Tag Archives: Charity

Sep 29: Light the Night Walk for Blood Cancers

5 Aug

The Centre for Inquiry is participating in the Light the Night Walk for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada. We are part of a collaboration in which pro-science and secular groups like CFI are uniting to raise $1,000,000 to fight cancer. The purpose is to help make a difference in the lives of those affected by blood cancers.  We’d love for you to join the fun, walk with us and help raise funds for life-saving cancer research. It’s free to participate and you will raise funds online. Everyone who raises $100 or more will get a T-shirt.

Click here or use the link below to sign up, and join our team, Centre for Inquiry Saskatoon – FBB:

http://my.e2rm.com/TeamPage.aspx?TSID=365108&langPref=en-CA

If you can’t join us at the walk, you can sponsor one of our team members to help us reach our goal.  Thank you for choosing to make a difference!

More Information:

Each fall, in communities all across the US and Canada, thousands of participants raise funds for vital, lifesaving research and patient services and, on these special nights, they carry illuminated balloons to show the support of a caring community.

Light the Night walkers raise funds and walk as individuals or on a team with friends, family and co-workers.

This year, for the first time ever, freethought, atheist, skeptic, and secular humanist groups are coming together as one unified team to pool our efforts and become the first team in LLS history to raise $1,000,000 in its first year.

Our team is Foundation Beyond Belief (FBB) and we need you to help this worthwhile cause by joining the walk or donating.

How will we ever raise $1,000,000?!?!?!

A million dollars is a LOT of money, but we have a not-so-secret weapon: the Stiefel Freethought Foundation has pledged to match every dollar we raise up to $500,000! As an extra incentive, the top fundraising teams will have the opportunity to direct up to $5,000 in SFF grants, with half going to a local qualifying freethought nonprofit and the rest to qualifying FBB Allies of their choice, such as CFI. (More information about the incentive program can be found here.)

This is a great opportunity to rally behind something big that reflects our shared values: the healing power of scientific research, education, and compassionate patient care. Please sign up and join all of us in the fight against cancer.

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March 25: AIDS in Africa

6 Mar

Sunday, March 25, 2012, 11:30 AM

906 Central Avenue, Saskatoon, SK

We are welcoming a guest speaker for this meetup, Jenny Neal.  Jenny is part of Grandmothers for Grandmothers, a non-denominational organization dedicated to alleviating the plight of grandmothers in Africa as they care for children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. They aim to increase awareness and motivate others to donate to the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which in turn provides support to African grandmothers and widows enabling them to develop income-generating activities to support themselves and provide the basic necessities for the many orphaned children in their care. If you don’t know much about Stephen Lewis, read more here. Jenny is especially involved with the Grandmothers Advocacy Network working on issues such as reform of the CAMR legislation by the Canadian government so that generic medicines can be sent to Africa.

We encourage everyone to make a donation to the Stephen Lewis Foundation (a secular, registered Canadian charity). If you’re able, they have a campaign to “Give a Day” – donate one day’s pay. Feel free to leave a comment on this event if you’ve made a donation (of any amount).

Jenny will outline the devastating impact HIV/AIDS has had on Sub-Saharan Africa and discuss some of the factors that have contributed to these high levels of infection. She will also talk about some of the positive developments that have recently taken place and the fact that it would be possible to live in an AIDS free world if only there were political will. Up to date statistical information is available at UN AIDS.

It seems that some solutions are working in some places and not in others – Africa is not homogenous. There is a history of economics (e.g. access to drugs), politics (e.g. AIDS denialism), religion (e.g. condom use) and myths (e.g. sex with a virgin will cure AIDS) interferring with the battle against HIV and AIDS in Africa.  Interestingly, WHO/UNAIDS recommend that male circumcision be considered an efficacious intervention for HIV prevention in countries and regions with heterosexual epidemics, high HIV and low male circumcision prevalence.

Jenny recommends that everyone read 28 stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolan. It combines personal stories of 28 very diverse people living in different countries in Africa and the impact AIDS has had on them.  Every story also includes information on the situation in that country so the reader can learn a tremendous amount about all aspects of the disease.

