Two years ago Vancouver was overrun with Spirit Bears on almost ever street corner.

Photo credit: RightAntler on Flickr

Batman, Darth Vader, and Brent Butt were some of the themes for these posed monuments that, once auctioned off at the end of the campaign, helped raise over half a million dollars for the BC Lions Society Easter Seals.

They were removed from their stations throughout the city and then placed wherever the highest bidder deemed worthy - in front of an office building or even GM Place. Before there were bears we had the orcas… that sort of looked more like dolphins.

baseballart on Flickr

Coming next year from April 2009 until April 2010 the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and Price George will have Eagles in the City.

Local artists, in partnership with sponsoring individuals or organizations, will create a unique design and apply it to the surface of a 7.5 foot custom formed fibreglass Bald Eagle. The Bald Eagle becomes the artist’s canvas. Once the work is complete, the Bald Eagle will be displayed in prominent public spaces around the participating cities. A ‘Bald Eagle Flight Path Map’ will be created and distributed throughout participating communities showing the location, sponsor and artist of every bald eagle. [Eagles in the City]

Despite the fact that many people became annoyed with the orcas and moreso the bears, the money raised does go to a good cause. Eagles in the city will benefit the BC Lions Society Easter Seals as well at the Canucks for Kids Fund. You can also check out a list of artists who will be painting and decorating the eagle, on the Eagles in the City website.

Last October I wrote a post about the Surrey Memorial Hospital expansion, and followed up by contacting the Fraser Health Authority about a campaign I had read about. As a result, I was able to help them connect with other bloggers and get their message out using social media, augmenting the distribution and exposure of their news releases regarding important initiatives such as the Tulips for Tomorrow campaign, which ran from October 2007 - December 2007.

100,000 Princess Irene tulips are growing in dozens of locations across Surrey. It’s the result of Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation’s first ever Tulips for Tomorrow Campaign, which was launched last fall. The Princess Irene’s red and orange petals are reminiscent of the Foundation’s logo.

The campaign has two goals – raise money for a new, state-of-the-art Emergency Centre and beautify Surrey. [SMH Foundation]

Close to $420,000 has been donated throughout this campaign for BC’s busiest Emergency Room, and Surreyites will be able to experience some beautiful floral displays this spring as a bonus.

More than ever Surrey Memorial Hospital is an important facility for my family as (save for my parents who weren’t born in Canada) all of us have come into this world at SMH, including my new baby nephew.

Just a quick update on the UGM website and blog that was recently launched.

As the official blog of Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver, BC, The Street aims to share stories of hope from our daily work with people in need here in the Lower Mainland

I met local web monetization guru John Chow when we were given a preview and tour of the social media tools the Union Gospel Mission in Metro Vancouver is using to connect with their donors, workers, and those in the community. That day John pledged on his blog that he would match donations made by his users, up to $1,000 a piece. The grand total from John and his blog readers came to an amazing $7,517.91 for the UGM.

As a side story, Kevan was telling me about the naming of the mannequin, Gertrude, at the UGM Thrift Store and I suggested they use the power of their Flickr account to show her off and get some exposure for some of the fashions available at the store.

Photo Credit and © UGM on Flickr

You can now view the Gertrude set on their Flickr and you can see her in person at the store located at Heatley and E Hastings.

This afternoon I stopped by the Union Gospel Mission on East Cordova as I was invited to an open house to celebrate the launch of their new website. Built by a local company and using a sleek-looking cms (content management system) the UGM has been pretty excited about the changes.

The most ambitious part of the new website was the development and implementation of The Street, a blog by UGM outreach workers. Aside from being on social networking sites like Facebook, the UGM has given their street-level workers a voice. This includes a chance to promote events and simply talk about they see and go through every day.

I also got to chat with a man that works in the kitchen and moonlights in the UGM Thrift Store. He said he’s been clean and sober for 15 years and working with the UGM ever since. There were interesting people from all walks of life, staff, bloggers, and even a mention of the Thrift Store’s lead mannequin that I thought would be great to have a photo of on their Flickr account.

This UGM provides drop in centres for women, families and youth, as well as programs and outreach for those in Canada’s poorest neighbouhood and around the Lower Mainland. They’ve also helped me with the issue of what to do with the five bags of clothing I was looking to donate, as their Thrift Store would gladly accept it.

While talking to Kevan, who works in communications for the UGM, it was great to see his enthusiasm for using new ways to reach donors, staff, and those who use the services. Sure, flyers in the mail get avoided or discarded and may cause annoyance, but the blog (to which you can subscribe) can provide everyone the information they want, when they want it.

Checking in this evening on some local non-profits, I found out about the following event coming up this month that will help raise funds for the Surrey Food Bank:

Universal Cultural Society of Canada is hosting their second annual Holi Festival of Colours to Eliminate Racism. “Celebrating the colours of life for the elimination of racial discrimination”. Saturday, March 22, 2008 from 4pm – 10pm at the Pearl Banquet Hall, 201-13030 76 Avenue, Surrey.

Photo Credit: Carol Browne on Flickr

Quick reminder that the Surrey Food Bank does not fall under the Greater Vancouver Food Bank realm so if you’d like to donate make sure to visit their headquarters or website.

