We Day Inspires Us to Spark a Positive Change

I have been attending We Day for the past four years, and every year I feel We Day inspires me to do more to help others. My daughter has been accompanying me for the past few years. She loves the shows and the inspiring speeches at We Day, and was excited for weeks before we went and also after the event. I love seeing the passion and excitement of We Day where everyone like-minded gathers to show that we can all spark a change and make a difference everyday to better someone else's life. Thinking of WE is so much satisfying than thinking of ME. We love how We Day empowers people to make a difference, and think about others. 

Using Social Media For a Positive Change We365

I had the pleasure of attending We Day in Toronto where 20,000 students earned their ticket to be part of the event, by making a commitment through the We Act program to take action on at least one local and one global initiative of their choice. We Day features some of the world’s pop stars, social change-makers, and more importantly celebrates our youth and the work that they’ve done to give back in their communities.

TOMS for Kids and The One for One Movement

My children like the look and feel of the lightweight, comfortable pair of TOMS classic shoes. They both enjoy wearing these shoes for long periods of time. These classic shoes go well with all types of clothing and would be wonderful to wear for any occasion in spring and summer. I like how these shoes look on my children, and the ease of putting it on. 

Expressing With Art

Art is a form of expression that allows us to easily convey our thoughts and feelings. From the first time we draw a dot or scribble as a baby to now when we draw a picture or take a photograph, we are trying to tell a story, express our thoughts and emotions to another person. We have all heard of the saying that a picture says a thousand words. 

Kinder® Canada's Initiative To Bring Joy During This Season

Kinder® has partnered with Children’s Miracle Network for the “A Joy To Share” program. This is one of the ways Kinder® is helping to bring joy to families this holiday season. We as parents can take action and involve our children to think of others and help out.

Hallmark Holiday Celebration and Giveaway

Get ready for the holiday season and celebrate the moments with your family and friends. This year Hallmark is celebrating their 10th anniversary of Snowmen techno plush and 40 years of memories with keepsake ornaments. 

All Disney fans will enjoy giggling, as this cute Totally ticklish Goofy gets tickled and sings "Up on the Housetop." Watch him sing in the video below.

Pair A Rafiki Friend Chain With A Me To We Card And Give Back Twice This Holiday

Me to We launches Track Your Impact greeting cards, which is available exclusively online at www.metowe.com and at Indigo Books & Music Inc. and Chapters locations in the Greater Toronto Area; it will be available in 78 locations Canada wide by the end of this month. This new line of socially conscious greeting cards makes a positive impact on the world by giving a gift, such as clean water, seeds for farming or school supplies to communities and families in need overseas. 

Walgreens Provide Life-Saving Vaccines for Children in Need Through Donation to United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life Campaign

“Get a Shot, Give a Shot” vaccine initiative extends Walgreens commitment to improving immunization rates and wellness beyond the U.S. They are building upon its efforts to provide greater access to vaccines and other health care services for populations in need. 

We Can Help The Moores Canadian Suit Drive By Donating Gently Used Professional Attire

The Canadian Suit Drive benefits at-risk men transitioning into the workforce for the fourth year. We can donate gently used professional attire from July 1 to 31st to any Moores store locations and give a man a chance to transform his life. As the unemployment rate remains high, the need for supportive programs focusing on job training and employment services for the underserved male population is critical.

DonateNaturally Makes a Difference To Our lives and Many Others

DonateNaturally.com started by a husband and wife, sells natural organic products while donating 15% of every sale to a cause of our choice. We can easily donate to any organization at a school, charity, community or hospital. The items are priced competitively and we are not charged the 15% that goes toward the donation.

TELUS We Day video contest winners

I was very happy to have attended and be part of We Day 2012 that was held at the Air Canada Centre in October.  During this time TELUS had a video contest that encouraged our youth to say how they could make a positive change to their community by partnering with a local charity.  The winner of the contest was given $20,000 to put this idea into action.  There were many inspirational ideas, however Chloe Noel and Lindsay Rideout won for their idea of expanding the Hope in Shadows program in Vancouver.

Rachael vs Guy Celebrity Cook Off on Food network for charity

Rachael Ray and Guy Fieri return to coach eight celebrity contestants; Chilli, Gilbert Gottfried, Cornelia Guest, Dean McDermott, Kathy Najimy, Hines Ward, Carnie Wilson and Johnny Weir as they compete for charity.

