Browsing “Charity”

Salad of endive, apple, bacon, walnuts, croutons with a gorgonzola dressing

Running until February 5th, Feast Van is a culinary and social venture taking place at 16 of Vancouver’s east side restaurants. Feast Van was started by Joe Chaput, proprietor of Au Petit Chavignol and Les Amis du Fromage, as a way to raise money for the Strathcona Community Center Backpack Food Program. Throughout the 2 weeks of Feast Van, participating restaurants will be donating $1 from every fixed price 3 course meal towards the program. The objective of the program is to help feed children on the weekends when their school feeding programs don’t run. Children from both Seymour and Strathcona Elementary Schools receive backpacks each Friday afternoon. Here is what they receive in the bags.

Food each child takes home for the weekend

The idea is to help families maintain consistent and healthy nutrition for underprivileged inner city youth, which in turn helps their performance and overall health. The program currently feeds 300 children through its current structure and is always looking for volunteers and community sponsorships to help out. Feast Van serves to buttress the programs’ effort with both direct contributions and latently by raising awareness.

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A Little More Good is a Vancouver-based company for, and about, the little things. The small changes that anyone can make in their everyday life. The articles we write, the events we run, the causes we support and the people we reach are all part of our quest to make it easy to create positive change. Each month from here on out we will be making a monthly guest post on Vancouver Is Awesome shedding light on our featured Charity Of The Month!

On occasion, things can overlap in the best of ways. Peanut butter for example, is fantastic with both jam AND nutella. Similarly, there are a lot of organizations in Vancouver that are both awesome AND adding a little more good to the world. We’d like to introduce our January Charity of the Month: The Take A Hike Youth At Risk Foundation. We got a chance to chat with Executive Director Jaydeen Williams on what makes Take A Hike awesome, how they change the lives of hundreds of kids and her favourite way to a little more good. 

ALMG: In case someone hasn’t heard of you guys yet, what makes Take A Hike awesome? 

JW: Take a Hike is an alternative education program that engages Vancouver at-risk youth through a unique combination of adventure-based learning (weekly outdays plus three multi-day expeditions per school year), academics, counseling, and community involvement (our students volunteer in the community too).  Students in the Take a Hike program often struggle with issues that have inhibited their success in the mainstream school system such as drug and alcohol addiction, physical and mental abuse, criminal activity, low self-esteem, depression, and/or trauma.

ALMG: That is definitely awesome. What is the biggest change you notice in your students, from their first day of school to graduation?

JW: Consistently, our qualitative evaluations reflect student’s improved self-esteem as well as increased communication and conflict resolution skills.  In our 2011 Summer Update we told the story of a First Nations student who completed three years at TAH starting in grade 10 and graduated in the class of 2011. At first it was challenging to get him to come to school. He began to show confidence in being the first in his family to stay in school and finish all of the requirements for a grade 12 graduation. He also knew that being the first to do so would be a positive example for his younger siblings and family members to follow. This is what he wanted to share with donors:

“This year is my final high school year. I have been in Take a Hike since grade 10. Physically, I have lost 200 pounds. More important to me though is that mentally and emotionally there have been huge differences. These trips are hard on my body because of my addictions that I face back at home. In grade 10 I found the short 3-day trip totally hard, and today I finished my last trip ever: 10 days on the West Coast Trail. Within that time I have learned more about myself than anywhere else in my lifetime. I know the memories I’ve made here at Take a Hike will stick with me all my life. It is hard to thank this school for everything it has done for me. From the healthy food, teachers, scholarships, and even saving me while I was going through mild hypothermia. Thank you. The other students that have cycled through this program, most going through the same stressful situations at home, have been huge motivation factors for me; I realize that it wasn’t all me motivating myself. The skills I have learned will help me in both the present and the future. Without this school, I would literally be sitting on the curb doing nothing but asking for change. I’m proud to say I’m a graduate of Take a Hike 2011. Thank You.”

Every student has their own story, and you can find some of them on our website under “student stories”.

ALMG: And you’ve been able to help hundreds of kids! What’s been your most rewarding experience thus far?

JW: I’ve been with Take a Hike for a year and a half now and I think my most …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Hi everybody! It’s me, Arlo, Vancouver Is Awesome‘s youngest blogger. Yesterday my dad posted THIS video of me leading up to the Pan Pacific Vancouver‘s 24th annual Christmas Wish Breakfast which we enjoyed bright and early this morning. I brought those toys I was holding in the video down from our room and added them to this massive pile of other toys for kids in need.

