As we mentioned yesterday, we’ll be hosting a series of giveaways for the NECA merchandise we received for review and the first one we’ve got for people to win is something you’ll all be happy to hear about: the Mockingjay cord necklace.

UPDATE: Our first winner is Aneirys!
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1. Access Hollywood - Ends Feb. 29, must be 18+ to enter. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
2. Badass Digest – Ends Feb. 25, must be 18+ to enter, excludes Alaska and Hawaii. Includes airfare for two.
3. Barnes & Noble - Ends Feb 22, must be 13+ to enter.
4. BOP & Tiger Beat - Ends on Feb. 22, entrants must pay travel and accommodation price.
5. Break.com - Must be 13+ to enter. Includes $500 cash, plane fare, and a luxury hotel room.
6. BuzzSugar - Ends Feb. 23, no age restriction, excludes Rhode Island. Includes airfare and 2 nights hotel.
7. Cambio – Ends Feb. 22, must be 16-26 to enter. Includes airfare, a visit to their Hollywood studio, attendance to a celebrity interview, and a featured blog post on Cambio.com.
8. Celebuzz – Ends Feb. 22, must be 18+ to enter or have guardian present while entering. Includes 2 nights at Andaz Hotel including breakfast, one $150 gift card at Rent the Runway for clothing and jewelry, hair and makeup services for two provided by the Bellezza Salon in Beverly Hills, one $500 gift card to go towards travel and or other expenses, two hair accessories custom-made by Samii Ryan, and one copy of the The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook.
9. CHUD – No deadline or rules available.
10. CinemaBlend – Ends Feb. 29, must be a member of Facebook. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
11. Collider - Ends Feb. 22, no age restriction, OPEN WORLDWIDE. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
12. Comic Book Movie – Ends Feb. 29, OPEN WORLDWIDE. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
13. Crushable – Ends Feb. 22, must be 18+ to enter. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
14. E! Online - Tweet your best take on Capitol fashion to @EOnline, and you could win two tickets to the ‘Hunger Games’ premiere.
15. Extra – Ends Feb. 28, must be 18+ to enter. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
16. Fandango – Deadline is February 23, must be 18+ to enter. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
17. Fearnet - Deadline Feb. 21st, you and a guest will be flown to LA, with hotel accommodations and ground transportation.
18. Hollywood.com – Ends Feb. 22, must be 18+ to enter, excludes Alaska, Hawaii, and Rhode Island. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
19. Hit Fix – Ends Feb. 22, must be 18+ to enter, requires Twitter. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
20. Hot Topic - Ends Feb. 22, winner recieves two tickets to ‘Hunger Games’ premiere, spending money, airfare, and hotel.
21. IGN – Ends Feb. 23, must be 18+ to enter, excludes Alaska and Hawaii. Includes airfare, hotel for 2 nights, and transportation to the event.
22. iVillage – Deadline is February 26, must be 18+ to enter. Winners receive airfare, 3 nights at Thompson Beverly Hills, and $300 SpaFinder gift card.
23. J-14 – Ends Feb. 22, must be 21 or YOUNGER to enter. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
24. Just Jared - Ends Feb. 22, winner recieves two tickets to ‘Hunger Games’ premiere.
25. M Magazine – Ends Feb. 22, must be 21 or YOUNGER. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
26. Movie Fanatic – Ends Feb. 24. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
27. Movieline – Ends February 22, must be 18+ to enter, must create THG haiku to enter. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
28. Movies.com – Winners announced February 29, must be 18+ to enter. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
29. Moviefone – Winner receives airfare for two to LA, three days / two nights hotel stay, transportation between airport and hotel, 500 spending cash and two tickets to the premiere of “The Hunger Games” at the Nokia Live in L.A. on March 12, 2012.
30. MovieTickets.com – Ends Feb. 22, must be 18+ to enter, excludes Hawaii, Alaska, New York, and Rhode Island. Includes airfare and 2 nights hotel.
31. Movie Web - Ends Feb. 22, winner recieves two tickets to ‘Hunger Games’ premiere. No travel / hotel paid.
32. MTV – Ends Feb. 22, must be 16 to enter. Includes airfare for two, 2 nights at W Hollywood Hotel, makeovers for two.
33. MSN Movies - ‘Like’ on Facebook for more information on how to win two tickets to the premiere.
34. MySpace – Ends Feb. 24, must be 13+ to enter, unlimited entries allowed. Winners receive airfare, hotel accommodations, $300 AMEX gift card.
35. NextMovie – Ends Feb. 22, must be 16+ to enter. Includes The Hunger Games: Official Illustrated Movie Companion, The World of the Hunger Games, The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook, Hunger Games District 12 Tribute hoodie, The Hunger Games propaganda posters sticker set, Katniss knee socks. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
36. Official Hunger Games Facebook Page - Ends Feb. 22, winner recieves two tickets to ‘Hunger Games’ premiere.
37. Official Twilight Facebook Page - Ends Feb. 22nd, winner recieves two tickets to ‘Hunger Games’ premiere.
38. Pink is the New Blog – Ends February 18. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
39. Popstar – Ends February 29, must be 13-18 to enter. Winners receive airfare for two and 1 night’s hotel stay.
40. ReelzChannel – Ends Feb. 27, must be 18+ to enter, limit one entry per day. Includes airfare, 2 nights stay at a hotel, and car service.
41. Scholastic – Ends Feb. 17, must be 13+ to enter. Includes $1,000 AMEX gift card.
42. ScreenCrave – Ends Feb. 22. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
43. Seventeen Magazine - All ages (under 18 must have 18+ guardian with you). Winners responsible for travel expenses.
44. Shockya – Ends Feb. 28, no age restriction. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
45. Teen.com – Deadline is February 22, must be ages 13-29 to enter. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
46. TooFab - Winners announced February 29. Winners responsible for travel expenses.
47. Universal Republic- Winner recieves two tickets to ‘Hunger Games’ premiere, a swag pack, and a copy of the ‘Hunger Games’ soundtrack.
48. Yahoo! – Ends Feb. 29, requires Twitter account, must be 18+ to enter. Winners responsible for travel expenses.

