Merry Christmas

Here is the presentation I put together for my husband for his Christmas present. Thank you again to everyone who donated!


:)

K

A GREAT (last) Day!!

Wowie ZOWIE! The market trip proved to be an amazing success!

Laura and I met up and she showed me her tasty cookies:

What a cutie face, right? The cookies were nut free and some were dairy free and some weren't. Oatmeal chocolate chip! Deeeeeelicious.

And then we got our signs on and started offering out cookies:


My favourite thing about handing out the cookies with Laura was the people who would give suspicious eyes and Laura would say, "Don't worry, we're not crazy and the cookies aren't poisonous." HA! Amazing.

Yes, it was really nice having company today on the goat quest. My fabulous friend Stephanie also came out during her lunch hour and did her part:


THANK YOU STEPHI! You are the best.

There are many many many thanks I'd like to give to all you kind people in Ottawa today, whether you live here or are just visiting. Your generosity was overwhelming.

We started the day with $10.06, and by the end of the day we had raised...

...$53.94!

Holy GOAT! That means on top of our first goat ($58) and our new total ($53.94 + $10.06 = $64) our grand total after only FOUR days (and yes, a lot of walking), our grand total is...$122!

Amazing!

SO: two goats = $122 (done and done) which left us with $6. So I took that $6 in change and bought some canned food for The Ottawa Foodbank to give back to the city that has given so generously in my quest.

In all seriousness, and before I depart, I started this blog and came up with this idea on a whim. I had some time and all I really did was make a sign and carried a jar with me and talked to people who asked me questions. It wasn't that hard. But it was SO GREAT to feel the power of people's generosity over the last 4 days.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

...and THANKS AGAIN.

K

SANTA!!!

He loves cookies, AND he loves giving!

Huzzah!!

K

Last Day!

Last day today, and I'm on my way to meet Laura in the market with my jar ($10 and change!). Someone already contributed $2 at the bus stop. Huzzah kind sir!

Have a great day everyone--and stop by if you can.

K

P.s. I'll try to update as often as possible today from my phone. So keep checking in!!

Sweetening the Deal

Okay, so unlike today, I need a plan for tomorrow if I'm gonna raise the $47.94 for our second goat. Luckily, as I've mentioned before, I have amazing friends and family in my life to help me get things done. My wonderful friend Laura has offered to donate some of her tasty vegan cookies to help sweenten the goat deal to pedestrians. I say "pedestrians" because tomorrow I'll stand quietly in the craziest place in the whole city right now: the Byward Market. Huzzah! It's a busy spot indeed, filled with shoppers and visitors and hopefully, curious folk who like cookies and giving away their change.

Laura and I will be in the market mid-day, and we'd love to see you there! Please, if you're reading this, don't hesitate to stop us if you see our sign, have a cookie and gab about goats.

See you tomorrow!

K

p.s. Here is a picture of a smiling goat.

Go for Goat!

Okay so in my previous post I mentioned how we've exceed our goat quota and have a surplus of $10.06....

...What to do with the extra $10.06 and with the 1 day still left in my "sign" plan?

Could I raise enough money for another goat? In 1 day?

I'm going to try! Only $47.94, in one day. It is possible!

THANK YOUs and Daily Total

Even though I got a late start today, I was once again amazed at the generosity of the folks here in Ottawa.

THANK YOU to the great people on the #101 bus! Very generous, indeed.

THANK YOU to my neighbour Gwen, who contributed very generously, and thank you to her dog Frisco for being so adorable.

THANK YOU to the little boy in The Canadian Superstore on Wellington who, when elbowed by his mom to "ask me about my goat" he refused and then when I asked him "if he wanted to know about my goat" he shouted, "NO!" Hahahhahah! Scampy-goodness.

THANK YOU to my mom for her contribution! I love you and I'll see you soon.

And THANK YOU to those who asked questions and gave change on the street. AMAZING!

Today's total came to an impressive $16.14!

Which, added to our running total, brings our grand total to:

$68.06!!

