The $5 philanthropist

In late October, I blogged about Gordon House Youth SEARCh, an innovative charitable program here in Vancouver provide training and resources for "at-risk" youth.

In the blog entry, I talked about my first-hand experience with a client of their program and I'm happy to report that the young man I spoke of has now been hired-on full-time by Cineplex Odeon.

The organization has just recently posted a project proposal on the GiveMeaning website and is now seeking votes. You can see their project proposal here. Please consider voting for their proposal or better yet, if you're sitting on 12 computers of similar make/model and OS, get in touch with me and consider donating them to this worthy cause.

Your computers will help many at-risk youth connect with employers, keeping them safe and providing them a much-needed income.

Labels: atriskyouth, computers, donation, givemeaning, gordonhouse, vancouver

Jess and I saw the movie Rendition
This is a note about Scotiabank Theater where we saw the movie. At the top of the escalator, we were greeted by a young man in a wheelchair employed to greet people as they entered the theater. I don't know what it was about this young man but Jess and I were really moved by the fact that he was employed as a greeter.

I think we're all prone to griping about the cost of a movie ticket these days (not to mention paying $12 to sit and be advertised to for a good 5 minutes before even the trailers begin) but here is Cineplex Odeon employing people who have to overcome significant barriers to do their jobs.

I decided to learn more about how this program came to be.

I found out that a program called Gordon House Youth SEARCh (Seeking Employment and Resources for Change) provides training and resources for "at-risk" youth. Typically, I think of "at-risk" as being drug-addicted street youth, but in speaking to Julio Bello who is the Program Manager for this initiative, he informed me that "at-risk" covers a far wider spectrum.

Julio told me that when he began speaking with Jason De Courcy, the Operations Department Director of BC for Cineplex Odeon that Jason was very enthusiastic about being able to participate in placing Julio's at-risk clients at Cineplex theaters.

The program involves 8-weeks of on-site training which gives an opportunity for the young person to gain tangible, resume-building skills and make an impression on their employer. Julio told me that most of the people who enter the on-site training become employed by the sponsoring employer.

In speaking with a Manager at the Scotiabank Theater (where we saw Rendition), I'm told that there are six employees currently employed at that one theater who have participated in this type of job-training program.

I'm a big fan of this type of program and encouraged that Cineplex understands the community benefit (both to their employees and to its customers) of supporting this type of initiative.

I asked Julio what the program needs in terms of support and computers are in great demand. He needs to find 12 computers of similar make, model, OS etc that his clients can use for developing resumes, conducting online job searches etc. At present time, there is such a hodge-podge of old equipment that it's completely unmanageable. Any local computer merchant or company upgrading their computers want to donate 12 computers?

I'll give the donor tons of profile if they do.

Next time you're seeing a movie at Cineplex and see one of these greeters, please be sure to tell them and their managers what a great job they're doing!

Labels: atriskyouth, cineplexodeon, community, csr, employment, gordonhouse, vancouver

Today at 10:38am on my Mother's birthday, my Gramma passed away with four of her five children at her bedside.

Having suffered a mild heart attack, she was admitted to Vancouver General Hospital last week and on Thursday evening, I visited with her. I'm grateful that though her body weakened, her mind and spirit remained strong until the very end. I was able to have a heart-to-heart conversation and show her this picture, a collage we made of all the stamps and soda-can tabs sent in from so many generous people, some of whom I have never met.



We had scheduled to take all the soda-can tabs and stamps to BC Guide Dogs Society this Friday, and then bring a puppy to surprise my Gramma but... We're still going to do the video but unfortunately this video will be an in memoriam tribute to my Gramma.

PLEASE, take some time out of whatever you are doing and visit with your elders. Your grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, whomever. The Jim Pattison Pavillion at VGH was a wonderful place and they took such good care of my Gramma but there are so many elderly people left alone in their last days. We're one of the only cultures that doesn't value our elders the way they ought to be. Don't resolve to do it later.

Who deserves more celebration? Is it someone who gives $100,00 a year from an estate of $10,000,000 or is it the pensioner who gives the lion-share of her pension cheque to charities each month? Today, I celebrate my Grandmother's giving spirit. Here was a woman with very little who gave most of it away. She lent my Mother the money required for us to travel to California to meet John Sculley, Apple's CEO, which was the meeting that led to me later being hired by Apple. My Gramma really was the $5 Philanthropist. I will miss her tremendously.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the stamp and soda-can tab collection. I put my laptop on her lap in the hospital bed last Thursday with this picture in front of her. She had an amazing smile that I'll remember always. Thank you to each and every one of you who helped me do a great turn for the BC Guide Dogs Society and who joined me in celebrating one of the most important women in my life.

