MyGivingMoment.ca | Geek Life: Augmenting Reality

There's this idea that we're all a big fan of monkey-see-monkey-do. It’s why group moments of kindness works, like spontaneous bouts of pay-it-forward generosity, as what happened at an American Starbucks a few years ago, or 24 hour gaming marathons that support the Children's Miracle Network. Luckily, there's this drive to help each other out, which is what inspired the Dare2Give campaign by My Giving Moment. The concept to is to help your fellow Canadian in any way that you can (from cash donations, to helping your neighbours with their yard work,) and dare your friends and family to do the same. Research shows that one of the main reasons people decide to give is simply because someone asked, and I’m all curious as to how far this chain-reaction can go. Potentially, if every Canadian dared even just one friend to give, and then pass that dare along to another friend, eventually every Canadian has given a moment to help and support those in need. How cool would that be?!? This is the basic idea behind the Dare2Give campaign. Dare others to donate or volunteer with you to increase your giving impact. Imagine what Canada would be like if every person dared someone to give? And imagine how much farther your support would go if you got help from friend(s) with your chosen charity! Dare three friends to give to your local food bank, and your side-dish of cream of corn and potatoes has turned into a full family dinner with all the fixings. YUM! I don't say this to pat myself on my back, but the truth of the matter is that I love to give. It's ingrained. It's something that many of us were raised to deploy on almost a monthly basis (food drives to help our local food banks, collecting cash donations to help various charities, selling cookies and chocolate to help the organizations that we enjoyed help us, and so on...) Every activity became another moment to help our community, and it's something that I haven't given up on. There are countless ways to help, so when the time came, I kind of floundered on what My Giving Moment was going to be. What was I going to dare my friends and family into doing? The one thing I had to consider was that I don't have many local friends (most decided to move out of Toronto after university, so I have a lot of travelling in my life to go visit, lol,) so it was too difficult to put something together that we could experience as a group. Ultimately, I came up with three ways to give, and have decided to give three different dares, that would potentially cater to each friendship (ie be based on our mutual hobbies/addictions.) The first dare, one that I'm going to give to TheSis, is a clothing drive. We shop for clothes together much as if it was a national sport. So it's time to clear the closets and donate to our local second-hand stores. Also? It gives us extra space for our next purchases! ;) The second dare goes to my friend Deanna of Maple Leaf Mommy fame. Perhaps she thought she was done with donating this month with her #ExtraLife2014 challenge (and way to go raising $4600 for the Children's Miracle Network, Deanna!!,) but since we have a shared love affair with coffee, I'm challenging her to pay-it-forward the next time she's picking up a cup of joe. [caption id="attachment_8992" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Four gift cards that I had handed out to random people who looked like they were in need of a coffee.[/caption] I'll admit I'm doing the pay-it-forward thing a little differently. I wanted to spread the Dare2Give concept out to those who would receive a coffee (or a meal) from me, so I bought four $5 Tims Hortons cards and added a little card-covering message so that the recipients might be inspired to give themselves. It's hard to get a good picture of it, but each card has a wrap-around slip (one side with the #DareYou hashtag and my site logo, and the other side of that same slip explains Dare2Give and how they can participate.) And finally, my third dare goes to my friend Sophia. We love makeup and all out "girlie things", so I'm challenging her to join me in creating as many boxes as we can full of gifts for the Shoe Box Project. I've made one already, and I can't wait to put a few more together. The Shoe Box Project is a way to put together care packages (est $50 value in each package) for women in shelter homes. A little way to help boost spirits throughout the year, and hopefully let our sisters know that they aren't alone. [caption id="attachment_8994" align="aligncenter" width="800"] The whole Shoe Box Gift kit (save for the missing the Tim Hortons $5 coffee card.)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_8996" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Various bits of jewellery for the recipient of this Shoe Box Gift to enjoy.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_8997" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Some makeup added to the bundled gift for the Shoe Box Project.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_8998" align="aligncenter" width="800"] A few toiletries.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_8995" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Packing up the Shoe Box Gift, getting ready to send it to someone in need.[/caption] What's missing from these box pics are the $5 coffee card and the gift wrap. It was a really fun project to put together and I happen to have a lot more shoe boxes to fill! Once I was done daring my friends and sister, I went to the MyGivingMoment.ca website to "check-in". What's awesome about this site is that after you've added your dares to the Dare2Give count (currently 14459 dares given across Canada, woot!,) you can enter to win a prize for your charity of choice! Imagine helping your charity make it to the spotlight, letting Canadians all across the country know why your charity needs support. [caption id="attachment_8993" align="aligncenter" width="625"] When you've dared your friends and family to help your charity, go to the MyGivingMoment.ca website to add your dares to their Canadian dares count![/caption] I #DareYou Too I double-dog dare you to participate in the My Giving Moment Dare2Give campaign! You can do any of the challenges above, or make up your own to share with your friends/family. Other charities that I love to support include Second Harvest (I'm hoping to purchase a frozen turkey at the grocery store again for their drive this year, that will go to a family in need,) and even spread a little joy closer to home. I'm not asking for snow yet, but when it does fall, Jay and I have already committed ourselves to also do a neighbour's driveway as they need a little extra help this year. And hey, dare your friends and family to give too! Let's watch the counter rise by adding your own dares to it! There is of course the contest to consider too! By daring your friends, family (and hey, even your co-workers too,) to give, there's a chance to WIN a prize for your favourite charity, including the grand prize of a television commercial. (But hurry, 'cause this contest ends December 14, 2014) Enter the number people you’ve challenged in the widget below! Are you ready to give? Disclaimer: Although this post has been generously sponsored by Rideau Hall Foundation, the opinions and language are my own, and in no way do they reflect Rideau Hall Foundation.

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I #DareYou To Give Canada

Technology. Collectibles. Travel.

Technology. Collectibles. Travel.