Million Acts of Kindness Prairie Adventure

Today's Team Toby blog is written by our team member Julie Angeletti! Thanks Julie

The Million Acts of Kindness tour bid farewell to the beloved city of Edmonton, and hit the road heading east. Our next stop on the tour route was Winnipeg, but the 14 hour drive would be broken up with a quick stop in the city of Humboldt, Saskatchewan.  Thanks to Deb Nyczai from the Chamber of Commerce in Humboldt, the team was set up with a complimentary night stay at the Canalta hotel, as well a campground for the RV! 

 

We so appreciated Debs kindness in greeting us when we arrived, hosting our stay, gathering media to showcase the tour and getting elected officials and the chamber president to meet with us!

What was originally planned as a quick night’s rest to break up the long drive, turned into an amazing day spent with community members of Humboldt, all thanks to Deb. It was great to see the progress that Humboldt has made in making their community more pet friendly, and putting in a large fenced in playground for dogs at the campground, right beside the family mini put area. This is going to be a spectacular dog friendly feature that campers, visitors and locals will love and appreciate. The community businesses came together to raise all the funds needed for this project. 

 

 Our grand finale in Winnipeg happened at Petland Canada’s Pembina store location, where multiple businesses in the plaza came together to host a TAIL-gating party! We had so much fun meeting the participating businesses and guests that came by to say hi! Toby even had the opportunity to meet retired football player Chris Cvetkovic.

We enjoyed the opportunity to talk to youth about kindness, and encourage them to complete an act of kindness in the next 24 hours.  They all went home with copies of Toby's books, thanks to Petland Canada's support.

 

We are sending out a huge barking thank you to all the guests that visit Petland Canada stores. Your support of the Twoonie for Team Toby program raised almost $10,000 which provided a number of youth organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs, Schools and Foster care agencies with copies of Toby's books and a personal visit with Toby and Charmaine.

It’s a shame the prairies are stereotyped as flat and boring, as I was quite amazed of their vastness. Field upon field, the prairies make you realize just how large of a country Canada is. We had fun stopping at various little communities along the way and did a few acts of kindness by dropping off Toby’s books at schools. We got to visit little towns such as the city of Mundare which boasts it has the world’s largest sausage, and Watson Saskatchewan which built a 25 foot Santa Claus statue!

 After two full days of driving, the team was ready to arrive in Winnipeg. I was very excited to finally visit the infamous Mere hotel, a luxurious, pet-friendly boutique hotel that hosted Team Toby once before, on their previous visit to Winnipeg. I was happy to learn the rumors were true, as the hotel exceeded my expectations. The rooms were beautifully decorated, with ample amount of closet and storage space for long-term visits. The contents of the mini-fridge came complimentary with the room, so there was no guilt in enjoying fresh bottles of water and juice, along with some snacks. The hotel also provided the most plush and luxuriously soft bathrobes to lounge around in, which were the absolute cherry on the cake. Located in the heart of Winnipeg, the hotel is situated right on the river, surrounded by beautiful paths to walk your dog. Cibo, the hotel restaurant located right on the water, was a fantastic spot to grab breakfast in the morning. I was very impressed with the prices, considering the quality of food, the views and level of service this establishment offered. 

The team took advantage of the charming hotel location and enjoyed a long walk with Toby along the Red River. 

We also took this moment as a great opportunity for some more kindness activities, and brought along some of our trusty poopbags and rubber gloves to clean up any trash we found along the way. 

That afternoon, Charmaine led a business workshop to local entrepreneurs at the Mere hotel. 

Thanks to the kindness of our amazing sponsors, each attendee was able to walk away with a Million Acts of Kindness t-shirt designed by Peace Love Paws, a Canadian Traveller Magazine and a roll of The Original Poopbags!

Thanking all our partners who help us make a difference.

Million Acts of Kindness stops in Edmonton and meets a life size Beaver?

Edmonton was a special stop on the Million Acts of Kindness tour because Charmaine had spent 10 years living just outside of the city in Sherwood Park. 

We had spent the better part of 4 days in the city, and enjoyed a well deserved couple of days off. I had the luxury of staying at the Matrix Hotel, located in the heart of downtown Edmonton. The hotel itself was quite beautifully decorated, having a modern and upscale design. The rooms were absolutely beautiful, contemporary styled and convenient, as they had multiple easily accessible plugs for laptops and cell phone chargers. It was very obvious that this hotel had been made with business people in mind. I also enjoyed the scenic view of the city from my 15th story window! 

Charmaine, Chris and Toby stopped by a few Petland Canada stores to say hello and meet their awesome teams!

The next few days of our trip were quite busy, as Charmaine had the opportunity to provide presentations to several organizations, including McMann Family Services and the Holistic Chamber of Commerce in Edmonton. We really enjoyed working with these groups, as they both share the same values as we do and sharing the importance of kindness! 

Team Toby presented at the Boys and Girls Club of Edmonton, where Toby got to meet over 20 children and teach them important values of compassion and kindness. The children loved the presentation as they cheered when Toby crashed into a pile of buckets trying to find the hidden treat labelled as ‘kindness’. 

