Day 60, Lingering thoughts…

Exciting Update: We have just past $4000 and we have more donations coming in. We are getting so close to our target folks, lets give this one last push and see if we can go all the way:). There is still time to spread the word. Lets give it a try. 

As hard as it is to say,…This is it, our last official blog.  We would like to thank everyone for having made this an unforgettable experience. Our service providers, donors, volunteers, sponsors, Quaff Cafe who was so amazingly cooperative with us regarding the auction event, everyone who attended the auction, and everyone else who encouraged us with their enthusiastic comments and helped us get the word out on what we were about.  It has been a unique and rewarding journey and to help commemorate that, we have been asking everyone to share with us their most memorable TW4H moments. We will keep updating this blog as we receive all your answers, so be sure to let us know about your favourite moments if you have not already done.

Elliot:

My most touching moment is ever time I want to give up, I receive another email praising our good work or a new service provider on board. We are very blessed with all the people we met along the way.

Thank you for every single person who has helped us.

AGO, Mark Savel, Ryan Shorts, all our service providers, Karen Au, my core team, Katherine, Kat, Kilim, Jeremy, Rox, Marisa. People showed up at the event, Carol, Quaff Cafe, Mark from Rightsleeve, and all other sponsors.

Karen:

Watching the TW4H progress has been a rewarding experience, and I’m proud to be acquainted with such a dedicated team!

 Favourite memory: meeting Elliot online and having the opportunity to learn about TW4H!

 Most interesting memory: seeing my face posted on the website next to my services offered, in contrast with all the other professional logos. It’s brought on a new perspective on personal branding!

*One act of kindness at a time…

Cheers, guys Thanks for everything!

Roxanne:

Our first blog was a defining moment. The intention to help was crystallized and took form.  

Sophie:

There were so many great parts to TW4H, but I really enjoyed being part of such a dedicated and intelligent team. What TW4H accomplished in such a short amount of time is something to be proud of. Congratulations TW4H!

Kilim:

Throughout the 60 day journey with TW4H, every single moment was precious to me. The moment I got a call from Elliot. The moment I started typing the very first blog entry. The moment I realized I was part of an amazing, inspiring and dedicated group of people who never gave up in the face of unexpected challenges. The moment of looking back at the sixty day journey and realizing that I learned, experienced and affirmed that we have the power and the tools to make a difference.

Katherine:

 I don’t know where to start.

I concurred with Elliot — we have been encouraged and blessed by the strong support from our donors, supporters, a network of amazing volunteers.  We faced various, many challenges on a weekly bases.  There were times we don’t know if we will be anywhere close to our goal. Yet, we always find help and support to solve the problems.

Personally I was so touched that so many people attended the silent auction night. The weather didn’t stop people from attending and supporting Haiti.

Most importantly, 65 days after the earthquake, people have not forgotten Haiti.  Please continue to support and help rebuild Haiti

Thanks to everyone who came out for not letting the rain stop the TW4H + Silent Auction from being the great evening that it was! Quaff Cafe was transformed into a bustling gallery for 30 pieces of artwork, including the non-tangible art of our fantastic musicians of the evening, Soul Nidus and Jake Courtney. One section of Quaff Cafe showcased the services provided by TW4H’s hardworking volunteers, who were on hand to introduce themselves and their talents. We had close to 100 people attend the event…who knew so many people could fit in that cosy space!

From TW4H

From TW4H

From TW4H

From TW4H

We’d like to thank everyone for coming out to the Silent Auction and making it such a fun night. In particular, we’d like to thank the artists who donated their art for the auction: GPHT, Hae, Nuwan, Gorilla Arts, Elliot and Kilim, and to our volunteers for providing their service packages: Larissa, Yolanda, Mike, Rick, Jana, Ali, Jeremy, Francois, Kat, Tomoe, Kim, Jennifer, Sophie, Ryan, and Karen.

Thanks to Cafe Quaff for being a wonderful host, to the AGO and Autoshare for providing auction items, and to DeSerres, Rightsleeve, Woolfitt for providing the door prizes.

In total, the Silent Auction raised $1,656.22, making the grant total of TW4H raised to date to $3,400. Thank you, donors!

More pictures of the event:

It happened! Success! Details and pictures tomorrow.

Tonight, we are continuing on what we shared with you yesterday, and to do that, we are taking you back in time, to last night. During the meeting, we were drumming up some ideas as to what the name of the auction will be. An event where there will be beautiful artwork, music, service providers networking, more donations. A great time for everyone – volunteers, artists, musicians, service providers, and passers-by. That’s what we were envisioning. Then all of us realized this was going to be more than an auction. It was an auction with something a little extra and something special. We were thinking of an auction with a special cause, auction that will bring people together. ’Plus’ really appealed to us and we wanted to keep the ‘+’ sign around ‘TW4H’. So there the baby was born and named, Tw4H + Auction. It was also amazing to see how the pillars in four different colours that form part of our logo could make up the plus sign! After coming up with the name of the auction, we left the meeting place feeling so positive and encouraged. Definitely, the momentum is building up.

As you can imagine, it’s full steam ahead for planning the March 6th TW4H + Auction at TW4H headquarters. Lots of tasks need to be done. And  tonight, we’re calling on all bloggers to get the word out! We have our neighbour bloggers south of the border helping us to promote the event. If you have a blog and would like to donate an entry talking about TW4H and TW4H + Auction, please let us know. Your support will mean so much to us and help us get closer to achieving the target donation. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Updates: We just got a confirmation that Scott Garant and Richard Manilla will be donating their photography to our TW4H+ Auction.

How was your day team? Felt TGIF every second at the office? Wondered where the time went after realizing coming Monday is the start of a new month? Well, we hope today had brought you a chance to soak up the most brilliant sunlight shining through the gusty wind. We hope today helped you dream summer while waiting for a streetcar in a -500 degree weather.

Great news to start the weekend. Mark has sold a condo and we’re adding $367 to our donations to date! Excellent work, Mark! You are an inspiration to all of us. We have a feeling more good news are on the way, so stay tuned.

Late this evening, we have just signed up with an accountant. Details to come.

On the HQ front, Kat did a beautiful job re-organizing the volunteer database. Thanks Kat! We are now in a better position to plan the meet and greet next week as well as to take stock of where we are and where to move forward. We can tell you that there are quite a bit of structural improvements, adjustments and changes going on behind the scenes. Things will unfold gradually, so again, stay tuned!

It is being reported that humanitarian workers on the ground in Haiti are facing a shortage of basic supplies and medicine like painkillers and anaesthetics. There are lots of events happening around town raising money to help the people in Haiti. We encourage you to keep this issue alive over the weekend as well. Have a good one guys!