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Something really, really, quite exceptionally awesome happened today thanks to Virgin Mobile Canada and Virgin Unite: on their behalf, Sir Richard Branson and Cory Monteith met with the press to announce two $25,000 grants being given to the Broadway Youth Resource Centre and Project Limelight Society. These are two fantastic organizations doing work to give at-risk youth in Vancouver a leg up.

The grants were generated by funds raised from the sales of Virgin Mobile’s limited edition Samsung Gravity 3 RE*Generation phone in 2011. Fifteen dollars from the sale of each phone, which was introduced by Branson and Monteith in Montréal last year, was donated back to the RE*Generation Movement by Virgin Mobile and Samsung.

Mayor Gregor was on hand, as were a bunch of the children from Project Limelight who sung us some sweet songs from their upcoming show Wonderland, which you can learn more about and get tickets for HERE!

The $50,000 was raised by the sales of a phone, and Virgin’s non-profit arm (Virgin Unite) continues to raise funds that go towards affecting positive change in different ways:

1. Change For A Dollar: Virgin Mobile Members can add $1 to their mobile phone bill each month. The monthly dollar will then be directly donated to Virgin Unite and the RE*Generation movement
2. Text To Donate: Canadians (members of Virgin and non-members alike) can donate $5 to Virgin Unite and RE*Generation by texting REGEN to 30333
3. Sign The Petition: They’re asking Parliament to recognize November 17th as National Youth Homelessness Awareness Day (NYHAD). Head to virginmobile.ca/regen to add your name to our online petition and help make NYHAD a reality!

Stay tuned for more Random Acts!

37 weeks ago I read a theory that going for 50 coffees with people you’ve never met is the entrepreneur’s equivalent to the theory that doing anything for 10,000 hours will make you an expert on it. While I get the idea, 50 coffees is far easier than practicing something for ten years, and while I’m far from lazy I decided to set out on a fairly simple mission: over 50 weeks I’m inviting 50 interesting Vancouverites, most of whom I have never met before, to go for coffee. I’m using this as an exercise in networking for myself and for V.I.A. while also using it as a platform to introduce you to some people who are doing really cool stuff in the city you live in. COFFEE #37 Name: Brent Toderian Occupation: City Planner + Urbanist Beverage: Hot chocolate

Meet Brent Toderian. Former Chief Planner for the City of Vancouver, current proprietor of Toderian Urban Works, he has influenced and implemented policy at City Hall for years and is now working as a consultant. Like my last 50 Coffees subject, Yuri Artibise (who sat in the exact same chair where he’s pictured below), Brent is the dictionary definition of the word “urbanist”: He’s “A specialist in the study and planning of cities” and from what I see, and what he tells me, I think he’s done a damned good job of it.

I introduced you to him last week when I shared THIS photo that he shot along with his thoughts on The Village on False Creek being not just balanced, but a remarkable community. He went into greater detail about the international awards that it continues to win month after month and I recommend you look back on it HERE. I also quoted him in my recent POST about the future of the viaducts and his opinion that they should come down.

And while I may have quoted him twice since we went to coffee I haven’t quite yet exhausted the trove of inspiration he left me with after we parted ways from Terra Breads. One opinion he shared, which I fully agree with, concerns The Village on False Creek where we met, where that Terra Breads operates, and where I obviously now live. He said that “Once fully complete, the new square and seawall may arguably be the best public space in the city”, By “fully complete” he meant once the Urban Fare, the London Drugs and the Tap + Barrel restaurant open up, those being what may be the final pieces to really bring the area to life. It’s been 4 weeks since I moved in to this place and after the first day it was obvious that this new neighbourhood, to me, and to my neighbours, is incredibly well planned. Follow my In The Village On False Creek series over the coming months as I bring you more.

And rest assured that you haven’t seen the last of Mr Toderian on our blog – he’s now one of my top go-to urbanists!

Welcome to the latest series of Super, Neighbours blog posts where we highlight incredible travel destinations in British Columbia! After coming out publicly as a sportfisherman in my recent Creative Mornings lecture (HERE) I figured it was time to start sharing angling adventures with you more regularly. I brought you on a RIVER DRIFT in Tofino, then to the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s 25th Anniversary GALA as well as showing you their accompanying VIDEO, then I had a hankering for getting out onto the ocean and catching salmon and sharing the awesomeness in that. I contacted Oak Bay Marine Group (a BC company celebrating their 50th anniversary this year) to see if they might be interested in doing a Super, Neighbours series on one of their nearby properties and I was thrilled when they agreed to host us at April Point Resort & Spa on Quadra Island.

