It’s time once again for the Third Annual Bearman Cartoons Charity Challenge.

Many of you know that I do this challenge each year to raise awareness of my blog while giving money to charities who need it. Historically, this has been the majority of my advertising budget for the year so if you enjoy Bearman Cartoons, please help by spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter, etc and/or thumbing up on StumbleUpon or Reddit.

Your efforts cost me $336 in year one and $630 in year two of the challenge. Once again I am issuing a challenge and this year I am going for $1000. As usual my primary charity will go to help the hungry. People tend to donate mainly during the holidays, so this is an especially important time of the year to do my challenge because food banks have needs all year long.

As in previous years, the first $500 raised will once again go to the Cincinnati FreeStore Foodbank. This charity does great things not only to feed those in need but also to help families get back on their feet in other ways. Anything donated above $500 to the max $1000 will go to support the Red Cross to continue relief efforts in Japan.

I will donate the indicated amount for each thing that you do in the month of May:

$10 – For any cartoonists who uses ME in a cartoon in their strip. Use “BEARMAN” somewhere in the toon. Maybe it’s a character’s name, a name on a bar sign in the background, integrating my green haired gravatar into a background character or even loosely as “Check out that Bear, man!” Be sure to link back to this post so I know to include you in my tally. I know some of you work with a buffer so if you plan to post after May just contact me and let me know and I will add it to the list.

$5 – Add http://beartoons.com to your blog roll (for those who don’t already have it)

$5 – Add a Bearman Cartoons Banner Ad (found here) on your site or if you already have one upgrade to a larger size. Link it to http://beartoons.com

$10 – Blog about my challenge to your readers and link back to this entry in your post – http://beartoons.com/2011/05/01/bearman-cartoons-charity-challenge-2011

$5 – Send a picture of yourself wearing a t-shirt from our shop OR send a picture that showcases that you are a BEARMANiac. Photos will be showcased in weekly updates and also appear ongoing in the BEARMANia section. Last year Lynn blew up the Beartoons banner ad and had fun taking pictures all over Florida. (Click here to see pictures sent in by last year’s BEARMANiacs)

$2 – Follow me via TWITTER updates. (if you aren’t already)

$2 – Like Beartoons on Facebook.

If you add me to your blog roll, add/upgrade your banner, include this challenge in a post, or start following me via twitter/facebook because of this post please indicate in the comments. I’ll post a weekly update of the money raised and who did what to raise the money with links back to your site if applicable.

Thanks for your continued support.