Charities

Charities


Heart of LADNER. NIGHT. MARKET.

7.22.2010 | 0 Comments

On Saturday, August 14th, I will be touching down in Dar es Salaam to start my adventure as I endeavor to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise funds and awareness for the Delta Hospice Society.

On Saturday, August 14th, the Heart of Ladner Night Market will be jumping from 4pm to 9pm on Delta St. in Ladner, with all proceeds benefiting the Delta Hospice Society. The Heart of Ladner Night Market ‘is a place where local crafters, artisans, and businesses can come together to raise money for a great cause’, and was started up by none other than my sponsor Michael Rudd at Open Space Yoga, and (Kili Gala Donor) Ali Roddam at Buttercups Children’s Boutique.

What a great idea! Get local people together to support local artists and raise money for a local organization. I mean really, what could be better than this? “Heart of Ladner”, indeed! Everyone is on-board and supportive! That’s some small town love, right there, and… wait…

What’s that?

REALLY?!

Seriously?

Nooooooooo… you’re kidding right?

Nope.

So silly. So very, very silly. You’d think the wise thing would be for the Ladner Village Market to work WITH The Heart of Ladner Night Market. But apparently not. That would just be too easy. It would give the Heart of Ladner Night Market some good press, and it would give the Ladner Village Market some good Qi.

Sadly, I am going to have to miss the Heart of Ladner Night Market, given that I, you know, won’t be on the continent.

Willingly, I am going to choose to skip the Ladner Village Market, given that I, you know, won’t be wanting to support the organization.

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It’s all Good.

7.13.2010 | 2 Comments

Slowly but surely the plans are coming together. Amanda and I sat down last night and started to plan our pre-climb itinerary. We’re going to head to Zanzibar for about 5 days or so, and then trek on off for our trek on up. That should be pretty cool, eh?

After the climb I have a couple of options for my remaining 5 days on African soil. My initial idea was to do a safari, and as much as that’s still on the table, another idea was brought to mind recently. Chris was speaking with me about my trip, and suggested that I look into some volunteer work while I’m there. This had been in the cards when Ali and I were first putting this adventure together, but it fell by the wayside for a variety of pathetic reasons that I no longer can recall.

Chris’ suggestion made me think of El Camino Voluntours, and how excited I am about the prospect of traveling somewhere to help do some good instead of just traveling somewhere and sitting pool-side on my expanding arse while some poorly paid waiter in an ill-fitting white coat serves me a fluffy drink with an umbrella in it.

So, why am I waiting for next year when I can afford to connect with El Camino? Do I need a special reason to make a special trip? I mean, I’m already going somewhere, so why not take advantage of an opportunity there? Makes sense, right?

So, I emailed a couple of people about volunteering over in Tanzania, and hopefully I’ll hear back soon. I’ll let you know.

xo

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Voluntour?! YES!

6.04.2010 | 1 Comment

So the other day I was walking my dogs around town, and decided to take a new route of sorts. I cut through Memorial Park and I saw a poster advertising a slideshow and talk by El Camino Voluntours owner/operator Chris Bruckshaw. Now, I had seen an article in The Delta Optimist about Chris, and was intrigued by what he was doing.

So, I went to the slideshow presentation.

El Camino is pretty damn cool, if you ask me. A socially aware, big-hearted, culturally significant organization that works at creating vacations with impact. I was very impressed! As soon as Chris started talking about who El Camino is and what they do, I knew that I would be booking a trip with them next year. No doubt in my mind that this is what I want to do.

Basically it’s this: you go with El Camino to Mexico, Nicaragua, or Guatemala and do volunteer work there either building a home for a family, creating water catchment systems, helping build a radio station, or taking part in wildlife conservation. 60% of your trip is volunteer – hard work that makes a huge difference. The other 40% is fun – Chris has set up some great excursions to help you relax and be a total goofball after your volunteering. This is obviously a well-thought-out, creative and thorough organization who have done their research.

I have been looking for something like this for a long time, but haven’t ever found an organization that wasn’t religion-based, or expecting me to pay $3000 for the chance to volunteer… or both.

So… I have asked Chris to come and set up a booth at the Kili Gala and chat with people who may have the same thoughts as I do: I want to go and volunteer in another country, but I’m not a doctor, or a nurse (like the AWESOME Haiti-visiting Melissa Glen!), or have a bazgillion dollars to spend. I know there are people out there like this. I’m right, aren’t I?

How cool it’s going to be to combine travel with a social conscience. I can’t wait for next year!

