So — with that in mind — our gang at Mediaite led a charge to collect donations for a company-wide drive to support one worthy organization, which our boss and founder Dan Abrams said he would match. Our charity of choice was Robin Hood’s “Food For Good” campaign (a favorite here, and for which I was one of the co-chairs) and together a group of Mediaite staffers and contributors, as well as Abrams Research staffers with whom we share an office, chocolate and a happy camaraderie, stepped up and donated to make this holiday season a little bit better for hungry New Yorkers in need.

Our little office raised $500 — which Dan has matched. So! Robin Hood! You are now $1000 closer to your goal of feeding 120,000 people this holiday season.. There’s still a week to close the gap before the end of the year — anyone out there feeling competitive? If everyone on the Mediaite 50 donates $50, that’ll make a nice dent…Denton?

Other charitable news from HQ: Before Mediaite launched, I coordinated three surveys for Abrams Research which each had a bonus question for which the winner would “win” a donation to charity. Here they are:

• For our Financial Media Survey, we asked our respondents to predict what the Dow Jones Industrial Average would be on June 30, 2009. The winner was CNN’s Myron Kandel (the Dow closed at 8447 that day and his guess was 8411). Kandel won $500 to his charity of choice: Project Sunshine, organization that provides free educational, recreational, and social programs to children and their families affected by life-threatening illnesses or other serious medical challenges, in 100 major cities across the U.S. and internationally in Canada, China, Israel, Kenya and Puerto Rico. It has an army of more than 10,000 volunteers worldwide making a difference for over 60,000 children. Pretty wonderful. Thank you, Myron Kandel, for supporting them!
• For our Social Media Survey during the 2009 Social Media Week, we asked our respondents to suggest an old media-new media “shotgun wedding” moving into the brave new future. The winner was MIT business school student Amanda Peyton, who suggested Reader’s Digest + Digg + AARP, to provide a content-ranking system for an older demographic that is quickly getting up the technological curve but has been under-served by targeted social media thus far. Brilliant. In her name, Abrams Research donated $500 to Charity:Water, the beneficiary of Social Media Week’s “Twestival.”
• For our Luxury Industry Survey, we asked our respondents to suggest the next big innovation for luxury brands, for a prize of $250 to their charity of choice. The winner was BuzzFeed’s (and formerly Theory’s) Amanda Dobbins, whose innovative suggestion was for Marc Jacobs to host after-hours “pseudo-underground dance parties” in his West Village store (“they could replace The Beatrice”). If he took her up on it he’s too exclusive for us, because we’ve heard nothing, but that kind of creative thinking in creating a PR opportunity using existing resources (and adding to the social good!) is what keeps brands buzzy. Amanda’s charity of choice was Harlem Children’s Zone, which provides education, social-service and community-building programs to children and families in Harlem, and provides continued educational support to children from early education through to graduation, and even college. The goal is to end the cycle of generational poverty — and to give kids a fighting chance to do it by giving them essential skills and nurturing from the very start, and right on through as they grow and develop. It’s a great charity so thank you, Amanda, for supporting it!

So — there you have it. 2009 hasn’t exactly been an easy year financially — for donors or the charities that rely on them. It feels good to do our part to help, however we can. So — happy holidays to Robin Hood, Project Sunshine, Charity:Water and Harlem Children’s Zone, and to all of you. Here’s to a 2010 where everyone can afford to give a little more and need a little less.

Happy holidays!

I’ve written about the campaign in this space before (see here and here and here) — I am part of the committee helping to fundraise and publicize Food For Good and the “iFed” hub online — but it continues to be a worthy cause. As Chrissy says in the video, 1 in 6 families rely on emergency food in New York. That is a pretty staggering number.

Robin Hood’s goal: Full holiday meals for 120,000 New Yorkers. Fed so far: 109,344. That is amazing — and means the goal is truly within reach as we head into the home stretch of the holiday season. So please consider making a donation here. You should also follow the Ford Models on Twitter, which I have done for long before I got involved in Robin Hood. They are actually not too sexy for your retweets (and that is how I found out about their “Supermodel of the World” coverage. Since I lured you in here with that headline, after all). In any case, it’s a worthy cause and Chrissy, Gelila and the Ford Models crew are rock stars for so supportive of it. Video below.

Robin Hood’s “Food For Good” campaign was also featured on NBC Nightly News’ “Making a Difference” segment last Friday night. For more information (and to donate!) please visit the iFed page here.

