Typhoon Megi is gathering strength as it heads towards China, with winds surpassing 115 miles per hour.

Megi left a trail of destruction in the Philippines, where it made landfall on Monday as a Category 5 typhoon. Hundreds of families were evacuated in anticipation of the storm and hundreds of thousands left homeless.

Read a field account of the UNICEF-supported programs in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo providing training, guidance and supplies to support the release and rehabilitation of former child soldiers

This Saturday, October 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT is your chance to get in on all the fun with HGTV and Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF. With the help of professional designers, three families will turn their quiet suburban homes into a mystical and frightful sight for Halloween in HGTV’s Halloween Block Party. Host Sabrina Soto will take the fear out of holiday décor projects with the latest tricks in decor, food, tablescapes and entertainment. Can it get any better? Yes!

Travel to Congo and you’ll see that kids are kids, wherever they are. In Goma we visited a pre-school for children ages 3-5, and I couldn’t help comparing the experience to that of my own kids. My kids often complain about their long walk to school — almost a mile. I wondered what they would think about the road to this preschool! “Bumpy” would be an understatement. It was almost impassable by car and very tricky to walk. But I had a great appreciation for the road when I heard that the community had gotten together to clear the biggest, sharpest rocks left from the volcano eruption in 2002, which devastated the city.

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, Selena is pulling out all the stops! She is encouraging people through media interviews and her social media network to get involved and Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF. Selena also just announced an intimate concert and meet & greet in Los Angeles on October 26 with proceeds benefitting UNICEF programs around the world.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is enormous in every respect: more than 60 million people, 25 million children and more than 60% of the population living under the poverty line; a land mass the size of the western Europe with fewer miles of paved roads than Delaware; unimaginable reserves of valuable minerals with primitive infrastructure to support it; one of the lowest per capita incomes on earth and, importantly, 1 out of every 5 children under age 5 dying of preventable causes.

All kids are invited to join a Halloween spectacular Broadway-style on October 31, 2010. TICKETS ON SALE NOW! All you have to do is go to KidsNightonBroadway.com. This event is more than seeing an incredible Broadway show; it also includes a costume party from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at Madame Tussauds New York and Trick-or-Treating on Broadway.

For each purchase of specially marked Dream Out Loud by Selena Gomez “Trick or Treat for UNICEF” t-shirts sold at Kmart until October 31, 2010, Kmart will donate $7.00 to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. How cool is that? The collectible t-shirt will be available nationwide at Kmart stores and online at Kmart.com

Lily’s school hosts an annual “Trick-or-Trunk” event where parents can decorate their car trunks and hand out treats while the kids parade around in their costumes. I knew I had to do something to support UNICEF.

Our friends at GoodSearch.com are sponsoring a contest that will give an extra $1,000 to each of the five organizations that have the most toolbar downloads (and $100 to each of the first 100 charities to reach 100 downloads!) With the GoodSearch toolbar, every time you search online or shop at more than 1,500 stores (from Amazon to Zazzle!), a donation will be made to United States Fund for UNICEF — all you have to do is add our toolbar to your computer