Haft2Know

In 2005, seven friends in the United States launched an organization called RockCorps which they billed as a new kind of way to give back. Volunteers gave four hours of their time and in turn were rewarded with a ticket to an annual concert. Tickets could not be purchased, only earned. Then in 2008, RockCorps joined forces with UK communications giants Orange and Sony Ericsson to bring the organization to the UK where it has since blossomed into a multi-level, multi-media organization with 450 non-profit partners in the US and Europe. Giving four hours to any one of them will earn the volunteer a ticket to any one of several shows throughout the year. The site is pretty impressive and reminds you what the term 'social media' really means.

Orange RockCorps link is here.

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Since 1913, ehm has been reaching out to some of Toronto's most marginalized citizens. In 2009, they opened a fully operational, volunteer-run Health and Dental Clinic in their new downtown facility, to offer free medical and dental care - and in turn, dignity - to those who need it most.

On Saturday, February 6, ehm presents the Compassionate Hearts Gala in the Imperial Ballroom at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. What better way to say I love you to your favourite person, than to present him or her with a Valentine that benefits so many more? With dinner, live entertainment and a silent auction, all proceeds from the evening will go toward the operating costs of the clinic, where healing - both of the body and the soul - is top priority.

Click here to purchase tickets.

Even if you don't feel you can make it this year, ehm always accepts donations to benefit the clinic. Click here to offer your support.

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One quarter of the world's population lives in extreme poverty, and 70% of that 1.5 billion people are girls and women. Women are less likely to be literate, properly nourished or treated with respect. It is with this in mind that Plan (formerly Foster Parents' Plan) has established 'Because I am a Girl'; a global initiative meant to highlight the importance of investing in the world's women. Having just been released, the Canadian arm of the movement strives to collect one million signatures in order to help spread the word. Visit the site to find out more about these and other staggering statistics, as well as the trickle-down value of changing the world, one girl at a time.

http://www.becauseiamagirl.ca

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Artists Christine Santora and Justin Gignac began their sites online in the hopes of selling paintings for the exact price it would cost them to buy what it is they wanted, and the paintings themselves depicted what they'd buy if the painting were to sell. There was the painting of the 'Miniature Tulip Chair' for $227.58, 'A Slice of Pepperoni' for $3.00 and 'Cooking Lessons' (image of a burning stove) for $220.00. When the painting sold, they'd buy what was depicted. (There's something very 'The Secret' about this. Ask. Visualize. Receive.)

Well now these two have moved into the not-for-profit world, selling paintings of things, not that they want, but rather, that other people need. There's 'A Toilet' selling for $100.00 to benefit Habitat for Humanity, and 'Mr. Potato Head' selling for $250.00 to benefit Toys for Tots. Paintings are updated as new needs (and wants) arise.

http://www.needsforsale.com
http://www.wantsforsale.com

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As stores around the world release their fabulous holiday gift catalogues, we couldn't pass up the chance to talk a little about the most fabulous of them all - World Vision's 2008 Christmas Catalogue. It's an amazing concept; choose from dozens of ways to help those who are most certainly in greater need than you. For instance, $110 will buy 4 hens and 2 roosters for a family, providing them with up to 300 eggs a year, or for $75 you can help a Congolese child soldier get restored to a life - as a child. Goats, alpacas, text books, blankets, medical vaccinations, counseling, soccer balls, a beehive - the list is not only impressive; it's outstanding and just may make you rethink how badly your next door neighbour really needs that fruitcake this year. These life-changing gifts start at just $25.

https://catalogue.worldvision.ca/gifts/Forms/Home.aspx?mc=3221603&lang=en

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Truth be told, it's not yet time for our Halloween issue, but we couldn't resist sending something out early for this very special haunted affair. The Thornhill Woods Haunted House opened in Toronto again this year, and is rapidly becoming an annual go-to place to get some good ol' fashioned neck chills and goose bumps. Open every evening from 6 to 10pm, any visit to this cemetery themed attraction promises gargoyles, tomb stones, earth breaking zombies and a meat shop that sells cannibalistic delights, among a myriad of other macabre offerings.

And here's the best part. Not only is it free to visit, but the ghouls that run it request donations, all of which go entirely to benefit SickKids Foundation. Being afraid will never feel as good as this. See the website for more details.

http://www.thornhillwoodshauntedhouse.com

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This beautiful and somewhat ghostly image comes from the Statler Hilton Hotel in Dallas, Texas. The building, long empty now, was added this year to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2008 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Every year the Trust releases their list of man-made phenomena that are in danger of disappearing, either through demolition or redevelopment, or mere neglect. It's an impressive list and always succeeds in reminding the viewer how much there is to offer one's love of history throughout the United States. But because they're smaller sites, they somehow strike a more personal chord than say, Mt. Rushmore or the Smithsonian. Becoming a member of the Trust is easy and serves to save these ghosts that are disappearing at an alarming rate.

http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/11-most-endangered/

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