Not an awkward cold sore, a viral video: Comedy group The Tenderloins made a video to show how $50 really isn’t that much to donate — especially to feed a family of 8! — because let’s face it, we’ve all blown $50 in idiotic, regrettable ways. That’s the hook for the next iFed Robin Hood Food For Good (aka “The Charitable Campaign Name With The Most “OO”s Ever”) Twitter campaign: How did you last blow #50bucks? Some examples:

How did you last waste #50bucks? // Trip to Duane Reade! Everything you need…and lots you don’t. http://bit.ly/SsBRd

Most embarrassing way to waste #50bucks? // Caviar on a first date. A lot to pay for no play. http://bit.ly/SsBRd

Most embarrassing waste of #$50? // Late-night Craigslist prowling resulting in 1 ticket to the Journey reunion. http://bit.ly/SsBRd

How did I waste #50bucks? // Two words: Bikini wax. It’s winter, bite me. http://bit.ly/SsBRd

See how easy that is? About as easy as finding an excuse not to get that bikini wax. Ladies, you’re welcome; gentlemen, oh relax, the 70s are coming back. Anyhow! The point is, you won’t miss $50. So do some good with it and donate to the Robin Hood Food For Good campaign to feed a family of 8 this Thanksgiving. But don’t take it from me, take it from these hot Ford models:

(Yes, they are Ford Models and yes, they do think philanthropy is hot. So do bloggers but whatever, I know my place in the pecking order.)

But not everyone is so lucky. This Thanksgiving, the economy sucks (not to put too fine a point on it. But how else do you describe 10.2% unemployment nationwide?). In New York, where Mediaite is based and where Mayor Bloomberg rules the city with a shaky mandate, there will be a lot of people going hungry on Thanksgiving.

Here is the part where you help!

Enter Robin Hood’s Food for Good campaign (an initiative I’ve been part of). Robin Hood, New York’s leading poverty-fighting organization, has teamed with FreshDirect to deliver holiday meals to feed 120,000 New Yorkers in need. $50 covers the cost and delivery of a complete holiday meal for eight (including turkey, stuffing, sides – the works), with 100 percent of all proceeds going to the cause.

(What’s that? You want to donate right now? Why, go ahead!)

Two things make this year different for philanthropy: The recession and social media. Both were around and obviously influential last year, but this is one year later, after the explosion of Twitter and the implosion of the economy. The bad news is, the economy sucks (see above); the good news is, there are so very many more ways in which to reach people one year later. That’s where iFed comes in.

iFed is actually shorthand for how Robin Hood’s Food For Good (aka “The Charitable Campaign Name With The Most “OO”s Ever”) is using social media. Basically, we are going after you WHEREVER YOU ARE. So if today you’ve noticed a whole bunch of tweets along the lines of

@jimmyfallon Help us feed thousands of needy families in NYC this Thanksgiving: http://bit.ly/SsBRd Please RT? #feednyc

…well then you’ve seen the OO’s in action. We’re not only tweeting for donations, we’re tweeting for awareness, hence the mass-messaging. (Also, note the “Please RT” — Brian Solis, we are listening! Now please RT.)

There’s also a “favorite holiday memory” tweet-meme plus feeds in from Flickr, Facebook and Twitter, plus a running donation count of hungry New Yorkers fed by the campaign (currently at 28,992). It all runs through the iFed page, which serves as your personal iFed hub for all giving and OO-related activities. This, incidentally, includes attendance at oh, just the biggest blow-out iFeeding-double-OO-ing NYC bash ever: One $50 donation gets you a ticket to the November 12 Food for Good par-tay at M2, hosted by Tiki Barber (I know! I think he’s hot, too!) plus a bunch of other boldface types. But really it will just be fun, made more fun because it will result in doing something good for people who need it.

With more than 1.3 million people now relying on emergency food in this city, New York is experiencing a true crisis. Things are tough right now for everyone but if you can donate, this will make a very real difference. Even if you can’t — we know, we know, it sucks — it doesn’t cost anything to tweet. Join me in harassing Jimmy Fallon and Rainn Wilson, won’t you? And if you donate and send me proof of donation here, I will make up a funny Thanksgiving memory that I wish we’d shared, and tweet about it. And then our crack team of social media mavens including Soraya Darabi, Rachel Sterne, Brooke Mooreland and Julia Kaginsky will blow you Twitter kisses and then when you meet them at the party it will be awkward, like it always is when you meet people you make friends with online in real life.

But that’s the Internet! It’s a magical, magical place this holiday season — so won’t you donate? Or tweet? Or Facebook? Or come to the event? Seriously, it’s not like we’re not giving you options. But they all lead to the same place: This Thanksgiving, we just want you to say one thing: “I FED!”

