All over the world, awesome people are doing cool things to support great causes. The Buddha Belly Badge recognizes creative and inspiring ways to help others. New stuff posted each week so check back often.
Share your own awesome experiences by visiting the Submissions Section or adding your stories, photos and videos to our Facebook Page.
Fighting climate change in awesome new ways, Our Horizon launches its #16yearsleft campaign and needs your help. Yowzers! Has it been this long since I last posted?? Shameful, I know. In my defense it’s been an insanely busy couple of months here in snowy Waterloo, Ontario. Throw a nasty bout of strep throat into the [...]
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Back in July I ran the Bucket List Challenge, inviting people to share their life goals. One of the entries I received was from my step-sister, Nicole, who I introduced you too a while back for the amazing work she’s doing to help others. Cheekily, Nicole wrote: “On my bucket list…to get Josh Martin to [...]
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One of the most awesome, simple and selfless ways you can help somebody is by being a blood donor. In 2008, at age 27, I was diagnosed with Chronic Mylogenous Leukemia. The doctors gave me 40-50% of surviving. Despite the odds, my doctors and I were determined to do everything in our power to beat [...]
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Remembrance Day is November 11 – a time for us to reflect on our freedom and honour the brave men and women who served (and continue to serve) our country in both times of war and peace. My maternal Grandfather, Mark Dalton, fought in World War II as a solider in the US Army. He [...]
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A couple weeks ago I wrote about the birthday “human art show” my friends and family performed for me while I was in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Another uplifting and awesome thing they pulled together was a “book of encouragement.” My sister, Becky, coordinated this project while I was in the hospital again, this [...]
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I may have dropped my hammer off the roof five times, but even so, I had a great day recently volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build. In addition to lending a hand for a great cause, it was great to just get out of the house and do something different. The next morning I [...]
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On October 15th I celebrated my 4-year bone marrow transplant anniversary. Or, “transplantiversary”, as my friend Tina calls it. Four years! Holy crap! In many ways it seems like yesterday I was undergoing treatment for leukemia. In other ways, it seems like a lifetime ago. Either way, I have to pinch myself sometimes to remind [...]
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When I think of knitting, my 86-year-old grandma comes to mind. When I think of graffiti, an angry youth who wasn’t hugged enough as a child comes to mind. When I think of combining knitting and graffiti, my mind explodes from the ensuing awesomeness. I have mixed feelings about graffiti. On the one hand, it [...]
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Last week I introduced you to Nicole Smith, who completed the Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk to end breast cancer. Well apparently the apple doesn’t fall too far the tree. Because this week’s Badge of Awesome goes to her son, Keagan, who recently celebrated his 10th birthday in a very awesome way. Instead of the [...]
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Today’s post is dedicated to my friend and mentor, Myrta Rivera, who passed away of cancer earlier this week. One of the best people I’ve ever known. Cancer sucks. Fighting cancer is awesome. As a cancer survivor myself, I know all too well how important family, friends and community are to the journey. One of [...]
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A couple weeks ago I talked about my experience volunteering on a refugee camp in Ghana. Keeping up with the theme of volunteer travel, this week’s Buddha Belly Badge is all about WWOOF’ing. WWOOF stands for World Wide Opprtunities On Organic Farms. It pairs willing workers (affectionately known as WWOOFers) with organic farmers looking for [...]
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It’s often the little things that have the biggest impact on our days. Whether it’s that stranger holding the door for you, your friend sending you flowers “just because,” or your fellow commuter waving you in when you’re trying to change lanes, little acts of kindness are just plain awesome. The Random Acts of Kindness [...]
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Travel is awesome. Travel that helps other people is even better. Volunteer travel, or “Voluntourism“, is a great way to learn about another part of the world, learn more about yourself and the discover firsthand the joys of lending a hand. I recently wrote an article for BootsnAll magazine about a volunteer experience I had [...]
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“One person’s trash is another’s treasure.” Weaving old milk bags into sleeping mats for people living in poverty may be one of the coolest examples of this. For several years now, my Step-Mom and Dad have been turning bags of milk into Bags of Awesome. Crafty knitters and crocheters use the exterior bags (the ones [...]
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This week’s Buddha Belly Badge of Awesome goes to Jon Webster and his youth group in Streetsville, Ontario. Though perhaps not as violent as the KO Cancer event I told you about last week, as the video below shows, this kick-ass pillow fight from a few years ago still packs a great punch. “We did [...]
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Mom always told me that violence doesn’t solve anything. The Canmore Fight Club in Alberta, however, may beg to differ. For the past 3 years, Canmore Fight Club owner and Alberta Golden Gloves Champion (and this blogger’s baby brother), Nick Martin, has been hosting a Rumble in the Rockies as a fundraiser to fight cancer. [...]
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I grew up in rural Southwestern Ontario. So I’m no stranger to cow poop. But in all my years of smelling it, stepping in it and hurling it at my cousins, it never once crossed my mind to use it to raise money for charity. . Here’s how Cow Patty Bingo works: A grid is [...]
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This week’s Buddha Belly Badge goes to Heather Smyth for sharing this video of the awesome piece she recited at a recent SLAM competition. . Congratulations to Heather who finished second place in the Summer Slam event! Inspiring stuff. Check out more of the slam videos on the Writer’s Community of Durham Region’s website. So [...]
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I’m not quite sure where the cockles of my heart are located. But, after watching this video of Caine’s Arcade, I know they’re pretty damn toasty right about now. You may have already seen this bouncing around the ol’ social media channels. If you haven’t, you need to. . I can relate to Caine in [...]
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“…something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better.” – TheFunTheory.com Ever have your folks tell you they used to walk 40 miles to [...]
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What’s cheap, dusty and awesome all over? If you think sidewalk chalk is only good for hopscotch, tic tac toe or draw boobies on Old Man McCallum’s driveway with your grade school chum, think again. This Buddha Belly badge comes from Rob Shirkey who’s been using this dollar store doodling device in a unique way. [...]
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Flash mobs have become wildly popular in recent years. And for good reason. They’re fun, unexpected and can be an effective way to grab people’s attention. As such, a kick-ass flash mob can be a great way to raise awareness about your charitable cause or event. I got to participate in a flash mob in [...]
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