Jenny’s Bio:

I am a mother of three and a grandmother of four beautiful children.  I spent most of my working life teaching Biology at the University of Saskatchewan.  Since retirement I have become very involved with the Grandmothers 4 Grandmothers group here in Saskatoon. This group supports the work of the Stephen Lewis foundation (SLF) which funds over 300 projects in Sub – Saharan Africa.  These projects support grandmothers and others living with HIV/AIDS and the orphans in their care.  I have spent 4 separate years in Africa, in Kenya and Zimbabwe (when my children were young) and more recently 2 years in South Africa.  Two years ago I was lucky enough to be chosen to go to South Africa and Swaziland with the SLF and 42 other grandmothers from all across Canada.  We visited projects supported by the  SLF and took part in a historic conference and March involving grandmothers from 15 different sub-Saharan African countries.

FYI: Dick Neal, who has spoken twice at our Darwin Day events is Jenny’s husband.

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May 5: International Day of Reason

1 May

Canadian Blood Services

325 20TH STREET EAST Saskatoon, SK

May 5, 5:30 PM

“Donating blood has a tangible effect – it can save lives. This is in contrast to prayer, which has no effect beyond placebo.”

The International Day of Reason is used to inject reason and rational thought into actions and behaviours. It was started as a National Day of Reason in response to the US National Day of Prayer. Rather than praying (which has been shown to have no effect in all properly designed studies i.e. double blind placebo studies), we will do something that has a measurably positive effect: saving lives. To do our part, we will be having a group blood donation through Canadian Blood Services. We will meet at the downtown blood clinic starting at 5:30pm (and appointments continuing for about an hour). For those who can’t make it at that time, please book an appointment that will work for your schedule any time that day or within a week of it and let us know to count it in this blood drive. We encourage everyone eligible to donate every 56 days.

The Saskatoon Freethinkers is a Partner for Life (partner ID number: SASK010719), which means we’ve committed to donating a minimum number of units of blood. Most of the donations will occur separately, but we’re doing this one as a group donation, which will hopefully prompt some of our members to become regular donors. You will only be counted as a member of our group if you register online or at the clinic with our partner ID (SASK010719). If you are already a member with another partner you can have just this one donation count toward our group by providing the number at the clinic. To preregister as part of our freethinkers partner group online, go to the Partners for Life section of the website.

Need another reason to donate? 

To watch a Canadian Blood Services video ad, click here. Approximately every minute of every day, someone in Canada needs blood. The good news is that one blood donation – in just one hour – can save up to three lives.

New donors can sign up at the clinic before their first donation. The website is very informative and you can also call 1-888-236-6283 (24 hours) to speak with a nurse if you have any questions you would like answered before May 6th. If you have not donated before or for a while, you should read the information about eligibility on the website. Some of the rules have changed, so please don’t assume you are ineligible. For example, visits to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico do not automatically reduce eligibility. At the clinic, you will be asked to privately answer a number of personal and health related questions to ensure your blood is safe (risk-based) – all of this remains confidential. For those who are certain that you cannot donate blood, you can ask a friend or family member to donate in your name.

Be sure to eat regular meals that day and at least a snack before you donate. After you donate, there will be pizza at the clinic (for all donors) and then those interested can find a place for coffee. Important: alcohol and intense physical activity are not advisable on the day of your donation. We need accurate numbers, so please RSVP as soon as possible and let us know if something changes.

Please join us in saving lives!

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Saskatoon Freethinkers is now part of CFI Canada!

3 Feb

After a lot of discussion, debate and email, Saskatoon Freethinkers has now become CFI Saskatoon, an integral part of the Centre for Inquiry (CFI) Canada network! If you are interested in donating to our group, you can now do so directly via the Support CFI link on their website. There is also a link on our sidebar. CFI is a not-for-profit charity, so any donations (other than membership) qualify for a tax rebate!

Also be sure to check out CFI Canada’s new Extraordinary Claims Canada-wide campaign, which we proudly support.

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National Day of Reason: Donating Blood

29 Apr

May 6, 6PM, Canadian Blood Services

325 20TH STREET EAST
Saskatoon, SK S7H 0A1

The National Day of Reason is used to inject reason and rational thought into actions and behaviors. It was started as a response to the National Day of Prayer in the US. Rather than praying (which has been shown to have no effect in all properly designed studies i.e. double blind placebo studies), we will do something that has a measurably positive effect: saving lives.

