Posts tagged under Charity. Show all posts.
We’re old enough at Savvy HQ to remember when colour TV and push-button phones were high tech (at least some of us). ‘Back in the day’ when a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti occurred, we would have sat around the family room and watched images delivered to us on the 25” screen with horror. There might have been someone on air encouraging us to call in a donation, but more likely we would have had to take down an address, write a cheque and mail it to that unknown destination if we wanted to help.
Flash forward to 2010. News of the quake in Haiti hit the ‘Twitterverse’ as the quake actually hit Haiti—that’s real time, not after the six o’clock news.
Preliminary data from Nielsen Wire indicates that Twitter posts are the leading source of discussion about the quake, followed by online video, blogs, and other social media. Some estimates show that nearly 150,000 posts containing both “Haiti” and “Red Cross” have been sent through Twitter since the quake. World Vision says more than 18,000 Canadian Facebook users are taking part in a viral campaign to donate $10 and pass onto friends for more.
What’s different about this is not just the speed at which news is delivered through social networks, but more importantly, the ability of the networked audience to absorb and react—on impulse—to this news. In the case of Haiti, the impulse reaction has been overwhelmingly generous.
In one week, Salvation Army Canada raised $120,000 via mobile texts alone, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the charity’s total amount raised for its Haiti campaign, national spokesman Andrew Burditt said. Americans contributed more than $355 million in the nine days after the Haiti earthquake, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
US President Barack Obama and Bill Gates have both joined the discussion on Twitter—just this week. For Haiti. Two of the most powerful men in the Western world. Both on Twitter. Both for the same cause.
All this made me think. I used to view social media as a tool or even a medium to help spread my message quickly. But now I am beginning to accept the real power behind social media and understand that it has become more of a social movement than just a medium or a ‘network’. It has the power to harness the collective human spirit, and it’s demonstrated that with Haiti. It’s a social movement because people are rushing to join the party, to participate and give (like the President and Bill Gates).
Don’t get me wrong, I am clear that social media is not the hero here, we are. Because like any tool, it’s useless without a good craftsman.
We will learn all kinds of lessons from this tragedy. I hope that one of them will be to ensure that we continue to harness the power of social media responsibly in the future, as any good craftsman would do.
Donate online to the Canadian Red Cross for Haiti Relief here.
We recently heard from Savvy reader Lily Chiu of Smallerfootprints.ca, an online giving site, about a wonderful holiday tradition she and her friends hold every year. It’s an annual skating party they host as a ‘gift’ to friends and family. They ask everyone attending to bring mittens, socks, hats or anything that’s warm to support local public school George Anderson P.S. in Toronto.
As Lily shared: “It’s a great school with the majority of students coming from immigrant families trying to make it work. What that means is that kids often go to school with leaky boots, socks with no front to it because that’s all they had, and sometimes sent to school hungry. Can you imagine being in a school where they have a main bin in the office for children to BORROW mittens/gloves for recess, and return them after? My heart breaks when I think about it. Giving a little something to this school each year puts smiles on everyone’s face, especially mine!”
What a wonderful way to celebrate the holidays while teaching a great message about the importance of giving, not getting, and a super alternative to piles of gifts that are not really appreciated. Congratulations, Lily, for creating such a wonderful tradition.
Do you have any traditions with your friends and family to encourage giving and help us reflect on the true spirit of the season? We’d love to hear them.
I always get sentimental around this time of year because I truly believe in the spirit of Christmas. Pulling up to the house and seeing everything lit up makes me happy. Watching my 11 year-old running off to school in his Santa hat puts a smile on my face.
But there is so much commercialization and over consumption around the holidays that it’s easy to be cynical. At the end of the day, though, it’s all about giving and receiving and families being together. No amount of marketing can take that away from us.
