Many of you may know that I am a long time kitchen volunteer for one of Calgary's most dynamic non-profit organizations, Brown Bagging for Calgary's Kids. This amazing organization helps to address child hunger in our city by providing nutritious lunches to Calgary school kids. What was supposed to be a "one-off" volunteer morning in 2009 has turned into one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I have been hooked as a Monday morning kitchen volunteer from the moment I started.
It amazed me to realize that in a city as wealthy as Calgary, that so many kids are going hungry every day. I was drawn to this organization not only for the amazing work that they do, but by the community based model that supports this initiative. This program is funded by volunteers, community groups and private/corporate donations. It truly is a community based solution, which inspires me.
BB4CK helps to directly feed thousands of kids in our area every day and for some kids, it may be the only food they get each day.
After serving a few terms on the board as treasurer, I am honored to take over as the 2013 Board Chair for Brown Bagging For Calgary's Kids. I would invite you to take a few minutes and watch our Annual General Meeting video below.
This is what makes me tick.....
To volunteer or donate to this great organization, please check out www.brownbaggingit.org and follow us on Facebook/Twitter.
Last month, I had the unique opportunity to be part of a cool fundraiser for Ward 11/13 Calgary Public School Board trustee, Sheila Taylor. This fundraiser was held at the Laugh Shop at the Blackfoot Inn on April 15, 2013 and featured twelve regular people performing stand-up comedy in front of a crowd of over 200 people!
Luckily, we were fortunate enough to be put through some fun classes and shown the ropes by the host company, Zeds Communications, who helped us to write the material and learn some basic comedy techniques. I personally was blown away to learn how much science is actually involved in delivering stand up comedy and the classes were a blast.
I have attached a video below of the event. All I can say is.... I survived. My favorite part is the whacked "Nenshi/Higgins/McIver/Fech/Carter Stampede Wrestling" bit. Something is definitely wrong with me....
While I never imagined having the opportunity to do this, I am grateful that Sheila asked me to take part. This is another "bucket list" item that I now get to check off. I should also apologize to my poor wife Becky for being the center of so many jokes......
With the Calgary Stampede just over two months away, I am surprised that we have not heard who the 2013 Stampede parade marshal will be this year! I have always enjoyed watching the parade as it sets the tone for the next 10 days of stampede. Over the past 100 years, the parade has had some great marshals leading the event including, Ralph Klein, Walt Disney, Prince Charles and Roy Rogers. Unfortunately, we have seen far to many questionable choices ( Jet and Cord McCoy?, a few Vancouver mayors and whatever random cowboy actor is in the area filming another western....) and I am hoping that the Stampede board gets it right for 2013!
I was happy to see that Ian Tyson led the 2012 parade as it is important to showcase your local icons. Personally, I would love to see Ron "Buckshot" Barge and Jim "Benny The Bear" Lewis lead the charge in 2013! Buckshot is a local icon and generations of Calgarians grew up with his iconic CFCN show "The Buckshot Show", which aired from 1967-1997. I think that Mr. Barge exemplifies what the parade marshal should be and that he would be an ideal fit.
Here a classic video that will bring back some memories!
Its probably too late for this year, but I have my fingers crossed! Maybe if I take this to twitter we can make some noise and avoid Jillian Harris from The Bachelorette from snagging the gig. Shane
( PS....For fun, be sure to post any cool Buckshot stories in the comments!)
I also like that she stated "there are no sacred cows" in this budget. Every department is being reviewed and while she hinted that there would be no "straight across the board cuts" this year, there is a long term budget plan that will be released in detail when the budget is released in March. Based on the tone, it would appear that they are serious about getting their financial house in order starting immediately.
While many people were frustrated at the lack of details in the Premier's TV address last week, I think that the government is finally understanding the importance of communication with Albertans. These town hall meetings, the telephone townhall tonight and the online forums will allow people to share their thoughts, which is something rather unique and refreshing in Alberta politics. For too long, it has been a one way conversation in this province.
Like many Albertans, I will be watching the budget on March 7, but more importantly, I want to see solid planning going forward. I think that Albertans are getting weary over continued budget deficits and are looking for long term leadership and practical solutions to the budget issues going forward. This budget and long term plan will set the tone for the next few years and will follow PCAA into the next election, for better or worse. And as a fiscal conservative, I am not sure how much more I can personally take.
Wow! What started out as a simple idea to use social media to try and help some local families this Christmas turned out bigger than any of us could have imagined. The plan was to raise a few hundred dollars and gather some much needed items to fill a Christmas hamper or two for the Inn From The Cold, but due to everyone's generosity, we exceeded that modest goal by a long shot.
We had lots of interest in the goods donations and dozens of people on Twitter had contacted me to confirm that they were going to donate hamper and wish list items and many people had dropped off goods directly to me to forward to the Inn From The Cold. I was amazed at the response and so happy that we could help the Inn in this small way. Then, thanks to an idea hatched by my pal Joey Oberhoffner, things took off in another amazing direction.
At the last minute, Joey organized a challenge to some of our contacts on twitter, to raise money from their respective political party members via a food pledge night! This idea turned out to be a massive success, as we saw people from across the Alberta political spectrum get behind their members and donate money for each wing and taco that they ate! Some even donated to all of the participants, which was amazing. Here is how the results shook out...
