Here is a great opportunity to win a 2-night weekend stay in NYC, while supporting a great cause! Passports with Purpose is a charity fundraiser being promoted by many travel bloggers! My site, along with another 100+ travel bloggers, will be raffling off travel prizes over the next few weeks to raise money for this cause. The cool thing about this fundraiser is that you are able to select the prize(s) that you are interested in and purchase raffle tickets just for those. Each $10 donation will give you one raffle ticket entry. I personally love the thought of being able to donate to a cause with the chance of winning something travel related!

What will the donated money go towards? All of the money raised will be used to build two libraries in Zambia with a partnership with Room To Read. Last year, Passports with Purpose was able to raise $64,000 to build a village in India. This year they are hoping to raise $80,000!

How to donate? On the Passports with Purpose website, you are able to sift through all of the travel prizes and donate to the one that interests you the most. All the prizes will be updated throughout the day today so check back every so often to view all the prizes (including the 2-night stay in NYC – details below)!

• Each $10 donation will enter you once into the raffle for that specific prize
• You are able to donate as many times as you’d like to increase your chances of winning
• You are also able to donate to as many prizes as you would like, but keep in mind each raffle requires a $10 donation
• The fundraiser ends on December 16, 2011 at 11:59 PST
• Winners will be selected through a random drawing and will be notified of their prize winnings by December 23, 2011
• There is no limit on the number of prizes one person can win

My charity sponsor: To be part of the fundraiser, each travel blogger had to secure a donation to support the charity. The Affinia Manhattan Hotel has graciously donated a two-night weekend stay for one lucky prize winner (valued at about $500+). This hotel is located close to Penn Station, a very central location for any tourist – close to Herald Square, Madison Square Garden, Bryant Park, and Times Square. If you are interested in two free nights in the city that never sleeps, make sure to donate for this prize! I will connect the winner directly with the sales manager at the hotel to make a reservation. I will be writing an entire review on this hotel, especially after it just went through a $25 million dollar renovation! I cannot thank the Affinia Manhattan enough for donating such a wonderful prize for this cause – THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Affinia Manhattan Hotel Prize Details:

• Travel between January 1-March 31 for Thurs-Sun night stays
• 2-Night free certificate includes room and tax only (any additional gratuities and incidentals are excluded)
• Blackout dates apply: February 10-12 and March 7

Other prizes you might be interested in by fellow travel bloggers:

• Mommy Points is supporting the cause with a $100 Best Western Gift Card
• Points, Miles, and Martinis is supporting the cause with a free 2-night stay at the W Atlanta
• Million Mile Secrets is supporting the cause with a $500 SniqueAway certificate
• Loyalty Traveler is supporting the cause with 110,000 Hyatt points

To get more hype around this fundraiser, I will also be donating and will raffle off any winnings to one lucky blog reader. Once all the prizes are listed, I will ask for your help in deciding which prize to donate to. However, don’t get your hopes up though as I have never won a raffle in my life!