The Actionable Literacy Project is a 12 interview DVD compilation, containing candid and unedited conversations with Best-Selling, business book authors. The conversations focus on employee success principles for the 21st century; explaining how “doing your job” isn’t enough any more… and what to do instead. The authors in this series donated their time to the project, allowing 100% of profits from the sales of these DVDs to support Room to Read; an organization dedicated to increasing global literacy.

The participants in the DVD:

• Seth Godin
• Gary Vaynerchuk
• Roger Martin
• Simon Sinek
• Gina Mollicone-Long
• Max Lenderman
• Sally Hogshead
• Andy Nulman
• Dan Pink
• Dan Heath
• Steve Farber
• Sir Ken Robinson

You can follow their activity on twitter via the #ALProject hashtag, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Actionable-Books/120024331391272

For more information, or to purchase the DVD, visit www.actionableliteracy.com

Help The Bicycle Factory™ Meet Its Goal!

In Africa, a bicycle can change a person’s life and a community’s future.  A bicycle can mean access to essential services such as clean water, medical care and education.  It’s an invaluable vehicle that opens up a world of possibilities.

For the second year, The Bicycle Factory™ is in operation and is close to its goal of virtually building 5,000 bicycles for school children in Africa.  There are only 1,000 bicycles to go, and we need your help!

The Bicycle Factory™ is open 24 hours a day at www.thebicyclefactory.ca.  To help, simply enter the UPC code of any Cadbury product including Caramilk*, Dairy Milk*¸ Maynards*, Dentyne*, Stride*, Trident* and Halls* and watch it magically transform into a virtual bicycle part that will help build a new bicycle for a child in Africa.  Each UPC code is equal to one bicycle part, and 100 UPC codes equal a bicycle. With your help, Cadbury will send 5,000 bicycles to Ghana, Africa.  Hurry, the factory closes on November 14, 2010.

Look at your gum, three o’clock snack and your after-dinner treat in a whole new way.

You have the power to make a difference!

This year, Starry Nights is excited to announce a School Supply Fundraiser through their Twitter account, @StarryNightsTO!

The fundraiser runs from October 27th to November 6th, 2010. For every 10 net new followers the Twitter account, @StarryNightsTO, Ve’ahavata – the charity that organizes the Starry Nights gala every year - will donate 1 School Supply Kit to a deserving child in Haiti. These children cannot afford basic school supplies for their education. The School Supply Kits help relieve a family’s financial obstacle of providing their children with the education needed to battle poverty.  For more information on the fundraiser, you can find details on the Starry Night’s Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/aRhJ8E

So what can you do to help?
1. Make sure you follow @StarryNightsTO on Twitter
2. Tell your friends to follow the account as well!

More about the 8Th annual Starry Nights gala:
On November 7, Ve’ahavata will honour deserving humanitarians who have demonstrated extraordinary efforts to repair the world at Starry Nights: the Tikun Olam Awards. This year’s event features keynote speaker is internationally acclaimed humanitarian activist Sir Bob Geldof and Master of Ceremonies David Shore - creator, writer and executive producer for the award winning television series HOUSE M.D.

Starry Nights: Ve’ahaveta’s Tikun Olam Awards
Date: November 7, 2010
Time: 7PM-12AM
Location: Toronto Centre For The Performing Arts-Recital Hall
Street: 5040 Yonge Street (click for map)
City/Town: Toronto, ON
Event Facebook Page URL: http://www.facebook.com/VeahavtaStarryNights
Ticket Price: $125
Link to buy Tickets: http://bit.ly/StarryNightsTickets

More about the School Supply Kits (referred to as the Kinder Kit Project below) and Ve’ahavta:
Ve’ahavta’s launched the Kinder Kit Project in 2009 to provide educational supplies to 1,500 children in the pilot year. These kits contain the supplies necessary for a child’s academic year. Without the proper tools to learn, a child’s chance at success is dramatically decreased

In 2010, Ve’ahavta distributed over 10,000 Kinder Kits internationally through our international distribution partners in Israel, Haiti, Poland, Zimbabwe, and Kenya. Another 5,000 Kinder Kits will be distributed in Canada to enhance the ability of local organizations to improve the lives of the children they serve.

In 2011 Ve’ahavta is planning to distribute 30,000 kits worldwide in order to maintain our commitment to children of impoverished households.

