We are now only 7 days away from what’s set to be the most exciting Do Gooder phenomenon ever seen by Ontarians!
Pay It Backward Day is taking place at 170+ Second Cup cafes across the province next Wednesday, September 30. With the support of our sponsors The Second Cup Ltd and Silk Soy Beverage, together as a community will be raising funds for the amazing SickKids Hospital through 2000 small acts of kindness.
Here’s how you can get involved right now:
Join the Movement- Connect to the Pay It Backward Day website easily with your Facebook or Daily Challenge account to join hundreds of other Do Gooders.
Find Your Location- Pinpoint the Second Cup cafe in your ‘hood that you’re going to pay it back at. Why not take your friends, family or colleagues with you for the magic?
Hit the Headquarters- Are you in the Downtown Toronto area? Come join us at 307 Queen St. (Queen/John) for special entertainment, celebrities, media, and more on September 30th!
Share the Goodness - Invite your Facebook friends to the Pay It Backward day website, post badges on your blog, or tweet away with #PIBday!
Watch the Videos - See the amazing videos on YouTube entitled “I’m Alive Today Because of SickKids” and “Why do YOU Pay It Backward?”.
Enter the Contest - You could win an iPod Nano with a click of a button if you’re participating in Pay It Backward Day!
One of the best parts of going to a concert for a great band is the crowd. It begins with the excitement that fills the air entering the venue. We’re all there to see a favourite artist and the excitement pouring into the stadium is palpable. Which songs will they play? What will they open with? What will be said on stage? The house lights go down, the stage lights go up, and we’re all entranced.
The energy of the crowd reaches another level when the band plays their biggest hits and cellphones and camera flashbulbs fill the air. Then, almost invariably, something magical happens. The lead singer brings us to the chorus and… stops singing. But the concert doesn’t grind to a halt. Rather, the voices of the crowd fill the air. Some of us can sing, and some of us can only yell – but from all that practice alone in our room or in the shower, we all know the words. And by the thousands of us coming together, we create something that none of us could ever achieve on our own, and something none of us will soon forget.
When I learned that the second installment of Pay it Backward Day would bring together people from across Ontario at over 170 Second Cup locations, I felt that same excitement of entering the stadium before a big show. So many of us buy a coffee every day, but we do it alone and we do it for ourselves. On September 30, we’ll have a chance to do something we’d do on our own anyways, but by Paying it Backward, we unite. By joining the movement, our voices unite to create something we could never duplicate on our own. We will make history and we’ll help hundreds, even thousands of children just by doing we’d do on our own anyways. But by doing it together.
So let’s raise our voices and make September 30th a day to remember. Pay it Backward, everybody - we all know the words so let’s make something memorable.
Pay It Backward Day is a BIG event, so it clearly deserves the proper kick-off fiesta. This September 22nd, Daily Challenge and Notable TV will host the official Pre PIB Day Party - and it’s going to be quite the classy event.
Here are a few quick details…
Where: Atelier (508 King West, King and Spadina)
When: Tuesday, September 22nd: 7pm-10pm
Who: Some of Toronto’s most influential Do-Gooders and social media gurus
This hot event will be a fabulous pre-cursor to September 30th’s Pay It Backward Day! We’re looking forward to rallying the community behind such an amazing cause.
Aside from being TONS of fun and inspiring the community to commit small acts of kindness, Pay It Backward Day is a wonderful event because it supports one of Canada’s most amazing institutions: The Hospital for Sick Children…aka SickKids Hospital.
When we first entertained the idea of Pay It Backward Day, we reached out to our Daily Challenge community and asked, ‘We want to support a cause. What should it be?’ - the answer was overwhelminglySickKids Foundation. And now we know why.
Over the past few months, we’ve come to realize that almost everyone in our community knows someone whose life has been touched by this one-of-a-kind hospital. Here at Daily Challenge, we were fortunate enough to connect with a few people who owe their life to their experience at SickKids. Being able to hear each survivor’s personal journey first-hand was truly inspirational - so much so, that we compiled a short 3-minute video of clips from their interviews to share with you.
The video, a montage of powerful clips and interview excerpts, certainly invites goosebumps and perhaps even a tear or two. But, most importantly, its a fabulous reminder as to why everyone should Pay It Backward for SickKids Hospital on September 30th.
Grab some tissues. Check it out. Tweet it. Facebook it. Blog it. Love it.
HUGE thank you’s go to: Jon Lim, our lovely and super patient videographer, as well as to the band Ohbijou for letting us use their beautiful song, “Wildfires.”
As of today, the Pay It Backward Day promotions are in FULL effect - and we couldn’t be more excited!!! With the help of our amazing sponsors, The Second Cup Ltd and Silk Soy Beverage, plus a host of other media and donation sponsors, we are well on our way to blowing April 4th’s pibTO out of the water.
First of all, starting today, 170+ Second Cup cafes across Ontario are decked out in full-out Pay It Backward Day decor. From posters, to buttons, to challenge cards by the register, Pay It Backward Day is written all over the place! Silk Soy Beverage is doing their part to help us raise awareness, too - as of today, they have developed their own site devoted to this do-gooding intiative. Stop on by and learn more about the vital role that Silk is playing in the Pay It Backward Day movement!
Speaking of websites…you may have noticed that we have launched our own new, upgraded site - but if not, you’ve gotta check it out, stat! Thanks to our glorious creative team at Jet Cooper and the dedication to excellence of our lead developer @darcy_clarke the site looks amazing and is full of tons of useful information - including maps of participating Second Cup locations, contest and event information, and much more!