Conversely, nobody can take away the fact that there are sick children who are spending the holidays in the hospital this year. That just doesn’t feel right to us, so we’re running our third annual Holiday Giving Campaign in support of the Kids’ Interactive Technology Fund this year. We’ve raised about $3,000 of our $20,000 goal so we have a long way to go. It only takes 400 SavvyMoms to donate $50 each to reach our goal or 1,000 SavvyMoms to donate $20 each.
Keep things in perspective this year and try to stay focused on the giving part of the holidays. We found some great ideas in Calgary and Vancouver this week as well.
Let’s see if we can help put a smile on more faces this season—it should put one on yours at the same time.
Do we ever really need an excuse to eat ice cream?
Okay, so sometimes we do (just so we can feel better about ourselves), which is one of the things I really appreciated about the Sundae Funday event that I recently attended. Yes, the ice cream was definitely delish, but the sentiment behind the event was even more appealing.
Sundae Funday is an initiative supported by Frigidaire, raising funds for Save the Children Canada and dedicated to improving the lives of kids here at home, with a focus on aboriginal children. The goal is to help parents raise emotionally secure, physically healthier kids and strong communities.
So how does it work? There are a few ways to help. You can build a virtual sundae (if you’re looking for a fun activity to try on a rainy day with the kids that won’t have any caloric content), and for every sundae created before July 16, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children Canada.
For a fun way to bring your community together, you can also host a sundae party through the summer. The online kit offers printable invitations, colouring pages, party planning tips, sundae recipe ideas and more—and all you would need to do is encourage guests to make a $5 donation for each sundae they build. It’s a yummy way to contribute to a great cause and bond with your neighbours and friends.
So if you’re looking for an excuse to throw a party or simply enjoy some ice cream, here’s a great start!
I’m sure you have all heard of the devastating fire that claimed the homes of over 7000 residents in Slave Lake, Alberta last month. Thousands of families were displaced by this horrible natural disaster but like with all tragedies, there is usually a humanitarian story to be heard. This time, its mom entrepreneurs who are stepping in to help.
Together with the Edmonton Emergency Relief Services, Baby Gourmet, a small business that specializes in frozen (and tasty) baby food has sent 4000 units of its product to Slave Lake. That’s about 8500 nutritious meals for babies in the hardest hit areas.
Jennifer Broe, Co-Founder and President of Baby Gourmet Foods spearheaded this initiative because her ‘business has grown based on the support of Albertans, when we heard about the Slave Lake disaster; we saw an opportunity to give back. Partnering with Edmonton Emergency Relief Services has made this donation possible”. Broe says, “As a mother, I know how hard it can be to make life work on a day to day basis, let alone after your home and all of your possessions have been destroyed. We wanted to step in and help provide some healthy and delicious meals for babies, one less thing those moms would have to think about—at least for the moment.” We think this mom has her priorities straight.
Another mom entrepreneur who is pitching in is Traci Costa, owner of clothing line and online store Peekaboo Beans. They’re holding an online auction offering vintage and rare items from their website (by vintage we don’t mean ‘gently used’, we mean previous collections). What better way to pitch in than to shop and pick up a few items you might have had on your list anyway?
Red Cross
www.redcross.ca
Last week SavvyMom was invited on an exclusive and adventure-packed press trip to New York promoting an important campaign in support of Save the Children Canada and sponsored by Frigidaire.
To support Save the Children, Frigidaire has built a microsite which asks visitors to commit to eating fresh. Until September 20, 2011, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children Canada for every new registration. And everyone who registers will be eligible to win a Frigidaire Gallery French Door Refrigerator.
Members of the Canadian media, including Emma Waverman from Embrace the Chaos, Haley Overland from Today’s Parent, Irene Ngo from Chatelaine and myself spent a wonderful day at Blue Hill at Stone Barns Restaurant in Pocantico Hills, NY with Hollywood mom, Jennifer Garner (ambassador for Save the Children) and chef Adam Kaye at the Frigidaire Kids’ Cooking Academy Summer Session.