Rachael Ray is a Food Network icon and best-selling cookbook author and Guy Fieri a successful restaurateur.  They will be coaching and mentoring eight new celebrity contestants for the second season of Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off.  The second season will premier on Food network Sunday, January 6th at 9pm ET/PT. 
The eight celebrities are divided into Team Guy and Team Rachael, as they head out to the west coast to compete over the course of six episodes in intense weekly challenges that are sure to have them working, fighting and laughing along the way. The losing team must send its two bottom-rated contestants to face off against each other, with one member sent home each week in a blind tasting elimination challenge. 
The last celebrity standing will join the ranks of season one winner, Lou Diamond Phillips, and win $50,000 for the charity which they are playing for.

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Give a gift that will save lives and brighten many futures

This holiday season we can give gifts that will change lives of many families overseas to break from the cycle of poverty in a tangible way.  We can help these communities in developing countries and support the relief work of World Vision.  There are over 60 gifts we can choose from the World Vision site or call this 1-800-844-7993 number.  These sincere gifts will cheer up our family and friends, while helping those in developing countries to buy essential things needed for their livelihood i.e. food, shelter, healthcare and education.  With every purchase we make, we will get a card saying the difference the gift makes to a grateful family in the developing country.   

We can buy "2 hens and a rooster" as a gift for our family members or friends who enjoy cooking.  This gift will benefit a family trying to come out of poverty with about 150 eggs a year.

We can also choose to give "a goat" to a family member who loves animals.  This purchase will help a family in a developing country to use the goat for milk and manure, which will support their livelihood.

If you are looking to give a fashionable piece of accessory there are three options to choose from.  A Haitian hand-beaded necklace will change the lives of women and children around the world by supporting programs and getting them out of poverty by providing training, loans and skills.

Women and girls who have escaped their village because of exploitation and abuse make this beautiful beaded Turquoise wood bracelet with Thai beads.  The funds from these bracelets help the girls and women to live in safe houses and provide them protection, education and mentoring programs by older girls.

The hand woven embroidered silk scarf is made by women in Thailand.  The funds from our purchase helps support women and their families by providing them with micro loans, training etc.  

We can choose from a variety of gifts such as Mobile phones that support health workers to get a smartphone with access to critical medical information such as tools to check vital signs of illness, pregnancy and essential nutritional counselling 24 hours so they can support their community.  

Last mile mobile solution (LMMS) is a card that families can scan to get aid in an easy dignified manner when they need.  Protect a child from child labour, community savings kits, help supply a classroom, help drill a well for water, clothes, fruit trees, cow, mosquito nets, etc... are other gifts that we can choose from, which will benefit many people in the developing countries.

Lets stand together, open our hearts and help our brothers and sisters around the world!

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We Day: Be the change

Give the Canadian penny that appeared in 1853, a powerful farewell before it goes out of circulation. Students and schools were given penny bags on We Day to collect $25 in pennies, which will provide a permanent source of clean water to one person in developing countries. From November 1st to December 21st, then again in Spring 2013 RBC branches across Canada will collect these penny filled bags making it easy for us to collect the pennies without counting or rolling.  All we have to do is fill up the bags and drop it off at any RBC branch.

Free the Children is an international organization started by Marc and Craig Kielburger. This organization empowers youth to remove barriers that prevent them from begin active local and global citizens. This program educates, engages and empowers youth in North America and UK. 
   

We Day brings big issues to the forefront and changes the value system of everyone, especially the youth as they become leaders. There are over 1.7 million young people from 45 countries involved in this initiative to make a positive change at home and abroad. In the 2011/2012 school year youth raised $6 million for local and global causes.  They invested more than 1.7 million hours of time volunteering. 

I support this type of active awareness and education, and believe it is important for our children to be involved in these positive changes. I attended the We Day event at the Air Canada Centre, Toronto and was able to meet celebrities and activists such as Martin Sheen, Nelly Furtado and Jacob from Hedley. We listened and saw speakers and performers such as Molly Burke, Romeo A. Dallaire, Robin Wiszowaty, Shawn Desman, Spencer West, The Tenors, Tyler Shaw, Al Gore, Jake Zeldin, Jennifer Hudson, Jesse Giddings, Justice Murray Sinclair and Justin Trudeau.

We Day will be held in 8 Canadian cities this school year; Toronto (Sep 28), Vancouver (Oct 18), Alberta (Oct 24), Manitoba (Oct 30), Waterloo Region (Nov 14), Montreal (Nov 20) and National We day in Ottawa (Apr 29).  

The generous sponsors RBC and TELUS make We Day completely free for students and educators.  TELUS has a Phones for Good campaign where they will give $25 (up to $650,000) from the sale of every TELUS Samsung Galaxy SIII and Samsung Ace Q to Free the Children.

