Wow, it’s been nearly a year since I updated my blog.

A lot has happened this year. I don’t think I’ll be going to back to record any of it.

Onwards and upwards. Or something like that.

A lovely woman I know, let’s call her Kikki, has issued a challenge to Edmontonian’s to put away our “bah humbugs” and do more for others this holiday season. When I read her original challenge, I had to shake my head. Not because I don’t think it’s a good idea. It’s just an odd concept to me to accept a “challenge” that my husband and I would consider parts of our daily lives.

Years ago, hubs and I realized that we often have more than we need. We might not have a fancy car (our “youngest” vehicle is approaching 9 years old) or a big house (790 sq feet) but we have a roof over our head, clothes on our backs, and food on our table.

Long ago we stepped away from traditional Christmas gift giving and started giving to charities rather than giving presents. We adopted families and organizations rather than attending parties or spending ridiculous amounts on items we’d likely never use.

And we don’t stop at an arbitrarily defined “holiday season”. We realized that the need for support doesn’t end when Christmas wrapping paper goes into the trash. It exists all year long. So we do our best each and every month to make a difference, however small, in other’s lives.

Somewhere along the way we’ve realized that “there but for the grace of go I…” and started trying to live our lives to honour the sentiment. Perhaps it’s because of the time I spent living in what are politely termed “developing countries” or the time my husband has spent Peacekeeping and Peacemaking across the globe; we’ve realized just how incredibly fortunate an act of chance – our births in Canada – have made us.

As we get older, we’ve watched our “friends” pool decrease to the point where we’ve surrounded ourselves mainly with like minded individuals. Most of our friends and acquaintances are actively involved in non-profit organizations. They plan and deliver meals to the homeless. They run dog rescues. They raise funds for women’s rights organizations or to put books into school libraries for underprivileged children. They build schools in developing countries. They fund community centres and gather diapers for teen mothers. They pass out backpacks with supplies to homeless community members. These people we choose to spend time with do something amazing for others on a regular basis and their efforts need to be celebrated.

We’re going to continue on our daily lives as if Kikki’s challenge doesn’t exist. Because for us it’s not a challenge; it’s simply the right thing to do. As 2011 draws to a close and 2012 looms before us, I’m asking everyone else to join us in making helping someone less fortunate than you something you do all year long. Stop using “it’s the reason for the season” as an excuse to only participate in giving once a year. Do something each and every month.

Bah humbug!

I’ve decided to move the poppy count to the right sidebar on my blog. I’ll update the numbers daily so those interested in the charitable donation totals can see them.

The poppy count has been slow since Friday’s launch. In fact, it was so slow that I ended up counting poppies I saw on tv screens (mostly News & hockey games) on Friday and Saturday. I also counted the poppies we saw on people at the Oiler’s hockey game on Sunday.

I had thought that counting poppies at a venue with over 10,000 people in attendance would result in a ridiculously high number and a donation tally that we couldn’t afford to pay.  That’s why I’d placed a caveat on our poppy count plans; planning not to count at designated sporting events we’re attending between the poppy launch date and Remembrance day. 

That wasn’t the case at Sunday’s game. We’ll revisit the non-counting policy at giant venues while at the Esks game on Friday.

Current poppy count stands as follows:

• Oct 28 = 14
• Oct 29 = 15
• Oct 30 = 34

Donation tally, as of yesterday, is only $6.30 (per charity).

Of all the places we’ve lived, Edmonton has been the most pro-military and supportive community. I’m hoping to start seeing an increase in poppies worn over the next few days.

Veteran’s Week takes place from Nov 5-11 and this year Veterans Affairs Canada is asking Canadians to Make remembrance more than something you feel. Make it something you do. (2011 theme was How will you Remember?).

Shamelessly stolen from the Veterans Affairs website:

“Your challenge is to make remembrance more than something you feel. Make it something you do. There are many ways you can show that you remember and honour our Veterans.

• pin a poppy above your heart;
• attend a local Remembrance Day ceremony;
• follow Veterans Affairs Canada on Twitter;
• download the “We Remember” mobile app;
• listen to Veterans talk about their experiences;
• create a mashup and share it on the Veterans Affairs Canada YouTube channel;
• visit the Veterans Affairs Canada fan page on Facebook, write on our wall and share how you remember;
• change your Facebook profile picture to a poppy, write on your wall about how you remember or create your own remembrance fan page.”

In 2010 I decided to donate funds to friend’s Movember campaigns based on the number of poppies I saw people wearing as I randomly walked through Edmonton. In 2011, I expanded my list of charities to donate to (Movember, Kids Need to Read, Boomer’s Legacy, WoundedWarriors.ca and CaliCan Rescue Foundation). I haven’t yet decided who the beneficiary of my 2012 poppy count will be.

As always, I’m donating $0.10 to each charity for each poppy I see people wearing as I wander around Edmonton & Ottawa from the Poppy Campaign’s launch date until November 11.

I will be counting poppies on my way to work, at work, and running normal day-to-day errands (shopping, bill payments, etc.).

I know 10 cents per poppy doesn’t seem like much, but I’m since I’m planning on counting poppies for approximately 20 days and will be attending the Remembrance Day ceremony at the War Memorial in Ottawa this year, I expect the dollar amount to add up quickly. I’m optimistic; hoping to see far more poppies in 2012 than I did during my previous counting experiments in 2010-2011.

Why no donation to the Royal Canadian Legion you might ask? My husband and I are Legion members and donate to their programs throughout the year. I also have an annual tradition of purchasing a new poppy each day of the campaign. And Honestly? I suspect that the Legion’s poppy campaign will benefit more from my poppy purchase traditions than from my poppy counting project.

– side note –
In 2010 I also decided to try and collect photos of poppies on people’s jackets from the date the poppy campaign began until Nov 11. Instead of randomly photographing strangers, I asked friends and family to send in a picture of themselves wearing a poppy. Sadly, my collection was tiny and the project was a bust. I received less than 5 pictures of people wearing poppies.

I think I need to reconsider how I’m collecting the poppy photos.