That's more than enough for our goat (Oxfam goats are $58 each).

EXCELLENT WORK EVERYONE!!

Legit

I've created some little piece of paper with my website printed on them to give to people who ask me about my goat from now on. I figure it makes it all seem a little bit more legit and a little bit less like a meth-addiction scheme this way.

Although, I only had two pieces of white paper left, so the rest of them are going to be printed on bright pink.

Ah well, I tried.

:)
K

Stay Tuned for Your Local News

Without a doubt, it is a good thing to look out into the world and think about people out there who need our help. It's great to be globally conscious. It's great to care about people...but it's also great to care about people who live not just far away from you, but to care about those around you everyday.

The issue of huger is a big one. It's sometimes overwhelming to think about. But if you break it down and try, just try, contributing WHAT YOU CAN, that makes all the difference.

So, in the spirit of "contributing what I CAN", I raided my cupboards when my husband and I both decided to do the $100 challenge, for canned goods and came up with some good stuff. I also went to the grocery store with and did my best to stretch my few remaining dollars, and actually, I managed to shop smart (with coupons!) and fetched a few key items.


The Ottawa Food Bank is a very reputable and wonderful organization. $1 donated to them generates $5 worth of food (they've got smart shoppers working for them). Also, I know that most Metro grocery stores have bins set up for collecting food, so it's super easy to donate. Think about it: one can of soup ALONE can easily provide a lunch for two small kids.

The most needed items are:

Canned Fish & Meat
Canned Vegetables & Fruit
Cereal [Whole Grains]
Cooking Oil
Dry Pasta & Sauce
Baby Diapers
Baby Formula
Household Products
Juice [Boxes or Cans]
Legumes [Canned or Dried]
Macaroni & Cheese
Peanut Butter
Personal Hygiene Products
Rice Snacks [Think Nutritious!]
Soup

So c'mon Ottawa! Show us your cans!

...wait, what? Ah, whatever.

:)

Day 3 - WHERE HAVE YOU GONE?

I am so late getting started today! I slept in. Dreaming about goats. I also spent the majority of the morning getting caught up in making my husbands Christmas present. It's a presentation on how my $100 was spent. It will also include information about my goat fund raising efforts, which he has no idea about.

Exciting!

What's not so exciting is that my day is whizzing by! There are piles of laundry and I haven't eaten anything! I'm going to hop on the bus soon (gotta love those bus peeps) and head west into Westboro. I'm gonna walk around MEC and just randomly be around people....generous people, I hope.

Have a great afternoon!

K

p.s. here is a picture of a REALLY cute goat that I found today whilst Googling.

Day 2 Total

Wow! Another great day and a lot of generous giving here in Ottawa.

Today's total was $28.25!

Add that to yesterday's total $23.67, and we have a grand total of...

..$51.92!

IN TWO DAYS!

Wow, Ottawa. Almost there. Let's keep our eyes on the prize.

Busses and Bottles and Buddies, OH MY!

Today my big money-making plan, besides wearing the sign around town, was to return some beer bottles and donate the change. I could only find 12 empties in the house, so I carted those to the beer store on Bank. On the bus on the way there, a lovely lady donated a handful of change. THANK YOU mysterious woman with the red coat!

Upon arrival at the beer store, a guy let me go in front of him. The cashier asked me about my sign and I filled her in on my Great Goat Cause (GGC) and told her that was why I was there. Altogether, my 12 empties weren't worth much, but still. Gotta do what we can.

And then something wonderful happened. The man who let me in front of him told me he'd donate his bottles to my cause! ALL OF THEM! And there were A LOT of them. And when it was all tallied up, it came it SIXTEEN DOLLARS! I belted out a mighty "woohoo!" and thanked the man profusely. I managed to grab his name in the process too -- so a massive THANK YOU to you Ron Vandergeest. And thank you also to the very friendly cashier who said (upon Ron offering his generous gift) "That's probably the nicest thing that's ever happened in a beer store." I would have to agree with her.