However, speaking of the GVFB, Bruce Springsteen is known as an avid contributor to local food banks around the world and his stop in Vancouver will be no exception. The Greater Vancouver Food Bank has been given two prize packs to auction off for his upcoming concert, March 31st. If you’d like to place a bid you can call 604-876-3601 and ask for Cindy. The bidding ends March 26th.

One more non-Food Bank related event is the Surrey Museum’s Easter Fair, taking place Saturday March 22nd from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. Bonnet making, egg hunting and snuggles from all sorts of rescue animals will be taking place.

Now that our team is complete for the Bowl for Big Brothers Classic, I’d like to introduce our members, their blogs, and provide an update.

• Corinna of GusGreeper - Sponsor Corinna
• Keira-Anne of Keira-Anne - Sponsor Keira
• Duane of DuaneStorey - Sponsor Duane
• John of JohnBollwitt - Sponsor John
• John of JohnBiehler - Sponsor John Biehler
• Tod of TodMaffin - Sponsor Tod
• Raul of Hummingbird604 - Sponsor Raul
• Amy of WeWishSheHadABlog
• Phaedra of Memoirs of Me
• Rebecca (me) of Miss604 - Sponsor Me

Corinna wrote a post about how the Big Brothers organization has touched her family’s life, and Tod Maffin wrote last night that we’ve already reached 50% of our goal - that’s not even including some of the offline donations. Tod was also kind enough to create a lovely banner for our team (above).

Mission: To enhance the resiliency and well-being of children by involving them in high quality prevention-focused mentoring programs and by actively seeking to positively influence policies and programs that affect children’s social and emotional development.
Vision: To put a mentor in the life of every child who needs one.
Commitment to Diversity: Big Brothers embodies the principles of diversity and welcomes participants regardless of race, religion, culture or sexual orientation. [Big Brothers Vancouver]

We’ll all be taking to the lanes of Xcalibur in Surrey on Sunday March 16th alongside other company teams. The entire event lasts over 6 weeks with over 400 teams bowling for the cause.

I recently received an email from Malcolm, a teacher and volunteer who is also a participant in the annual Canuck Place Adventure Challenge. He informed me about this event that place in the fall (going on 3 years now) that involves performing various physical tasks while raising funds for Canuck Place Children’s Hospice.

Canuck Place Children’s Hospice provides palliative and respite care services for sick children in BC Canada

Photo Credit: Dan Lilly on Flickr

On Saturday September 6th, 2008 over a hundred participants will gather in Panorama Park in Deep Cove, North Vancouver. Leading up to the event they will be collecting pledges and as for Malcolm, he’s also been blogging about the whole thing, every step of the way.

[In 2007] “The run was uphill in both directions, or so it appeared …5 hours and 17 minutes of being in one of the most beautiful areas of the world was a great way to spend a Saturday despite the number of bike riders swearing their way through the boulders and hills of Mt. Seymour.” [Adventure Challenge - Blog]

Best of luck to Malcolm doing the 6km kayak plus 32km bike plus the 8km run for such a great cause. If you’d like to support him he has his personal online pledge link listed on his blog.

Canuck Place Children’s Hospice opened its doors in 1995, offering specialized care for children with progressive life-threatening illnesses and for their families. Thanks to funding support from individuals, organizations and corporations, hundreds of families from across B.C. have access to Canuck Place’s services, at no cost to them.

Canuck Place was the first free-standing hospice for children in North America and its model of care has been used for many hospices recently established… …The goal of this specialized care, known as pediatric palliative care, is to enhance the comfort and quality of life for both the child and their family. [Canuck Place - About]

More information about the event is available on the Adventure Challenge or Canuck Place website.

Here at Miss604 we are always looking for neat community events and especially charity fundraisers that we can get involved with and promote. From Blogathon, Food Banks, Childhood cancer research, Hospital Foundations and Raising the Roof for the homeless.

After an evening of bowling and good times at Commodore Lanes, Corinna sent me the idea over Twitter, suggesting we get a blogger team together for the Bowl for Big Brothers Classic (much like the Skate for a Cure). I have contacted the organizers and have now setup a Team Blogger.

Proceeds from The Bowl for Big Brothers Classic support Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver’s quality mentoring programs by funding volunteer screening, training and monitoring of friendships as well as fun activities for Bigs and Littles…

…Mentoring benefits the community by endorsing volunteerism, tolerance and social responsibility. Our vision is to put a mentor in the life of every child who needs one. [About]

Sponsor the team or a bowler:
Go to the event home page > Donate > Sponsor a Bowler or Company.

Team members can start collecting donations online, or in person. If you register for Team Blogger I’ll have a pledge book for you that you can pick up.

If you would like to join us March 16th @ Xcalibur Bowling in Surrey for the event, sign up and make sure to select the team to which you’d like to be added. In this case our “Company Name” is “Team Blogger” or you can search by team captain, “Rebecca Bollwitt”.

Join the team:
Go to the event home page > Select Register > Sign up > Join Company (or just click this link)

Team Blogger so far:

This year’s theme is also “Beach Party” and they encourage costumes (bikinis are questionable but lei, grass skirts and flip flops are encouraged).

It’s pretty simple but there’s a lot to take in. Sign up, collect, bowl or donate and receive our eternal gratitude and the obvious warm-fuzzies. If anyone has any questions, please drop me a line in the contact form or in the comments, thanks!.