Yep, the Pay It Backward Day ball is officially rolling. If you haven’t stopped by to “Join the Movement” on our new site, I highly suggest you do so! And, in the mean time, keep your eyes peeled for more PIB Day paraphenalia floating about the city. We’ve got lots of tricks up our sleeves - so be sure to check back in with us to learn the latest Pay It Backward Day shenanigans…
Apparently we served up a pretty nice Pay It Backward Day. Ah yes, it’s a beautiful thing… as it seems we successfully whet the appetite of Torontonian Do-Gooders with our record-breaking pibTO this past April 4th. Ever since we broke the world record for coffee acts of kindness at a local Second Cup café and donated 100% of the proceeds to SickKids Hospital, the community’s demand for more ‘good’ events has been exponential.
Whether it’s via tweets, blog posts, or the ever-so-traditional email, we have heard your cry for another opportunity to do some good in your ‘hood’. And so, this September 30th, we present you with Pay It Backward Day 2.0! Bring your party hats, because it’s going to be a good time!
Alongside our amazing sponsors, Second Cup and Silk Soy Beverage, we invite Do Gooders across Ontario to join us on Sept. 30th at any participating Second Cup location to “pay it backward” by buying the order for the person behind them in line. Every time this happens, our sponsors will donate $5* to SickKids Foundation! We’re shooting for the stars here - hoping to inspire 2,000 acts of “coffee kindness” in order to raise $10,000 for SickKids Foundation in a single day!
So, the moral of the story? Help us make a BIG impact for SickKids through small acts of kindness by visiting a participating Second Cup on September 30th and offering to ‘pay it backward.’
Be on the lookout for the launch of www.dailychallenge.org/pib, where you’ll be able to find out more information about the initiative and JOIN THE MOVEMENT!
On Saturday April 04th-2009 hundreds of Torontonians came out to a local coffee shop in the heart of the city to prove that when we unite over small acts of kindness, we can collectively create a big impact - and eventually change the world.
We want to thank everyone who came out to support the cause. We love each and everyone of you!
For information on our next event email us at events{at}dailychallenge{dot}org.
Special THANK YOU to Suresh and Nina of www.spotlighttoronto.com for this amazing video. Thank you for helping us share our story with the world!
If you’ve been following the Pay It Backward buzz… well… all systems are GO!
The weather looks just fine (sunny skies) for this afternoon (at 1pm we crash the gates) and the festivities kick off at noon. We’ve also added some more fun to the day by inviting the Toronto Raptors Dance Pak who will be out to give us some encouragement (i.e. if they can wear uniforms at 8 degrees, we should probably stay quiet :P).
WHAT’S EVEN BETTER….
Late last night, Second Cup agreed to match the charitable donation of our Queen St. & John St. franchise owner, Benny! Now, instead of 50% of proceeds going to SickKids - all 100% do! And if you can’t make it out to the event, but are wondering how you can help from home… donations of any amount can be made here.
Thanks to the Globe & Mail, Breakfast Television & Rogers for all the media props in the last couple of days. For everyone getting the Pay It Backward message today for the very first time - everything you need to know is coming up in 3… 2… 1….
To recap all the need-to-knows…
What: A record-breaking day for good deeds (more than 490 “pay it backward” coffee buys). When: April 4th @ 1 p.m. (the festivities will kickoff at noon and we will be storming the gates at 1 p.m. sharp). Where: Second Cup at the corner of Queen St. & John St. in Toronto (beside MuchMusic). View Larger Map
How: Add your name here to confirm your attendance and get the latest news on “pibTO” as it comes available. Why: Because doing some good feels pretty freakin’… well… GOOD!
Saturday is going to be filled with excitement, energy and entertainment!
The Pay It Backward team has been working hard to put together an awesome experience for Saturday. I’m very excited to be part of the team and let you know about the entertainment we’re got planned!
Toronto’s Flow 93.5 will be broadcasting live on location at Second Cup. Their Street Team will be cheering you on as you exit Second Cup to a crowd of ‘Do Gooders’, photographers and notable Toronto celebrities. We will be be giving out $50 iTunes gift cards to every hundredth person as they make their way through the line.
Canada’s professional basketball trickster, Q-Mack, will be showing off his b-ball skills to the crowd. He can do some amazing things with a basketball, check him out on YouTube to see what you’re in for! Along with Q-Mack, the North American Freestyle Soccer Champion, Eli Freeze and his Canadian Freestyle Soccer team will be sharing tricks and techniques. These athletes will be a great attraction for people of all ages!
Helping out behind the Second Cup counter serving drinks will be Michael Landsberg, the host of TSN’s Off The Record, and Erica Ehm one of Canada’s most recognized television personalities & host of the Yummy Mummy Club.
If you can’t make it out to the event you can follow the event live, in real time, on UStream.TV. There will be also lots of updates on Twitter and Facebook from people taking part in the record breaking event.
Looking forward to seeing you there and breaking a world record together!
This Saturday, April 4th, we will be hosting some very special guests at Pay It Backward Day. Daily Challenge is proud to have SickKids participate as the benefiting charity of over 500 backward-coffee-buys. As we’ve mentioned on this blog, 50% of all proceeds from Pay It Backward will be going to The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).
As a special development, the 491st coffee buy (the record breaking purchase) will be given to a SickKids patient ambassador as possibly the greatest act of kindness on a day chalked full of them. That is something to be proud of.
This is the official blog for Do Gooders. It is the vehicle for the Daily Challenge story and the tool to get you directly involved in the project so you can become part of the story, too.
We are now only 7 days away from what’s set to be the most exciting Do Gooder phenomenon ever seen by Ontarians!
oders, it’s time to party! 
As of today, the 
Toronto’s Flow 93.5 will be broadcasting live on location at Second Cup. Their Street Team will be cheering you on as you exit Second Cup to a crowd of ‘Do Gooders’, photographers and notable Toronto celebrities. We will be be giving out $50 iTunes gift cards to every hundredth person as they make their way through the line.
