Samaritanmag

Music-heavy news site about charities, causes and good deeds

Main Feature

Home Rotator Feature

TOMS Creates Movember Shoes Feat. Little White 'Stache

Long after you’ve shaved off that moustache you're growing this month for Movember to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer, you could have a pair of shoes that will not only be a reminder of your charitable gesture but that gives to two causes.

For the second year in a row,  socially-conscious shoe retailer TOMS is offering its limited edition Movember shoes, distinguished by a small white moustache that appears on its Grey Black Wax Twilled Botas and Classic designs.

And ladies, if you feel left out of the ‘stache-growing bro-fest, here’s where TOMS really digs in its heels: these shoes are available for both men and women, so now you can support the cause without worrying about that fuzzy facial growth that the men are struggling to raise.

An even better kicker: not only do proceeds of the Movember shoe go towards fighting prostate cancer and help bring awareness of men’s health issues to the forefront, but TOMS continues its mandate to donate a second pair of shoes to a child in need for each pair of shoes bought.

The “One For One” campaign is the idea of TOMS American founder Blake Mycoskie, who was traveling in Argentina five years ago when he discovered most of the children had no shoes to protect their feet. Since 2006, TOMS has donated more than one million pairs of shoes to children.

So if you can’t gro a mo but want to help promote the Movember cause, TOMS offers a great alternative that is a lot less itchy.

The shoes, which retail for $70 and $105, are available for a limited time online only from Toms.ca.

 

Samaritanmag.com is an online magazine covering the good deeds of individuals, charities and businesses.

Former Homeless Youth Lead Covenant House Step Up for Street Kids 5K walk

For the first time, a group of current and former Covenant House residents will be joining the 4th annual Covenant House Step Up for Street Kids 5K walk. The youth/alumni team will be led by a young lady named Michelle.

The walk begins and ends at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto this Saturday (Nov. 12.) and there will be pizza, snacks, music and information on Covenant House available for participants and supporters alike.

The afternoon kicks off at 1:30 p.m. with a performance by  5th Avenue, while walkers register. Opening ceremonies start at 3 p.m. with CityNews reporter Anna Vlachos as the host and Habitual Fitness from Mississauga, ON, pumping up the crowd.  The route sticks to the downtown core, where Starbucks will have 10 warming stations set up along the way.

Covenant House was founded in 1972 and has since helped millions of kids with branches in the United States, Canada and Central America. It is the largest privately-funded agency in the Americas providing food, shelter, immediate crisis care, and essential services to homeless kids.

In Toronto alone, some 2000 kids sleep on the streets, according to the stats provided by Convent House.  Last year, about 4,000 kids utilized the services at Covenant House, including shelter, education, healthcare, counselling and employment assistance. The organization relies on donors for more than 80 percent of its $18.8-million operating budget.

 

Samaritanmag.com is an online magazine covering the good deeds of individuals, charities and businesses.

Charity By Mazzucco Can Fetch Thousands From One Painting

Renowned Canadian fashion photographer and visual artist Raphael Mazzucco has an enviable job of traveling the world shooting for Sports Illustrated swimsuit editions, Victoria’s Secret, Guess Jeans, Playboy, Intimissimi lingerie, and a host of other top clients such as Ralph Lauren, Bergdorf Goodman and L’Oreal.

His current major project is an artistic 200-plus page coffee table book of women’s behinds, called CULO by Mazzucco (out November 22), which was executive produced by Jimmy Iovine and Sean “Diddy” Combs, and features dozens of models, as well as Sarah McLachlan, Lady Gage and Fergie.

In recent years, Mazzucco, who always wanted to be a painter, added visual artist to his professional resume.

His work — a mix of his photography, paint, resin and found objects — has been exhibited in Milan, Florence, Melbourne, Singapore, Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, and can sell for as much as $80,000 each.

So when Mazzucco, who now lives in Montauk, part of the famed Hamptons in Long Island, NY, has the opportunity to give back, he donates an art piece — a simple gesture that can have a major impact on a fundraising target.

“I sent paintings to over 50 charities last year,” Mazzucco tells www.samaritanmag.com. “So much of my artwork I’ve donated to a lot of different charities.

“I read this article about how artists should really figure out which charities they should donate to and not just give give give, but I’m not a believer of that. I think that anytime you can have anything that you can contribute, you should.”

Samaritanmag.com is an online magazine covering the good deeds of individuals, charities and businesses.

Movember Is Here! Mo Bros Unite Worldwide To Battle Prostate Cancer

Mexican, Dali, Imperial, Fu Manchu, Pancho Villa, Handlebar, Pencil, Chevron, Walrus – if we’re talking moustaches, it must be Movember.

For a 30-day stretch during the month of November, men in 14 countries unite in their refusal to shave their upper lip; the resulting growth their personal symbol in the war against prostate cancer, an insidious disease that afflicts one in seven males.

By growing moustaches, these “Mo Bros” — the 2010 Canadian tally was almost 119,000 —  raise awareness regarding men’s health issues and research funds, procuring almost $22.3 million last year alone for Prostate Cancer Canada.

“We basically look at it as our Christmas,” Steve Jones, president and CEO of Prostate Cancer Canada and Movember’s official Canadian partner, tells www.samaritanmag.com.

Since 2004,  Movember’s popularity has skyrocketed, jumping from Australia to the U.K., South Africa, Scandinavia, the U.S., Canada and several other countries within a few short years.

The premise is simple: register online as either an individual or a team, procure pledges and grow your stache. There are prizes for those who raise the most funds.

“It started as a joke,” Movember co-founder, executive director and CEO Adam Garone, tells www.samaritanmag.com. The initiative by the native of Melbourne, Australia has raised $176 million globally.

 

Samaritanmag.com is an online magazine covering the good deeds of individuals, charities and businesses.

Auctioned Ozzy, Swift, Nickelback, Garth, Seger Goodies To Help Build Wells

From NASCAR drivers to NHL players and tons of musicians, Vancouver fashion designer and philanthropist Treana Peake has been able to gather hundreds of signed items to auction off for her Obakki Foundation, which raises money to provide clean water in South Sudan.  The auction runs from November 1 to 14 on eBay.

“One-hundred percent of what we raise goes directly to our cause,” says Peake of this auction and all Obakki’s fundraising efforts. “We do not take any administration fees. Every penny goes into the ground.”

The Rainmaker Auction, as it has been called, features signed guitars by Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Seger, Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift; a full-size poster sized by Beyonce; signed Tiger Woods game glove hat and flag; a Coldplay photograph signed by all of the members; a Journey drum skin signed by all the current members; VIP concert tickets and backstage passes for Lady Antebellum’s upcoming Vancouver show; and multiple Nickelback VIP concert package and package passes for various stops on the band’s North America tour.

New auction items will be released daily.

Peake is the founder and creative director of Obakki, a luxury fashion brand that focuses on urban, easy-to-wear clothing for men and women. But almost her entire adult life she has been involved with philanthropy. She co-founded another charity, ICA Canada in the mid-1990s and in 1999 launched The Obakki Foundation.

 

Samaritanmag.com is an online magazine covering the good deeds of individuals, charities and businesses.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Main Feature