Help the gulf in YoVille with new Charity Pets

YoVille gulf oil spill charity pets
Zynga is all about charity efforts, and today a brand new way to help the Gulf oil spill relief efforts has surfaced in YoVille. Each week for the next four weeks, a new Charity Pet will be released. So far, we're being told that a Pelican, Sea Turtle and an Otter will be released. The fourth pet is still a mystery at this time. This week's pet is the Pelican, which is available for 30 Yo Cash. Half of the proceeds from each Charity Pet will go to the Audubon to help with the wildlife affected by the BP oil spill.

To access the new Charity Pets, click the "Help the Gulf" button in the top right of your game screen. You will then be given the option to either purchase the pet, or rally your friends. If you choose to rally your friends, you will post a wall post prompting your friends to help out. For every 10 friends that click on your wall post, you will receive a balloon accessory for your avatar.
Were you wanting to donate to help with disaster cleanup? Now is your opportunity to donate and get something in YoVille in return. Check it out by logging into YoVille today.

Crowdstar Cares campaign aids Japan relief through AmeriCares

It seems like every year, there's at least one disaster somewhere in the world that gets all the major social games companies in the giving mood. So far, on the current crisis in Japan, we've reported that Playfish has partnered with Mercy Corps, while Zynga has engaged in a massive outreach of their fans for donations going to Save the Children. On a smaller scale, there's Crowdstar, whose previous relief effort was teaming up with the National Wildlife Foundation to fight the BP oil spill.

To help Japan, Crowdstar is offering special Limited Edition virtual items in three of its Facebook games: Happy Aquarium, It Girl, and Happy Pets. Each item costs 88 Facebook Credits (roughly $9 USD) and Crowdstar has promised that all proceeds will go to AmeriCares, which has thanked Crowdstar for the help on their Facebook page. This campaign will end by April 8th. Take a look at all three items below:

Happy Pets Mini Purple Crowdstar Cat
Mini purple crowdstar cat from Happy Pets
It Girl Japanese Kimono
It Girl Japanese Kimono
Happy Aquarium Japanese Ranchu Goldfish Happy Aquarium Japanese Ranchu Goldfish

FarmVille: Rainbow Chard charity crop now available

It's back-to-school time in the real world, which means it's also time for Zynga to break out the charity cloves in FarmVille. This time around, we're being offered a chance to donate to the "Edible Schoolyard Project" by purchasing a one-week permit to plant the new Rainbow Chard crop.

To be specific, you'll have three options for donating to the cause with straight Facebook Credits, rather than Farm Cash, but each of the three prices earns you the Rainbow Chard permit. You can give $5, $10 or $25 to the cause, and in addition to being allowed to plant the new crop, you'll also receive a collectible gift, but what that prize is specifically wasn't made clear.

As for the crop itself, it comes with some decent stats, being available to plant for 15 coins, and going for 100 coins once it's ready to harvest four hours later. You'll earn two experience points for each square planted. The Rainbow Chard can never wither, regardless of how long you leave it alone, so at least you don't have to worry about the short growth time popping up as a negative later on when you can't login "in time."

All of the proceeds from this charity event go straight to the Edible Schoolyard Project, so keep that in mind if that helps you find the inspiration to donate. As usual, doing so is entirely voluntary, but at least it will give you a new goal to reach for if you've already mastered everything else in the game. That's something, right?

Will you donate any money to the Edible Schoolyard Project, or are you fine skipping this limited edition crop in your game? Which dollar amount did you donate to the cause?

Zynga partners with Pizza Hut across CityVille, FarmVille and more

Zynga isn't a stranger to charitable donations, so it comes as no surprise that the major developer has launched another charity project across four of its Facebook games this weekend. This promotion comes by way of a partnership with Pizza Hut, in an effort to "share a slice of hope" with the World Hunger Relief campaign.

Specifically, this promotion is available through the company's RewardVille rewards program, and offers a single prize in FarmVille, CityVille, Pioneer Trail and Empires & Allies. For each donation of $5 US or more, you'll receive your choice of one of the four items. Here's a rundown of what's available:

FarmVille: Food Wagon
CityVille: Nutrition Center
Empires & Allies: Farm
Pioneer Trail: Merino Sheep


To be especially clear, you must contribute at least $5 to the cause to be eligible for a prize, and you'll only receive a single prize (of your choosing) for each donation. If you play all four of these games and want all four prizes, you'll need to make five separate donations (for a minimum of $20 in total).

This promotion is set to run from September 25 (now) and October 31, giving you plenty of time to make a few donations if you choose. Here's the link to the donation site if you'd like to help out.

Will you donate to the Pizza Hut and Zynga World Hunger Relief event? Which of the four items are you going after, or will you donate enough to earn multiple items? Sound off in the comments.