It’s hard to believe there is only one day left from our 60 days. As we continue to wrap up what we have yet to do in our last days, setting up the buyers and volunteers from the auction, receiving donations, and making sure all is going as it should, there is a little sadness lingering in knowing that we are very close to the end of our TW4H activities.

 But I know that I am alone in saying that we also have a sense of achievement and satisfaction of being about to complete what we set out to do. Besides, we have met some amazing people, (and that certainly isn’t something that is coming to an end), had lots of fun and yes, some crazy stressful moments, which we WILL miss. So in that spirit, I am asking everyone to share a thought with us about TW4H that we will feature on our farewell Day 60 blog, so that we make sure we remember it all.

We got invited to an event tonight by Canadian Journalism Foundation. (Thank you for inviting us!) “Stories from Haiti: A Round Table Discussion with Reporters Who Were There” featured four journalists who filed stories and took pictures on the ground in Haiti. The experience and the assignment would probably stay with them for a long time. Yes, there are varying views on the state of the media today, but it is the media that helped us understand what was going on in Haiti, put things into perspective, and become involved and motivated.

As we draw closer to the end of our 60-day adventure, we wonder how the legacy of the Haitian relief efforts will shape up in coming years. Would all of the interest and aid efforts, including our own, end up simply being one of many stories of the humanity? Are Haitians able to make the most of everything? In 5 years from now, what will we say about the earthquake, the aftermath and the legacy?

Tomorrow is Day 59. Our donation page is still open. There’s still time for you to help us get one step closer to the target!

The excitement from the auction is still fresh! Once again, huge thanks to everyone involved for your enthusiasm, dedication and positive energy. We head into the final week feeling the love and support from a network of a few amazing Torontonians.

Don’t forget we’re still receiving donations! Please go to our donation page to make a contribution. If you have any lingering questions that you didn’t get a chance to clear up at the auction, let us know too.

Just to think, the auction is only 24 hours away is overwhelming. Our very next blog will contain information about not what is leading up to the auction but about how it went. While the countdown is still on though, we continue to feature more members from amongst our amazing service providers who have made having a count down possible in the first place.

 Tonight we are featuring Michael O’Leary, Katherine and Jana.

 Michael is an IT consultant as well as an expert in web design. In addition to offering his expertise as a service provider, he has also generously helped us with the auction set up. Our sincere thanks to him and Yolanda for helping us with the transport of the artwork. We could not have done it without you guys.

 Jana is an expert in web design, web application development and graphic design. With over 5 years of experience, she has worked with a variety of clients ranging from small businesses to large corporations.

 Katherine has a strong background in business planning and management. She has extensive experience in event planning and fundraising in government and non-profit organizations. Her efforts and expertise have been at the very backbone of TW4H.

Wow. Two days just sounds so few. That is how close we are to Friday, but there is still ample time for people to hear of us. This is how I think of the remaining time frame: just think how many TW4H related conversations can be held between now and then…hard to count! I guess what I am saying is, if you have not had the chance to get the buzz going about the event, there is still time.

 To continue letting you know about our fantastic service providers, I bring you Larisa Makuch, Sophie Bifield and Jeremy Phan tonight.

 Sophie Bifield is a social media strategist with a great passion for online communication. Sophie has close to 5000 hours of experience as an influencer in the social media field, and is very experienced in consulting, tactical and creative strategy, community management, creating both custom and user generated content, and analysing analytics. Her client list includes: The Canadian Cancer Society, Black Creek Investment Management, The MBA Tour, Talent Egg, Train of Thought Arts Inc, Motivate Canada and TD Canada Trust.

Jeremy Phan is an IT and home theatre expert. He has been supporting corporate, retail and private clients since 2000. During his career he has worked for Intel, Staples as well as the Toronto District School Board. Jeremy is also a talented writer and writes professionally for CanadaHiFi magazine as well as sympatico’s technology blog Sync.

 Larisa Makuch is a member of the Certified Divas, an entertainment provider group who have combined their passion for entertainment with their creativity and provides a unique experience for gal parties: in-home Pole Dancing Parties. Larisa Makuch has been with the group since 2006; although her passion for her work makes it seem the experience is as novel for her as for her clients: “We give ladies the opportunity to get away from their everyday chores, let their hair down and celebrate with the girls. There’s lots of hooting, hollering and cheering for one another, as everyone has the most fun they’ll ever have…. fully clothed”.

