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!
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:
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 FrogStrawberry Dart Frog
To learn more about Justin, check out these links:
(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)
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:
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:
Many of us see and walk past folks who live in parks, street alcoves and under bridges, but rarely do we stop. Anitha’s guest, Lorraine Lam, not only stopped, she wanted to help. Lorraine chats with Anitha about the homeless crisis and her involvement in finding a solution.
Here are some action points for listeners who want to get involved in trying to solve the housing crisis.
· Follow social media accounts of people and organizations that are directly engaged in this work
· Look for local groups in your city that are engaged in direct outreach and systems advocacy and look for ways to dive in!
· Host a conversation with your friends about things you have learned and questions you may have
· Look for your local councillor, MP, MPPs voting history on issues related to housing and homelessness, and contact them with your concerns. Develop this relationship; have ongoing dialogue
To learn more about Lorraine and/or support her endeavors to help the homeless community, check out her website: https://lorrainelam.me/about
As a thank you to Lorraine for being a guest on the podcast, Anitha donated to All Saints Toronto. This organization supports folks by providing a space of belonging and hope. They offer services such as counselling, advocacy, and nursing care. To learn more about All Saints, click here: https://allsaintstoronto.com/
With issues such as climate change, food insecurity and animal welfare all related to/caused by the animal agricultural industry, Anitha is thrilled to continue her discussion around veganism.
Anitha is joined by Kelly Chianciola and her two lovely daughters, Dani and Lana.
All three talk about how their decision to become vegan has impacted their lives. They also tackle questions like—Why don’t parents/caregivers want children to know how the animal they are eating lived and died? Why so much secrecy?
Please check out this episode for an open and interesting discussion about animal agriculture.
As a thank you to the Chianciola family for being guests on the show, Anitha donated to Unity Farm Sanctuary. This vegan sanctuary, located in Sherborn, Massachusetts, provides lifetime care for animals in need.
To learn more about Kelly, Dani and Lana, check out their Instagram account. It’s full of fun and cool information, such as recipes that kids love to make and eat and facts about animal welfare. https://www.instagram.com/thatwylievegan/
For the first episode of 2024, Anitha chats with educator and education and equity consultant, Rabia Khokhar.
Spurred by her desire to showcase diverse stories, Rabia created Rabia Reads, her Instagram account where she recommends picture books with diverse main characters.
Anitha and Rabia chat all about books, including her current favourite book. Hair Oil Magic by Anu Chouhan
If you’d like to learn more about what Rabia’s reading check out her Instagram page:
Authors/publishers interested in submitting a book to Rabia for a review can contact her through her Instagram account or by email: rabia91k@gmail.com
As a thank you to Rabia for sharing her story, Anitha donated to North Toronto Cat Rescue, the only No-kill, No-cage shelter in the GTA. This volunteer run, registered charity is committed to rescuing, rehabilitating, and re-homing ailing and abused stray cats and kittens.
As a thank you to Evie for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Save Animals Facing Extinction.
This not-for-profit organization works to protect endangered wildlife by ensuring strong laws are in place and severe penalties are levied against criminals who deal in wildlife trafficking. To learn more about them please check out their website:
Twelve-year old Jack Dalton joins Anitha to talk about the many ways he helps animals, including his favourite animal, the Orangutan.
Through his YouTube Videos, public speaking engagements, fundraising efforts and writing a picture book, Jack has raised funds and awareness for critically endangered orangutans. In fact, as of March 2023, Jack has helped plant over 13,000 trees to reforest habitat for Orangutans and other animals, raised over $13,500 for education and orangutan rehabilitation, presented to over 5000 people worldwide and has had over 217,000 views of his fun and educational YouTube videos.
Jack talks about why palm oil trees are the main reason Orangutans are critically endangered. He shares incredible information about C16 Biosciences, a company that has created a synthetic palm oil from yeast!
Jack also shares his recent experience travelling to Sumatra and Borneo and what it was like to see Orangutans in the wild.
As a thank you to Jack for sharing his story, Anitha donated to the Orang Utan Republik Foundation. This organization is dedicated to saving Orangutans of Indonesia through educating local people about the plight of Orangutans and how working together to find sustainable ways of utilizing the forests will benefit both people and animals.
To learn more about all the amazing initiatives Jack is involved in and buy his book, check out his website: https://www.kidconservationist.com/
As a thank you to Normani for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Give Kids The World Village. This non-profit resort located in Florida, provides cost-free getaways to critically ill children and their families. To learn more about this organization, please check out their website: https://www.gktw.org/