I know that we have been away for a while…both of us are working on other projects (Mel’s busy with Lady Atelier , CrisisCommons and her new job at AWID, and I’m busy with HealthyHousing.ca and blogging for the Because I am a Girl Campaign).  So, if you’ll forgive us for being a bit absent, we’d like to ask you to help us out with something close to our hearts:
Our friend Zahra over at archiTEXT, a design think tank dedicated to social change, is in the running for two Pepsi …

Gaming for Good:
“Online game seeks to empower Africa. Some people think of online gamers and see gaunt loners huddled in dark rooms, the sad blue glow of the computer screen on their faces as their lives pass them by. Game designer Jane McGonigal sees “superheroes” with untapped potential that can be used to fix vexing real-world problems…”
Extreme philanthropy
“Brian Jones has scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, walked across the Sahara Desert and skied to the North Pole, all to raise money for needy groups in Fredericton. But this winter, he simply …

This year, Pepsi decided to forgo its annual Super Bowl commercial in favour of supporting an social media charity initiative called Pepsi Refresh.  Obviously, Pepsi’s interest is the bottom line, so the idea that a social media charity project is on par with a super bowl commercial in terms of advertising value is AMAZING to me.
But, at first glance, I wasn’t super impressed with their approach.  Apart from the usual debate about whether corporations can truly participate in charity without changing some of their own business practices (namely, a focus …

People are being so generous in supporting the people of Haiti and the relief work going on there. I would encourage individuals interested in providing support to consider becoming monthly donors with charities rather than giving larger one-time gifts.
In a nutshell, sign up to be a monthly donor because:

it allows charities to provide immediate relief when an emergency occurs
it helps the charity budget effectively
the admin fees are as low as possible
small amounts every month are affordable for the donor

Allow me to explain.
Small monthly gifts provide stable, reliable funding for the …

Learning about all the stuff that’s happening around text message donations during the Haiti crisis.  It seems to be getting a lot of press!
This is the first humanitarian disaster where this type of micro-donating is taking a really big roll.  Plan Canada (who I work for blogging at Because I am a Girl) have raised over $3000 using Text to Donate technology so far.  This is nothing compared to the millions that the American Red Cross has managed to raise since Jan 12 using the same technology.
I’m not sure that …

A couple of interesting articles designed to help Canadians deal better with the Haitian tragedy came out this weekend.  It may sound silly - why do we need help to deal with a situation from which we are so far removed?  These articles look at what the best way for us to give is, and also how we can take advantage of this teachable moment for our kids:
The Haiti Talk: How to Discuss Disasters with your Kids
So You Want to Help Haiti…
I decided to support Partners in Health, a health …

This week’s Featured Event is Dream Now’s Bar Philanthropy.  Don’t miss it - they’re piloting crowdsourced fundraising offline and in the flesh.  2.0 meets real life.  Here’s the premise…
Step One:
Register at the door, pay $30 ($25 event token + $5 donation to the Millennium Network), and receive a $25 token and a token worth 3 hours of your time.
Step Two:
Have a drink and talk to people while you find, create or pitch an idea.

Step Three:
Give tokens to ideas you like and collect tokens from people who like your idea.
Step Four:
At …

LECTURE:  From Margin to Mainstream: Refashioning women’s ‘informal’ sector work in the Philippines
November 4, 2009. 5:30PM - 6:30PM. Ontario College of Art and Design Auditorium. 100 McCaul St. http://apache.ocad.ca/events_calendar/eventdetail.php?id=1782
LECTURE: Citizenship and Immigration: Toward a Liberal Model
Thursday November 05. 4-6 pm. Combination Room, Trinity College, 6 Hoskin Avenue. http://webapp.mcis.utoronto.ca/EventDetails.aspx?eventId=7935

LECTURE: Securing The Future Of Great Apes In The Congo Basin
Lecture by primatologist Crickette Sanz. Thursday, November 5. 6-8 pm. $10, stu pwyc. Northern District Library, 40 Orchard View. 416-462-1039.
FILM SCREENING: The War On Democracy
Toronto-Danforth NDP film screening and discussion. Thursday, November 5. …

If you’re anything like me, your wallet is full of points cards.  The creepy big-brother side of these cards is that they collect all sorts of data on your shopping habits, but on the other side, many of them have partnered with local charities to allow individuals to donate their points to a good cause.
Shoppers Drug Mart has a list of charities, including the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation here in Vancouver, that use donated shoppers points for lots of different things.  The Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation uses the points to …

FEATURED EVENT OF THE WEEK: ONE WEB DAY
SEPTEMBER 22,2009. www.onewebday.org
“OneWebDay is an Earth Day for the internet. The idea behind OneWebDay is to focus attention on a key internet value (this year, online participation in democracy), focus attention on local internet concerns (connectivity, censorship, individual skills), and create a global constituency that cares about protecting and defending the internet. So, think of OneWebDay as an environmental movement for the Internet ecosystem. It’s a platform for people to educate and activate others about issues that are important for the Internet’s future”.
FESTIVAL: …