To do our part we will be having a group blood donation through Canadian Blood Services. We will meet at the downtown blood clinic at around 6pm. For those who can’t make it at that time please book an appointment that will work for your schedule any time that day or even that week – please let us know about it.

The Saskatoon Freethinkers became a Partner for Life this year, which means we’ve committed to donating a minimum number of units of blood (partner ID number: SASK010719). Most of the donations will occur separately, but we’re doing this one as a group donation, which will hopefully prompt some of our members to become regular donors. You will only be counted as a member of our group if you register with partners for life, which you can do online or at the clinic. If you are already a member with another partner you can have just this one donation count toward our group by providing the number at the clinic. To preregister as part of our freethinkers partner group online, go to the Partners for Life section of the website.

New donors can sign up at the clinic before their first donation. The website is very informative and you can also call 1 888 2DONATE if you have any questions you would like answered before May 6th. If you have not donated before or for a while, you should read the information about eligibility on the website. Note that you will be asked a number of personal and health related questions to ensure your blood is safe – all of this remains confidential. For those who are certain that you can not donate blood you can ask a friend or family member to donate in your name. Be sure to eat regular meals that day and at least a snack before you donate.

Please join us in saving lives!

Canadian Blood Services

325 20TH STREET EAST
Saskatoon, SK S7H 0A1

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Saskatoon Freethinkers’ Kiva loans

27 Apr

After April’s Meetup on Atheism and Altruism, our group raised $300 to be directed to microloans through Kiva.org.  Wow!!  As of tonight, our group is the proud sponsor of 5 different entrepreneurs, in the countries of Togo, Philippines, Lebanon, Palestine, and Sierra Leone.

The Kiva lender page for our group is located here.  If you would like to read the entrepreneurs’ profiles, I’ve set up a forum thread on the Meetup site, where I’ll be posting any updates I receive.

Our donations are being counted toward the Kiva lending team of the Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and the Non-Religious, a team that right now has the most members on Kiva (9,000+), AND has raised the most money ($1.9 million).

If you would like to donate additional funds to our Kiva account, please email me or speak to me at one of our gatherings. This outreach project will be an ongoing one for our group, so feel free to keep up the altruism! Also, if there is a specific entrepreneur you’d like us to support, post his/her profile on the forum thread, or let me know.

Rebekah
Community Services Coordinator

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HOPE Race for Recovery

19 Apr

What: HOPE Race for Recovery
When: Sunday, April 25, 2010 2:00 PM

Where:
Rotary Park
Victoria Bridge on the River
Saskatoon, SK S7H 0A1

NOTE: This is not a regular meetup event – this is a community event in which we are participating. There was a previous discussion on the message board. We are using the meetup function to get accurate RSVPs for T-shirts at the event (see below). Hope to see you at the race!

We will be participating in the HOPE Race for Recovery run/walk for the HOPE Cancer Help Centre Inc. for the second consecutive year. The race takes place at 2 PM on Sunday April 25th. You can do any of the following: walk 2 or 5 KM or run 5 KM. We will have people doing different lengths but we plan to meet ahead of time (and have a debrief afterward – read “drink beer”).

All you need to do is download the pledge sheet and collect on your own (or you can just pay $25 and participate for awareness). You do not have to pre-register; just show up with your pledge sheet and the money you have collected. Please indicate on the sheet that you are participating as part of a group – Saskatoon Freethinkers. Here is the website for a bit more information. There are locations where you can pick up pledge forms if you can’t download them.

We will make t-shirts and for $5 we will provide one for anyone participating. If you would like one, please indicate your size when you rsvp on the meetup page. Alternatively, you can send a private email with your T-shirt size to Sean Polreis. We could also wear our bus ad shirts or our Boogie shirts from last year (which have “Saskatoon Freethinkers” on the back).

We will meet at Rotary Park at 1:30 PM. Arrive on time to pick up a shirt!

Learn more here:
http://www.meetup.com/Saskatoon-Freethinkers/calendar/13233438/

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