April 2010

Hellmann’s Offering $100,000 In Real Food Grants

Submitted by admin on Fri, 04/30/2010 - 13:44
Hellmans

By Steve McLean

A recent national study showed that 92 percent of Canadians with kids believe that consuming food made with simple, natural ingredients is important, but just six percent of them make all of their meals with it.

Hellmann’s, which makes a number of different types of mayonnaise, wants to make it easier for these people to enjoy the pleasures of what it calls “real food” by providing $100,000 in food grants to support community initiatives that will help Canadian families eat healthier.

School and community-based groups and families that create a community event or experience to educate children about real food and connect them with it are eligible to apply for the grants, which will likely range from $500 to $10,000 in value.



The Bryan Adams Foundation Is Doing Remarkable Work

Submitted by admin on Thu, 04/29/2010 - 12:55
Bryan Adams Feature

BY KAREN BLISS 

Bryan Adams was recently honoured with the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award at the 2010 Juno Awards in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, which he was unable to accept in person when the Icelandic volcanic ash alert grounded flights all over Europe and the U.K.

The Canadian rocker, who has sold more than 75 millions albums worldwide, has been giving back in a big way since the beginning of his career but is a little embarrassed to be receiving an award for his philanthropy.

"I don't give back in order to get slapped on the back," explains Adams. "I give back because my music has given my name the ability to help others."



Competitive Eater Wolfs Down Food For MS Society

Submitted by admin on Wed, 04/28/2010 - 13:35
MS Society 2

By Karen Bliss

There’s an emotional moment near the end of the documentary The Story Of Furious Pete where competitive eater Peter Czerwinski wolfs down an estimated 10 lbs of ribs, hugs his mother and tearfully tells her, “All for you, mom, all for you.”

That might seem like a strange action to dedicate to your mother, but it was a stunt to raise money for the MS Society of Canada in her honour. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the central nervous system, eight years ago.

“I see my mother every day and to see her suffering with it, I’m an only child and she’s pretty much my best friend, and anything I can do to help her out and support the cause in any way, I’ll do,” Czerwinski tells Samaritanmag.

In The Story Of Furious Pete, which screens at Toronto’s Hot Docs festival (April 29 to May 9; check www.hotdocs.ca for dates/times), director George Tsioutsioulas captures his unique story from anorexic teen to champion competitive eater. In the film, Czerwinski, now 24, explains at a meeting with the Mississauga, Ontario, chapter of the MS Society, “My mom’s always been there for me. She helped me get through my illness. I want to help her.”



Drake Donates $30,000 To Build Computer Schools In Jamaica

Submitted by admin on Tue, 04/27/2010 - 13:44
Drake

By Karen Bliss

Drake is already doing good things with the money that has come his way since becoming one of the fastest rising hip hop artists in the music world by helping out the poverty-stricken Cassava Piece community in Kingston, Jamaica.

“It’s where one of my favourite reggae artists, Mavado, and one of my closest friends is from,” Drake explains.

Drake was in Cassava Piece to shoot the video for his song “Find Your Love.”

“I was so inspired,” Drake tells Samaritanmag. “I went there and they had ‘Drake’ all over the walls, spray painted, and all the kids were running after us. So I donated $30,000 to build computer schools for the kids. I’m very passionate about Jamaica as a place. I love Jamaica so I just want to try and better the community.”

Down the road, the 23-year-old (real name Aubrey Drake Graham) who grew up in the affluent Forest Hill neighbourhood of Toronto, would like to start his own foundation, but all in good time. He’s mindful of the causes he gets behind and wants to do things for the right reasons.



Baskin Robbins 31 Cent Scoop Night To benefit Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation

Submitted by admin on Sun, 04/25/2010 - 13:19
Baskin Robbins

By Jim Barber 

When executives with the Canadian branch of the Baskin Robbins ice cream parlour chain went looking for a cause to support, they followed their U.S. counterpart and chose firefighters, the very men and women who risk their lives to protect the communities in which the company does business.

So starting last year, the 31 Cent Scoop Night: 31 Reasons Never to Forget event has helped raise awareness and funds for the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation, a registered charity that has dedicated itself to honouring and preserving the memory of firefighters who lose their lives on the job, and supporting their families.



Green Music Group Aims To Save The Environment

Submitted by admin on Wed, 04/14/2010 - 13:36
Barenaked Ladies

By Steve McLean

Green Music Group was created earlier this year to set green guidelines and create widespread environmental change within the music industry.

GMG is a coalition of musicians, music industry representatives and fans that was the brainchild of Andrew Gardner, singer-guitarist with American band Guster. It’s a project of the non-profit organization Reverb that aims to facilitate large-scale greening of the music community through touring, venue and label standards, resource development, green grants, mentoring, viral videos and public service campaigns.

GMG launched with a Jan. 30 cocktail party that featured performances by members of Maroon 5, Dave Matthews Band, The Roots and Guster. Those groups were founding members of GMG along with Linkin Park, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt and Canada’s Barenaked Ladies.

