btvancouver

The Sears Great Canadian Run

I spent the weekend in Whistler where I was asked to help out with the Sears Great Canadian Run. No, I didn’t do any of the running (that part I left to the professionals). Instead, I hosted the closing ceremony. And what a celebration we had! 100 people spent their sunny Saturday running from Squamish to Whistler – raising money for pediatric cancer initiatives at BC Children’s Hospital and across Canada. Close to $100,000 was raised at this event which is an incredible amount of money! Toronto and Ottawa are also taking part with similar runs this fall. And dozens of volunteers also helped out.

Next up — the Great Canadian Chill in February 2012! Click here for more information. And congratulations to everyone who took part! Together, we can all beat cancer.

K

Over the long weekend, Michel and I got the chance to host the finale show of Vancouver’s Gay Top Model. It was an awesome night featuring performances, music and fashion! Nine young men strut their stuff down the catwalk at River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond. But in the end, only one would emerge the winner.

Congrats to Todd Johnston who was given the title “Vancouver’s Gay Top Model 2011″ and all the other models who took part. This was an awesome fundraiser for an amazing charity called “Friends for Life” — which does some very important work in our community. The organization is always looking for volunteers, and you can find out more information through the website.

Here’s a link to Vancouver’s Gay Top Model. And thanks to everyone who joined us for a very fun event! We’re already looking forward to next year’s competition!
K

The New York Times has created a great before/after interactive demonstration to demonstrate just how powerful the earthquake and tsunami have been on a number of communities in Japan.

Find it here.

And don’t forget — if you’re a Rogers or Fido customer, you can donate $5 to the Red Cross by texting ASIA to 30333.

K

Yesterday I had the pleasure of broadcasting live from the 1st Annual Toys4Kids Drive, the brainchild of Miguel Ramos, a Grade 10 Student from St. Thomas More Collegiate who was given the task to make a difference. His Goal, to raise money and collect toys for the Salvation Army. Click HERE to watch the coverage on BT!

with Steve Podborski and Miguel (with a $500 cheque from Telus)

You can support the 3rd installment of the Toys4Kids Drive on December 21st by making your way to:

Save-On-Foods (2991 Lougheed Highway Coquitlam from) 6-9am – Kyle Donaldson will be broadcasting live as well.

Another great organization is the Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau who  has been helping low-income families for 80 years.

You can donate at the above link or at this time of year you may also wish to donate an unwrapped toy at Oakridge Shopping Centre or many Vancouver FireHalls . Thankfully they have alot of stuffed toys, but most needed items this year are presents for teens. People can also volunteer their time to help at the store – that’s where parents come to get toys and food vouchers between Dec 6 and 22. Please call them at 604 253-7191 if you can help.

Thanks to everyone for their generosity!

Dawn

Received a note from a BT viewer who has a wonderful initiative that I want you to know about!

Kimzangels  Food and Clothing Drive
 
Benefiting Best Babies of Langley, CLA Recovery House and Food Bank and South Gate Church.

Please bring food, toys,  toiletries,  toques,  gloves and socks to
Murrayville Langley  in front of  the IGA at 222 and Fraser Hwy
 

Donations will be accepted  Dec 10,  from 3-9   Dec 11, from 10-9 and Dec 12 from 10-5. The feat, to full up the entire Ambulance!

Supporters of this initiative (Kim’s Angels) include members of the Rcmp, Langley Fire Fighters and the  Langley Paramedics.

 Kim’s goal is “to give hope to people who are without a home and to make a change in the community”.

Sounds like you are the one who is an Angel Kim,

Dawn

Thanks to everyone who made there way out to the Rogers Santa Claus Parade this last weekend – it was great meeting many of you and the Greater Vancouver Food Bank was the recipient if your generous donations! if you didn’t have a chance to bring your non-perishable items or your cash donations – not to worry – you can come by the back lane of City TV (180 West 2nd) for Food Bank Friday on December 17! All of the Breakfast Television hosts and several volunteers will be on hand to take your items (you don’t even have to get out of the car) and to hand you a gift from The Shopping Channel.

