Tag: #podcast

Episode 19: Kindness is Music and Lego

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Fourteen-year old Annora Wu and her eleven-year old brother Andrew join Anitha to share their stories of kindness.

A talented musician, Annora talks about what it was like performing for residents of nursing homes and the joy she felt knowing she was making a positive difference in their lives.

Not to be outdone by his older sister, Andrew shares his amazing initiative of combining his love of Lego and animals to create Lego For Charity.

Andrew collects donated sets of Lego. He spends time sanitizing and sorting the pieces, and then puts together ‘new’ sets that he sells. The funds raised are donated to the SPCA.  

This is a wonderful episode for everyone who loves music, animals and of course stories of kindness.

To learn more about Lego For Charity, please click on this link: http://legoforcharity.com/

To learn more about Explore Hop, the organization that provided Annora with the skills to create the Lego For Charity website and promote its goals, click here: https://explorerhop.com/

As a thank you to Annora and Andrew for sharing their story, Anitha donated to the SPCA. For more information about all the wonderful work the SPCA does to help animals, please check out their website: https://spca.bc.ca/locations/vancouver/

Episode 18: Kindness Is Appreciating Your Own Backyard

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Alex at ten years of age, taking photos for BBC Wildlife Magazine

Seventeen-year-old Alex White joins Anitha from Oxfordshire, United Kingdom to talk about his passion to inspire people to appreciate wildlife and nature in their own backyards.

When Alex was seven, he was given a camera, and fairly soon after he created a blog to share stories and photographs of wildlife and nature in his Local Patch. His blog has been declared as one of the top 50 wildlife blogs.

Alex also talks about his exciting stint as a journalist for a BBC wildlife magazine and publishing a book he wrote called Get Your Boots On. It’s all about ways to enjoy nature.

To learn more about Alex and his blog, click on this link: https://appletonwildlifediary.wordpress.com/

To check out Alex’s book, click on this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Get-Your-Boots-Alex-White/dp/1909455229/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=Get+Your+books+on&qid=1615061919&sr=8-8

As a thank you for sharing his story, Anitha donated to the Oxfordshire Badger Group Vaccination Project. To learn more about the wonderful work this group is doing to help badgers, click on this link: https://www.oxonbadgergroup.org.uk/

And to help them help badgers, click here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/oxfordshire-badger-group-vaccination-project

Episode 17: Kindness Is Never Saying Never

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Andrew West suffered a stroke before he was born. His parents were told he may never walk, talk or feed himself. Andrew shares heartwarming stories of how he not only learned to walk, talk and feed himself, but played soccer, ran a 5K marathon and was part of his school band.

He credits his family, friends and his community for helping him succeed at his goals. The sixteen-year old also talks about how he has given back to his community and helped others.

Please join Anitha for this wonderful, feel good episode.

Anitha learned about Andrew from author Paul Coccia. Not only did Paul connect Anitha and Andrew, he generously sponsored the donation to United Way, as a thank you to Andrew for sharing his story.

To watch some inspiring videos of Andrew, click on this link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNdDTK7BYwkEZxFZXr2kCWX0RXmuFIEJa

To learn more about author Paul Coccia, click here: https://www.paulcoccia.com/

And to learn more about the United Way, please click here: https://www.unitedway.ca/

Episode 16: Kindness is Teaching Karate

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Fifteen-year-old Jeffrey Wall has already accomplished so much—A black belt in Karate and inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

Jeffrey talks to Anitha about how he got into karate and what inspired him to share his passion for martial arts with residents of nursing homes. He teaches them the fun and importance of staying fit.

The global pandemic has brought hardship to many, including those in long-term care facilities. Jeffrey hopes his act of kindness helps alleviate some of that stress, as he continues to find innovative ways to connect with residents of nursing homes during these difficult times.

As a thank you to Jeffrey for sharing his story, Anitha donated to Polished Girlz, a non-profit organization that brings ‘sparkle to the lives of girls with special needs or frequent hospitalizations by bringing the trendiest nail art parties to them’

Polished Girlz was created by Jeffrey’s sister, Alanna. Clearly, kindness runs in this family.