There were lots of great questions about my goat today, and some wonderful coin giving on the streets of Ottawa, so THANK YOU to all you lovely anonymous folks!

Also, a big shout out to some friends of mine who I met up with today. My friend Kendra made a very generous donation, THANKS KENDRA. You're the bees knees! I also ran into my friend Amanda on the street today and she treated me to a coffee and offered a very generous donation AND dug even deeper into her pocket to buy one of my books for sale.

I like to think that Steve Martin would be very happy to know that his book was a) purchased and will be read by the lovely Amanda (pictured above) and b) fetched a fine bit of coin that will go towards the purchase of a goat.

Speaking of Steve Martin and the spirit of giving, I give you this:

Why the Sign?

I've had a few questions about why I choose to wear the goat sign to raise money. Good question! Well, for starters, I needed some money for my goat. Secondly, I am not comfortable asking people for money for my goat, so I decided that by wearing the sign, people would therefore have the choice as to whether or not they wanted to ask me. When people DO ask me about the sign, I almost always say "I'm glad you asked that..." and then I tell them that sadly I don't actually have a goat (some people think that I do) and that I am actually collecting change to buy one. Then they usually have more questions about it and I try and answer them. But yes, I never really ASK anyone for money: I just tell them what I'm doing and then let it float.

Because here's the thing-- even if people don't donate money to me directly, I've planted the idea about buying charitable goats into their brain. And they'll think about it and maybe they'll buy and goat or maybe they'll tell a friend and they'll buy a goat and so on and so on.

Actually, since I started my goat quest (yesterday) I have come up with a few other sign ideas that might also stir up some conversation and raise some money.

Example #1
Sheep are another great animal to give this Christmas. The fluffy ewes are given to people who are then taught how to grow the necessary fodder to support their sheep. Sheep breed quickly and families can soon see the benefit of their hard work.

Example #2



Ohhhhohoho! Getting a little risque with this one. You might think twice before wearing this one around town. BUT, did you know that you can also buy a donkey for someone this Christmas? According to Oxfam Canada, "A donkey can make a huge difference for a farming family, since it can carry large loads over long distances, easing the burden of fetching and carrying supplies to and from market. Many women use donkeys and carts to retrieve water, saving themselves the time and effort of daily trips to the water source. Plus there's the bonus of free fertilizer" (Oxfam Unwrapped Website).

Example #3



Alright fine. This one just seems downright crude. But I got your attention, didn't I? Here's the thing-- you can also buy some chickens for someone this Christmas. When you buy this gift you won't only be giving someone the bird (ha!) you'll also be giving them "training in poultry production and construction of poultry barns and includes animal vaccinations, animal health training and instruction on marketing. [This means that a] flock of chickens can create greater self-sufficiency, self-esteem and educational opportunities for recipients and their families" (Oxfam Unwrapped Website) .

So you see? Signs are everywhere! And they are very important. Don't believe me? Here's some nineties Swedish pop music to prove you wrong.

Some Amendments for Day 2

When I was in Vertigo Records yesterday, a young lady suggested that I write "please" on my sign. A solid point, I thought, since politeness is slowly on the decline in this country. But then she mentioned that it has been scientifically proven that if you say "please" people are more willing to give. I couldn't find any raw data to support this, however, if you think about it, it just makes sense. As a result of your suggestion, I have amended my sign. Thank you mysterious young music lover!

Another amendment that I've made before going out into the world today was making the coin hole in my change jar bigger. Yesterday it quickly became clear that loonies and twoonies could not fit into the slot. The problem has been rectified, so get ready all you big coin givers!

Have a great day everyone!

THANK YOUs and Our Daily Total

Ottawa! Thank you for your kindness today. And your generosity!

A few notes:

THANK YOU to the man in black, on the #14 bus, who was the first person to ask me about my goat. Thank you for your contribution.

THANK YOU to the lovely lady sitting beside me on the #14 bus. Your contribution was also awesome.

THANK YOU to the lovely lady in the line at the Bridgehead on Bank. You're the b-omb.