Cleveland County, North Carolina was the scene of a ‘Hunger Games’ giveaway today where 1,000 copies of the novel were handed out to readers across the county.

When it opened its doors, the Cleveland County Memorial Library had 384 copies of ‘The Hunger Games’ to give out.

For the next 27 minutes, library director Carol Wilson handed out an average of nine books a minute to Cleveland County residents hungry to read the book.

And the library wasn’t the only site attracting readers. In all, 1,000 copies were made available at locations throughout the county. By the end of the day, the majority of books had been given.

Within 30 minutes of opening, the Cleveland County Arts Council had given out all their copies of the book. In Kings Mountain, a line of readers waited outside Mauney Memorial Library waiting for their own

Last May parts of ‘The Hunger Games’ film were shot in the small community of Shelby:

“It was filmed here in Cleveland County,” said Rhonda Collins, of Shelby, before the Cleveland County Memorial Library opened its doors. “This is a great thing for our community.”

Source:  Shelby Star

Voting has begun for the Mercury News Hunger Games Recipe Contest and there are 34 entries for you to choose from with more to come as they’re sent in. I’ve got two recipes entered myself and while I’d love your vote, you can still vote for all the other recipes as you don’t have to pick just one and you can vote as many times as you like. The voting system is a bit clunky since you have to email in each vote, but some of those look really fantastic and deserve that little extra bit of work! (like the really cool berry cake above by Angela!)

If you’d like to enter, there’s still time to get your recipes in for the Greasy Sae, Breads of Panem, and Wild Card categories!

Remember we posted about that Scholastic Canada Dystopian Writing Contest? The USA has one running as well, with the deadline coming up soon on February 10.

1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. To enter, student must write a dystopian story, not to exceed four (4) pages, that depicts a future world that has gone horribly wrong. Entries must be mailed to: TAB/TRC Dystopian Writing Contest, P.O. Box 714, New York, NY, 10013-0714. Entries must be received by February 10, 2012. No other means of entry accepted.

2. Winners will be selected based on creativity, execution, and clarity of thought. Winners will be notified on or about March 5, 2012. Scholastic Inc. (“Sponsor”) is not responsible for late, lost, stolen, misdirected, damaged, mutilated, postage due, incomplete or illegible entries or mail.

3. Contest is open to students in grades 6 and up who are legal residents of the United States.

Read the full rules for the contest at Scholastic. My apologies for not posting this a lot sooner. Our reader Grant had emailed us about seeing it in a book club order form and I forgot to track it down until now. Best of luck to all you budding writers!

Contests are running for tickets to premieres for the USA and the UK and now Canadian residents have their shot at winning a trip to the premiere! Scholastic Canada is running a creative writing contest with the grand prize being tickets to the premiere of the movie. You’ll need to submit five pages of an opening to your own dystopian novel to enter. All entries must be received by February 18, 2012. This contest is not open to residents of Quebec.

Thanks to our reader Holly for the tip! Good luck to all of you that enter! It sounds like something fun.

A San Jose newspaper has been bitten by ‘The Hunger Games’ and is holding a Hunger Games Food Contest with four categories. They mentioned Fictional Food in the article, too! If you’ve been wanting to create your own Hunger Games recipe, be sure to enter their contest! Deadlines vary by category. See full rules below the cut.

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Excited about the premiere of The Hunger Games next year? How would you like to be there? Teen Vogue is giving away a free trip to the red carpet premiere of The Hunger Games. You and one guest will be flown out to check out the star-studded red carpet premiere and be among the first to see the movie! You’ll also get a cool bag of Hunger Games swag. Enter here for your chance to be there!

WINNER: Jason

ANSWER: May the Turkeys Be Ever in Your Flavor

For our Thanksgiving giveaway, we’ll be giving away a Hunger Games official pin. This time, it’s a scavenger hunt using your US hardcover copy of The Hunger Games. Each clue leads you to a letter, which will combine to form words, which will become a phrase! First person to leave a comment with the correct phrase wins!

Don’t forget to spread the word about No Kid Hungry as part of our Thanksgiving giveaway week! We know not all of you have Twitter, but if you could please share the news about No Kid Hungry, whether by word of mouth, Facebook, or email, we’d be very glad. If you do have Twitter, be sure to follow ‘Share our Strength‘ on Twitter to join the movement. Comment here with your answer!

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