Thanks from your OO’s,

Robin Hood Food For Good

But Grunberg has other careers, despite being more than busy enough with this one thanks to all the work that comes his way via the J. J. Abrams space-time continuum – yes, that was him in Star Trek, too). He is, like  his Felicity character, a rabid entrepreneur, and has recently launched Yowza!!, a hyperlocal iPhone app that tells you where to find nearby coupons and deals – meant to give a boost to both merchants and customers in a hurting economy. He’s also an activist and philanthropist, having launched the site Talk About It! to raise awareness and money about epilepsy, with which his son is afflicted; in addition to being a great initiative, the site is very cool (Sony seems to have been inspired by it, actually) and populated by his pals in the biz from across his shows and initiatives – yes that’s Jennifer Garner, Kristen Bell, Chris Pine & Zachary Quinto,  John Mayer, Milo Ventimiglia, Hayden Panettiere, and even Arvin Sloan popping out of an shadowy subway system just like the new SD-6 offices (or the Alliance, or Rambaldi’s lair, whatever – hard for an Alias fan to see Ron Rifkin as anything else). He’s also got a band. With people from TV. Called The Band From TV. Including people like Hugh Laurie, James Denton and Teri Hatcher (on vocals – really!), also for charity. He also Twitters like a maniac and has the 1 million-plus followers to show for it.  You’d think he’d be super busy, but clearly he’s blessed with superhuman energy as well, because he sent back his answers to our questions inside a day. We are welcome him to these pages as the latest in oure ongoing series 5QQ- Five Quick Questions.

1. How do you get your first news of the day?

After checking Twitter (@greggrunberg), it’s actually Huffington Post that I click on for the latest. Then the FutonCritic.com for all things TV.

2. What’s the biggest story the media has missed this year? (Or last week):

The Economy is incredibly important, of course, but just showing the jobless rate is not the important story to me. Losing health insurance for all of these families is the real story. I fear for so many that have been laid off and have to face the unthinkable after Cobra runs its course of finding and paying for health insurance in the event a loved one falls ill. That is the real story…

3. “Either, Or” Question: (you gotta pick one!) (answers can be pithy, or as long as you want):

(a) Diane Sawyer or Katie Couric?

Diane Couric… what can I say, I have TiVo!!

(b) SNL or The Daily Show?

Tough one. Again TiVo to the rescue!!

(c) Network TV audience of millions once a week or Twitter audience of 1,132,151 million all the time?

Since Heroes ratings are dipping dangerously close to my number of followers on Twitter, I’ll say Network TV with a Twitter tie-in!!

(d) Alias Nerd Question: Sylar or Sark?

Both have 9 lives. Great actors both… But I’m going to say Sylar (for now) just so he doesn’t kill me off the show.

(e) Felicity Nerd Question: Ben or Noel?

I hate the fact that SEAN was never a part of that equation. Ben or Noel or Sean? Come on!! And funny because Keri Russell and I were having an affair the ENTIRE TIME we shot the show.

(f) J.J. Abrams Nerd Question: Crazy Rambaldi Mythology or Crazy Lost Mythology? (Or, Star Trek)

Just trying to answer this question is giving me a headache. I just want to turn on the TV and stare at the pretty blue light… is that so WRONG?!

(g) Yowza!! or Shmegan?

Yowza!! will save the world!! Tons of Cash!! BEST. FREE. APP. EVER. (http://GetYowza.com)

4. Obligatory Twitter Question: Describe yourself in 140 characters or less:

I AM Twitter. I RULE the Twittersphere. Sorry… yes, I am on Twitter as @greggrunberg with over a million of my closest personal friends laughing with me everyday.

140 on Me, huh? : Family Man, 4th Year Mind Reader, Ex-Pilot Oceanic 815, Drummer/Founder BandFromTV.org, Co-creator Yowza!! & Smoothaise, Fun loving ex-CIA Agent, DILF, Kirk’s Evil StepDad (use Tweet-Shorten if you need to)

5. Our usual question here is, “Are you nervous or excited about the future of journalism? Why?” In your case, I’d ask “Are you nervous or excited about the future of television? Why?” (Your answer may include the word “Docuventary“).

I’m more excited than nervous about the future of television. Up until now, you could count on the fact that there were a bunch of very smart people in towers with a plan as to where the world of entertainment is headed. And it was up to us creative types to think of things to fit into their master plan. NOW… anything goes. I’m excited at the fact that I can create a show and go out and shoot it and it could have just as much of a chance of getting an audience and catching fire as something I develop through the network process. That’s exciting to me. That some kid in Kansas can make me laugh my ass off using his parents camcorder and posting it to YouTube is not a threat, it’s exciting. Technology is our friend…

Follow Greg on Twitter here, rock out with him and his teevee friends here, get caught up on Heroes here, download Yowza!! here, and for God’s sake, TALK ABOUT IT! here.

Watch it here — there aren’t even secret coded message for people to get mad at! Maybe…

Here’s a bit more on the project from the YouTube page:

Starting October 19th, EIF, Hollywood’s leading charity, has enlisted the four major broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC — for an unprecedented, week-long television event. As the centerpiece of EIF’s iParticipate campaign, for the entire week of October 19th, these and other networks will use our favorite TV shows to shine a spotlight on the power of service. Over sixty prime-time shows have already agreed to participate and this number is growing…I participate, do you?

Also from the YouTube page, comments section:

your mom participates and i did her

Stay classy, YouTube.