January 20, 2012

January 20, 2012–Reading is a big part of my life.  I am a very fast reader, and ergo, I got through a lot of books.  I know, a library card is a useful thing when you read as much as I do, but I have a bad history of forgetting to return books or returning them late and I don’t want to find out how big my library fines are when I try to reestablish my library account!  If you like to buy books like I do, there becomes the issue of what to do with them afterwards.  Some of my books I keep but some I give away or trade with friends.  If you have a large selection of books without a place for them, consider donating them to Reading Tree.

Reading Tree, a non-profit organization from BC, is looking for book donations.  Through their donation bins (those would be the large blue bins you see in communities through BC.  Through the redistribution of used books, Reading Tree hopes to support active literacy programs already in place, and provide fundamental books to kids.   A big part of literacy is having a wide selection of materials that can reach a wide variety of interests and reading levels.  By donating books, you can help this program continue.  Since 2007, Reading Tree has provided over 1.6 million books to kids in BC!  That’s a lot of books, and even though I read heftily, I don’t think I’m quite at that mark.  So take a look around your house, check those boxes you’ve left in the basement at your parents house, or pick up some books next time you are at your favourite secondhand shop–a good book can change a children’s perspective on reading, taking it from bore and chore to a life long passion.

To learn more about Reading Tree and how to get involved in their programs or to donate, visit their website HERE or by clicking on their logo.

December 27, 2011

December 27, 2011–How much do you love a good play on words?  I hope the answer is “so much!” because have I got a funtastic charity for you, or at least it’s fun for me, since I’m having to write code to get some of these links to work.   I’m in the Arizona desert, and the internet is spotty, sort of like Telus cell reception inside any building made of strong materials than cardboard.

Mannkind Charitable Society, started by Dave Mann, is a cooperative charity organization that works with it’s members to produce quality and lasting initiatives that meet the needs of the impoverished whilst growing awareness to continue it’s work with future members in society, all while being environmental-conscious.  Big britches, but big dreams are oftentimes the needed platform to get people excited and involved, exactly what “legacy-giving” is all about.  Mannkind Charitable Society wants to change the idea of “charity” into something more along the lines of inspiration and opportunity, putting into action plans to: establish educational and leadership programs for orphans in third-world countries, relieve poverty in Canadian communities, advance educational opportunities for children with a strong emphasis on the art, as well as create more appreciation for the environment with tree-planting events and, partner with similar charities to further pursue the aforementioned objectives.

Basically, Mannkind Charitable Society is a one-stop, multi-layered non-profit that invites you, whomever you are, to become involved using the talents and abilities you have.  They do have upcoming events that you can learn more about on their website, as well as a more intensive look at their values, goals and mission.  Click HERE or on their logo.

December 5, 2011

December 5, 2011–What’s the biggest wish you’ve ever had?  Think back to all those birthday candles, coins thrown into fountains, those dandelion seeds and shooting stars.  Was it to go to Disneyland?  Meet a rock star?  To get a puppy?  When you’re a kid, there is never a wish too big, and we are told that wishes can and do come true.

For some really special children, their biggest wishes do come true with the help of a fantastic organization: The Children’s Wish Foundation.  For 25 years, the Children’s Wish Foundation has granted the wishes of children who are living with illnesses across Canada.  This holiday season, CharityCards.ca has partnered with Children’s Wish Foundation to help you help grant special wishes by purchasing greeting cards where partial proceeds go to granting wishes.  The cards are available in an absolute ton of styles, all created by Canadian artists.  The cards are also about helping artists gain recognition, and artists receive royalties from each design sold.  From landscapes to animals, you have the chance to create special holiday cards for your loved ones that are more than just regular cards; you’ll be spreading awareness about an amazing organization and creating hope and memories for children who just have one big wish.

Visit the Charity Cards website HERE to start your holiday card design, or by clicking on the logo below.  It might be a pain to send out cards each holiday season, but this year you can make it mean more than licking stamps and trudging to the mailbox; you get to help wishes come true.

November 14, 2011

November 14, 2011–I love art.  I enjoy it in many forms, movies and canvas to jewelery and baked goods.  So when artists come together to make art for a good cause, you know I’ll be on board and obviously, blog about it.