“Their goal is to green the rock and roll touring industry,” Barenaked Ladies singer/guitarist Ed Robertson, who’s a friend of Gardner, says of GMG. “I’m generalizing here, but you have a bunch of left-leaning people who are socially conscious and want to have less of a footprint on the planet that we live on.



Uncle Ben’s Teams With Curlers To Help Food Banks

Submitted by admin on Mon, 04/12/2010 - 13:46
Uncle Ben’s

By Steve McLean

The professional curling season will draw to a close this week with the World Curling Tour’s Players Championship, and folks who support the fight against hunger should be cheering the rink skipped by Edmonton’s Kevin Martin.

The former world championship-winning team — which also includes John Morris, Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert — have linked with Uncle Ben’s in a program to boost the coffers of Food Banks Canada.

With every game that Martin’s squad has won during the 2009/2010 season, beginning on Dec. 1, Uncle Ben’s has donated $1,000 to the charity. The rice brand, which is owned by Mars Canada, pledged to give a minimum of $50,000 and a maximum of $100,000 to the cause.

The program has raised $65,000 to this point, but Martin and company can add to that total with a good run at the April 13 to 18 bonspiel in Dawson Creek, B.C.



Canadian Retailer Jacob’s $25,000 Panty Pledge

Submitted by admin on Fri, 04/09/2010 - 13:36
Jacob Panty Pic

Canadian women’s clothing retailer Jacob, whose 170 stores include 50 Jacob Lingerie, hopes to raise $25,000 for The Canadian Cancer Society this month, allocating the funds to cervical cancer, which usually strikes young women between the ages of 15 and 29. For every set of 7 panties for $35 sold, the company will donate $7.

According to statistics from the Canadian Cancer Society, cervical cancer is a preventable disease that impacted 1300 Canadian women in 2009.  The main risk factor is infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is mainly transmitted through sexual contact. Women age 20 to 24 generally have the highest rates of HPV (24 percent).   The best protection against cervical cancer is regular Pap tests and safer sex.

For anyone in the Toronto area planning on attending The Panty Schmooze fundraiser May 3 at Hot House Cafe which will collect donations of new bras, underwear, and other unmentionables for the Yorktown Shelter for Women, this is a great way to give twice. Read more about it at: http://www.samaritanmag.com/news/the-panty-schmooze-movement-something-we-don’t-think-about and more details here, http://www.samaritanmag.com/news/torontos-panty-schmooze-talent-line-up-confirmed

For more cancer information, go to  www.fightback.ca,  www.cancer.ca or call the toll-free bilingual number, 1 888 939 3333.



Young Artists For Haiti’s “Wavin’ Flag” Single Still No. 1 Download

Submitted by admin on Thu, 04/08/2010 - 13:37
K'naan

By Karen Bliss

Young Artists For Haiti, the Canadian collective of 50+ musicians which covered K’naan’s “Wavin’ Flag” to raise money for the victims of January’s devastating earthquake, remains at No. 1 on the SoundScan Hot Digital Songs chart for the fourth week in a row and has sold 80,000 downloads to date, just under 20,000 of those this past week.

Produced by Bob Ezrin, the man behind Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Kiss’s Destroyer and Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies, during the Vancouver Olympics last month at Bryan Adams’ studio, The Warehouse, the song features such artists as Avril Lavigne, Drake, Sam Roberts, Hedley’s Jacob Hoggard, Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley,  Broken Social Scene, Nelly Furtado, Justin Bieber, Kardinal Offishall, Metric, Simple Plan’s Pierre Bouvier, Colin James, Tom Cochrane, Jully Black, and K’naan himself.

“I got a call from Randy [Lennox, president] at Universal [Music Canada] and Bob Ezrin,” K’naan tells Samaritanmag. “They had this idea that they wanted to do something lasting, that actually educates young people in Canada about Haiti and not let the fatigue of the subject wash over everybody and everybody just forget Haiti.



Top-selling CDs Re-packaged With Green Bag

Submitted by admin on Wed, 04/07/2010 - 13:37
Green Package 1

To celebrate Earth Day’s 40th Anniversary on April 22, EMI Music has launched the Live Life Greener CD series, beginning with six popular catalog titles from a diverse crop of artists — Norah Jones, The Steve Miller Band, Frank Sinatra, Poison, Pat Benatar and Heart. What makes these packages eco-friendly is that each box contains a reusable woven shopping bag.

The first round of releases are Pat Benatar’s gold-selling Greatest Hits; Heart’s gold Greatest Hits; Norah Jones’ diamond Come Away With Me; The Steve Miller Band’s diamond Greatest Hits 1974-78; Poison’s gold The Best Of Poison: 20 Years Of Rock; and Frank Sinatra’s double-platinum Classic Sinatra. All certifications are U.S. where gold signifies sales of 500,000 units; platinum 1 million; and diamond 10 million; these gold and platinum albums achieved the same certification in Canada, where figures were a tenth of the U.S. The series is available at the ususal outlets for $13.99 or less.



Email Newsletter icon, E-mail Newsletter icon, Email List icon, E-mail List icon Sign up for our Email Newsletter