Note: Due to the theft    of my Macbook Pro and it's files (all photo/video footage), I have had to adapt the way in which I share and reflect on each organization that took part in the Roadtrip with Reason. You can view a few video profiles that were already posted prior to the theft here   . Thanks for your support!

After a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with my family in Victoria (British Columbia), I said my farewells and watched them hop the ferry back to the mainland - leaving just Archie and I behind. I was continuing on to complete the last leg of my cross-Canada volunteer journey and had plans to stick around Vancouver Island to explore. My next volunteer stop was at the Rock Bay Landing Shelter in Victoria, British Columbia.

The Rock Bay Landing shelter is an extension of the Cool Aid Society, which is a non-profit organization that strives to "provide holistic shelter, housing, and community health services to adults experiencing marginalization in the Victoria area". The Cool Aid Society began back in 1968 when a "Cool Aid Hostel" (emergency shelter) was established for transient youth travelling the country. Now they run 4 shelters in Victoria, BC -  Rock Bay Landing is their most recent addition. 

I arrived to RBL on a beautiful sunny day in October and was completely surprised to find such a modern, clean, green (solar panels!) and safe space. To be completely honest, I strolled by the building twice just to be 100% sure I wasn't lost. This was unlike any shelter that I had seen before. I later learned that the reason why RBL was so impressive was because it only opened on November 3rd, 2010 and had been a major (and necessary) undertaking for the organization. 

Facts about Rock Bay Landing
- 84 permanent shelter beds
- 23 units of transitional housing
- 2 units of family shelter (only one in Victoria)
- 40 shelter mat spaces, available for overflow
- Advanced security / safety features for staff and clients
- Day storage, cart accommodation
- Laundry, showers, clothing, dining facilities, workshops
- Volunteer opportunities for clients

Note: Due to the theft of my Macbook Pro and it's files (all photo/video footage), I have had to adapt the way in which I share and reflect on each organization that took part in the Roadtrip with Reason. You can view a few video profiles that were already posted prior to the theft here. Thanks for your support!

For the first time in my 24-years of living, I journeyed to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
People who had made the trip before had given me their not-so favourable opinions.

“It’s a flat, windy, chilly city.”  “It’s full of homeless people.”
“It’s COLD.” “The only worthwhile place in Winnipeg is ‘The Forks’.”
"Don't bother."

In my first few days as a visitor, I was beginning to fear that their not-so favourable conclusions were true, but then I found Winnipeg Harvest.

Winnipeg Harvest (WH) “is a non-profit, community-based organization committed to providing food to people who struggle to feed themselves and their families.” They opened their doors in 1985 and have since been striving to not only feed the hungry, but are also working towards finding long-term solutions to hunger and poverty in Manitoba.

Meghan Pesclovitch (Volunteer Services Coordinator) took me on a tour of the fantastic WH space and shared some scary statistics, before putting me to “work”.

1. Winnipeg Harvest provides emergency food assistance to almost 58,000 people a month across Manitoba

2. Last year 51% of food bank recipients were children.

3. 1/3 of families experiencing hunger are dual wage-earner families, ie: the working poor

4. In 2010, Winnipeg Harvest moved almost 11,000,000 lbs. of food

Scary statistics, indeed.

I had never experienced the fear of going hungry (thankfully), and had definitely never been exposed to such staggering numbers. I was ready to offer my helping hands more than ever, and was wishing that I had the ability to help on a much larger scale.

While volunteering with Winnipeg Harvest, I ended up with two main roles. Firstly, I assisted Dave, a long-time volunteer, in taking phone calls from clients who were in need of emergency food. There were about 6 other people in the room answering calls for the same reason, and the phones never stopped ringing. Because I was not trained, I mostly sat in silence and listened while Dave made the appropriate responses. I was extremely impressed with the efficiency of their tracking system to ensure that no one was taking advantage of the services provided by Winnipeg Harvest and their 320+ partner agencies.

One phone call really struck me. A single mom, who was a first time caller, was looking to make an appointment with her local agency because she was almost out of food for herself and her two children. You could hear the panic, stress and absolute fear in her voice. After Dave booked an appointment for her (while also offering some encouraging words), we hung up the phone and I asked him how he felt about his role at Winnipeg Harvest. He made it very clear that although he feels great about being able to calm clients’ fears and help them feed their families, he ultimately wishes that he didn’t have to be there at all (meaning that no one would be going hungry in Manitoba).

I also had the chance to help a team of volunteers sort food donations and put them in their appropriate boxes (I wish I still had my pictures, the efficiency of this place was truly incredible). It was here that I saw the magnitude of food that was being donated, sorted, packed and distributed on a daily basis. It seemed that the WH fleet of trucks never stopped coming to pick up more pallets of food.