Who did you talk to about Friday’s Silent Auction today? Have you managed to bring the discussions about the Oscars last night ever so smoothly back TW4H + Auction? We wonder what kind of conversations you ended up having and hope they led to a casual, playful start of a work week. Only four days are left till the auction and things are falling into place.

Our feature service providers tonight are Kim Sorbara and Jennifer Visser. Kim and Jennifer are offering their 2 hour personal coaching service packages at the auction. Working with Kim and Jennifer will help you define goals and plans through the process of self-discovery, and give you confidence and clarity as you move forward.

With what appears to be a glorious weekend fast approaching, we have secured another musician to play at our auction, and received six pieces of art donated by Artist Hae. Here’s a quick preview.

Untitled, mixed media on paper, 2009

Han River Hope, mixed media on paper, 2010

Sae Hae Kim, also known as Artist Hae, is a South Korean artist based in Toronto whose work focuses on form, colour, composition, movement, and emotion. She takes pictures, chooses images, and forms a pattern out of them. Artist Hae says these small images represent memories of a person’s life and symbolize past, present and future. Artist Hae has shown her work around the world including the recent Toronto Art Expo. Come check out her work next Friday!

The Globe and Mail ran an inspiring article yesterday about a Toronto based group named Brandaid. Originally created with the aim to market the work of artisans from poor nations, the group has now changed its focus and is reaching out to groups of artisans in Haiti and helping them with restarting their craft.
There is of course no doubt as to the necessity of rebuilding or emergency relief efforts, but lending a hand out to the cultural sector not only suggests benevolence but also recognition and appreciation of Haiti’s unique culture and that recognition I think, has a special role to play in rebuilding Haiti.
On our front, efforts continue with event planning. There is ongoing marketing, we have received some generous donations for our door prizes, and we are going to pick up some of the artwork tomorrow afternoon. In short, we have plenty to keep us busy for the next few days.
There will also be some changes in the face of our blogs in the next few days. While we are going to blog to keep up with what is happening, we are going to turn our attention a little more to featuring some amazing people. Stay tuned!

I have always had a fascination for languages. Their ability to draw people together in mere seconds or to push people far away from each other never ceases to amaze me. As I was struggling to translate our press release into French (and kicking myself for not having attended French auctions more often so the related vocabulary would stick) I really wanted it to be just right, to be able to send out not only information but also the message, our message.

I was not sure I had managed that when Elliot emailed me saying they were going to send the final version to Groupe Professionnel Haïtien de Toronto who would subsequently to forward it to their 1000 members. Strangely, instead of making me panic, the thought reassured me. Our message was not going to be lost in translation, here were people who had already heard it, and remained reassured that others would too, if only we could bridge over with words in a different linguistic code. Our willingness to put ourselves out there is coupled with their willingness to hear us, and that would gap over any misjudge I could make in my translation.

A little moral of the story, lets not be afraid to reach our far and wide. People will hear us.

Over the weekend, we went to check out Toronto Art Expo for some inspiration and quality down time. You know – to get mind off all the stuff, look at beautiful art and be refreshed. We were not expecting to run into some amazing people with big hearts and incredible generosity.

We met some great folks at an organization called Groupe Professionnel Haïtien de Toronto at the event. GPHT has been helping people of Haiti in many different ways and raising awareness of Haitian culture and history here in Toronto. Through the help of GPHT, we will be able to show you some great pieces by Haitian artists in Toronto at TW4H + Auction.

Artist Hae is a Toronto visual artist who makes it her mission to donate a portion of her work for great causes. After hearing about TW4H + Auction, it didn’t take her even a second to say yes to donating her pieces. We’re sure that you’ll love Hae’s amazing work with mixed media.

We also ran into a lovely Haitian lady named Cecile at the Expo and told her about our auction. Cecile, who drove all the way from Niagara Falls to help out with GPHT’s charity art sale at the event, pulled us aside. She said, “I want to tell you how Haitians are greeting each other these days.” On a brown paper bag, she wrote, “sak passé, map boulé.” To a confused audience standing in front of her, Cecile put on a big bright smile and said, “in creole, sak passé means it’s in the past and map boulé means everything will be alright. So when someone greets you with sak boulé, say map boulé. because everything will be alright.”