemy, satellite or equipment failure, riot or civil disturbance, terrorist threat or activity, war (declared or undeclared) or any federal, state or local government law, order, or regulation, public health crisis, order of any court or jurisdiction, or other cause not reasonably within Sponsor’s control (each a “Force Majeure” event or occurrence), Sponsor shall have the right to modify, suspend, or terminate the Contest.  These Official Rules cannot be modified or amended in any way except in a written document issued in accordance with law by a duly authorized representative of Sponsor.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Official Rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision.  In the event that any provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable or illegal, these Official Rules shall otherwise remain in effect and shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or illegal provision were not contained herein.

c.    GOVERNING LAW:  Except where otherwise prohibited, all issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules or the rights and obligations of the participant (or their parent/legal guardian and his/her child) or Sponsor in connection with the Contest shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the United States and the State of Illinois without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions that would cause the application of any other state laws.


d.    ARBITRATION PROVISION:  By participating in this Contest, each participant (or their parent/legal guardian on behalf of him/herself and his/her child) agrees that: (1) Any claim, dispute, or controversy (whether in contract, tort, otherwise) that they may have with, or claims they may have against any of the Promotion Entities arising out of, relating to, or connected in any way with the Contest, the awarding or redemption of prizes, or the determination of the scope or applicability of this agreement to arbitrate, will be resolved exclusively by final and binding arbitration administered by the National Arbitration Forum (the “Forum”) and conducted before a sole arbitrator pursuant to the Code of Procedure established by the Forum; (2) This arbitration agreement is made pursuant to a transaction involving interstate commerce, and shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), 9 U.S.C. §§ 1-16; (3) The arbitration shall be held at a location determined by the Forum pursuant to the Code of Procedure (provided such location is reasonably convenient for participant), or at such other location as may be mutually agreed by the participant and the applicable Promotion Entities; (4) The arbitrator’s decision shall be controlled by the terms and conditions of these Official Rules and any of the other agreements referenced herein that the applicable participant may have entered into in connection with the Contest; (5) The arbitrator shall apply Illinois law consistent with the FAA and applicable statutes of limitations, and shall honor claims of privilege recognized at law; (6) There shall be no authority for any claims to be arbitrated on a class or representative basis; arbitration can decide only the participant’s and/or Promotion Entities individual claims and the arbitrator may not consolidate or join the claims of other persons or parties who may be similarly situated; (7) The arbitrator shall not have the power to award punitive damages against the participant or the Promotion Entities; (8) In the event that the administrative fees and deposits that must be paid to initiate arbitration against the Promotion Entities exceed $125 US, and the participant is unable (or not required under the applicable Code of Procedure) to pay the additional fees and deposits, the Promotion Entities agree to pay them and/or forward them on the participant’s behalf, subject to ultimate allocation by the arbitrator. In addition, if the participant is able to demonstrate that the costs of arbitration will be prohibitive as compared to the costs of litigation, the Promotion Entities will pay as much of the participant’s filing and hearing fees in connection with the arbitration as the arbitrator deems necessary to prevent the arbitration from being cost-prohibitive; and (9) with the exception of subpart (6) above, if any part of this arbitration provision is deemed to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal, or otherwise conflicts with the Code of Procedure established by the Forum, the balance of this arbitration provision shall remain in effect and shall be construed in accordance with its terms as if the invalid, unenforceable, illegal or conflicting provision were not contained herein.  If, however, subpart (6) is found to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal, or otherwise conflicts with the Forum’s Code of Procedure, then the entirety of this arbitration provision shall be null and void and neither Sponsor nor participant shall be entitled to arbitrate the dispute. For more information on the Forum and/or the Forum's Code of Procedure, please visit their website at www.arb-forum.com or contact them at National Arbitration Forum, P.O. Box 50191, Minneapolis, MN 55405.

7.    OFFICIAL RULES:  These Official Rules will be posted at http://www.rmhc.org

8.    WINNER’S LIST:  For the name of winner (i.e., the parent/legal guardian), mail a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Share. Give. Hope. Contest, c/o Ronald McDonald House Charities, Attn: Communications Dept., One Kroc Drive, Dept. 014, Oak Brook, Illinois, 60523 for receipt by August 31, 2009. Only one request per outer envelope.  Winner’s List will be available after August 31, 2009.


*Facebook, Inc. has  NOT sponsored or endorsed this Contest.

SPONSOR: Ronald McDonald House Charities, Inc., Oak Brook, Illinois, 60523.

© 2009 McDonald’s.