But first, I’ve got a mountain to climb…

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What Made Me Cry Today

2.28.2010 | 0 Comments

 

This is amazing.

http://www.saintsrescue.ca/about/index.htm

S.A.I.N.T.S. is a rescue society that… you know what? I’ll let my amazing friend The Food Lady explain it to you, because she can do it way better than I can:

http://www.wootube.net/

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LBA and the VMs

1.28.2010 | 0 Comments

This morning I went to the Ladner Legion.

Not exactly a place I’d normally find myself at 8am on a weekday (or any day, actually) but there I was. I was there to speak to the members of the Ladner Business Association (LBA)about my Kili climb, in the hopes that I could count on them to help raise awareness and/or funds to help me reach my goal of $10,000 for Delta Hospice.

They seemed like a nice group of people with good humour and an obvious camaraderie. I felt pretty comfortable there, and was looking forward to getting up and saying my bit. Thankfully I saw a familiar face when I walked in, as Michael from Open Space Yoga (my generous sponsor!) was there and invited me to sit at his table. Just before I was about to go up and speak, Michael asked if I was nervous. Actually, I wasn’t at all. I told Michael that since I’ve done the Vagina Monologues, I can pretty much do anything.

Ok, so maybe some of you don’t know that about me: for five years I acted in and/or co-directed The Vagina Monologues for charity. Each February/March Eve Ensler (the VM Author) allows the play to be performed without the users having to pay the copyright fee (it’s referred to as V-Day). However, the caveat is that all money raised through the production must go to local organizations helping to stop violence against women.

A worthy cause! So, given my penchant for quirky fundraising ideas, I thought it would be an interesting form of annual charity work. And so, since 2003, I have helped raise approximately $75,000 for local women’s charities in the Vancouver and Tri-Cities areas. I am extremely proud of that, and I love the fact that I was able to assist in raising that amount, while having fun at the same time!

So, the bar for my Kilimanjaro climb has been set high in my mind. My goal to raise $10,000 for Hospice will be acheived, that much I know. But hopefully with the help of the LBA, I can exceed that goal, and in the process invite an entire community to join me in having fun while doing so.

And I won’t even make any of you say the word “vagina”.

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The Girls Break my Heart

1.16.2010 | 2 Comments

I am having a dilemma of the heart. It is as follows…

I have two dogs; Jenn, a two-and-a-half year old purebred Border Collie who I fostered (and then ultimately adopted from) the AWESOME That’ll Do Border Collie Rescue in Vancouver, and Luna my nine year old dog who was rescued from a trailer after her first owners moved away and left her locked in there to starve to death (nice, huh?).

This is Jenn:

She is goofy, energetic, playful, crazy, energetic, loving, happy, energetic, eternally puppy-esque, adorable and energetic. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to completely tire her out – she just goes and goes and goes…

And this is Luna:

Luna is my Old Soul Dog. She is a Border Collie cross (I have no idea what she’s crossed with – maybe something smart, like an astrophysicist, or a seal…), and she is the Greatest Dog Who Ever Lived. She is calm, stoic, grateful, loving, at times goofy, and always perfect.

I take these two everywhere I can (you may have seen them outside the grocery store, in the bank, or wandering around Ladner with me), but when I have to go to work or other places that dogs simply cannot be, then they get to go to “Grandma’s” (my awesome mom) for ‘daycare’. I walk Jenn and Lu’ at least 2x a day, and my mom walks them 2x a day, as well. They get a lot of exercise, and they are very happy.

My dilemma, though, is this: Luna was born and raised in the East Kootenays. She is an Outdoorsy Dog, and the forest is her favourite place to be. However, she is now quite old, and even a 40-minute walk around town is getting to be too much for her. She has a wacky liver, an arthritic spine and a bum leg. But she’s still a happy, mobile and life-enjoying dog.

Jenn, on the other hand, is somewhat more energetic (have I mentioned that?) than Lu’, and can run like a maniac for hours on end, stopping only to lap up water, dig holes, or bring a stick/tennis ball/piece of garbage to drop at my feet.

I can hike with Jenn, but not with Lu’.

Lu’ simply does not have the physical capacity anymore. Sure, she’ll push herself and love every minute, but the moment she stops, she is going to be in a lot of pain, and will be so very unhappy for a few days after the hike. Luna, the one who lives for the forest and the trees… has to stay home.

So, if I bring them both hiking, Luna will ultimately suffer. If I just bring Jenn, Luna will know that we’ve gone somewhere wonderful (oh, that canine nose!), and that she wasn’t invited. It’ll break her heart. If I go without either of them, I feel like a guilty, horrible schmuck, knowing that they would both love to be there, and that they should be there, instead of sitting at home waiting for my return.

*sigh*

So far, this has been the hardest part of my training. My poor heart.

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