Hey do-gooders. Toronto-based charity Ve’ahavta is hosting their 8th annual Starry Nights Award on November 7 - and you’re invited!

Starry Nights is all about showing that there are people helping others around the world, and that every action is important. Your ticket to Starry Night does just that: Your contribution helps Ve’ahavta make the world a better place.

In case you haven’t heard about Ve’ahavta, here’s a bit about them: Motivated by the Jewish value of tzedakah – the obligation to do justice – Ve’ahavta assists the needy locally and abroad through volunteerism, education, and acts of kindness. Here’s some of the great work they’ve done recently:

• Saved over 200 orphans in Haiti by providing clean water and sustainable farming.
• Distributed over 10,000 ‘Kinder Kits’ internationally in Israel, Haiti, Poland, Zimbabwe & Kenya
• Developed a response to the crisis in Pakistan through a Pakistan Flood Relief Fund
• Distributed pharmaceuticals in Indonesia following a recent earthquake

On November 7, Ve’ahavata will honour deserving humanitarians who have demonstrated extraordinary efforts to repair the world at Starry Nights: the Tikun Olam Awards. This year’s event features keynote speaker is internationally acclaimed humanitarian activist Sir Bob Geldof and Master of Ceremonies David Shore - creator, writer and executive producer for the award winning television series HOUSE M.D.

So come out on November 7 to support Starry NIghts and meet people who are looking to make a difference just like you.

And follow Starry Nights on twitter @StarryNightsTO to stay for fun facts, giveaways and other great ways to support Starry Nights!

Starry Nights: Ve’ahaveta’s Tikun Olam Awards
Date: November 7, 2010
Time: 7PM-12AM
Location: Toronto Centre For The Performing Arts-Recital Hall
Street: 5040 Yonge Street (click for map)
City/Town: Toronto, ON
Event Facebook Page URL: http://www.facebook.com/VeahavtaStarryNights
Ticket Price: $125
Link to buy Tickets: http://bit.ly/StarryNightsTickets

heARTS for Pakistan successfully pledges support towards the worst humanitarian tragedy

Toronto, ON - Over 200 Torontonians came together at heARTS for Pakistan this Monday, October 18, 2010 at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto, where over $15,000 was raised, with approximately $5000 matched by CIDA and the Canadian government, for survivors of the Pakistani floods which devastated the country back in August.

Partnered with the Humanitarian Coalition, heARTS for Pakistan, a silent art auction and fundraiser, successfully engaged the Toronto community and provided an opportunity for the arts community across Canada to collaboratively support international efforts to bring relief to victims of the floods in Pakistan.

The worst humanitarian tragedy of the decade according to the United Nations, the Pakistani floods have affected one-fifth of Pakistan and have left over 20 million people displaced. As governments around the world struggle to assist survivors of the floods, the UN has requested international donors to come together to raise the hundreds of millions of dollars now required in aid. The most vulnerable now face twin perils of hunger and disease as food supplies have been devastated and sources of clean water severely contaminated.

Among others, speakers at the event included Scarborough MP Jim Karygiannis, who has accompanied doctors to Pakistan since the floods and spoke about the heartfelt plea of the Pakistani people. He encouraged people to open their hearts and their wallets and in an impromptu on-stage bidding, collected $780 in donations in under five minutes, for the cause.

The silent art auction sold 75 of the generously donated art pieces sold, while providing the Toronto community a chance to bid on beautiful art work, serving as lasting reminders of an effort to help flood survivors re-build their lives in Pakistan, well beyond the event.

The night came together with special guest appearances by strong supporters of the arts including Toronto’s Deputy Mayor, Joe Pantalone; MP for Scarborough, Jim Karygiannis; Mrs Pakistan World, Tehmena Bokhari; Miss India Canada, Anchal Sharma, singer from popular pop/rock band JoSH, Q, along with community dignitaries, business leaders, and of course Canadian artists.

“A crisis can build a community and show us at our best. This is definitely the case for heARTS for Pakistan, who brought together volunteers, artists, sponsors and supporters to raise critically-needed funds for Humanitarian Coalition members’ Pakistan flood-relief efforts” said Humanitarian Coalition spokesperson, Denise Koulis. “The money raised by heARTS for Pakistan will save lives and help rebuild communities.”