While taking on this task, I casually spoke with the other volunteers to learn why they chose to give their time to this particular organization. I was surprised to find out that many of them were clients of Winnipeg Harvest and just wanted to give back. I later learned that more than 50% of volunteers at WH are people who use a food bank.

Amazing, I thought.

My time at Winnipeg Harvest was short, but really eye-opening and impressive. I left the building with an overwhelming sense of gratefulness for my own circumstances, and appreciation for the hardworking group at WH. Every single staff member and volunteer displayed so much passion and were 100% committed to fighting this issue.

Fighting hunger and feeding hope.

Their goal at Winnipeg Harvest is to “to reduce by half the need for food banks in our province by 2020.”

To learn more about Winnipeg Harvest, please visit their website HERE. I also encourage you to read "the Myths" about hunger HERE.

This is long overdue, but I am so glad to finally share with you a little bit of the magic that is Apathy is Boring. From the moment I stepped into their office in Montreal, I felt like one of the gang. From the executive director (Ilona) who has achieved so much good in her 31 years, to an amazing artist (Moe) who offers her artistic expertise on an (often) volunteer basis, to a lovely staff member (Devon) who doubles as a food blogger -- they were all so incredible. 

For anyone who has negative thoughts or doubts about the youth population today, I suggest you take a trip to Montreal and visit the A is B team. Seriously. They are a breath of fresh, inspiring air. Enjoy!  

Ta-da! The 2nd volunteer/non-profit profile video is complete, featuring The Empathy Factory from Nova Scotia.

I am so very glad that I was able to visit The Empathy Factory while on my Roadtrip with Reason. This organization is going places - mark my words - they are going to do incredible things for the youth in this country. It's an honour to know them - they have inspired me, that's for sure. 
I sincerely cannot wait to watch them grow. 

Please do yourself a favour and check them out on Facebook & Twitter -- also, if you happen to be in the Halifax-ish area on October 8th, attend this event: Breathing Empathy. Sounds incredible!

Enjoy xo

Hi Friends,

So, it's Thursday and the weekly Random Act of Kindness has yet to be posted. I am feeling a little bit like a failure at this moment and wondering if I have bitten off more than I can chew. I had a serious footage/technology screw-up on Thursday that took the entire day and night to work out, and it has forced me to fall behind on a lot of my duties. I just want everyone to know that I am trying my hardest to keep on schedule and am 100000% committed to what this project is all about.

Yesterday I spent the entire morning/day/evening volunteering with the Empathy Factory here is Nova Scotia. They threw a lobster dinner fundraiser and a team of us spent the day creating the ENTIRE meal from scratch - coleslaw, potato salad, apple pie (including the crust), biscuits etc. It was an awesome day of prep and night of lobster dinner-ing with 100 new friends. I left feeling mighty inspired by the Empathy Factory - can't wait to share it with you.

ANYWAY, at the event I was given the opportunity to make a little presentation about my project. I decided to make the Random Act of Kindness as a part of my chat -  a room of 100 and it was Wednesday? Perfect! I had picked card #5 - Give five genuine compliments in one day .... an awesome card for a room of 100. I told everyone to give at least ONE genuine compliment to the people at their tables, and the rest is history!

So, this is your chance to be kind too....one day later! Go give 5 genuine compliments out today. Make someone smile! Write about your experience on www.boomboomcards.com & let me know how it goes via Twitter (#randomactwed), Facebook, this blog or e-mail.

Thanks for your patience. I am off to edit edit edit so that I can get this Travel Tuesday video up.....soon!
Tomorrow I leave for Prince Edward Island & on to another volunteering adventure. Hurrah!

Warmly,
Becky :)

Hi Friends,

Happy Tuesday! I am a BIG fan of Ted talks ... they are inspiring, exciting and often educational. If you have not yet hopped on the TED train, I encourage you to check it out. You won't be sorry!

I came across the video below via Twitter this afternoon. A TEDx video about micro-volunteering! I thought it was a really interesting concept and wanted to share it! Afterall, TED is all about ideas worth sharing.....

Any thoughts?! Do you think this concept could work?

Enjoy your Tuesday & don't forget to VOTE VOTE VOTE!!! 8th place. It's time to hit 7th. I am getting quite bored of seeing #8 day after day! Pleaseeeee help me reach the Top 4. You support is MOST appreciated :) xo

Happy trails & travels,
-- Becky xo

Hi Friends,

I am so pleased to report that things are picking up around here. I think this Roadtrip with Reason is actually going to happen! I always had faith but these days I am feeling especially positive about it. Over the next few months (prior to departure) I will be announcing some of the non-profit organizations that I will be hanging out with while I am on the road. Exciting. I have already learned oh-so-much from this experience and I haven't even left yet! 

Speaking of learning, I would LOVE to officially announce my very first non-profit organization ... *drum roll please* ...

