Category: Podcasts

Episode 76: Kindness Is Creating Rainbow Spaces

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In 2021 Nadia Kean-Ayub created Rainbow Spaces. She joins Anitha to talk about what motivated her to start this organization, how this group helps youth in the LGBTQ+ community, and how much they have grown in just three years.

Nadia also shares her favourite ways to support folks in the queer community by being an A+ Ally

  1. Affirm who they are
  2. Accept that their path is their own
  3. Acknowledge
  4. Don’t offer Advice on who they should share their queerness with
  5. Adapt by letting the youth guide you

An emotional and honest discussion of the best and most difficult aspects of creating a safe and inclusive space for all youth.

Photos of Prom

To learn more about the amazing events Rainbow Spaces creates, check out their Instagram account:

https://www.instagram.com/rainbowspacessb/

As a thank you to Nadia for sharing her story, Anitha offered to donate to Lamba Rising Soccer, a non-profit organization located in San Diego that provides inclusive soccer programs for youth and adults. To learn more about this organization, check out their website: https://www.lambdarisingsoccer.com/

To hear the full episode click here:

Episode 75: Kindness Is Being Jenny Vegan McQueen

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Jenny McQueen is a true hero for animals. She joins Anitha to talk about leading and participating in peaceful anti-fur protests, bearing witness of animals as they are trucked off to slaughter, co-founding Animal Rights Toronto, and so much more.

Jenny has been arrested eight times for peacefully raising awareness about violence against animals, in particular those used in the animal agricultural industry.

Jenny & Alice

She also talks about the devastating death of Regan Russell in 2020. Regan was bearing witness to the last moments of pigs’ lives when she was killed by a slaughterhouse truck driver.

To learn more about all the amazing work Jenny is involved in, check out her Instagram account:

https://www.instagram.com/jennyveganmcqueen/

To learn about Animal Rights Toronto, the organization Jenny co-founded, check out their website:

https://animalrightstoronto.com/

As promised, here is a photo of the documentaries to watch and the many animal rights organizations you can support:

As a thank you to Jenny for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Promised Land Animal Sanctuary, a safe haven for animals who have been neglected, abused, abandoned or forgotten.

Promised Land Animal Sanctuary cares for horses, chickens, ducks, pigs, donkeys, alpacas, goats, sheep, dogs and cats. They provide all these animals lifelong care and shelter.

To learn about this sanctuary, check out their website: https://www.promisedlandsanctuary.org/

You can hear the full episode here:

Episode 74: Kindness Is Creating an Isle of Misfits

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The incredible Paige Graham joins Anitha to talk about the many dogs, cats, pigs and chickens she has adopted and shares her home with.

Paige began her animal rescue journey in 2010 as a foster for a dog rescue. She soon realized senior animals and those with complex medical needs are sadly often deemed “unadoptable”. With her background in nursing and her huge heart, Paige decided she would give these animals a permanent home, and The Isle of Misfits was born.

Paige shares some heart-warming stories including how she comes up with their awesome names such as Abraham Lincoln, a dog who is missing an eye, Little Richard, an American Bulldog, and Celine Dion, a kitten with a belting meow.

Paige even delves into some difficult personal issues she faced and credits her animals for helping her get through that tough part of her life.

An honest and important conversation about loving animals who many have deemed unfit to live, and also learning to trust and love yourself.

To learn more about Paige and The Isle of Misfits check out her instagram account.

https://www.instagram.com/isle.of.misfits/?hl=en

As a thank you to Paige for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Limbo Chihuahua Rescue in St. Petersburg Florida. Paige personally adopted two paralyzed chihuahuas from this rescue. To learn more about what this organization does and how you can support them, please click on the link below:

https://www.limbochihuahuas.org/?disable_mobile=true

You can listen to the full episode here:

Episode 73: Kindness Is Being A Koala Crusader

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Nine-year old Malani Harris loves everything about Koala’s, including their scat!

Malani does A LOT to help koala’s such as planting trees, donating birthday money, creating an Instagram account dedicated to koalas, and much more!

