Hello everyone
How many times have you driven down the street and seen a homeless person and pretend you didn't see them ? A person panhandling at a traffic light and roll up your window and shake your head and say no change, Seen someone unkempt and standing in line in a fast food place counting pennies and say to yourself " I would never let myself get that way"! I assume most of you are nodding your head and muttering "yah I have" it's ok you are not alone , myself included. It wasn't until I was in my late 20's that I started to wonder less about how I would never get to a place of destitute and poverty and more about how did theses people I see everyday get to that point? What is their story?
We all met Barnard this week and I will admit I have seen him everyday for the past 4 years as I leave for work and when I am on my way home and I have never had the chance to stop and speak with him as he is usually on the side of a major road that has no place to stop. Barnard goes about his daily routine of traveling up and down the length of 264th pushing his bicycle that is overloaded with bottles.I am so glad that I stopped as I found out not only does he pick up bottles he picks up the trash on the side of the hiway, when asked why ? He simply said " it's where I live and I want it to be beautiful" this is a man that with the little energy he does have gives back to his community to make our world a better place. I don't know how he got to where he is at but I do know with an attitude like that he will go far if he chooses. I have so much respect for that man that I will make sure that if he needs a warm coat or a hot meal when I am near he will have it! We should all be not so quick to judge a book by its cover.if you are ever traveling on 264th in Aldergrove by the Zoo ,stop and say thank you to Barnard he has a big heart and a great smile.
This week we did manage to perform other random acts of kindness. There was an annonomous donation of $100 to Children's Hospital made due to a bet that FV Secret Santa could not get to 500 followers.thank you everyone for helping me get there. A Drop was made in Abbotsford to a very special and deserving person who always thinks of others. A drop in Aldergrove that was rewarding but disappointing,a $50 gift card and a personalized letter for a man that took time to ask me to help his sister when in fact he has been through some very tough times himself.Unfortunatly I do not know what happened but the card was not accepted at the Central City Brew Pub and I am currently awaiting word on why, yes there was $50 on the card of my own money !
We also have to thank and I encourage everyone to mention and thank @timhortons for generously jumping on the Santa train and donating lots of $10 gift cards so that FVSS and the helpers could do even more for the people in our communities. Amazing group of people from the summer camps to the smile cookie program we all thank you !
Last I would like to mention a man that is never selfish and incredibly talented,mr @ronb93 .Ron will be having a concert in Vancouver on Nov 10 and I encourage everyone who can attend please do . Who knows you just may catch a glimpse of Santa as well . All information for the show is available through his twitter profile page and follow the link to his site.
Support local artists who are talented and are chasing their dreams.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Priorities
Hello everyone.
I hope that your week was excellent.
** Stay close as @Ronb93 and I are still planning a pre Christmas food drive for local food banks**
I am not
sure about you but when I plan my day I have to constantly prioritize what
needs to be done, what’s pressing and what may be able to wait for another time
. This should be common place for all that we do. It seems most often these
days it seems people have lost what’s important to prioritize not just in our
personal lives but the world in general.
I was looking
at an article in the paper and on twitter the other day that described public
outrage over the fact that Santa Claus is depicted as promoting smoking in
children because in all stories he has a pipe in his mouth. REALLY? I am not
sure about you but as a child I never once looked at a picture of Santa and
said “hey lets go out back and light up a pipe”. Please don’t get me wrong I do
not condone children smoking as YES it is not a healthy thing to do for any of
us. My problem is why is all of this energy going into a petty issue when we could use
that kind of focus and passion to fill a food bank, help the homeless, advocate
and fund raise to cure Cancer, MS, HIV/AIDS.
You turn on
the TV each night and see story after story about shootings and arsons and
another Rioter being sentenced to weekends in jail and needing to write an apology
letter. What I would like to see is stories about the person who helped the
victims of a shooting, the firemen that put out the fire; the Good Samaritan that
tried to stop the riots in Vancouver. If all we see on a daily basis is the bad
side of society that is unfortunately what our kids and the generations going
forward will see also and become even more desensitized.