Started by Bob Wright in 1962 with a mere $600 investment, OBMG now operates eight holiday and fishing resorts, as well as marinas, restaurants, tourist attractions and gift shops. They’re considered the leader in the holiday and sport fishing industry in North America. We’ll get to some of the reasons why once we actually get to where we’re going but first, as has become a tradition: the Getting There post!

Getting to Quadra isn’t as quick as getting to any of the Southern Gulf Island like Galiano but it’s equally worth it. Located just west of Northern Vancouver Island, you board the ferry at Horseshoe Bay (which you can see waaaay in the distance in the photo above) and once you arrive in Nanaimo drive a couple of hours north to Campbell River. Along the way you’ll be distracted by quaint little towns like Fanny Bay. Pull over. Explore.

…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

WARNING: If you’re not prepared to feel incredibly proud and inspired then please don’t watch this video that shares the highlights of Rick Hansen’s 25th Anniversary Relay.

Yesterday the Vancouver Sun launched a webcam where you can “Watch the six African penguins waddle and swim at the Vancouver Aquarium”. Click below to take a peek at these recent additions to our beloved Aquarium whose goal it is to effect the conservation of aquatic life through display, communication, public programming and education, research and direct action.

Get acquainted with these new residents through the live webcam, visit them at the Aquarium, then participate in the contest to help name them! HERE!

Photo: VanAqua.org

Welcome to In The Village on False Creek, a unique project inspired by Live@YVR and 365 Days of Dining. Over the coming months it’s my mission to draw from the myriad of things that make this new community awesome in order to bring you a weekly scoop.

Portobello West Art + Fashion Market relocated to Creekside Community Centre in the Village a few months back, and this weekend is their Summer Market!

On Saturday and Sunday from 11AM-5PM over 50 local designers and artists will be showcasing and selling their wares, a DJ will be spinning tunes in the afternoons, there’ll be delicious food carts to eat at and chances to win a big basket of handmade goodies.

One of my favourite vendors is Tracey Tomtene Photography. Tracey shoots fine art photography and sells prints of images like the ones below (from her travel series).

Images: traceytomtene.com

She also takes her photos and makes one-of-a-kind jewelry out of them in a process wherein she sets tiny individual prints under domed glass which lightly magnifies the colour and clarity of the image. Conveying her love for the ocean, conservation, travel, nature, photography, surfing, art and the beauty and goodness this world constantly envelopes us in, to become wearable fine art.

Image: traceytomtene.com

Learn more about Tracy’s work HERE and be sure to head down to Creekside Community Centre Saturday or Sunday to see …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

To be honest, Jeff Lee from the Vancouver Sun’s question, “Where was this Sam Sullivan when he was mayor?”, which leads off his recent article about the former Mayor of Vancouver’s latest event that we both attended? Well, it was lost on me. He and I were among 650-or-so humans who recently gathered at the Vancouver Playhouse for Sam’s quarterly speakers series aptly entitled Sam Sullivan’s Public Salon, and Jeff has had a much longer view of our city and its politics than I have; the only thing I was paying attention to when Sam was mayor was how gruelling my commute from Santa Monica to Torrance was getting. Which is to say, I didn’t live here for most of Sam’s tenure, and aside from the time that KTLA News showed a clip of him waving the Olympic flag when it was announced Vancouver was hosting, I wasn’t really paying attention. But I’m paying attention now. And the Sam Sullivan that was up on that stage delivering a curated group of engaging speakers and incredibly talented musicians and performance acts every 3 months? I vote yes to him putting on more of these events, and to you (and I) attending them and being exposed to some great Vancouverites changing your city for the better.

Photos: Sarah Murray

Jeff offers a great play-by-play of the night HERE in his aforementioned article, and you should certainly go and read it but first I must tell you this: Jas Johal is a new hero of mine. Not only did he put together a powerful collection of photographs shot of and by him while covering international conflicts for broadcast news but he delivered his personal story and connected us to it by sharing the most humanizing of facts about himself: While sitting in Muammar Gaddafi’s palace on the day that he was ousted, after wrapping up his news story, Jas found himself marvelling at the fact that “a kid from Williams Lake” (Jas, of course) was sitting in “Muammar’s house”. He got out his pocket knife and he cut off a piece of a chandelier there, and he put it in his pocket. This photo below is of him showing it to us. Not pictured is the collective jaw of the audience hitting the floor due to this exclamation point at the end of a fantastic presentation.

Find out more about Sam Sullivan’s Public Salon HERE, and I’ll see you there next time.

So CBC tells us that as of September 19, Ian Hanomansing will be hosting expanded CBC News Now primetime coverage live from Vancouver!

High five, Ian!