She and her family travel around Australia looking for koalas, always maintaining a respectable distance.

Such a fun episode about a young girl and her love for Koalas!

To learn more about Malani and her crusade to help Koalas, check out these links:

Koala Family Adventures:

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/koala_family_adventures?igsh=MmNsMDFocGJ2Njc3&utm_source=qr

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/share/XeyHVmbYx35Lm6rh/?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Queensland Koala Crusaders: Newsletters with Malani‘s Koala adventures-

Sept 2023  https://www.koalacrusaders.org.au/koala_family_adventures1

March 2024 https://www.koalacrusaders.org.au/koala_family_adventures2

April 2024 https://www.koalacrusaders.org.au/koala_family_adventures3

May 2024 https://www.koalacrusaders.org.au/koala_family_adventures4

As a thank you to Malani for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Dutch Thunder Wildlife Shelter, a licensed wildlife shelter providing 24 hour emergency wildlife rescue.

Malani and her family spent time at the shelter helping out. It’s always nice supporting an organization personally known to the guest.

To learn more about Dutch Thunder Wildlife Shelter, check out their social media pages:

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/DutchThunderWildlifeShelter?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dutch_thunder_wildlife_shelter/

To listen to the full episode click here:

Episode 72: Kindness Is Loving Sirga the Lioness

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Valentin Gruener achieved his childhood goal to live in Africa and work with wildlife, and not just any wildlife. Val has spent the past twelve years raising, caring and loving Sirga, a lioness who came into his life when she was around ten days old.

Val talks about sharing his life with a wild lion, including some heart-warming stories. He also talks about the reasons for the devastating decline in the wild lion population, his conservation initiative—the Modisa Wildlife Project, and so much more.

A very special and important conversation about a man, a lioness and how together they are raising awareness to protect wildlife.

To learn more about Val, Sirga and the Modisa Wildlife Project, check out the following links:

https://www.instagram.com/valgruener/

https://www.instagram.com/sirgathelioness/

https://www.instagram.com/modisawildlifeproject/

You can support Val and Sirga and all they are doing here:

www.patreon.com/sirga

As a thank you to Val for sharing his story, Anitha donated to the Kalahari Research and Conservation (KRC). Kalahari is a unique and fragile ecosystem with a rich diversity of plants and animals. This organization works to understand and conserve Kalahari’s distinctive landscape in the face of increasing challenges.

To learn about KRC please click on the following link: https://www.krcbots.org/

To listen to the episode, click here:

Episode 71: Kindness Is Loving A Pig Named Esther

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Derek Walter’s life took a dramatic turn when his then partner, Steve Jenkins brought home a tiny little pig named Esther. Derek talks to Anitha about how this small being created huge and wonderful changes in his life.

Derek quickly fell in love with Esther, became one of her two dads, moved from a suburb to the country so Esther could have all the space a pig needed, welcomed even more farm animals, and eventually co-founded Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary (HEEFS)

This is an incredible conversation about love, family, community, grief, and an unbelievable legacy.

To learn more about Derek and HEEFS, please check out these links:

Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary 

http://www.happilyeveresther.ca 

Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/happilyeveresther?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Derek’s personal website

www.derekwalter.ca

Derek’s personal Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/EsthersDadDerek?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Esther the Wonder Pig Website

www.estherthewonderpig.com

As a thank you to Derek for sharing his story, Anitha donated to HEEFS. Having volunteered at HEEFS and seeing firsthand the beautiful and healing place it is for both the residents and the folks who spend time there, Anitha was thrilled to support this organization.

To listen to this heartwarming episode, click on the link below.

Episode 70:Kindness Is The Original Surfers

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Kaila and Waian, the incredible sisters who created The Original Surfers, join Anitha to talk about their initiative to reach out to teens and raise awareness to protect oceans and the marine animals who live there.

These amazing young women also share what it’s like working with a sibling and much more!