To learn more about Polished Girlz, click here: https://polishedgirlz.org/

And to learn more about Jeffrey and watch some of his amazing fitness videos, click here: https://www.facebook.com/GoldenAgeKarate/

Episode 15: Kindness is Explorer Hop

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On previous episodes, Anitha has interviewed several kids who have participated in a program called Explorer Hop. This innovative program brings together children of all ages and teaches them to become young entrepreneurs. In addition to learning about the ins and outs of creating a business, such as choosing a name, collaborating with others, and marketing, they are also taught about kindness and giving back. A portion (often 100%) of the funds earned through the business are donated to charities.

On this episode, Anitha talks to the co-creater of Explorer Hop, thirteen-year-old Mirabella Kolodkin. Mirabella shares the inspiration for the business she and her mother created, as well as some of the fun businesses she has been involved with.

As a thank you to Mirabella for sharing her story, Anitha donated to World Wildlife Fund Canada. To learn more about World Wildlife Fund, click here: https://wwf.ca/

To learn more about Explorer Hop, click here: https://explorerhop.com/

Episode 13: Kindness Is Creating Card Games

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In this episode, Anitha chats with Zachary Backman, another young entrepreneur from the Explorer Hop program. Zachary shares his fun story of creating a card game full of mythical creatures. A portion of the proceeds Zachary raised from the sale of his card game went to Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada.

As a thank you for sharing his story, Anitha donated to Food For Thought. To learn about this charity and all they do, click on this link: https://www.foodforthought.cafe/

To learn about Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada, please click on this link: https://www.cafdn.org/

To learn more about Explorer Hop and the programs they offer, please check out their website: https://explorerhop.com/

Episode 12: Kindness Is Telling Jokes

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This is such a fun episode. Six-year-old Callaghan McLaughlin talks about how he spent the summer of 2020.

Callaghan set up a table at the bottom of his driveway and shared jokes with those who passed by. He talks to Anitha about his favorite part of telling jokes and even shares a couple of jokes on the episode!

Callaghan is proof that everyone, regardless of how young or old they are, can bring joy and kindness to others.

Anitha learned about Callaghan from author Erin Silver’s book, What Kids Did: Stories of Kindness and Invention in the Time of COVID-19. To learn more about Erin and the books she writes, please visit her website: http://www.erinsilver.ca/

As a thank you for sharing his story and his jokes, Anitha donated to Wires Wildlife Rescue. To learn more about this wonderful charity, please click on this link: https://www.wires.org.au/

Episode 10: Kindness Is Reuniting A Family

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Nineteen-year-old, Marcela Kuzma was at her grandmother’s restaurant in Brazil when she heard a Haitian employee talk about going to the airport to pick up his wife, whom he hadn’t seen for four years. Marcela soon discovered that this employee had also left behind a son, who was now five years old. Unfortunately, it was going to take several more years for the son to join his parents in Brazil.

Hearing this family’s plight inspired Marcela to raise funds to reunite them. Marcela shares a heart-warming story of a community coming together to bring the little boy back to his mother and father.

As a thank you for sharing her story of kindness, Anitha donated to LALA: Latin American Leadership Academy. To learn more about LALA, click here: https://www.latinamericanleadershipacademy.org/about

Episode 9: Kindness Is Cooking & Cards

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Like many kids, when the pandemic struck, Spencer Burwell found himself stuck at home in much need of something fun to do. A friend introduced him to Explorer Hop. This innovative organization teaches kids about global financial literacy entrepreneurship. But it also teaches them about giving back to society and the importance of helping those in need.

Spencer shares his experience of creating businesses, raising money, and donating that money to CARE and The Canadian Mental Health Association. For more information on these charities, click on the links below:

https://care.ca

https://cmha.ca

In this episode we explore what success really means.

To learn more about Explorer Hop, click here: https://explorerhop.com/

As a thank you for sharing his story of kindness, Anitha donated to the Parkdale Food Centre. To learn more about this charity, click here: https://parkdalefoodcentre.ca/

Episode 8: Kindness Is Art & Music

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Ryan Elliot Drew shares his innovative idea to teach children about global issues such as climate change and habitat loss through art & music.

Combining his degrees in Music and Global Affairs, Ryan hopes to provide teachers with tools to inspire their students to appreciate the natural world through art.

Join Anitha Rao-Robinson as she and Ryan talk about this wonderful project.

To learn more about Ryan and his projects, click here: https://www.ryandrew.ca/

As a thank you for sharing his story of kindness, Anitha donated to the PEI Humane Society. For more information about this charity, click here: https://www.peihumanesociety.com/