1/500 chance of winning a new car

Congratulations to Chaya Cooperberg for winning the 2013 Honda Civic!

Thank you to everyone who purchased a ticket and supported the amazing O’Connor Clarke family!

 

****TICKETS ARE NOW SOLD OUT**** 

 

What better way to raise money than with a raffle for a new car?!

We’re offering the incredible opportunity to win a brand new Honda Civic just in time for the holidays. Talk about a great Christmas present, and for a good cause!

Tickets are $50 and only 500 tickets will be sold. Those are amazing odds!

To buy a raffle ticket:

  • Click on the yellow “Donate” button on the left-hand side of the screen.
  • Tickets are being sold in multiples of $50. We will determine the number of tickets ordered based on the amount donated.
  • Select your payment method (PayPal or credit card).
  • Click on “Additional Information” and type in your name, email address and phone number.
  • Submit your donation and we’ll email you a scanned copy of your ticket.

***Please note that the email with your ticket will not be instantaneous. If you do not receive it within 48 hours, please contact ashleigh.cartier@mediaprofile.com. 

The draw will take place on December 7, 2012 and the winner will be contacted by phone and email.

Good luck to all who enter!

Tribute from a distance

It is with a heavy heart I write this as we pack our bags to travel once more to Toronto to be with our sister Leona and three wonderful children.

Our hearts bleed for Leona, Charlie, Lily, Ruairi and Mam and all we can do is hold their hand and share fond memories of a beloved soul that was gifted to our family when he met Leona. Our hearts also ache for Kay who has fought the long battle side by side with , and equally for Joe who has shared with us all his unequivocal love for his son, whose tweets gave strength and brought emotion and heartfelt sorrow to everyone who was watching. Eamonn, Gerard and Kieron have lost a brother who was in his prime and we share their grief.

I still cannot believe that has moved to a better place, that he is at peace and that his horrible illness can hurt him no more – this reality will dawn on us when we once again set foot on Canadian soil.

To us, thoughts of only bring happy memories. As my mind races with clips of his company – many of which have been on replay for most of the last few months, I am happy to recount some of the headlines…

entered our lives in Valleymount at Leona’s 21st and has remained part of our family ever since. He became a regular fixture at Christmas and his cooking prowess gained significant brownie points with Dad (I liked him more for his Sega to be honest).

On Christmas Eve, 1992, (or perhaps very early Christmas Day), fell into bed beside me with a great big dirty grin – “I am going to marry your sister” was the sentence that followed. As we were sharing a room I told him to go and shite and get into his own bed. Having thought about this piece of information I asked him to repeat what he had said as this event would mean significantly increased access to his Sega. showed me the ring, had just asked Dad for the honour of marrying Leona and I was chuffed to be the second person to be told. He duly went on bended knee around the tree the next morning and produced the ring, asked the question and she said “yes” – why wouldn’t she, sure he made a mean bubble and squeak.

Dad lost his fight before he could walk Leona down the isle in 1993 and the sorrow of that year was book ended with the joy of Leona and engagement and their wedding in September. It was a tremendous day and one that will live long in our memories.

has been our brother ever since, we have eased willingly and with excitement into his company, relished his dark and constant humour, asked ourselves how he is able to get away with the use of profanities in formal settings and sat in wonder of his jokes (even the really long ones) and his ability to hold a note – none of Leona’s immediate family can do this. He has brought so much joy and this is clear when you share moments with Charlie, Lily and Ruairi who have cousins around the globe that are now sharing their pain and tears.

This man was blessed with many gifts . He was a man who told me my Dad would be proud the night before my wedding, having felt my pain that Dad wouldn’t be there. He is a man that made very special leeks that I have failed on so many occasions to reproduce, he is a man that sang ‘five little pennies’ for myself and Mandy on our wedding night and who spent time some years later in the wee hours teaching me the song from Canada so I could sing it (poorly) for my wifes sisters wedding.

Both and Leona have gifted us the best holiday we can recount and memories of that summer will remain alive and clear for the rest of our days – the food, the company, the midges, the beers, a shared midnight skinny dip in cottage country (Dwayne chickened out), wizard, and the many many laughs shared and alive in our hearts.

We have been overwhelmed by the support, kindness and friendship shown to Leona and by their communities, both social and professional. This support doesn’t happen by itself and is a testament to Leona and efforts to immerse themselves in Canadian life. It is also a testament to all the people who have come forward to support their friend, neighbour and colleague and for this, on behalf of all of Leona’s family we are truly grateful.