Upcoming in Vancouver is an event that is doing just that.  Paint4Peace, happening on November 18 in Vancouver will feature local arts creating works of art that all go to support Peace & Love International.  Peace & Love International is non-profit organization that is working to bring about a better life through specialized programs all over the world.  From Africa to Palestine, the Philippians to Ecuador and Haiti, their work is touching lives of youth and women who need help, hope and support.  They work to make communities self-sustaining, whether it’s through programs and initiatives or enterprise.  To learn more about their mission, their projects and to see how you can become involved, visit their website HERE.

Paint4Peace is happening at The Canvas Lounge in Vancouver, from 5 to close, with the art auction completing at 8 pm.  This event is specifically hoping to raise funds for South Africa and the work that Peace & Love International is doing there.  Visit the events page of Peace & Love International to learn about this program HERE.

November 12, 2011

November 12, 2011–Who doesn’t like coloring?  Nothing used to be better than a fresh pack of crayons or magic markers and a blank piece of white paper.  Creating art is something that we start at an early age, and through the process of stick figures to grandiose finger painted self-portraits, we all get to find a bit of ourselves we might not have discovered otherwise.

Due to funding restraints, we have seen a decline in art production in schools, and it’s  sad state of affairs for stick-men everywhere.  ArtStarts is an organization that is helping bring art back into schools, one innovative program at a time.    They have facilities to rent, programs for schools, free activities for families and a tons of amazing resources for educators.   ArtStart is even pairing up professional artists with schools to help showcase their talents and hopefully inspire the next generation of artists from the ranks of the school system.

ArtStart is always looking for volunteers, donors and of course, participants!  Visit their website HERE or click on their logo to learn more about what they are doing to educate and revive art in schools.

November 7, 2011

November 7, 2011–This is going to be a short and sweet post about a long and sour subject: the freedom of speech in Belarus.  Belarus, a smaller country located in Eastern Europe is a part of the former Soviet Union.  It’s government and people are under a lot of unrest, and currently have been facing series issues regarding journalist freedom.

Known as Europe’s last dictatorship, many political candidates, journalists and free theater performers face jail, torture or death simply for wanting more for their country.  One particular campaign, “Belarus: Zone of Silence” has created a powerful awareness campaign to break through the hushed barrier that is Belarus.  One their website, you can learn more about political prisoners, sign a petition and also explore other ways to help Belarus.

For the 40% of adults, 70% of young people and 85% of students who wish to emigrate from Belarus,  signing this electronic petition will hopefully give a bit of hope through you showing your support.  Visit the Zone of Silence website HERE.

October 25, 2011

October 25, 2011–I was out and about today, from East Van to the Westside and I can report back to the rest of you that the 2012 “Hope in Shadows-Portraits of Our Community” Calendar is now for sale on the streets of Vancouver, where ever you may find yourself picking up your daily/hourly coffee. By now, you may have even noticed the addition of someone selling these calendars but have yet to purchase one before you just weren’t sure what it was all about.  Lucky for you, I will summarize it here and inspire you to pick one or two up when you are next approached to purchase one

Hope is Shadows is a non-profit organization that works with those who are left by the wayside due to poverty and circumstance.  They work to education and train those living in low-income situation so that they can begin to feel the pride and satisfaction of contributing to their city and neighbourhoods; something those living outside of their situation take for granted.  Their namesake campaign, the Hope in Shadows photography contest is the basis for the calendar sale: images in the calendar are taken by residents of the Downtown Eastside to give insight to how they see their neighbourhood, the best images are then featured as the monthly images for the calendar.  2012 Hope in Shadows is offered for sale by residents of low-income or homeless situations, who are trained in managing a micro-business.    The vendors purchase calendars for $10 and then sell them for $20.

To learn more about this initiative, to find a vendor or to view some of the photos taken during the contest visit the Hope in Shadows website HERE or by clicking on the calendar image.  To help out with this project, take out a $20 from the bank teller and purchase a calendar from a vendor.  This simple act will benefit them more than you know, and the calendar will be a wonderful reminder of how blessed you are to wake up in your computer-owning, coffee-drinking, bed-to-sleep-in life.

 

September 27, 2011

September 27, 2011–I’m a crafty individual.  Not like tricky-crafty, but like actually arts-and-crafts type crafty.  Just ask my roommate.  I made a window seat today.  With plywood and upholstered it.  No big deal.  So, it goes without saying I love the handmade Christmas craft fairs, and generally any sort of artisan shop.  Ten Thousand Villages is one of my favourites, by far.