Vincent St Pierre (Alberta Liberals) - 24 tacos (NOT a typo...!)
Joey Oberhoffner (Progressive Conservatives) - 15 tacos ( Hold the sour cream....)
Derrick Jacobson (Wildrose) - 41 chicken wings ( Yes, there is some symbolism in the "41 Wings..." ) FYI,,,Derrick and the Wildrose raised the most money!
Marc Doll (Alberta Party) - 13 tacos (at $100/taco!)
Stephen D. Anderson (NDP) - 10 tacos
These gents raised over $4700 for their efforts!! It was hilarious to actually watch them chow down and push themselves to the limit for charity.
The best part? We had an anonymous donor who agreed to MATCH any money raised! This brought the total raised to well over $10,000!!!!! ( This donor's generosity had inspired all of us in this initiative) I had the chance to deliver the hamper items with our anonymous donor yesterday to the Inn and they were very thankful. When they received the cheque from our matching donor, they were blown away. This money will go a long way to helping families this holiday season. Over the past few years, I have had the privilege to meet some amazing people on twitter and they always come out to support good causes. I am truly blessed to know these good people. Thanks again to everyone who helped, either through donations, re-tweets and support of the #ablegcares gluttony on Wednesday!
** Update 12/10/12** An anonymous donor has advised that they are going to match/equal all donations received, up to $5,000!!! This is amazing news!
With the holiday season in full swing, many of us are caught up in the hustle and bustle of December. As our attention turns to finding the perfect gifts for our loved ones, many people tend to get lost in the madness of the shopping season. As Calgarians, we are fortunate to live in one of the wealthiest cities in the world and many of have been blessed with great families, careers and financial stability. That said, as well off as Calgary appears, there are many people struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis.
Inn From The Cold is a local charity that provides emergency shelter, support and programs to homeless children,
their families and others in need, with the goal of building healthy, stable
families and ending homelessness. I have had the opportunity to tour their facility and I found it personally heartbreaking to imagine the hardships that a homeless family faces. The work that Inn From The Cold does on a daily basis helps families in need and I thought it would a good idea to try and give back to our community and help a family have a brighter Christmas this year.
During this holiday season, Inn From The Cold can use our help in providing items for a Christmas hamper and holiday wish list items for their clients. I am reaching out to friends, coworkers and associates on social media to help put together some donated items for local families. By working together, we will be able to make a family's holiday a little brighter this year.
How can we help?
Please review the list of hamper and "wishlist" items in the links below and let me know if you would like to help by donating some of these important items.
Please share the wishlist items on Twitter and Facebook to help spread the word. ( #yycTwitterXmas)
Help with the collection and drop off of these items at the Inn From The Cold facility.
Some of the key items they require can be found below.
Ideally, I would like to collect all of the items and drop them off around December 16, 2012 if possible.
If you are interested in helping, leave a comment below or email me at calgaryrants@gmail.com ( Also, be sure to share any other ideas that may help a family at Inn From The Cold this Christmas.) and let me know if you can help!
Lately, I have found it hard to find time to post anything, but today I am thinking about my late Grandfather, Andrew Byciuk, and decided that I needed to post this. My grandpa lost his battle with cancer five years ago today ( oddly enough, he passed away on his 82nd birthday) and this day has been a bittersweet one for me ever since.
As a child, my grandfather and I shared a very special bond and he always made me feel like I was the most important person in the world. Even as I got older, I am certain that he felt like I could do no wrong and gave me a lot of confidence that I have carried with me into adulthood. Apart from our genetically shared blue eyes, great hair and above average intelligence, ( see the previous sentence regarding my cockiness/confidence.. ) he has influenced my life immensely. Through him, I have inherited a love of classic country music, unapologetic sarcasm and a keen interest in politics. I often laugh when I think about some of his home made "political" editorials, where he would cut out a picture of Trudeau, Getty or Mulroney and inset his own funny cartoon style captions. I wonder where I get that from?
I was fortunate enough to grow up in a neighborhood adjacent to where my Grandpa lived, which meant that his home was only a short bike ride away in the summertime. Many people are not as lucky to have their grandparents live so close by and people often take these blessings for granted, especially as we get older. You just always assume that they will always be with you and personally, I know I did.
During the last six months of his life, I was fortunate enough to have been able to visit him everyday and those visits have become priceless to me. During this period, he shared some very personal stories with me and then would jump into some hilarious "life lessons from Grandpa" quotes that still make me burst into laughter today. I wish that I would have kept a journal of these stories and "one liners" as they would have made a fantastic book!
Even though five years have passed, I still miss him and think about him every day. I really wish that he was still here to see how much my life has changed in such a short period of time and to share in some our our family milestones. I honestly would give almost anything to have another 15 minutes with him. I also wish that he could have met my son Kyron, who was born two years after he died. I know that they would have been pretty good buddies.
So today and every November 30th until I join him, I will always take some time to try and honour his memory with a stiff Canadian Club, a few Johnny Horton or Merle Haggard songs playing in the background and a private rant about how liberals and socialists are going to take this country into the toilet! Until then, I'll keep on plugging away and make him proud.