THANK YOU to Daniel Waselnuk, the "Bridgehead Regular" for your generosity and friendliness.

THANK YOU to the gentleman on Bank street smoking the, uh, interesting smelling cigarette. You sir, are alright in my books. Much appreciated.

THANK YOU to Peter Gindl and Devon Dolan, fine young lads. Your contribution was much appreciated, as was your enthusiasm at the end of a long(ish) day.

All of this generosity (and more) plus the money I gathered from selling some books and records brings my daily total to $23.67.

EXCELLENT!

Let's see what tomorrow brings. In the meantime, some more inspiration:

Vertigo Records YAY! Compact Music NAY!

Big ups (holy 1999-term!) to Vertigo Records today for taking my vinyl off me for a fine price of $5. I wish the same could have been said for Compact Music on Bank...they just gave me a weird look (because of the sign around my neck, you see) and said they "weren't taking in any new stuff for the time being". Fair enough! You missed the goat bus, my friend.

Online Contributions

Someone asked me today if they could make a contribution through the site. I would love to be able to do that but PayPal costs money! Money that could otherwise go to the Great Goat Cause (GGC)! However, I am open to taking donations via email, through bank transfer.

Now I realize that some of you, maybe most of you, have no idea who I am. You may be thinking, "why in the WORLD would I send this chick money? SURE! GOATS! WHAT-ever." All I can say to that is, I understand your skepticism. After all, it isn't every day that someone walks around our Nation's Capital wearing a sign around her neck talkin' about goats.


I will say though, that you can email me and we can try and sort out a payment. Send it via carrier pigeon. Drop it in my mailbox. Meet me in a dark alley (wait, no). It's all good. Online email transfer is safe and I am not interested in stealing your money. So yes! Onwards and upwards! I'd love to receive whatever you have to give!

.........wait, no. That's too far, I've gone too far.

Tiger Print

I was walking along Laurier and thought I'd stop in at the (rather bustling) new Urban Outfitters. Man, I got the bulk of my weird looks for the day while I was in that store. A tough crowd indeed.

Anywho, something funny struck me while I was looking at their lovely sweaters. Like this one:



It's tiger print! And only $78 ($88.14 with tax). Did you know that for $80 you can adopt TWO real life tigers through WWF Canada? They'll even send you a plush toy tiger (wooooooo fancy). It is estimated that only 3,200 tigers remain in the wild.

There were only 4 tiger sweaters left on the rack at Urban Outfitters...so it looks like both are going extinct, really.

Bleat be with you,

K

P.s.
One of these skirts costs the same amount as a goat!





I thought about that for awhile, with a pensive line between my eyebrows, but then I thought of the goats wearing the skirts and the thought made me giggle.

Goooooooo Books!

Book Bazaar came through for me! They took some of my books and paid me $8! Thank you. That's like, an entire leg of a goat!

A few books remain...


I'm sitting in the Bridgehead at Bank and Somerset, hoping to sell them.

Bleat be with you,

K

Heading Out the Door

I'm heading out to catch the bus to run the errands I mentioned earlier. Yep. I've got a sign (homemade!!). Let's see what happens.

Bleat be with you,

K

Pencils

Did you know
that for
2 cents
you can buy a pencil
for a student in need?
It's true!
Or, if you prefer, you can buy
a very very very fancy pen
for $530 USD.
That's 26,500 pencils!

Either way,
do what you think is
"write".


(sorry, I HAD to).

Bleat be with you,

K

Pawning Off My Stuff

I'm not a huge collector, but I do enjoy listening to records and reading books, so I've got a few of those things lying about. Mostly in boxes.





So I though I might try to sell off some of my books at Book Baazar on Bank Street and Vertigo Records on Laurier to earn me some cash to put towards a goat.

Bleat be with you,
K

Go Ahead, Ask

I've got only 3 1/2 days left to get my goat! (haha, get my goat) so I better get moving. Here's a little video to get me (and maybe you?) inspired.