With great pain we will celebrate life this week as we bid him farewell. His wonderful life has been cut far too short – we will all grieve his departure, we will shed tears and if has anything to do with it, we will enjoy some moments of humour.

– you will be desperately missed, you will always be cherished and hold a special place in our thoughts and I can only hope you are entertaining all those who have gone before you.

Music for

Each week, the Media Profile staff puts together a blog post with their music picks for the week.

This week their blog post goes out to our dear friend and colleague. They hope this post lifts his spirits and lets him know that we have his back. Here’s to the handsome man with the goatee.

I have very different tastes in music, and I mean that in the best possible way. I completely respect and understand his music taste and just wish I knew more of what he loves.

I realize this is a Christmas song but I’m picking it anyway. Fairytale of New York provides a chain reaction of happiness for me, no matter what season I hear it in. That chain goes as follows: Christmas -> Christmas in Ireland -> Irish people -> revelry-loving, hilarious and familiar Irish people I know ->

As a boy, I thought punk rock meant spiked Mohawks, leather jackets and a lot of flipping the bird. As a man, I learned that punk rock means being unapologetically you.

Old-school rock revivalists The Sheepdogs bring you pure unabashed rock music with a great melody and groove.

I had a great evening with earlier this year when we saw someone we both adore completely. Paul Weller has 30 plus years of incredible music to choose from, but this rare B-side particularly thrilled that evening.

And finally, we have a bonus pick, which is a very special pick to, and frankly, to all of us. speaks often of the ways in which this classic rock band moved him like no music had ever before. He has a very special spot in his bleeding Irish heart for these prolific legends of the stage, so without further ado…

Inspiration

To brighten up the dull hospital room walls and, most importantly, to keep his focus on the people that matter most, has an inspiration board to help him keep fighting and stay positive throughout his treatment.

 

Rope-for-Hope

“Dude, you’re on.” Those three words engraved a smile on my face and induced a panic in my heart.

Earlier this year an email circulated around the office from our friends at Make-A-Wish Canada about their most current initiative, Rope-For-Hope. Adrenaline-seeking philanthropists were invited to rappel down the side of Toronto’s City Hall. A follow up email from a colleague that read “Alen will do it” went out which warranted a response of “Hell yeah, I’ll do it.” My dear friend, colleague, and resident Oracle, said he’d do it too. Of course he would. He’s nuts and this is right in his wheelhouse. With the excitement of a pre-pubescent boy I filled out my form but stopped abruptly when I saw how much money I had to raise in order to participate – $1,500 bucks. I had little to no faith that I could raise that much money in such a short period of time. Before I was able to tell I was out, he had already raised half.

That’s the kind of guy is. He’s passionate and he cares about others more than himself. This isn’t the first time he’s given his time, money and effort to help others. As a co-creator of HoHoTO, has raised upwards of $100K for the Daily Bread Food Bank, connected hundreds of people and brought awareness to a cause bigger than himself.

Shortly after raising the money for Rope-For-Hope, was diagnosed with cancer, and asked me to take his place.

The day before I rappelled I thought, this isn’t right; it’s just not the same without him there. He needs to experience this with me. So, I did the next best thing I could think of. I bought a Go-Pro camera, opened up iMovie for the very first time and made a little video of the whole thing.

When he saw the video from his bed in the ICU his eyes lit up and with all his might he blurted out “Fuckin’ awesome”.

No. You are fucking awesome.

This is just one story about how eager is to help others. Now, needs our help. I know these are tough times but please click on the “donate” button and contribute whatever you can. Every little bit helps a lot.

is a Rockstar

This just proves what an absolute rockstar is.

Sending a bouquet of fish

While our friend is in hospital we thought it would be fun to send him video best wishes – in recognition of the amazing videos he wrangled for us in hohoto. Create your own, and tag it on twitter so we can find it. Here is mine:

 

Update

Many people have been asking about our dear friend and colleague. He is very ill and currently battling cancer.

influence online and off-line stretches far and wide. We join his many friends, colleagues and people within the digital and social media communities in wishing him and his family well.

People have been amazing in asking what they can do to help. Plans are in the works to show our support family during this difficult time.

Stay tuned for more details.