A manager, mentor of mine often quoted Thomas Edison’s, “Vision without execution is hallucination”.
Caring, compassionate and creative people can do wonders with visions. Dave is one of those people and it’s no wonder he’s my best friend. This man’s life is filled with inspiration, motivation and compassion for everything he touches and everyone around him. Many do not know Dave is one of the founding members of the 11th Annual Tim Hortons Southside Shuffle, Port Credit’s Blues and Jazz Festival.
Hazel & spearheads Dave's Have a Heart for Change Campaign
Lately, this caring and compassionate man has directed his creativity to the health care industry, more specifically, the Volunteers of Trillium Health Centre. It was last fall Dave had an idea to see if kids could have fun being involved in a hospital fundraising project. Research, discussions and a plan of action have now become “Have a Heart for Change.” The concept is simple – gather all the loose coins in your house or car and donate them the Hazel McCallion Cardiac Centre for Heart Health at Trillium Health Centre.
Proud to say, “Have a Heart for Change” was launched just this past week with an early morning assembly at Mineola Public School with Mayor McCallion and a slew of guests. With Cardiologist, Dr. Gupta on hand to play Hearth Health Jeopardy and an incredible 8 year old speaker, Shyla, providing a five minute speech on the importance of Heart Health, it was an enthusiastic and educational approach to inspire and motivate the kids. The schools in Mississauga are encouraged to create their own contests to collect the most change during the week of May 4 to the 8th.
Now some sceptics might think that pennies and nickels don’t add up to much but the truth is, collectively, they can create miracles. Coining (excuse the pun) phrases from Dave’s proposal, the statistics are quite surprising.
Most North American households have over $100 sitting around in loose change (in piggy banks, couches, boxes, jars, cupboards, cars, etc.)
One of the most successful coin campaigns is The New York City School Penny drive. For fifteen years, young people between the ages of four and eighteen put theircompassion for others into action by collecting pennies and turning those pennies into community programs. The program originated with a 4 year old girl’s desire to feed a homeless man.
In the 2006 school year, 770 New York Schools (70%) participated in the Penny drive, raising $655,508.54. They created 1,283 monetary grants for services such as women’s shelters, healing gardens and senior centres, demonstrating to themselves and to others that students most certainly can make a difference.
Countless charities rely on coins to achieve their goals. In fact $1 million dollars of the $3 million raised annually from 7-Eleven charity coin boxes are actually pennies.
So, if you have children in a Mississauga school, check to see if their school is participating. If not, look for the new Mayor McCallion life size cut outs at the Board of Education or Trillium Health Centre, the ones with the water jugs and throw in your loose change.
With kids having fun helping a great cause and learning about heart health along the way, I’m thrilled and proud to have witnessed this vision turn into a reality for Dave. Great job Honey!
Remember, when you are feeling less than motivated – “Vision without execution is hallucination”.
3 Comments
Wow — very cool idea. Congratulations to dave for getting this rolling. It’s amazing how little things can make such big changes!
Very nice thanks for sharing…What an inspiration! I’ve always known that there is a great man behind that gentle smile.
What a great article, Diane…thanks for helping to promote this exciting event. As I mentioned at the launch, we (the Volunteers of Trillium) are very lucky to have Dave on board…especially since you come along as a bonus…its like getting a twofer. And, how many people would agree to dress up in a heart costume?