For 2011, I decided to contine the trend started in the past couple weeks, and start a '52 Weeks of Giving blog'. Although not as challenging as this concept, it has been very rewarding.
I'm not sure if this will be the end of this blog or not. Reality is, I did think of a couple things to work on in January (working out every day, not eating fast food, stop swearing while playing ultimate, etc.)...just not sure I want the responsibility of having to report back about them. We'll see :)
Monday, January 17, 2011
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Week 52 - Giving to the Church
Like many Christians, I look forward to attending the Christmas service at my home church (Zion Lutheran in Pembroke). It's a time to refresh my spiritual side, see some old friends and acquaintenances, and sing some carols (terribly off key in my case). The service also provided a relatively easy option to complete my last week of giving, by donating to the church.
Although this year had its challenges, I enjoyed completing many of my improvement efforts. Although many of you seemed to get a kick out of the mini-blinds post, my favourite weeks were a toss up between the cooking challenges, and the giving ones. Since there are plenty of awesome cooking blogs out there, I decided my 2011 project will be '52 Weeks of Giving'. I plan to donate time, money, and other goods to charities and not-for-profit foundations each week next year. The exact paramaters are still up in the air, but I'll let you know by linking the new blog to this one as soon as it's reserved. I feel that I lead a very charmed, fortunate life, and want to take steps to enrich the lives of less fortunate people in 2011.
Here's wishing all of my readers a wonderful holiday season, the merriest of Christmases, and a happy new year! See you in 2011!
Although this year had its challenges, I enjoyed completing many of my improvement efforts. Although many of you seemed to get a kick out of the mini-blinds post, my favourite weeks were a toss up between the cooking challenges, and the giving ones. Since there are plenty of awesome cooking blogs out there, I decided my 2011 project will be '52 Weeks of Giving'. I plan to donate time, money, and other goods to charities and not-for-profit foundations each week next year. The exact paramaters are still up in the air, but I'll let you know by linking the new blog to this one as soon as it's reserved. I feel that I lead a very charmed, fortunate life, and want to take steps to enrich the lives of less fortunate people in 2011.
Here's wishing all of my readers a wonderful holiday season, the merriest of Christmases, and a happy new year! See you in 2011!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Week 51 - Giving Vision
Some of you may know that I had laser eye-surgery in February 2008. It was one of those 'life altering' experiences, and I could talk at length about how much better I feel about myself without glasses.
While cleaning up recently, I found 5 pairs of glasses in my hall closet. Before tossing them, I thought there must be a better way to dispose of eye glasses. I remembered seeing a donation bin of some sort in a glasses store at the Rideau Center, but when I checked back last week, it was gone. After searching, I found Hakim Optical has a program in place to give used glasses to needy people in developing countries. After that, it was simply a matter of finding a convenient location, and dropping off my older glasses.
Stay tuned for my final post next week. I'll let you know what the plan is for 2011's blog!
While cleaning up recently, I found 5 pairs of glasses in my hall closet. Before tossing them, I thought there must be a better way to dispose of eye glasses. I remembered seeing a donation bin of some sort in a glasses store at the Rideau Center, but when I checked back last week, it was gone. After searching, I found Hakim Optical has a program in place to give used glasses to needy people in developing countries. After that, it was simply a matter of finding a convenient location, and dropping off my older glasses.
Stay tuned for my final post next week. I'll let you know what the plan is for 2011's blog!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Week 50 - The Ottawa Food Bank
A couple of my frisbee friends throw an annual holiday party that incorporates a food drive for the Ottawa Food Bank. Given their large social circle, these two lovely ladies raised a considerable amount of food and cash donations in 2010. Given the worthiness of the cause, not only did I bring some canned and boxed foods, I decided to make a donation on the Ottawa Foodbank website.
While reviewing the website, I was impressed to read that $1 donated to the food bank generates $5 worth of food into the community. Sadly, these donations are necessary, as the Ottawa food bank provides 43,000 people each month with emergency food assistance, 40% of whom are children. All this to say, if you happen to be looking for a worthy cause this holiday season, the food bank has a high need for donations.
Regarding my last personal goal of the year, I'm happy to report that due to an extra game of ultimate, and a hard work-out tonight, I'm inching ever closer to my sub 170 lb goal by year end. So close...so close...
While reviewing the website, I was impressed to read that $1 donated to the food bank generates $5 worth of food into the community. Sadly, these donations are necessary, as the Ottawa food bank provides 43,000 people each month with emergency food assistance, 40% of whom are children. All this to say, if you happen to be looking for a worthy cause this holiday season, the food bank has a high need for donations.
Regarding my last personal goal of the year, I'm happy to report that due to an extra game of ultimate, and a hard work-out tonight, I'm inching ever closer to my sub 170 lb goal by year end. So close...so close...
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Week 49 - The Ottawa Mission
As indicated last week, my goal for the last 4 weeks of this blog is to find worthwhile charities, and make donations. This week's charity is the The Ottawa Mission. The Ottawa Mission provides basic needs (food, clothing, shelter), addiction services, healthcare services, and other client services (i.e. job training) to those in need. Their annual holiday meal is famous, and apparently their cost to provide this amazing feast is $2.97 per person.
I've also decided to give myself one last goal to accomplish this year...lose that last, ugly 5 pounds. I'm sitting at 175ish as of this morning, and am looking to end 2010 under 170. This should help motivate me run a little harder in frsibee, make it out to the gym 3 times a week, and eat smarter than I have been lately. I'll keep you posted on my progress toward this goal.
I've also decided to give myself one last goal to accomplish this year...lose that last, ugly 5 pounds. I'm sitting at 175ish as of this morning, and am looking to end 2010 under 170. This should help motivate me run a little harder in frsibee, make it out to the gym 3 times a week, and eat smarter than I have been lately. I'll keep you posted on my progress toward this goal.
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