About H4PK: Building on the success of heARTS for Haiti in Vancouver,  heARTS for Pakistanwas a silent art auction and fundraiser held on Monday, October 18 at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto, to raise money and awareness for the victims of the floods in Pakistan back in August. 100% of the proceeds went to support the Humanitarian Coalition’s flood relief efforts in Pakistan. For more information, please visit: www.hearts4pakistan.com

About Humanitarian Coalition:  Four of Canada’s leading aid organizations have founded the Humanitarian Coalition: CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Québec and Save the Children Canada. The members of the Humanitarian Coalition work together to increase the impact of Canadian humanitarian responses and reduce administrative costs. For more information, please visit: www.thehumanitariancoalition.ca

For more pictures from the event please visit:
www.picasaweb.google.com/hearts4pakistan/HeARTSForPakistan#

A great friend of ours, Kim MacGregor, asked us to join her grassroots movement that looks to unite 1,000,000 women across the world with a goal to recognize “The amazing women in their lives”. This initiative was put together in memory of Kim’s friend Erika Heller who was battling colon cancer for over 4 years.

By inspiring people to come together in a flash mob at Eaton Center in Toronto, Kim is aimed to put a smile on peoples face and remind them to think of the amazing women in their life who have inspired and supported them.

Check out the video, and remember to take her challenge today

For more info, please visit http://www.ibelieveshesamazing.com/ and join her movement!

Wahooo! It looks like Eli Freeze and his Freestyle Soccer peeps, who attended the April 4th #pibTO are back again! They will be  joining us at the Pay It Backward Day heaquarters (Second Cup cafe @ Queen St. & John St. in Toronto) from 1-3pm TOMORROW - working their footy magic on and around the red carpet of Do-Gooders! Check out the video below, for a brief preview of what creative, amazing footskills these guys can rock:

…can YOU do that? Yeeeeeeeah. Can’t wait to see these guys in action, LIVE tomorrow!

*Check back in soon for more updates on what other exciting stuff will be going on at the Pay It Backward Day HQ location tomorrow! Hint: Expect BIG things.

I recently read a quote from the Dalai Lama that said, “I think technology may have some benefits for a smart brain, but no capacity to produce compassion.” Oh yeah, Dalai Lama? Well, I beg to differ!

I really love this community. The Toronto Internet nerdly nerdstrom community, to clarify. I’ve only been living in this city for about two and a half years, but I feel at home here more than I’ve felt at home anywhere else. I applied for (and got) my job because keeping in touch with people I’ve met in the community; I met the man of my dreams through this community; and I have more friends now than I can remember ever having any other time in my life because of this community — REAL friends who I trust and choose to spend my life with.

Every time I tweet something about feeling down or being sick, handfuls of you make me feel like a million dollars with your sympathy and well wishes. When I celebrated my 24th birthday at a genYTO party, I walked in and received my first ever standing ovation. When I doubted my ability to run with the bulls (not literally — I’m totally sure I could do that), Sarah Prevette and Saul Colt reminded me why I’m good at what I do and how I got to where I am.

Hopefully you see where I’m going with this. This community is unbelievably supportive and kind and COMPASSIONATE.

And you know what? We’re not just about high fives and hugging each other. We do good. Check it out:

* We raised over $25,000 at the first HoHoTO in December, 2008 for the Daily Bread Food Bank and another $10,500 this August at HoHOTo.
* Also last December, joining forces all around the world, Twestival Toronto donated over $10,000 to charity: water to help build wells to provide safe drinking water to people in developing nations. And just a few weeks ago over $6,000 was given to Meal Exchange because of our community’s continuing efforts with Twestival.
* The local chapter of the World Partnership Walk got together a league of super heroes to fight global poverty and donated $2,500 to Aga Khan Foundation Canada this past May.
* The Transforming for Sick Kids team raised over $2,600 to benefit the Therapeutic Clown Program at the Hospital for SickKids in June of this year.

There are a million other efforts that should be included on this list — and I hope you yell at me for forgetting them — but the moral of the story is there’s power in numbers, baby!

And speaking of SickKids, this shouldn’t be news to you, but I can’t stress enough how important it is for everyone to go to any Second Cup location in Ontario and Pay It Backward tomorrow, September 30. Buy a coffee for the person behind you in line and with each simple act of “coffee kindness”, Second Cup, Silk Soy Beverage and Ivanhoe Cambridge will donate $5 to SickKids Foundation.