I wish
there is some way that a weekly hero from a community is highlighted, show that person/persons to the world and make sure that you, your kids
and all the people around you could see what a role model should look like.
I have
decided for those who read this post each week that I will single a person or
persons out that deserve to be recognized for their contributions to society or
their community. I ask that if any of you would like to, please submit each
week a short story about the person and why you think they should be recognized
to FVsecretsanta@gmail.com. I will not be able to post them all, but I will make
sure that a whichever story is chosen that week a personal letter is written to
the individual or individuals from myself and on behalf of the followers of @FVSecretSanta
thanking them for their contribution, and for being someone we consider being a role model
in their community.
This week’s
role models in my opinion are 2 people that are known for their faces on TV but
I am not sure that people know exactly what they do for their communities.
@ChrisGalius
&@Sophielui
These two
people come into our homes each day on the news cast and tell us about the
struggles of our world and the despair that people face. When their shift is
done and on the weekends these two individuals make a concerted effort to
better out communities by using the notoriety that they have to advocate for
causes all over the Vancouver area.
Chris Galius
:
Outside of
the newsroom, Chris actively supports the BC Children's Hospital, Canuck Place
Children's Hospice, and organizations that support research and treatment of
Diabetes and Arthritis. Chris and his wife Jane also encourage the adoption of
animals and have one dog (Dottie, a Maltese) and one cat (Mocha, a mixed
breed)I have had the personal pleasure of interacting with him on more than one occasion regarding a family issue and he is a kind and considerate man.
Sophie Lui
When
Sophie’s not reporting on human-interest stories, she’s busy being a part of
them: She makes up to six public appearances every month. “You develop
relationships with non-profits,” she says. “I have a hard time saying no to
something I think is important.” One cause that’s close to her heart is HIV and
AIDS awareness, for which Sophie has become an advocate. “It sounds corny, but
I don’t like to see people treated differently,” she says. “There’s been a
progression in research, and in our attitudes toward HIV and AIDS, but it’s
still easier for people to talk about other diseases. There’s so much
misunderstanding about it.”Sophie often ditches her self-imposed 10 p.m. curfew
to emcee fundraisers for various causes, although she pays the price the next
day.
Special
thanks to those two and the rest of the Global BC family. Find them on twitter,
tell them Thank you and give them a follow. Our community is lucky to have them.
Have a
great week everyone and let people know they have lots of time to jump on the
Santa train
Special helpers this week are the incredible @energyworks333 @gypsy_mamma @sweetestnagel
@danieldafon and so many more
FVsecretsanta
FVsecretsanta@Gmail.com
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Dream BIG
To know
that I have now opened myself up to the lower mainland and the world is kind of
a scary situation, I knew that when I took @FvSecretSanta public I would be in
for ridicule, hostility and most of all doubt! This is the reason that I post
all the drops that happen and provide Photos for people to see. I want people
to know that if I could help everyone that that needed help I would. This is
why I do this Secret Santa thing, I want more people to join in and help and who
want to be there for a total stranger and for their community wherever that may
be. I do not play favorites I do not
choose people that I know for gift surprises, I simply try and make as many
people smile as I can. When I revealed to a friend of mine that I was
trying to get the number of followers so high that maybe I could make a
difference in people’s lives by encouraging donations of time, food, money or a smile, he plainly said
to me “you will never do it people just
don’t care about anything but themselves, I would be surprised if you got to
500, I bet you 100 bucks you don’t” I am not so worried about my numbers anymore,
as soon as I DO get to 500 that $100
will be taken straight to the BC Children’s Hospital. I see too much good in
people that I know we can get there.
Drops made /
Community events
- · Tim Horton’s cards to the ARH
- · Weekly staple of purchasing a person’s beverage in a drive thru line up
- · Donation to the SHARE food bank food drive in Pinetree village
- · Paws for a cause was this week and we ALL helped to promote that event
- · Calgary city food bank had its annual food drive –promoted
I wanted to
make mentions of people and places that have helped Santa along the way. I wish
I could name them all, but that is what I try and do with my “ALWAYS FOLLOW” at
the beginning of each day. Follow these people and show them that you appreciate
their hard work in helping.