To learn more about The Original Surfers, please click on the following links: https://www.theoriginalsurfers.com/

As a thank you to Kaila and Waian for sharing their story, Anitha donated to the Dolphin Project, a non-profit charitable organization, dedicated to the welfare and protection of dolphins worldwide. It was founded by Richard O’Barry on Earth Day, April 22, 1970. The goal of this organization is to educate the public about captivity and, where feasible, retire and/or release captive dolphins.

To learn more about Dolphin Project, please check out their website:

Homepage

To listen to this episode- please click on the ‘play’ button above. Thank you!!

Episode 69: Kindness Is Justin’s Frog Projects

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Thirteen-year-old Justin Sather joins Anitha to talk about his love for one of Earth’s smallest beings—frogs.

Justin shares how a children’s book and a childhood blanket inspired Justin to clean up his community’s wetland, and how that project has grown to cleaning up rivers and oceans, protecting acres of rainforest and collaborating with other young people from all over the world.

A truly incredible episode about how one person can create a movement to bring about great change.

Mossy Frog
Strawberry Dart Frog

To learn more about Justin, check out these links:

WEBSITES:

www.JustinsFrogProject.com

Parallel Projects www.TheParallelProjects.com

And his newest website going live on Earth day: www.recreate.world

SOCIAL MEDIA:

@justinsfrogproject – instagram

Justin Sather – facebook

To support Justin’s projects, please click on the following links:

MILLION LETTERS CAMPAIGN:

Join the Million Letters Campaign

DONATIONS:

Justin’s main Go Fund Me Campaign: Go Fund Me Kid Hero Campaign

(Funds collected through this campaign are sent directly to projects Justin is working on to protect the rainforest and waterways. Projects such as, Parallel Projects and Team Trees)  

Or you can donate  Directly to Reserva Rainforest in Colombia- Justin

Links to the books that started Justin on his journey to help frogs:

What Do You Do with an Idea?

What Do You Do with a Chance?

As a thank you to Justin for sharing his story, Anitha donated to the Reserva Rainforest Project.

Listen to the episode here:

Episode 68: Kindness Is Creating For Children

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Anitha is joined by M.O. Yuksel and Omar Abed, two creators who write books for children.

M.O. Yuksel
Omar Abed

In addition to talking about their amazing books, M.O. and Omar share their thoughts about the role of a children’s author when actual children in the world are being harmed.

It’s an honest conversation about an important issue.

Here are the covers of the beautiful picture books written by M.O. Yuksel and Omar Abed

To connect and learn more about these incredible authors, please click on the links below.

For M.O.

 Instagram http://www.Instagram.com/moyuksel.author

For Omar

 OmarAbed.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omarabedwrites

There are many groups posting about what’s happening in Palestine, but one both M.O. and Omar are a part of is KidLitSoul. To find out what this group is sharing, check out their Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/kidlitsoul/

As a thank you to M.O. and Omar, for sharing their stories, Anitha donated to MECA For Peace. MECA, which stands for The Middle East Children’s Alliance is a non-profit organization working for the rights and the well-being of children in the Middle East. To learn more about this group and the work they are doing, please check out their website: https://www.mecaforpeace.org/

Meca Home

Episode 67: Kindness Is Rainbow Mosho

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Anitha chats with Rainbow Mosho, an incredible 15 ½ year old artist on the autism spectrum.

Rainbow uses her art and her voice to raise awareness about issues such as autism, endangered animals and vitiligo.

Her art has been exhibited in Dubai, Beijing, Belgium, NYC, LA, Miami, Tennessee.

Her thoughts: “Autism Acceptance is an opportunity to share about the marvels and challenges faced by incredible beings like me. We are staying put. We belong. We break barriers. Join us by reminding others about it.”

To learn more about Rainbow and see some of her beautiful artwork, check out her social media sites:

RainbowMosho | Instagram, Facebook, TikTok |

As a thank you to Rainbow for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Eco Evie, another young person who shared their story on the podcast. Evie has a cool clothing line called Eco Evie which is made from recycled water bottles.

To learn more about Eco Evie, check out episode 61 as well as the following links:

https://www.instagram.com/ecoevie

https://ecoevie.com