Today I had the privilege of running the Sporting Life 10K Run in Toronto and joined the efforts of 14,000 runners to raise money for Camp Oochigeas for kids with cancer. This was an impeccably well-run event and I was thrilled to be part of the sea of runners that flooded Yonge Street. It was a sight to see!

According to the fundraising recipient, Camp Oochigeas “is much more than a summer camp. Camp Oochigeas offers year-round programs for children affected by childhood cancer at our site in Muskoka, at the Hospital for Sick Children and in the community. Through these programs Camp Oochigeas provides fun and meaningful experiences to approximately 445 children affected by cancer each year at no cost to their families. This is all made possible by the generous support of our donors and volunteers.”

The fund-raising goal was set at $1,000,000 and as of today they are at $900,000. Here’s the link if you wish to donate: Camp Oochigeas

Last week I was sent an invitation on facebook to join a group called “Zoe is a Rockstar”.  It’s a group created to support a little girl going through some trying chemo treatments at The Hospital for Sick Children here in Toronto.  Currently, there are over 2000 members. Here’s the description:

Zoë is truly an amazing soul who never stops laughing and making people smile, even when battling cancer. She has been dubbed the Sweetheart of Sick Kids.
Thank you to everyone who sent Zoë a fan letter. We received an overwhelming response from people all around the world. Zoë is home for now and we had to give up her Rockstar suite at Sick Kids. Check out the photos of fan mail and her art walls!
Zoë was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and after two open heart surgeries she had a heart transplant when she was 6 months old.
She was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoma at the start of November 2009 and is currently under-going chemotherapy treatments to hopefully deal with this very rare type of Cancer.

This invite on facebook was timely for me.  It helped me to anchor a face with the cause I was running for.  Zoe, you are a rockstar in my book!  Your courage, bravery and passion are remarkable!

Four Years. Go.

The name of a campaign for transformational change for our planet. It was launched in March and rather than use my own words to describe it, I’m going to share the description from the press release issued on March 19:

“A global educational and awareness campaign rolled out this week, with the bold vision of changing the course of history— to shift humanity onto a sustainable, just and fulfilling path by 2014: FOUR YEARS. GO….

…FOUR YEARS. GO. is not a new organization. It is a goal—a rallying call—for a growing worldwide coalition of organizations and individuals with deep commitments to producing a transformational shift for humanity. Already, more than 500 additional organizations have become part of the campaign, and that number grows daily.

The intent is to foster a self-organizing, emerging open-space of collaboration and creativity among individuals, NGOs, companies and communities, to ignite a movement. And, for that movement to catalyze a newly vibrant world of wildly diverse and inspired initiatives to co-create a transformed human future.

This will be achieved through millions of individuals and thousands of organizations around the world becoming partners in, and creators of, the FOUR YEARS. GO. campaign. Individuals will declare themselves as “change agents” for a new future. And they will begin a personal hero’s journey that will start by taking the simple steps right in front of them, via the FOUR YEARS. GO. website (www.fouryearsgo.org).

Organizations will be encouraged to explore and commit to the most exciting and impactful social/environmental improvement projects that they can imagine and fulfill within the next four years—trimtab projects that will, collectively, cause a positive tipping point in humanity’s trajectory…”

WOW. This is just one of many movements I’ve noticed lately that are inviting us as citizens of the world to own our individual responsibility for the world we are a part of.  It’s about little steps that collectively have a big impact on transformational change in our world.

Watch the two-minute video here.

I’m inspired. I’m moved. I’m committed. Are you?

I’m excited to share details about a project that I’m undertaking this coming year, beginning this week. It’s called E=mc2 which stands for “Engaging Women in Meaningful Conversations Makes Community”. I’ve created a logo that captures the essence of the project. Every week I’ll be engaging a woman unknown to me (a stranger) in a meaningful conversation with 10 questions. I’ll post about the conversation in my blog every week. It’s part of my commitment to inspire more meaningful communication among women. Hopefully the questions I ask will have people intrigued and wanting to carry on the conversation with friends and loved ones. My posts will paint a varied picture of women’s insights into themselves and what’s important to them.

This project was inspired by a man named Jayson Krause, who has recently completed a year’s worth of conversations with 52 strangers. He has since begun a Crusade for Meaningful Connection, inviting the conversations to continue. I’ve tweaked his approach a bit, changing the questions and focussing only on women.

I am excited and curious as I begin this quest. I don’t easily engage in conversation with strangers on this level. It’s uncharted territory. And it’s important. It’s important to me because I’ve discovered through my work and in my life that so many women have a deep desire to engage in meaningful conversations, to foster that feeling of intimacy that we all crave on some level and to be known and witnessed. I’ve been exploring a lot lately about the dis-connect that is so pervasive in our society today – we are too busy, spread too thin and moving too quickly to engage. We are afraid of having our true selves be known and yet it’s what many of us deeply desire.

E=mc2 is an attempt to bridge that gap. It’s a beginning place. It’s an opportunity to begin a conversation that I hope will continue. I’m excited to see where this will lead and invite you along on the journey week by week. Buckle up as I prepare to leap!