Dark and early this morning I headed to CBC Vancouver at 700 Hamilton to check out their 28th Annual CBC Open House and Food Bank Day. I had three reasons for being there, the first being to check out the life broadcast they're doing, and which you're invited to attend all day until 6PM. I took in some of The Early Edition with Rick Cluff and was lucky to see Bard on the Beach's Christopher Gaze perform a spoken word piece accompanied by VSO conductor Bramwell Tovey on the keys. They were followed up by the CBC's very own Margaret Gallagher singing a wonderful song and woven in to the morning were a bunch of interviews, and of course the news, and calls to make donations to the food bank.
Cluff, Daze and Tovey
The second reason I was there was to drop off a gift bag from our friends at Postmark Brewing which included a hate, tee, a beer growler and certificates for a few growler fills. I went on air quickly with Cecilia Walters and we made a challenge to only the people in the room of about 200; the first person to donate $150 would take the prize. Two people stepped up (we'll be facilitating a second gift bag), so we helped raise $300 in about 40 seconds. That's a far cry from the hundreds of thousands they'll raise for the hungry by the end of the day, but it was great to help push that number higher.
Beer is always popular
The third reason I was down there was to do a shift on the phone bank where people call in from all around the province to make their donations. At the front of the building, and all throughout it, are places where people attending the open house can make donations but this is the hub for ones not coming in from local folks. The phones were ringing non-stop.
And of course we had a couple of celebrity guests pop in to answer phones during the morning! Vikram Vij (now of Dragon's Den) and Mark Forsythe (of BC Almanac) took some calls.
If you're around today, head down to 700 Hamilton and take a tour of the news room, meet some on-air personalities and take part in helping those who need it. One of the least awesome things about our city is the affordability crunch, and the food bank helps those who are affected by it the most... so you can help make the city a little more awesome today.
More info and the schedule HERE.
