Charitable Chocolate: 19 More Hours of Menu for Hope

I just bought two $10 raffle tickets for the international food blogging charity event Menu of Hope III. The first was for a dozen modest yet surely delectable chocolate-capped coconut macaroons donated by the revered Orangette. The second was for a more monumental ten-course degustation, matched with wine, at Tetsuya's in Sydney, donated by veteran food blogger Chubby Hubby.

Menu for Hope is such an enormously intricate network of culinary delight and good will that it's hard to wrap your head around it. In short, it's a fundraiser for organizations that help feed the hungry, orchestrated by Pim Techamuanvivit of Chez Pim, and made possible by generous food bloggers around the world who donate an astounding array of prizes which are then raffled off. Pim has been putting this show on at holiday time for three years straight. The first event was a direct response to the tsunami in Southeast Asia, and the second incarnation raised $17,000 for UNICEF. But this year's Menu is by far the most impressive--altruistic bloggers and their dedicated readers have already raised over $45,000 for the United Nations World Food Programme.

You can learn more about the event and find out about all the prizes on offer by checking out the Menu for Hope international host blogs:

US West Coast: Becks & Posh

US East Coast: The Amateur Gourmet

US Between the Coasts: Kalyn's Kitchen

Canada: Cardamom Addict

Europe and the UK: David Lebovitz... Living the Sweet Life in Paris

Asia, the Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand: Grab Your Fork

All Things Wine: Vinography

To participate, all you have to do is select the items you'd like to win, choose how many $10 raffle tickets you'd like to purchase, and make your donation at First Giving (specifying the four-digit codes of your chosen items in the "Personal Message" field).

Bidding ends on Friday, December 22, at 6pm Pacific Standard Time. There are still 19 hours to go! (Raffle winners will be announced on Chez Pim on January 15.)