I give a thumbs up to piles of toys!

The Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau will be receiving an avalanche of toys pretty soon because my mom and dad and me and about 5,000 other people got a free …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Tomorrow morning is the annual Christmas Wish Breakfast at the Pan Pacific Vancouver! For the past 23 years they’ve been organizing a toy drive in conjunction with the Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau where people bring down gifts for kids in need and are served up a fantastic breakfast as thanks. To celebrate this year they’ve invited our youngest blogger, Arlo, to come and spend the night at the hotel this evening and then wake up to pancakes and sausages and gift giving bright n’ early tomorrow. Arlo and his mom set out yesterday and bought some gifts to donate to kids in need and then he put together this message for you…

Okay, okay… I spliced the message together a little bit. Essentially the message is that he’s got some toys and he’s giving them to some kids in need, and if you’re feeling in a giving mood then perhaps you should do the same. All of the details are available HERE.

The Bassment is a weekly article bringing you coverage of the best in Hip Hop and Electronic music from around Vancouver. Weekly interviews, event coverage, album and concert reviews that show how awesome our city’s electronic and hip hop scene really is. If you think there is someone or something that needs coverage in this city in regards to the Hip Hop / Electronic community then get in touch with us.

Vancouver’s own Jeff Spec will be performing in North Vancouver at Narrow’s on December 5th and at The Media Club in Vancouver on December 8th as VIA (not vancouver is awesome) Rail presents ‘The Train of Thought Tour’. The tour, which lasts a month and will see Jeff and his fellow artists from east to west, is sponsored by VIA Rail, a sponsor of the Juno awards. Canadian artists alongside Jeff Spec (from 2nd left to right) are Hip-Hop veteran Timbuktu, SOCAN award-winner Muneshine, and Juno nominee Ghettosocks. I got a chance to do a Q and A with Jeff about the tour and his new album Specnology.

Photo: Courtesy of Artist

How did you group up with your fellow travelers?

I met all of the guys at various times but earlier this year I was in the studio with Muneshine, and we started talking about what it would take to make a full Canadian tour come together for a hip hop artist, and were on the same page that having a group of artists with networks in the different regions was key.  Between the two of us, Ghettosocks and Timbuktu, we span the bulk of the country so working together on this has been really effective.

How did you come by getting such an awesome tour sponsor as VIA rail?

VIA Rail actually has a long history of involvement with Canadian music, and is a major sponsor of the Junos. The VIA Rail sponsorship was arranged by Ghettosocks. He was nominated for a Juno for his album “Treat Of The Day” this year. He performed at the Juno Chairman’s reception and had the opportunity to make a connection with VIA Rail, and the rest is history…

…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Do you remember Movember’s end last year? Moustaches were judged and mo’d off, music was played, good times were had?! WELL IT’S BACK for another year.

Today marks the first day of Movember, a month-long initiative to raise awareness and funds for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer. Men are encouraged to register, grow a ‘stache, and get pledges supporting their mo-growth.

ON NOVEMBER 30th for the second year running, the Biltmore will play host to the Movember Mo-Off, a night celebrating the accomplishments of those who have been harvesting their soup strainers. The main event of the evening is a mustache contest, where designated ladies roam through the crowd and nominate the best Mo’s.  In a true Mo-Off showdown, the crowd will decide on the most magnificent Mo, who will win a Gentleman’s Prize Pack. Then, for those who are ready to part ways with their lip neighbours, The Belmont Barbershop will be stationed and ready to offer free shaves, which will be documented, photobooth-style, by us!!!

Keeping everyone and their lip warmers entertained through the evening will be:
The Matinée – http://thematineemusic.com/
Redbird – http://redbirdmusic.ca/
Portage and Main – http://portageandmainband.com/

Hosting the night’s festivities will be on-air personalities Laurie Logan and Carly Walde from 100.5 the PEAK. Doors will open at 8, and cover will be by donation (suggested $10). Our friends at Phillips Brewery will be giving away free beers to the first 50 people to arrive!

Check out our Facebook EVENT PAGE and FAN PAGE…and watch for updates all throughout Movember!