A (MOB)tastic Weekend For All!

This weekend our lovely Downtown Toronto (MOB)ilizers got the chance to spread some love and inspire others over two events in the city!

On Friday evening the (MOB)ilizers took to Nathan Philips Square to offer Free Hugs to people heading home from work (or weddings!) and raise awareness for mental health and bullying which has been this month's theme!

On Saturday, we also had some (MOB)ilizers attend the Toronto Youth Summit held by Free The Children where they participated in workshops and activities about different social justice issues, people and events! They also got the chance to hear from amazing speakers like Hamza and Thansha, two FTC staff speakers and spoken word poet Noah Kaplan!

 Our very own Deepa Prashad also took to the stage to talk about winning the What Would You Say contest at this year's We Day and her amazing work collecting books for kids around the world!

Our (MOB)ilizers did some pretty spectacular stuff this weekend and we're looking forward to what April has in store with our online campaign from the Richmond Hill/GTA pod and more events coming your way!

MAD MOB LOVIN<3
-DTTO MOB Leadership Team♥

#MOBtakesMTL

What do you get when 2000 shamelessly idealistic youth from across the country come together to a theatre in Montreal?

It's called WE DAY and in the words of the Kielburger bros, "We Day is the movement of our time". It is neon-swagged-out crowd pumpers dancing on stage to Night Like This, it is a theatre full of people giving standing ovations to speakers like Rev. Jesse Jackson, Martin Sheen and Spencer West, it is the passion of you, the (MOB)ilizers who endured bus rides, missed school and stacks of catch up work to be there for the action.

At National We Day you showed us that you are a part of the MOVEMENT!

From February 29th to March 3rd, the Downtown Toronto (MOB)ilizers joined (MOB)ilizers from cities like Guelph, Hamilton, Muskoka, Ottawa, Montreal, Windsor and even some guests came together for a solid few days of inspiration and bonding. From hearing Craig and Marc speak at We Day to playing Step Up To The Line to sightseeing and shopping, this was the trip of a lifetime and we were so glad to spend it together!

We'll see you all next month for our anti-bullying campaign and at the Youth Summit in Toronto!
MAD MOB LOVIN
-The DTTO MOB Leadership Team

PS: remember to LIKE We Day on Facebook at facebook.com/weday! 1 LIKE = $1 donated to FTC by their sponsors!

Every First World Has A Third World...

What an amazing night!
Last night, our West End pod came together to organize an event at the Barbara Frum Library to promote Free The Children's Local Spotlight campaign, which raises awareness about Aboriginal Issues in Canada in partnership with the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative.

The event kicked off with an amazing performance by Lost And Found!

Afterwards we heard Free The Children speaker Jenna McCauley talk to us about her Aboriginal heritage and the problems facing youth who live on Canadian reserves. It was shocking to see some of the images of poverty and despair that exist in Canada and hear about all the barriers that face our fellow Canadian youth. Thanks to Jenna's speech, each person left the event inspired to learn more about the struggles Aboriginal people in Canada face and got a better understanding of what it's like to live in the dire conditions that exist in our own nation. To find out more about what Free The Children is doing to help Aboriginal youth, visit www.freethechildren.com/aboriginaleducation.

After getting a chance to enjoy some treats generously donated by Starbucks at Yonge and Brookdale and United Bakers at Lawrence Plaza, along with some snacks made by our (MOB)ilizers, we resumed our performances with sets by (MOB)ilizers Jordan and Alee as well as a fantastic rendition of 'Viva La Vida' by Manuel!

Next we heard from Kathleen and Jonathan who performed "Disaster" and saw an awesome performance by dancer Angela!

Finally we raffled off two $25 gift certificates to In Style Shoes on Avenue Road and ended up raising $103 for our village of Llullin Totoras, Ecuador!

We're so proud of the West End pod for putting this event together and the entire DTTO MOB for coming out and bringing their friends! We'd like to challenge each of you to learn more about Aboriginal Issues and share that knowledge with those around you in order to bring awareness to the injustices that face our fellow Canadians, for it is only when we know about an issue and care about those affected that we can truly find tangible solutions.

Next month, look out for another awesome MOB campaign and get excited for National We Day only 5 days away!!!

Mad MOB Lovin' <3
-The DTTO MOB Leadership Team

Volunteer Madness Goal #1 Achieved!

CONGRATULATIONS!
DTTO MOB has officially completed all our Volunteer Madness hours for Community Necessity which allowed us to X Winnipeg MOB with this awesome video by our West End Pod!

Make sure to keep those hours coming and look out for an epic event from the West End Pod coming your way at the end of the month for our Local Spotlight theme of Aboriginal Issues!

Great work team and Mad MOB Loving from the DTTO MOB LEADERSHIP TEAM ♥

BaseCamp Visits Downtown Toronto!

What a great way to kick off the new year!