This store (which you may have seen around, depending where in Canada you live) hosts a wide-variety of handmade products from around the world.  It was started in 1946 by a Mennonite Central Committee worker visited a third world country and brought home goods that she sold to friends–the products were so popular, she was able to bring other handmade items from a variety of places around the world, eventually opening a store.  Today, Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit Fair Trade Organization that operates stores across the country where the products sold are made by communities in which their livelihood is made from the artisan products they make.  The products are purchased at a fair price and sold to consumers who can be wholeheartedly assured that what they are purchasing are fair trade.  At Ten Thousand Villages, relationships and partnerships come before profits.  The stores are run by volunteers, and their products are also hosted at various festivals and sales during the year.

On October 1st, Ten Thousand Villages is celebrating it’s 65th Anniversary, and with that will come festivities in their stores across Canada.  You can join them for draws, entertainment, balloons and more–and perhaps start your Christmas shopping early.  To find your closest Ten Thousand Villages store, visit their website HERE or by clicking on their logo.  You might not be as artsy or crafty as me, but you can always buy some handmade and pass it off as your own (don’t actually do that).

September 18, 2011

September 18, 2011–I have a lot of artsy friends.  I’m sort of nerdy-slash-artsy so I’ve noticed that having similar friends is a bit of a given: nerds of a herd, birds of a feather, flock together, etc.  Obviously, not all art-nerds are alike.  Some are web designers, some are photographers.  This post is for those semi-professional to professional to hobbyist photographers: please pass it on to your like-minded comrades.

Help-Portrait is a new movement that is inspired by photographers around the world giving their time and talent to those in need, be it the homeless, poor, sick or otherwise.  The concept is simple: find someone in need, take their photo, print it off and give it to them.  I know, too basic to be worth anything, right?  Well, as photographers you know how much those photos are worth (assuming you occasionally charge for your services) so to take the time to serve someone in need with your gift is worth a lot!  Even if you are just a part-time or hobby photographer, this is something you can do.

The main event, or promotional time of year that Help-Portrait would like this program to roll out is in December, where photographers from all over do the world a service by doing what they do best and what they love most: capturing beauty through their creative lens.

Here is a short video about the project:

The best part about this project is that all it takes is a little time and some of their great resources they have available on their website, which you can visit by going HERE or by clicking on their logo.  Hopefully this motivates you to try this out for the upcoming holiday season, who knows–it just might become your new favourite tradition.

September 16, 2011

September 16, 2011–I love reading, I really do.  I inhale books.  I read ridiculously fast, so I go through books much faster than your average Joe/Jane.  I won’t lie, I’ve consumed more chick-lit and sci-fi than any human should.  Some books I would recommend to you for some Fall reading: Jpod by Douglas Coupland, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins , Uglies by Scott Westerfield and The Host by Stephanie Meyer.

Why the book rant?  I was at Indigo/Chapters today and low and behold, they have a cause to blog about!  The Indigo “Love of Reading” Foundation “Adopt a School” program kicked off on September 11 and runs to October 1st.  This program works with local schools to raise awareness and funds for literacy and literature.  I’m very concerned in regards to the latter, as being a teacher I undoubtedly saw the demise of literacy in schools, especially at the high school level.  Love of Reading is filling a need in our schools for much needed books.  Libraries are empty of books, and not because educators don’t want to have reading happening.  It’s because of budget cuts and worn-out older books being tossed after years of use.  A class set of books is expensive, when you determine that 30 books cost around 300+ or more, depending on the book.  Teachers and principals are spending their own money to get books into classrooms, and Indigo wants to help.

Where do you fit in?  As taken directly from the Love of Reading website:

“You can be part of the movement to spread a love of reading among the children of Canada. There are three simple things you can do to help right now. Donate, purchase special Love of Reading merchandise with all net proceeds going to the Foundation, or lend your voice to the cause by contacting the government representative in your area or signing our online petition.”

Pretty simple and easy to do.  Who wouldn’t want to help reading make it’s way back into the education system?  I know that when and if I have children, I hope that they have access to all the wonders that a library makes.  To me, even now; the memory of the stacks in the library were a wondrous place.  So, let’s work together and with Indigo to get literacy back on track.  Visit their website HERE to learn more or on their logo.