Canadian

On Sunday, June 19, more than a dozen cities across Canada will host the Father’s Day Walk/Run for Prostate Cancer Canada (PCC). This high-profile event is the second largest awareness-and-fundraiser surrounding the disease in eight months, following a successful worldwide moustache-growing Movember campaign that raised over $21 million towards prostate cancer research and support programs in Canada alone.

Although prostate cancer is the most prevalent form of the disease among Canadian men  — an estimated 24,600 are diagnosed annually for a 1 in 6 ratio, with 4,300 lives eventually claimed — it’s a subject that has largely been relegated to the media shadows for far too many years.

Since 2009, however, a rejuvenated and rebranded Prostate Canada Canada has concentrated its efforts in expanding knowledge and awareness of this insidious disease, especially since it’s estimated that 250,000 Canadian men may actually be afflicted.

Prostate Cancer Canada president and CEO Steve Jones feels the tide to get the word out there and encourage men to visit their doctor for check-ups and tests is changing. “The fact is, when we started this reincarnation of this foundation about two-and-a-half years ago, what we saw was that prostate cancer was really on the back burner,” Jones explains.

The Canadian government is suggesting that Canadians wanting to help victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami should give money, not clothing or food. The web site for Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade lists everything from contact numbers to inquire about friends and family in Japan to the web site for Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's and the Embassy of Canada to Japan; and lots of ways Canadian citizens and companies can help.

On March 11, an 9.0 magnitude earthquake - the most powerful recorded in history, according to the U.S. Geological Survey - with a depth of 24.4 kilometres, struck Japan's east coast of Honshu, and triggered a tsunami.  A significant series of aftershocks, ranging from 5.8 to 7.1 in magnitude followed in the same area.

As of today (March 15), at least 6,746 people are missing, Japan's National Police Agency said.
On the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada site, it states "We are aware of the death of one Canadian citizen as a result of the earthquake at this time."  It says there are an estimated 11,000 Canadians in Japan; more than 2,400 Canadian citizens registered with the Canadian embassy in Japan but "very few" in the affected area.

Officials at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada in Ottawa and at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo are working to determine the fate of any Canadians living or visiting Japan.

Canadian Samaritans have the chance to be recognized by the federal government and win some money to donate to their favourite non-profit.

Conservative leader Stephen Harper, Canada's 22nd Prime Minister, has established the annual The Prime Minister’s Volunteer Awards “to recognize the exceptional contribution of volunteers, local businesses and innovative not-for-profit organizations in improving the well-being of families and their communities.”

Nominations can be made beginning April 10, during National Volunteer Week (10^th to 16^th), and winners will be announced later on in the year. There will be 17 awards presented, 15 of which are regional and given to volunteers, business leaders and individuals from non-profit organizations, and two are national, one to recognize lifelong achievement and one for a young adult.

Winners of the regional awards will receive a $5,000 grant for the not-for-profit organization of their choice and national award recipients will receive $10,000.

In a new television series, Build It Forward, hosted by country singer Paul Brandt, seven families at risk of becoming homeless will each receive a new home and have the opportunity to build a home for another family in a developing country.

The show, produced by Corkscrew Media, is scheduled to air on CMT beginning in 2011, and will be available in over nine million homes across Canada.

It will initially be filmed in the Calgary area, then a production team will accompany the Canadian families when they go overseas to build homes for the other seven families.

Individuals or companies will be able to inquire about volunteering or providing products or services by visiting www.builditforward.ca, which is not yet live, but “coming soon,” according to the web page.