While we were there we had the opportunity to learn from Adam about the seasonality of fresh foods, tour their beautiful farm and enjoy the just-picked flavours of fresh food from the farm. One of the focuses of the campaign is to reinforce the importance of eating healthy and fresh at a young age. Along with the help of Jennifer Garner and Chef Adam Kaye, a large group of children took part in the cooking academy and had lots of fun preparing four of Adam Kaye’s delicious recipes using ingredients fresh from the farm. The Chilled Asparagus Soup recipe was my personal fave.
Even though it feels like old news already, I can’t ignore the headline grabbing TIME cover controversy. But there was so much more that caught my attention this week—like cottagedreams.ca, Savvy ‘momisms’, twitter parties and wall stickers.
1. If you haven’t been following the controversy over the cover of the most recent TIME Magazine, then it’s time to crawl out from under that rock. An image of a beautiful model-esque mother in her twenties with a three-year-old boy sucking on her breast has got the whole world talking about attachment parenting. As a mom, I couldn’t care less if this woman chooses attachment parenting. Some women can’t breastfeed, some don’t want to and some don’t want to stop. It’s a choice—there’s no right or wrong here. As a mother of two teenage boys, I do feel badly for her son. Kids can be mean, and they will be…for as long as the internet (and that picture) is around.
As far as TIME Magazine goes, it was a home run. Sales increased and exposure was huge. As far as raising awareness for attachment parenting, it worked. But awareness doesn’t always generate conversion. Many are disappointed with the cover because it turned so many people off and didn’t promote the movement.
The question remains: who really benefited the most from this? Not the mom, not the child and apparently not the attachment parenting movement. That leaves TIME. Responsible media or sensationalist news?
2. In more charitable news, Sarah told me this week about a new organization called cottagedreams.ca. It matches weeks at people’s cottages with families of recovering cancer patients. I don’t have a cottage (and I’m fine with that, really) but if I did, I’m pretty sure I would sign up. To date, over 1,100 families have enjoyed time away through the Cottage Dreams program but there have been 60,100 new cancer cases diagnosed in Ontario last year and a 67% increase in the number of placement requests this year alone. The placement goal for 2012 is 350+ families. If you have a cottage, you might consider this charity.
3. I have a picture frame at home with a really nice family shot taken at a wedding. We look very spiffy under the caption ‘Remember, according to everyone else, we’re a perfectly normal family.’ It’s one of my favourites. But I think this wall sticker kicks that up a notch. I want it.
4. We ran a contest on Facebook this past month and asked our readers what was the line they remember most from their mother…we called them ‘momisms’. The answers came pouring in—the most we have heard from our readers yet with close to 150 responses. Here are a few of my favourites:
If you keep sticking your finger in your nose your head will cave in
I’m not going to college with you, so you better learn this now
If you fall out of that tree and break your leg, don’t come running to me
And the most original goes to: ‘Get your hands out of your pants or I will cut that thing off and give it to your sister.’
5. We’re having a party next week which is very exciting for all of us at Savvy HQ. Firstly, it’s our first party at the HQ. Secondly, it’s in celebration of the launch of SHOP.CA—Canada’s newest shopping destination online…so there will be shopping. Need I say more? We’ll have lots of food, wine and of course…lots of shopping. What’s not to love? We’ll even have a few token males there in the form of the executive team from SHOP.CA. Time to clean up my office!
Comments
We have started participating in an Adopt-A-Family program through the Scott Mission. It has had such a huge impact on how I think about “things” at Christmas and what is really important. It has given me a very different perspective, as well as my kids. I find too that one kind deed gives another person an opportunity to be kind - like when I purchased a snowsuit for one of the children and mentioned to the salesperson why I was buying it, she gave me an additional 20% off so that I had a little extra to buy some other things.
Very thoughtful and caring tradition you have Lily. Keep up the good work.
Cheers, David Lam.