·
@mukmuk069
·
@tweet_vector
·
@gypsy_mamma
·
@sweetestnagel
·
@ @EnergyWorks333
·
@FMSPCA
·
@ModernSECalgary
·
@C_o_l_e_K
·
@KyleGarbitt
·
@Ronb93
These are
just a few of the many, if I have missed you I am sorry and I will be promoting
all of you as I go along.
The last
thing that I wanted to add was, as you may have seen me post there is a young
woman who has recently had a diagnosis of MS in my cul-de-sac. This woman is 30
years old and recently delivered a baby at 26 weeks, the baby is doing great
after a medical mishap took his right forearm and is now 6 months old. If this
woman is as strong as her baby I know that she will do all she can to defeat
and win in her fight. This family has been through enough this year. The father
and husband is a local Fireman in Aldergrove who risks his life every day to
make our world a safer place. I will be promoting the MS societies of the world
and I ask that you do too. There are so many people suffering from this
horrible and debilitating disease that we have to somehow find a cure to
minimize the loss of life. This baby needs his mom. Please send her your
positive thoughts and hope for a cure one day!
Thank you
everyone it’s been a good week.
Now let’s
get to 500 for charity #jumponthesantatrain
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
THINKING of others
When I am retweeting stories or articles or
people I do that because I enjoy what they say, I enjoy the message or I just
agree with the statement. I would love to have the followers that @thegreenmen
has or @justincaron this would make spreading good will or organizing a fun and
energetic fundraiser easier (no one said this would be easy) but for now it
will be a challenge to gain the followers needed, but when I do watch out
Vancouver we WILL make a change for the good and impact the lives of many families
that we probably will never meet.
In the
hopes to create awareness for the less fortunate people/ animals in our
communities I am feverishly trying to stage and promote a “Food bank before
Christmas day”, as I wish to remain anonymous you can imagine this may prove to
be a tougher task than anticipated. What my goal and vision is will be to fill
a truck with food from followers, passerby’s or companies in the local area. I
do believe this can be done if done right. What I need is followers to spread
the word to make this as successful as it possibly can be.
I do not
always agree with the politics that happen in all our daily lives. I have been
through my share of turmoil in the last 6 months , but let it be known we live
in the most beautiful place on earth and we are afforded so many luxuries that
people don’t have. When we think we have it hard think of the children on the streets
or sick and dying in a hospital somewhere. The mentally disabled that have to
live with ridicule and torture on a daily basis because of an issue that is no
fault of their own. The women of domestic abuse. Men and women who work hard
each and every day to provide a small meal for their families while keeping the
lights and heat on in the winter.
I will not
preach to you regarding problems that I have with all of the issues listed. One
thing I wish that I could change is how WE all can react to a person in need. Most
of us started out as a product of love and affection, some were born into a
situation that they never had to worry about where the next meal will come from
and I do not condemn them for that, some have started with nothing and built their
way up to be something, and some have just not found that niche that will put
them over the top. As humans we need to think of others, just because you have
5million dollars or 5 cents. We all bleed the same blood.I have decided to
post an "Always follow of the day" this will be a person who understands
and wants to help in the changing of the way we all think about others
When I sit
down and write my blog each week I think of the accomplishments that we have
completed together in the community and within myself. I have to feel good
about what I have done. After looking back at the previous week there has not
been many random drops, there has not been too much interaction with the
community as I wanted to keep a lower profile.
I have had
some people ask me via DM if I was just trying to get attention. the answer is NO! You do
not see me in any of my drop photos; I do not stay for more than a couple of
minutes. Most times I am long gone before a drop happens and I share my stories
in hopes that someone may just be motivated by what FVSS is trying to do in our
communities. I will not be deterred from what I am doing. Will I change the
world? NO will I change my country? NO.
What I hope to do is just maybe incite change in one person that I may
encounter.
FVSS
FVSS
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