Weeks 19 & 20 - All About Frisbee

During week 19, a friend of mine proposed that I donate some frisbees to Camp IAWAH. Since I have a couple extra discs lying around, and knowing that the kids at IAWAH have a big open grass field to play on during their time at the camp, I was easily sold on that plan.

Last week, the Ottawa Carleton Ultimate Association masters competitive teams put on a beginners and intermediate players clinic. Given my passion for the sport of ultimate frisbee, and the fact the clinic was 5 minutes from my house, it was an easy and fun way to give back to the ultimate community.

Weeks 15 - 18: Various

April was ridiculously busy at work, and I didn't have time to update this blog. The good news is that I kept 'giving'.



Week 15:


I gave a big garbage bag of clothes to Value Village. Spring cleaning, and helping out a good cause at the same time. Good stuff.

Week 16:

While attending 'American Idiot' on Broadway, I gave my pocket change to Broadway Cares. This organization funds AIDs service organizations in the States.

Week 17:

Can't exactly remember what I gave to this week, so I thought I'd donate to 'The Underwear Affair', a race a friend is running in.

Week 18:

Given April was cancer awareness month, I thought it was fitting to make my last, and biggest donation to the Canadian Cancer Society. Cancer scares me on so many levels, and this will likely be a cause that comes up multiple times in this blog.

Week 14 - The Snowflake Ball (Crohn's, Colitis, and Colorectal Cancer)

A friend of mine is one of the organizer's of the annual Snowflake Ball, which is a big fundraiser for Crohn's, Colitis, and Colorectal Cancer. I had planned to volunteer at this amazing event on Saturday April 2nd, but then made the mistake of eating fish at a bar in the early hours of Saturday morning after frisbee. I ended up getting pretty sick, and couldn't make the event. In lieu of volunteering, I cut a cheque to support the Snowflake Ball foundation. Hopefully next year, my stomach will allow me to volunteer.

Week 13 - Ottawa Public Library Foundation

I'm a huge fan of the Ottawa Public Library. At any given time, I usually have a couple books, CDs, and DVDs out on loan. Working a block away from the main branch is fortunate, as I get to access the services they offer three days a week when I'm in the office. For the reasons above, I donated to the Ottawa Public Library Foundation. Yes, municipal tax dollars help cover the library expenses, but with a planned move to a new facility in the near future, and costs rising for materials, donations help maintain their vast array of services.

Week 12 - Japan Earthquake Relief (Red Cross Canada)

Unless you've been living under a rock, you're aware of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Japan on March 11th. The quake caused thousands of deaths, millions of dollars of damages, and its impact will be felt for years to come. The Canadian Red Cross responded quickly, and has of now sent $5 million to help Japan rebuild. It is a shame that the Canadian government has been too busy playing political games and has neglected to match the public's contributions. All the more reason to give to a worthy cause.

Week 11 - The War Amps

As I wait for the Canadian government (and possibly my employer) to announce a matching program for donations made to Japan's rebuilding efforts, I received the War Amps key tags in the mail this past week. I'm a big fan of the War Amps' philosophy of 'amputees helping amputees" and their CHAMP program for child amputees (who end up working to promote the program in the future). Another impressive fact about the War Amps' is that they spend less than 10% on administration. Being an accountant, I respect charities and organizations that do their best to keep administration costs down.

While I continue to wait for a matching program to help rebuild Japan after the earthquake, my heart goes out to their citizens and ex-patriates.

Week 10 - University of Ottawa Heart Institute

While channel surfing this weekend, I stopped on the University of Ottawa Heart Institute telethon. The UOHI funds research into cures and treatments for heart disease, and supports education and prevention programs. In 2006, 30% of ALL Canadian deaths were due to cardiovascular disease. That single, mind-blowing statistic explains why funding education and prevention is esstential to our aging population.

Locally, the UOHI is a source of pride, jobs, knowledge and innovation in our community. I'm proud to have contributed to such a worthy institution.

Week 9 - Renfrew Dialysis Unit

Not much to say about this week's donation. My dad's lodge group sponsors a bowl-a-thon every year in Renfrew, with proeeds going to the Renfrew's hospital dialysis unit. When my mom emailed me asking if I wanted to donate, it was a no brainer. Small town health care is extremely important to rural Ontarians...a fact the Ontario Liberal (and prior to them Conservative) party simply can't grasp. Always glad to give to a good cause.

Week 8 - Right to Play

Sports have been very good to me over the years. From keeping me active as a kid, to fighting off boredom in high school, adding physical activity to my schedule in university, and meeting many friends through ultimate, my athletic pursuits have added a lot to my life.

Therefore, this week's donation was made to Right To Play. This organization benefits more than 700,000 children every week through their programs. I was impressed by their noble mission "To improve the lives of children in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world by using the power of sport and play for development, health and peace."

Week 7 - Purple Pledge Day

On November 13, 2010, 14 year old Daron Richardson took her own life. Daron was the daughter of Senators' assistant coach Luke Richardson, and her tragic death was huge news here in Ottawa. The one positive that seemed to come out of this event was the promotion of dialogue relating to mental health.

Since Daron's favourite color was purple, February 8th was the first annual 'Purple Pledge Day'. Thank you to the friend that brought this to my attention. Giving to a great cause and providing me with yet another opportunity to wear purple made my day.