They also have an Earn your way to We Day campaign. TELUS gives $1 (up to $100,000) to Free the Children for every submission from the youth across Canada when they tell what they are doing to make a difference in their community.

Youth between 13 and 17 can submit their video on how they would partner with a local charity to make a positive change in their community and win $20,000 to put their idea into action.

MuchMusic will air highlights on November 11th at 7pm EST and CTV will air on November 24th at 7pm EST.  

The international projects such as "Adopt a village" done by Free the Children is a holistic, sustainable model that helps children and their families from the cycle of poverty.  To make an investment in these communities, this project helps develop five of these important parts of the infrastructure.  

1. Education: They make a valuable social investment by concentrating on providing traditional curriculum, healthy homes and business skills.  
2. Clean water and sanitation by providing localized clean water sources and facilities to reduce waterborne diseases.  This source helps the young children that trek to collect water for their families to attend school.
3. Health: providing medical supplies for health clinics and workshops so the community can treat illness quickly. They provide community gardens and tree planting.  Sports equipment to encourage physical fitness.
4. Alternative income and livelihood by skill training, financial business training and microcredit loans to help families start small business.
5. Agriculture and food security provides nutrition programs that give children nutritious food, crop diversification, agricultural training, irrigation and watershed development.  

When there is rapid growth in technology it is sad to see that some parts of the world there are people without the essential of life: WATER.  Things we can do to help.

• Get a penny bag from Free the Children or RBC branch and start collecting.
• Visit the online water initiative and donate.
• Purchase a $10 Me to We Artisan handmade unique Rafiki made by Maasai moms in Kenya, which will provide one person access to clean water for a year.

Help Canada use the penny for a good cause that will change the lives of so many people and communities.  The penny is used to make wishes come true, so lets make the wishes of 100,000 people come true.

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Disneynature Chimpanzee giveaway

Disneynature Chimpanzee is on Blu-ray combo pack, digital and on-demand from August 21st. This unforgettable and heartwarming adventure of Oscar, a young chimpanzee will be enjoyed by everyone in the family.  This true story is beautifully filmed showing the life of this curious chimpanzee.  The film is taken in the depths of the African rainforest.  

Anyone watching this movie will sympathize and relate to the lives of chimpanzees.  The story shows the individual triumph, family bonds and the importance of teamwork over hierarchy.  We enjoyed the creative narration of the movie.  There were moments that we got nervous, cried, laughed and became impressed by these extraordinary personalities in the animal kingdom. I like the bonus features and the songs in the movie. The stunning hi-definition images brings us up close and personal with this young chimp Oscar and his family.

Charity

For every purchase of the movie until August 27th Disneynature will donate $0.50 through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund to the Jane Goodall Institute. The minimum pledged to this program is $30000, which will conserve chimpanzee habitat that protects 129,236 acres, educate 60,000 children about chimpanzee conservation and provide care for chimpanzees.

Giveaway

If you would like to win a copy of this movie, please enter through the rafflecopter below.  The giveaway is open to people in Canada and US, ends on the 25th of August.

Update: The winner is saskmom

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Staples Back to School event and contest

Staples Canada is the largest office products company that has a wide choice of office services and products.  Staples offers an assortment of designs and essentials throughout the year to fit the needs of students from kindergarten to college and university.

Here are some product trends:
The Staples Better Binders that mix and match notebooks, pencil pouches and other basics come in beautiful themes such as Sugar rush (vibrant candy-coloured hues) and Graphic Fantastic (retro 80s sci-fi era).
Everyone will enjoy the cute cool lunch bags such as the built NY lunch bags, fun lunch bags and personalized water bottles.  I liked the stylish lunch bags i.e. Elle for girls and ladies.

Staples has a wide range of backpacks that come in fashionable colours, Disney themes to attract the princess and superhero fans.    
Older children can choose from the selection of ergonomic bags i.e. Hilroy Five Star backpacks to help avoid injuries because the shoulder straps ensure even distribution of weight and sits correctly on the back.  
There are lots of products and learning supplies for educators, preschoolers and young children. 
 
I liked all the locker gears.  The selection of locker accessories are vast, wish some of these were available when I was in high school :)  Everything was in fashion inspired colours and patterns.  They also have different styles of Dudley combination locks.  
There are lots of innovative stylish calculators and earbuds.  The Crayola Earbuds looked really cool.
Many products were in animal prints such as pencils, books, scissors and many more.