Let’s all help raise Daily Challenge’s goal of inspiring 3,000 acts of kindness on in order to raise $15,000 for SickKids Foundation in a single day!

So, before I go, just want to let you all know I promise to never forget the kindness you constantly show me, what you do for everyone else in the community and your charitable efforts that are changing the world. How’s that for compassion through technology?

Thanks to alicepopkorn for the use of this photo.

I suppose it doesn’t have the same ring, but keep an open mind as you read down the page.

We are 2 days from kickoff!

The good news keeps filing in, the day’s events are taking shape and most importantly, the city is a buzz with Pay It Backward chirps (it’s chirps, right?).

But wait! There’s more!!

If you haven’t heard by now, we are giving away a handful of “Coffee Hero” cards for Wednesday’s events. Coffee Hero cards are probably my most favourite thing in the world right now. I’ve been begging the folks at Daily Challenge to let me have one, but to no avail. Instead, they’ve let me write a blog post about how 5 people (lucky fives!) can become the “Bee’s Knees” of PIB Day. Thanks.

A Coffee Hero card lets you walk into any Second Cup, this Wednesday, and buy coffee for everyone in sight!

I’m not kidding. This is why I love it - I’ve always wanted to blow the socks off of a bunch of strangers and make a scene while doing it. Now this is your chance. If you are the first - THE FIRST! - to do any one of the following things, we will send you a Coffee Hero card valid for Wednesday’s Pay It Backward day.  I can only hope you’ll record the scene you make… for my sake.  And your Coffee Heroes are….

1. The first person to: Tweet this post
2. The first person to: Snap a picture of our ad in today’s Metro and post to Flickr
3. The first person to: Put a PIB Badge on their website/blog
4. The first person to: Write a blog post about why they love PIB
5. The first person to: Create their own Pay It Backward Facebook Group for their friends to storm a Second Cup location together.

We’re also giving away two totally awesome Pay It Backward Day t-shirts - as seen above on our beautiful model, Samantha Holt. These two shirts go to the following Do-Gooders:

1. The first person to: recruit 2 new members to join www.dailychallenge.org
2. The first person to: to view and share this video with their networks (via Twitter, Facebook, blog, etc)

Ready? Go! (Just be sure to leave us a note in the comments once you’ve accomplished your tasks!)

I am the last guy that should be writing a blog post. You wouldn’t believe the frustration that has come my way just trying to ink something simple and to the point. This is my first blog post and to be honest, I had to consult someone about how to do this. Does this mean I’m a blogger now?

So what is this blog post all about?

Recently, Daily Challenge contacted me and had all these really incredible things to say about my involvement in Pay It Backward Day. They even called me a hero! A hero. really? It is flattering to be sure, but the last time I checked, I can’t leap over tall buildings nor do I wear a cape or sport a utility belt.

I really didn’t understand the “hero” remark. I thought about it for a while and thought - “This ‘do gooding’ thing is pretty simple and effortless.” All I did was pick up the phone, share my ideas and made sure others got involved in the fun. You see, I am fortunate enough to work with really amazing people who love the PIB Day concept so much, it hardly needed a push to take off. When I explained the event and how I wanted my company to participate, there was an instant feeling of excitement and enthusiasm which got me even more revved up! So much so, that I went a bit well… crazy. Not like ‘Tom Cruise on Oprah’ crazy. Good crazy. Okay maybe crazy isn’t the right word… how about inspired. The enthusiasm ignited something - Inspiration!

That’s when it became a whirlwind. I had all these ideas I wanted to bring to the table. The challenge was to find a way to use my ideas in a way that would get people to participate. When the dust settled, something became very clear. I had a “reach” - one that had been in front of me all along. I had a way to send the Pay It Backward concept all the way from Vaughan Mills in Vaughan to as far as Devonshire Mall in Windsor! After hearing the story of the original Pay It Backward, I realized that it would be impossible to ignore the message and my ability to distribute it further.

This whole “hero” thing has everything to do with my actions, I’m told. The more I think about it, the more I see these actions being performed by the people around me. It’s never really been a single effort on my part. The company I work for is more than a real estate company. It is a group of people. Individuals who have genuine concern for their communities and who will take part to make them successful. Our participation is a really big part of who we are. We are probably a lot like you.

I wasn’t looking to ignite people, I just wanted to help. The other stuff just seemed to come together on it’s own.

Thanks to fiskfisk for the use of the Guitar Hero photo.