Food Bank Friday 2009 with Loverboy Mike Reno

Wanted to also let you know of another initiative – it’s the 1st Annual Toys4Kids Drive Vancouver - last week Grade 10 Student Miguel Ramos held his 1st installment of his drive at St. Thomas Moore (raising over $750 +500 toys!) and BT was there to cover it!

Organizer Miguel Ramos with City TV's Nelson Wong

On December 14, I will be live on location the entire morning for Breakfast Television encouraging you to come out to bring a toy or 2, some cash and say hi! We will be at the Sutton Place Hotel on Burrard from 6-9am – please help this important cause.

Tis the Season,

Dawn

Wow!  What a fantastic time we had at the 7th Annual Rogers Santa Claus Parade in downtown Vancouver.  The weather totally co-operated.  And more than 300,000 people turned out — helping to raise money and donations for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank!

We got a chance to meet so many of you at the parade which was really cool.  But if you weren’t able to make it to see the parade in person, you can watch the televised version this coming Saturday December 11th at 6pm on Citytv in Vancouver.  It’s also going to air in Calgary and Edmonton.  Dawn, Riaz and I along with Larry and Willy from JACK-FM will be your guides for the show. 

Here are a few pictures from our time at the parade!

K

A BT tradition continues with our Food Bank Friday happening this year on December 17th!

We invite all our viewers to the back lot of our 180 West 2nd street between 6 and 9am to drop off non-perishable items for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.

Not only is it helping a great cause, but it is also a chance for us to connect with some of our favourite people…YOU!

For the last few years, I had had the pleasure to take a donation from a viewer who has watched us his whole life! Here’s a picture of Nathan and I from last year!

His parents own a business called Anything on a Clock (and they took the pic of Nathan and I and did just that!) They have made a real effort to connect with us and the Food Bank by donating a portion of their November  1- December 15 sales through our Food Bank Friday Campaign – as I told you a while back, they added an incentive whereby 2 of those clients will also receive a $50 Gift Certificate to the Keg! Way to go!

Individuals and Businesses alike…let’s feed Vancouver!

Looking forward to seeing everyone on December 17th!

Dawn

Hey All…I write a lot (talk about and think a lot about food)…for many of us, there never seems to be a shortage. We have heard about the effects proper nutrition has had on our youth with respect to learning levels and happiness.

In September 2005, approximately 10 Burnaby elementary schools were deemed at or below the poverty level.  The Burnaby Fire Fighters Charitable Society initiated a nutritional snack program at two of Burnaby’s elementary schools and a community centre. These schools were identified as having a high proportion of students from low income families, and nutrition was a major concern. Burnaby Fire Fighters purchase and deliver nutritious snacks for these schools on a regular basis. The teachers have reported great results from this simple program: children are more focused and learning in the classroom has improved.  To date, the Burnaby Firefighters assist 5 schools and are now receiving requests from high schools – where students have moved on to.  They hope to expand this program to other schools that have been identified as having similar challenges so that every child is being taken care of.

Now, here’s a GREAT way you can help!

 Salon M2 will be having their Grand Opening Celebration on Friday November 19.  They are offering FREE HAIR CUTS by DONATION from 8am – 5 pm.

ALL PROCEEDS will go directly to the Burnaby Firefighters Charitable Society Nutritional Snack Program.  

Until we ALL eat again,

Dawn

Address is:  5901 Broadway in Burnaby  604-294-3344  For more information please call Rosanna at 604-562-3228

Have you picked up you 2011 Hall of Flame Firefighters Calendar yet? It’s definitely worth a look (or 12) not only because it has everything you want in a calendar (you know, 12 months and the days of the week all laid out) but because it raises money for a cause near and dear to all Firefighters, the Burn Fund . Oh yeah…and hot men!

 Great tie in at the Launch party of  Naked Boxer Briefs at Boysco the other night…as Joel Primus President and CEO donated $1000 to the Burn Fund and offered up 500 shares of Naked Boxer Brief  to Boysco as a thank-you for supporting their company. The party was great…and visual – enjoy!

I’m off to get my calendar!

Dawn