We hope you all had a fantastic holiday and are looking forward to having a MOB-tastic 2012!
We know the leadership team sure is, and what better way to kick off this year than with a visit from BaseCamp!?!?

Yesterday Kevin and Gabby came by our MOB event to run us through some team builders and chats about the new year! Get excited people, with each pod responsible for a month, this year's going to be full of some epic events, campaigns and hang outs! Make sure you stay in contact with your pod leads in the next little bit for information about your pod's month!

Finally we closed off the day with a special message from our friends in the Guelph MOB and some info about all the really cool stuff going down for the rest of the year, including National We Day and Volunteer Madness!

National We Day is an incredible conference event happening in Montreal on March 1st. If anyone is interested in coming to this event, get in touch with your pod leader ASAP!

Volunteer Madness is a MOB-wide competition with each of the 31 MOB cities responsible for collecting 15  volunteer hours per MOBilizer. This means that as the DTTO MOB, we're collectively responsible for 690 volunteer hours in Community Activity (ex-coaching, tutoring, etc), Community Necessity (ex-feeding the homeless, volunteering at a hospital, etc) and Environmental (ex-picking up trash, animal shelter, etc) by March 22nd, 2011. These hours will be collected individually, in our pods and as a MOB in order to reach our goal. We'll also have the opportunity to X another city for 48 hours once we reach a specific number of hours. During that 48 hours the X'd city will not be able to submit any volunteer hours towards their MOB goal. When you complete your hours, get in touch with your pod lead so we can record our hours and work on achieving our goal and WINNING Volunteer Madness!


Sound like exciting stuff? It is! And we're super stoked to share the next couple months with all of you!
MAD MOB LOVING FROM THE DTTO MOB LEADERSHIP TEAM!

Before We Break...

As the last exams get written, essays get typed and gifts get wrapped the DTTO MOB Leadership Team would like to wish you and your family an incredible holiday season! We are so proud of all your achievements in these first few months of the year! From your We Day swagger to your hemp bracelet-making skills you truly blow us away and we're so excited to continue working with you guys and seeing your ideas become a reality in the new year!

Before we disperse however, we'd like to share a little video of some of the amazingness you guys created this Saturday at Improv In Toronto's Gifts For Strangers event. Princess Diana once said that each of us should "Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you." Our MOBilizers truly exemplified this generous spirit this weekend and we look forward to seeing and hearing about all the amazing things you're up to in January! So check out the video below and we'll see you in the new year for much more amazing MOBilizing fun!


http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=183405968422455&set=vb.130889627014194&type=2&theater


HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
The DTTO MOBilizers Leadership Team

PS: Don't forget to contact us if you have any outstanding Vow of Silence or Hemp4Haiti money!

Hemp-y Holidays From The DT TO MOB!

Every time we update this blog we get a chance to tell the world how stellar you guys are and today is no exception. In fact, today's blog is an epic example of why the Downtown Toronto MOBilizers are so fantastic!

On Saturday, December 10th we got to see so many epic (MOB)ilizer ideas get put into action! Our Holidays For Haiti event this year is selling hemp bracelets in order to raise money to provide a six month school lunch program to Terre Casse, the Haitian village all 31 MOB cities are supporting this December! This idea was brought to us by our very own Ryan back at our MOB kick off in September and we're super stoked to see how it turns out! If you need any help making your bracelets, check out the awesome video he posted on our group, or contact the leadership team!

We also saw the introduction of our Change4Change jar, suggested by Kas! This jar will be chilling at all our MOB events from now until the end of the year, so feel free to drop your loose nickels and dimes and watch as our donations soar! This month, all our money collected will go to Terre Casse, but come January on, all your spare change will bring us one step closer to developing sustainable change in Llullin Totoras, Ecuador!

This Saturday we also heard from Ellen, who brought in a pretty cool petition about restricting sweatshop labour goods from being sold in the Canadian marketplace. For those of you who came out on Saturday and got to hear Free The Children speaker, Bria talk about Iqbal Masih, the young child labourer who inspired Craig Kielburger to start Free the Children, you'll know how important it is that this bill gets passed. For more information check out http://peterjulian.ndp.ca/post/news-in-the-house-tabling-of-private-members-bill-c-378-an-act-to-prohibit-sweatshop-labour-goods and contact Ellen about signing and bringing the petition into your own schools!

Finally, the last idea brought to our attention is the basis of our Saturday December 17th event! This Saturday will be your opportunity to submit any Holidays for Haiti money you may have collected as well as join us in handing out small gifts to strangers in Toronto with the group Improv In Toronto. For more information, please check your emails for the details about this awesome event suggested to us by Julia and Cassandra!

We are so proud of each and every one of you guys! Feel free to keep sending your ideas our way and we will see you all on Saturday!

MAD MOB LOVE!

THE DTTO (MOB)ILIZERS LEADERSHIP TEAM

♥