All of the students in the two groups each committed to do an act of kindness in the next 24 hours, their commitment and pledge to making the world a better place through kindness.

 We would love for YOU to join our kindness challenge, one act of kindness for ten days (the 10 day challenge). Then, go onto our website link and upload your acts of kindness to inspire others: 

 http://charmainehammond.com/

Read some of the acts of kindness here: http://charmainehammond.com/kindness-matters/

Thanks to Petland Canada and the generous amount of funds raised by their guests, each child was able to walk home with a copy of Toby’s book in hand. 

Want to support the Million Acts of Kindness? For less than a cup of coffee you can put a kindness book in a child's hands. Visit our kindness fundraising page and if it resonates, we welcome you to give. Your act of kindness will make a big difference! 

And of course a big shout out to all the amazing businesses and people who have made this tour possible. 

Today's blogpost written by Julie Angeletti, Team Toby

Million Acts of Kindness Tour stops in Airdrie, Alberta

Our Airdrie stop in Alberta, was a very short but sweet stop on the Million Acts of Kindness tour. A huge thank you goes out to Best Western Airdrie, who graciously hosted us for a night, and went above and beyond with their hospitality. This hotel wins the award for ‘Best Rest’ along with the ‘Toby Tested, Toby Approved’ award, as it was by far the best sleep I had on the tour. The rooms were very quiet, while the bed was plush and the pillows plentiful. The breakfast was also top-notch, as it included all of my breakfast favorites. Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast and a hot coffee!

We had the chance to visit Fraserway RV that afternoon at their Airdrie location. Luckily for us, the staff was eager to help us out on our kindness mission, and teach us important RV maintenance, such as making sure our water levels are full, and how to empty the septic tank! Unfortunately, not all parts of the tour can be glamorous, but the team at Fraserway RV was very knowledgeable and helped teach us how to perform these tasks efficiently, and without making any messes (thankfully!). With our RV inspected and topped off, we were ready to hit the open road! 

Our last stop in Airdrie brought us to the Boys and Girls Club, where Toby had the chance to make some more friends. As we were unloading the RV, we had the opportunity to meet a gentleman who was a huge advocate for sharing the message of kindness! What started as a group for local dads, Airdrie Dads, to get together and socialize, quickly grew into something amazing. We were so happy he spotted the Kindness RV and stopped to talk to us! 

We had a lovely visit with our friends from Petland Canada, one of our tour partners.  They do amazing things to support local animal charities, like this:

Their team made Toby a new tag for his tour.

Special thanks to our Million Acts of Kindness Tour sponsors, champions and partners. Your support is helping us make a difference through kindness.

 Written by Julie Angeletti, Team Toby Event Coordinator

Please remember to share how kindness has impacted you or someone you know. Put your story, or photo on our Kindness Matters page: http://charmainehammond.com/ 

Are you travelling anywhere this year? where to? What's on your travel bucket list, share it with Canadian Traveller Magazine.

Million Acts of Kindness Tour Movie Night in the Park....in the rain...

Red Deer Alberta was a highly anticipated tour stop, as we had much excitement and engagement from locals and the community. We were also excited to stay at the Microtel Inn and Suites because they had hosted Charmaine, Chris and Toby originally on the Paws Across Canada tour in Lloydminster.  A great hotel with friendly customer service as you can see.

The hotel itself is newly built, very modern and clean. They are the perfect place to stay with your pet, as it is located right next door to a beautiful memorial park where you can walk your dog. Toby had an awesome time stretching his legs in the park and jumping in the lake!

We had to get Toby dried off and cleaned up because we had a big event to attend that night… Red Deer movie in the park night! With the help of Petland Canada, and collaboration from the City of Red Deer and Green Deer, we were able to host a family, dog-friendly movie in the park at Bower Ponds. The film screened was Home, a tale about an outcast alien, who teams up with a lost girl on a mission to find her mom. The theme of the film coordinated perfectly with our kindness mission, as the lesson learned from the story is not to be so quick to judge others, and to always treat each other kindly. The City of Red Deer and Green Deer were also present at the event, and helped spread our message of kindness through their community clean-up programs and opportunities to volunteer. 

Let me just take a moment to commend Red Deer and the people that live here. About an hour before the movie was set to start, big, dark rain clouds started looming over what was supposed to be a bright and beautiful day. But it soon became very clear that a few rain clouds weren’t going to stop this party! Despite the lack of cooperation from the weather, everyone stayed to enjoy the movie, and eventually the clouds parted and we were able to enjoy the rest of the night. For Team Toby and Petland Canada’s first movie in the park night, we are glad to report that it was a huge success! 

Red Deer Child Magazine provided us with print copies of their magazine for everyone who attended. 


Big Appreciation to our tour sponsors, partners and champions! Your support is helping us make a kinder world one paw one person at a time!

Julie Angeletti, Team Toby Event Coordinator

Ps... what's on your 2016 Bucket List for Travel?  Our partners Canadian Traveller Magazine would love to know.