Check Out the Really Green Patch Box at DePaw for Chance to Win $25 Gift Certificate!

If you happen to be at sometime this month, be sure to drop your business card in the really green Patch box by the counter.

Because if you do, we'll sign you up for Patch's free daily email newsletter and give you a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from DePaw University, my favorite place for .

Say "hi" to Nikki Jankowski while you're there. She's the receptionist most afternoons during the week.

"I've worked here for almost four years, and it's really a great place," she said when I dropped off the extremely green plastic Patch box on Friday. "We really take good care of the animals. Everyone here is an animal lover—you can tell when you walk in the door."

It's true. To me, it seems like the employees not only love the animals but have a lot of fun taking care of them. 

"I do," Nikki said. "Even though I get slobbered on and get things you don't want to know on me, I still really enjoy the work."

DePaw has been very Patch-friendly, as well as very green.

"(Geneva Patch) is on our main website page. Every time I open the Internet, there's an article, and I tend to read it—and they're always really friendly and kind-hearted. I know you've written , and I like that," Nikki said.

Of course, one of the reasons I chose DePaw for our first official contest place is that I was going there anyway. Usually, I drop off and pick up for half days of daycare a couple times a week, so he can play with the other dogs and burn a little energy.

I know, some of you probably think doggy daycare is crazy or a luxury only rich people do, but ask any real Jane or Joe who's tried it. I get five hours of quality work time, and AJ gets some much-needed exercise and play time and comes home exhausted. It's very affordable, it improves the quality of my life (and his) and it makes Patch possible.

But enough of this business-to-business lovefest. Here's how the contest works:

You go to DePaw, sometime between now and March 31. You drop a business card in the really green Patch box. At the end of the month, I draw a card, and if it's yours, you win a $25 gift certificate from DePaw University, courtesy of Patch.

Pretty darned sophisticated marketing approach, don't you think?

We'll take our green plastic Patch box on the road to a new business each month, God willing. So if you've got a business in Geneva and wouldn't mind a Patch presence, let me know. We'll go to your business next month—and Patch buys the prize.

For the full Patch contest rules, provisos and quid pro quo's .