----------

As soon as I read about their organization I was interested and am so pleased that they have welcomed my idea with open arms! They will be the first organization that I spend time with on the entire Roadtrip with Reason and I can't wait to meet these creative and passionate individuals who are striving to do positive things in NL!

I highly suggest you take some time to check out an old issue of their newspaper "backBEAT"  - it's pretty freakin' awesome!

Too.Excited.Too.Excited.Too.Excited.

Happy trails & travels,
-- Becky xo

P.S. Don't forget to 'LIKE' my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter so that you can keep updated on all the upcoming announcements!! Oh and KEEP VOTING in Pepsi Refresh!

Hi Friends!
I wanted to quickly inform you of an awesome event that is taking place on March 19th in Toronto!! I was tweeting away a couple weeks ago when I saw a mention of a @timeraiser event. My interest was sparked so I did my research and discovered something so cooool. Thank you twitter!

The concept of a Timeraiser is very similar to a fundraiser except instead of raising money, the goal is to raise volunteer hours (time)! They say the event is "part volunteer fair, part silent art auction and part night on the town." ... uhhhhhh, yes please!!

The way it works is the Timeraiser team invites various organizations (29 in Toronto) to take part in the event. Throughout the evening, attendees are given an opportunity to chat with representatives from all the organizations that are searching for quality volunteers. If you find an organization that strikes your fancy, you are able to pledge however many hours you can/want to volunteer in the next 12 months. Once you register those hours, you are able to use them in the silent art auction that is taking place that same night.

So say you have pledged to volunteer 75 hours in the next 12 months with Evergreen, and you see a piece of art (created by a local artist) that you want - you can bid your 75 hours on that piece of art. At the end of the night if no one has bid higher than 75, that piece of art will be yours as long as you complete your hours within the specified time. HOW FUN! 

They have found such a creative way for people to find meaningful volunteer opportunities in their communities and for organizations to find quality volunteers. It is such a win-win scenario! I am soo excited to announce that not only will I be attending the event but I have also been given the go-ahead to cover the event!

This is going to be such a blast!

Tickets are now on sale for the Toronto Timeraiser that is taking place on Saturday March 19th at the Fermenting Cellar in the Distillery District! Tickets are $20 - event doors open at 7:00 p.m. - CBC's Garvia Bailey is hosting (!!) - appetizers will be served - Franklin's Fault will be performing - and I WILL BE THERE!

Need more convincing? Watch this video:

You can go HERE for all the additional details & tickets!
FYI there are also TimeRaisers coming up in London, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, Hamilton and Ottawa..

Don't miss out! Spread the word! Hope to see ya there!

Happy trails & travels,
-- Becky xo 

I have been searching for this photo for almost an entire year and I finally found it! That is 16 year-old Becky (me!) at the Lemon-Aid stand myself and another friend organized one summer.

I had read in our local newspaper (the Oakville Beaver) that there was a little girl named Tamya Peralto who had been suffering from high risk stage IV neuroblastoma (cancer) since the age of 3. Her family was seeking financial assistance from the community because there was a treatment in the U.S. that was not covered by OHIP (due to its experimental nature) but had the potential to save her life. After discussing ideas with my friend Ryan, we decided to hold a Lemon-Aid stand in front of an empty grocery store at a busy intersection in Oakville, ON to raise funds towards Tamya's treatment.

With the help of some other friends, we spent a couple days selling lemonade to curious and compassionate community members. I also made a lemon sign (in the picture) that I enjoyed dancing around in to draw attention to our little stand.

In the end, we raised about $500 and were able to donate that towards the cause. Many people held events in the GTA for Tamya at the same time and enough money was raised to help her with treatments. I didn't find out about this until last year, but sadly in 2007 (age of 9) she passed away. Ouch.


About six months after our efforts, I received a beautiful hand-written note from Tamya's mom -

""I would also like to say how much we all appreciate what Becky has done for Tamya. Her thoughfulness in going beyond her school and into her community, our community, seeking to raise funds for out "little princess" Tamya brought tears to my eyes. It made us feel very comforted to know that there are still people out there who care unconditionally for others. You, becky, have done a wonderful job instilling values and morals in Tamya."

Giving back is not about recognition. However after the entire experience and then receiving the letter, it solidified the fact that that silly little Lemon-Aid stand changed my life. From that point on, I was aware of how good it feels to give back and how important it is to do so and how precious life truly is. Although I didn't realize it until a couple years later, that Lemon-Aid stand was absolutely a turning point for me.

Anyway, that is my little tale about the photo. I am so, so happy that I finally discovered it. Just as I cherish the memories, and the letter, this photo will forever remind me of why *it* all matters. 

Happy Friday! Hope your weekends of full of fun!
Lots of LOVE,
-- Becky xo