Week 6 - Operation Go Home

As the weather gets colder, I find myself hunkering down, limiting my time outside to the minimum amount possible. On the way to work in downtown Ottawa, I inevitably see some street people shivering in the freezing weather. I feel sorry for them, and hope they slept somewhere warm the night before. Even more depressing is seeing kids on street corners, begging for change. With that in mind, I decided to donate to Operation Go Home last week.

Operation Go Home aims to prevent homeless youth from becoming homeless adults. They go about accomplishing this mission by providing programs and services to approximately 350 youths in the Ottawa region each year. Attempting to reconnect kids with parents and guardians is an excellent initiative, and I sincerely hope they acheive their mission.

Week 5 - International Giving!

As indicated, seeing as how it was the last week of January, I wanted to do something different. We have a 'Classified' section on my work Intranet site where a co-worker indicated she was heading to a small fishing village in the Dominican Republic on vacation. She was looking for games, toys, and other stuff for the local children. She specifically mentioned baseball gloves and balls, and since I had a glove and couple of baseballs in my closet, that I haven't used in forever, I decided that'd be a good start. I took a little trip to Value Village last weekend and bought 2 used kids' baseball gloves to up the ante. Then I found a frisbee in my cabinet at work (where I actually had 5 discs) to add to the haul.

It was awesome to see the woman's reaction when I gave her the gloves and frisbee. I can only imagine how great it will be to see the Dominican Republlic kids' faces when she gives the gifts to them. This is my favourite week of giving of 2011 so far :)

Week 4 - Make-A-Wish Canada

I'll level with you, I was going to donate to the Heart and Stroke Foundation this week, as a co-worker's relative passed away, and a donation was suggested in lieu of flowers, but, they wouldn't recognize my postal code. So, I remembered seeing a bus ad for the the make-a-wish foundation, and thought it was a great back-up plan. Make-A-Wish Canada grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy. Enriching the lives of kids facing serious illnesses is a noble mission, and the organization deserves support.

The plan for the last week of the month, is to give something other than money to a cause. I have one in mind, but will have to follow through this week. Wish me luck?

Week 3 - Haiti Earthquake (through the Canadian Red Cross)

On January 12, 2010, a massive earthquake hit Haiti, killing approximately 200,000 people, and leaving 1.3 million people homeless. In the following weeks and months, the Canadian Red Cross raised $199M to assist in disaster relief and reconstruction.

On the one year anniversary of the disastrous earthquake, I caught a couple news reports that emphasized the amount of reconstruction that still needs to be done. Given the Canadian Red Cross has sent me various updates on how my donation from last year was spent, and because they make the giving very easy (through Paypal), I decided to commemorate the anniversary of the earthquake with another donation.

Week 2 - Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health

This week's donation was inspired by a friend that stated "If I had the money to donate, I'd give it to the Royal Ottawa Hospital". Having played in an ultimate tournament a couple years ago, that donated its proceeds to a number of local charities, it turns out we were both on the Royal Ottawa mailing list. Unlike my friend, I hadn't been reading their solicitations, which was to my detriment. I didn't realize that 1 in 5 individuals are affected by a mental illness at some point in their life. After considering this, I realized that the hospital met many of my criteria - local, registered charity, and actively working to make a difference in the Ottawa community.

With no plans for this week, we'll see what happens. There are plenty of worthy causes out there...

Week 1 - Canadian Diabetes Association

My first donation was to the Canadian Diabetes Assocation. This entity helps improve the health of those affected by diabetes through education, advocacy, services, and research.

It astonished me to find out there are more than 9 million Canadians living with diabetes or prediabetes (over 25% of our 34 million population). Knowing some of these individuals, and how much work goes into managing this disease, I'm thankful for the CDA, and work they do to help affected individuals. Hopefully prevention efforts are successful, and fatality rates continue to decline.

For those of you wanting more information about diabetes, the CDA website is an excellent and comprehensive starting point.

The Concept

After running http://52weeksofimprovements.blogspot.com/ in 2010, I found my favourite weeks to be ones in which I made donations to charties and not-for-profits. Therefore, this year my plan is to take giving to the next level, and pick a cause to donate to each week.

To be clear, these won't be HUGE donations. Although my job allows me the financial freedom to pay my bills, and add to my savings each cheque, I'm by no means independently wealthy. My thought is that the donations will be $20 - $100, or a donation in kind (i.e. time, goods, services, etc.).

At this point in time, I don't want to limit myself to registered charities. I know of many not-for-profit organizations, foundations, and other worthwhile causes that aren't formally organized. Although most of the entities receiving donations will be local (i.e. in Ottawa), there are a number of national and international organizations whose economies of scale are impressive, and missions are near to my heart.

Lastly, although I'm planning to donate to 52 seperate entities, I will alter adjust that plan if a particular cause strikes me as deserving more than once this year. For instance, the Red Cross does an excellent job at distributing resources when and where disasters strike, and I'd definitely consider donating to them multiple times depending on events in 2011.

To summarize, there will be no hard and fast rules for the giving. Each week, I'll tell you what cause I chose, and what impressed me about that entity. If you know of causes you think should be considered, my ears are open. I also encourage you to give what you can to worthwhile causes...possibly even start your own giving project.

Let the giving begin!