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Cycle for Change: Otesha bike tours
Welcome to beautiful British Columbia. Home of the Canucks, the West Coast Trail, Bryan Adams… and freakishly large zucchinis?
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Live more responsibly at Lifestyle Citizens
Be more awesome to each other and the world around you. Those are the guts of our sister organization, Lifestyle Citizens. I set up the not-for-profit as a way to help people who want to live more socially and environmentally responsible.
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Donate Blood
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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Remember: Wartime letters from my Grandpa
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.
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Assemble a Book of Encouragement
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.”
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Build a House: Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity
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.
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Perform a human art show
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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Yarnstorm the streets: Graffiti Knitting
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.
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Host a pasta dinner fundraiser for your birthday
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.
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Walk to end breast cancer: The Susan G. Komen 3-Day
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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Go WWOOF’ing: World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms
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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Perform a random act of kindness
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.
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Get your boots dirty: Volunteer overseas
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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Put your old milk bags to good use: Weaving mats for families in developing countries
“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.
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Have a pillow fight for a good cause
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.
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Knock out cancer: Canmore Fight Club’s KO Cancer event
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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Raise money using poop: Cow Patty Bingo
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.
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SLAM your message home: Spoken word events
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.
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Support kids’ crazy ideas: Caine’s Arcade
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.
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Build a Piano Staircase: Creative behaviour change
“…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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Share your message with sidewalk chalk
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.
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Put on a Flash Mob
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…