UPDATE: the 2020 Christmas Mission
Help Santa deliver to children who may not have a fixed address by donating a NEW, UNWRAPPED gift to the Christmas Mission.
UPDATE on November 26th: Reps from the Mission, my coworkers and I have all been talking, trying to see if we can make Project: Christmas Mission work this year but it isn’t an option with new COVID-19 restrictions. The Ottawa Mission is even doing dinner service differently. Like Thanksgiving, the dining room will not be used.
“Because of our new food truck service, which will serve Christmas meals the week leading up to Christmas in addition to our Christmas meals for shelter guests and vulnerable community members, we anticipate that we will serve 3,500-4,000 Christmas meals from December 13 – 20.
Frozen turkey donations can be dropped off between 7 am – 5 pm at the garage entrance to The Ottawa Mission at the corner of Waller and Besserer. Please ring the bell and a staffperson will arrive to receive your donation.”
- Aileen Leo, Director of Communications at the Ottawa Mission
If you would like to donate online to the Mission, CLICK HERE.
Do you want to buy a toy for a little one in need?
I definitely have some options!
You can donate to the Salvation Army’s Toy Mountain 2020 fund by CLICKING HERE.
You can also give to CHEO’s Child Life Fund through my annual Birthday Wish campaign by CLICKING HERE. 100% of funds go towards buying games, toys, books, crafting kits, movies & other forms of entertainment (for patients aged 0-18) who may be spending the holidays in hospital.
If you have any questions about how to help this holiday season, please feel free to message me. Thank you for considering others! It just feels better to extend your hands to help lift others up, than it does to hold them down.
Same person (me) but a different radio station now (CHEZ 106) & a new way of approaching my Christmas Mission… I haven’t strategized anything just yet. Essentially, I ask for NEW toy donations for children of all ages to be given to the Ottawa Mission. Children experiencing homelessness can be sure to get something - even if Santa couldn’t find their address! There is a ‘gift room’ at the Mission where clients can ‘shop’ for their loved ones.
Gifts aren’t what Christmas is all about. Or birthdays. Or whatever. It’s not material things that mean the most to us… but over the holidays, it’s a simple gestures for some to provide a token of ‘brighter days’ to a child.
That’s what the Christmas Mission is all about. I’ve been doing this for a few years now and it’s been a success because of your generosity.
This year, I am not able to accept in person donations. Parcels cannot be directed to our radio station either as we do not have an open reception area. I’m not sure how to go about collecting toys but I hope to sort out the fine details over the next few weeks.
Please, stay tuned! And if you have a great idea, get in touch.
The AV Social Hour: 'Ghost Stories'
Been feeling haunted lately? You’re not alone. Ask and you shall receive… The Thursday, May 7th edition of our weekly Social Hour (live chat) had a theme and that theme was ‘ghost stories and spiritual encounters’. I didn’t even get to all of your stories, though some are available here and here.
One of the stories submitted by Mandy on Facebook includes pictures, so with her permission I am including that story here:
MANDY’S ENCOUNTER
“My fiancé and I went to Fort Henry in October for their haunted walk. A few things happened but the best one was coming into the bakery and all of a sudden i started getting dizzy and kept burping like crazy like I was ready to puke. Well, come to find out the spirit that died in that kitchen was not a happy one and seeing as I am an empath, I guess I was the only one she could get too. After leaving that kitchen, we went back outside. I felt this feeling come over of me and my fiancé had the camera. This is the picture he captured just as I walked out the door
The Amy Volume Social Hour
Born of boredom, I decided to talk aimlessly for an hour every Thursday night until physical, IRL social restrictions are eased. I answer questions submitted by YOU via social media or by direct message and we have some fun!
“Where did the ‘Volume’ name come from?”, “Top 3 local breweries?”, “Best memory from Capital Music Hall?” and the question that stumped me most, “What’s your guilty pleasure song that others would find shocking?”
Thursday nights at 8PM EST, I answer all your questions and we shoot the breeze, live.
Here’s our chat from Thursday, April 30th. The 3rd installment.
Click here to send me a question or comment below!
My Favourite Ottawa Made Hot Sauce
Possibly my favourite hot sauce EVER!! It came in the mail today and I was delighted to receive a BONUS bottle of an experimental batch from Noisy Kitchen Hot Sauce!
It’s definitely trendy to support local, now more than ever, but I promise to only endorse my favourite things. I also consider to be a lover of hot, spicy foods! It’s only natural that I discovered this hot sauce at a former Punk Ottawa Flea Market (sigh, remember buy & sell markets?) event at Maker Space.
Anywho, if you’re looking for a great Ottawa area sauce, look no further than Noisy Kitchen: High Quality Small Batch Hot Sauce.
Cutom Levi's Jacket REVEAL (video)
Last month, Levi’s opened up shop in the Rideau Centre. I’m a huge fan of their brand so it was pretty exciting to be invited to their grand opening event!
They even said they’d MAKE ME a jacket. This is a video of me seeing it for the first time!
Thank you Levi’s! This is the jacket I received: Original Sherpa Trucker Jacket - with work done by the wonderful: Julius & Tanya!!
Here’s a video from the event - these masterminds helped me plan this whole look and I am over-the-moon happy with how it all turned out!!