The functional flash drives were very neat, everything looked cool enough for us to start a collection.  There were different types of USB drives i.e. cartoon characters, movie characters and cars.  I liked the car USBs; I wouldn't have thought these were flash drives.

I liked the products that were available for home office and geared for moms to help stay organized such as the planners, colour coding files, labels etc.

Staples back to school 7th annual school supply drive
Many Canadian families struggle to provide their children with the supplies needed to succeed; so Staples Canada along with the customers are collecting money or supplies until September 9th.  
Support your local community by donating.  All donations remain in the respective local communities.  These items are not just tools, but a way to start the school year with confidence and enthusiasm.  Staples goal is to raise a total of $1.5 million.  

Contest
Build Your Backpack on the Staples Canada Facebook and win school supplies prize packs.  Students will be encouraged to share both their creativity and wish lists through the app.

This pen reminds us of the upcoming September 14th Finding Nemo on 3D coming to the theatres, are you excited to SEA it as well :)
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Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax movie is arriving on Blu-ray 3D and 2D combo pack on August 7th.  The story of the movie is based on the best-selling children's book by Dr. Seuss.

Pediped footwear for boys

Pediped footwear system is separated into three age groups.  0 to 24 months have original first shoes.  9 months to 3 years the grip-go shoes are for active toddlers.  2 to 8 years flex is for confident walkers.  We tested the comfortable stylish Pediped flex shoes for boys.  

My son enjoys wearing this Flex mercury Navy, Red, Silver shoe because of the way it looks, its comfort and it's his favourite colour.  This shoe has a cushioned arch support and soft rubber sole that provides flexibility and promotes healthy foot development. All Pediped shoes, except for sandals and select boots come with the 2mm insole to customize to each child's feet. The child starts with both insoles, then as the feet grows we remove the flex 2mm insole to extend the length of time the shoes can be worn. It is easy to place and remove the soft insoles. The placement of the insole depends if there is space on the width or length of the space in the shoe when the child is wearing it; to test the space feel all around the shoes and place your pinky finger on the back and side.  It should be a snug fit not tight.  Remove the insole as the child's feet grows, I find that with little children the shoe size changes at least every six months :)  I like this neat idea because if the shoe is not snug fit children could trip wearing big shoes.   

One side of the shoe's tongue is attached to the shoes, so it doesn't get pushed when children are trying to wear the shoes on their own.  The velcro strap makes it easy for young children to keep the shoes securely on their feet. These flexible, lightweight shoes are machine washable. The upper part of the shoes has breathable mesh like material.  The shoes are flexible and helps with natural motion.  The sole of the shoes are natural rubber, don't put it in the dryer; just let it air dry.    

The shoes are designed in USA and made in China. American Podiatric Association accepts all the cute Pediped children's footwear.

It is easy to shop online as the products are separated by gender and age group.  We can also shop for the shoes at these retail stores worldwide. 

Don't throw away as The Little Gym is launching "Big hearts little shoes" a shoe donation campaign.  They are collecting used or outgrown shoes to benefit Soles4Souls an international charity that collects shoes and distributes to people in need around the globe.  

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World Elephant day

The first-ever World Elephant Day is on August 12, 2012.  In conjunction with this day the film "Return to the Forest" by Patricia Sims informs the public about the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants.
There are only 50,000 Asian elephants left in the world and are now considered endangered.  About 4000 live in Thailand, with 2800 in captivity and 1200 in the wild.  The elephants are facing severe threat because of habitat loss.  Asian elephants are being killed for their ivory, meat, tourism etc.
In Africa there are less than 400,000 elephants.  In the past two years because of ivory the elephants have been killed in high levels.  About 100 elephants are daily killed for illegal trade.
This international awareness campaign is commissioned and supported by the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation.  Videos for your interest.


We can help 

• by learning about elephants and their role in the environment and extend this concern to other animals.  
• Support organizations that provide natural sanctuaries for elephants to live freely without the stress and trauma of captivity.  
• We can also support organizations that are working to stop illegal trade to protect wildlife

Most importantly 

• Do not buy ivory or other wildlife products.  
• Don't buy coffee that is not from fair trade or shade-grown, nor products with palm oil because these commercial crops grown in plantations reduces hectares of forest in Asia.  
• Buy only wood products that have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council that promotes responsible management of the world's forests.

In support you can also like their Facebook, follow on twitter
screening the 30 minute documentary "Return to the Forest" produced by CanazWest Pictures at your event or
donating to the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation on the World Elephant Day site.
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