She was genuinely moved by our group effort. And so was I.

Vivian Elizabeth Macvey: God bless you. I love you.

Labels: family, gramma, personal, vancouver

In the mail today, I received my first package of stamps in response to the recent request I made on this blog!

The stamps came from the good folks at Bluelime media and I'm most grateful!

After I posted my appeal, Darren Barefoot blogged about it and I'm pretty sure that the Bluelime folks heard about the appeal through Darren's blog. Many thanks Darren!

For those of you not familiar with my appeal, it's so simple: I'm asking that you cut the top right-hand corner of envelopes you receive in the mail and send them to me in the mail. Also, for you soda can or beer can drinkers, send me the "tabs" on the top of the can. Mail them to me here:

Attn: Tom's Gramma Fund
45 Dunlevy Ave, Suite 230A
Vancouver, BC V6A 3A3

My Gramma is no longer in independent living and the transition to a full-fledged care home has been very depressing for her and all of us that love her.

My Gramma recently told me that one of the things she most laments about losing her independence is that she can no longer send used stamps and soda-can tabs to the BC Guide Dogs Society. This great charity which provides guide dogs to sight-challenged people encourages people (especially seniors) to send stamps and soda-can tabs in to the charity who then sells the stamps and recycles the tabs and makes more than $1,000 a year from this simple act.

If I can collect enough stamps and soda-can tabsby July 31st, the BC Guide Dogs society might bring in one of their Guide Dog pups for a visit to my Gramma's care-home, something I know would cheer-up many of the residents there.

Please take a few moments out of your day to put aside your soda-can tabs and used stamps. I'll be sure to recognize each contributor on my blog and post pictures of the guide dog visit on this blog.

Many thanks!

Labels: bc, charity, donation, gramma, guidedogs, simpleacts, vancouver

I have been doing a lousy job blogging. Amongst all of my friends, there is growing consensus that we really don't want to hear how "busy" anyone is so I won't cite the b-word for why I haven't been doing the b-thing. Instead, I'll just tell you about my Gramma.

Without my Gramma (Betty), I wouldn't be here. Not the here here that every grandkid can say about their grandparents but the here in the story-line of "I got my start at Apple as a teenager" here.

When I got the invitation to meet John Sculley (my then hero) before he gave a keynote speech at the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) in May of 1993, my parents were just going through a divorce and we couldn't afford the cost of going to California.

My mum borrowed money from my Grandma (not a wealthy person by any stretch) and on May 15th, 1993, it all got going. I met Sculley, we exchanged cards, I met most everyone else in Apple's senior management team and the next year, I had a job offer.

Fast-forward to today: My Grandma is now 89 years old and has recently moved from independent living into a care-home. She is - understandably - not at all happy.

One of the things she had to give-up with her loss of independence is something I'm hoping you can help me with: She used to collect used stamps and soda-can "tabs" to send to the BC Guide Dogs Society. She displays a picture of a Guide Dog that the money made from her used stamps and soda-can tabs helped to train. It's already sad that she shares a room with two other women who are basically catatonic, and the loss of this ability to contribute to one of her favorite charities just exacerbates an already crummy situation.

So I called the BC Guide Dogs office because I was a little unsure of whether they actually wanted used stamps and soda-can tabs. In fact, not only was I unsure but I was entirely skeptical. I left a message in the very early morning (about 630am) on BC Guide Dogs' main phone-line and by 11am they had already called me back!

The person I spoke with told me that they make a thousand dollars a year or more from the soda-can tabs and stamps that they receive. What's more, the stamps are processed by visually-challenged people.

Here's what I'd like to ask of anyone reading this blog: Cut-out the top right-hand corner of your envelopes that you receive and send them to me along with any soda-can tabs. Mail them to me at 45 Dunlevy Ave, Suite 230A Vancouver, BC V6A 3A3

If I can collect enough of them by July 31st, 2007, there's a good chance that the folks at BC Guide Dog Society might bring one of their dogs to my Gramma's care home for a visit with her and all of the other residents.

It's such a simple request. It can help a great charity and bring a lot of joy to the residents of this care home, especially my dear Gramma.

I'll be checking my mailbox daily.

Have a great Canada Day!!!!

Labels: charity, guidedogs, simpleacts, vancouver