So it’s been a bit of a while since we last shared anything on here. Originally we decided to take a breather and re-energize, after what was an amazing inaugural year for the 12for12k project and our supporters.

That breather turned into a slightly longer rest period than expected, as personal needs and workloads took away the time from everyone involved with 12for12k. But, these things happen – and it’s simply made us more energized and focused for the next stage in the 12for12k journey.

Which brings us to now.

We’ll be relaunching properly on June 1, and the first charity organization we’ll be supporting is Jodi’s Voice.

As you can see by the logo at the top of this post, Jodi’s Voice is dedicated to increasing awareness and support for stalking in the U.S., which affects more than 3.4 million people every single year.

Jodi’s Voice was born from tragedy.

On January 5, 2007, Jodi Sanderholm was murdered by a stalker who had been stalking her for ten years. Jodi’s death led to Jodi’s Voice being born, and we’re humbled to be working with Angela Daffron and Jodi’s Voice to help in any way we can as our first project in 2011.

We’ll be sharing more details soon, along with how you can help and some of the events we’ll be either arranging or supporting, so please feel free to subscribe to our blog, or follow us on Twitter or Facebook for the latest updates. You can also subscribe to our newsletter by filling out the form below.

In the meantime, it’s great to be back. It’s been way too long, and it’s time to set the 12for12k army in motion again.

Ready to fight the good fight?

Special thanks goes to Adrian Meissner from Boundless, who drove TWO HOURS to come and talk to all of us about the incredible work they do.

Also many, many thanks to Allan and Yvonne Isfan for providing their beautiful home for the show, to Cheryl Gain of Ottawa Tonite for organizing everything, to Bob LeDrew for providing Ottawa’s most comfortable House Concert chairs and for his ongoing support, to Jamie Calder for providing a big long ethernet cable for the live stream, to 12for12k’ers Jon Aston and Richard Marti for spreading the word.

And, between yesterday afternoon and today,  we raised about $200 for Boundless and introduced a bunch of new people to the good work of Boundless and 12for12k. Yay!

It takes an army of people to make events like this happen, and I’m grateful to everyone who took the time to listen and share.

Here’s the recording of the show….sorry, the first part got cut off due to UStream issues….

So we feel it’s only right to recognize that, and this regular snapshot will do just that.

First up is J A Heinlein, who describes himself as a “Publishing & Marketing Professional. Proud Father. Mid-life Adventurist. Social Media Enthusiast“. J A (or Jay) is the Principal of Heinlein Publishing Services, a publication group that aims to provide expertise and resources to help produce and market published material.

If you look at Jay’s Blogger profile, you’ll see he’s a prolific reader of both printed and web media across many categories – always the sign of a great publisher. He’s also a classic rock fan and that’s never a bad thing!

A loving family man, Jay has been a 12for12k supporter for a while now and always shares with his other connections, as well as on his blog. We’re more than happy to have Jay as our first featured supporter, and hope you’ll check him out too.

• Jay on Twitter:
• Jay on Facebook:
• Jay on LinkedIn:
• Jay on YouTube:
• Jay’s blog:
• Jay’s company:

Thanks Jay – and here’s to our next featured supporter soon!

There are fears that there could be more than 100,000 fatalities and countless more injured and missing. This is the immediate impact. Long-term there is the threat of disease, illness, malnutrition, and much, much more. 12for12k is asking for your support to help the people of Haiti.

We are partnering with Hope for Haiti to raise much-needed donations to send to this humanitarian emergency. The immediate funds will go to helping the survivors with aid, shelter, food, medication and other essentials. Then there is the long-term need from there.

I know this is just after the holiday season. I know this is coming off the back of a year when people suffered financial strain. Yet we showed last year how much the 12for12k community cares, and the change we can make in whatever way we can. Please help us help Hope for Haiti and show our continued caring. You can use the donation widget below, which uses Paypal and goes directly to Hope for Haiti itself. 100% of your donations go to Hope for Haiti (12for12k is a fully volunteer-based call-to-action with no admin costs), and $0.95 of every dollar goes to the humanitarian program needs.

Thank you, and let’s make whatever difference we can. And please, we’d love you to tweet this on Twitter, share on Facebook/display as your status, email folks to come here – we can really help together. You can also copy the embed code and display the widget on your own blog/site to spread awareness.

• Suggested tweet: We all share the same planet – here’s how to show our brothers and sisters in Haiti we care http://bit.ly/8XelzH #12for12k

• Suggested Facebook status: 12for12k is supporting Hope for Haiti – please help however you can http://12for12k.org/2010/01/13/12for12k-supports-hope-for-haiti-please-help/

You can read Hope for Haiti’s press release about their aid program here. Additionally, you can follow their progress in Haiti via the Hope For Haiti Twitter account.

• Hope for Haiti is a registered 501-c charity and has 4-star approval of Charity Navigator.

This is how much we raised for charity in 2009. You all freakin’ rock and should be incredibly proud of yourselves.

Thank you!

Danny Brown
Founder, 12for12k

Instead, 12for12k wants you to think of ways that you can physically help. To this end, and with the help of Mark Horvath and various homeless organizations, we’ve come up with these 12 suggestions for you. Themed around the 12 Days of Christmas, this is the 12for12k version – the 12 Days of Christmas Homeless Push.

It’s up to you which ones you choose, although obviously choosing all 12 will make the biggest impact. And whatever you decide to do, record it. Photographs, videos, blogs, social networks – your choice. Sharing can only make more people aware, and encourage more help – and that’s always a good thing.And 12for12k will share your stories on our community, so please consider joining if you haven’t already.

So… on with the 12 suggestions.

1. Day 1. Contact your local homeless shelter(s) and ask what they need. Make a list and work from there.
2. Day 2. Gather 10 friends each (family, friends, colleagues) in preparation for Helping Day.
3. Day 3. Challenge these friends to a bake-off. Bake a bunch of homemade goodness – soup, stews, cookies, etc – ready for Helping Day.
4. Day 4. Clean out your closet (especially your husband’s, 12for12k wives!), and pack up all the old clothes that you find. Coats, socks, underwear, shoes, jeans – anything and everything.
5. Day 5. Go through your linen closet and think of what blankets, sleeping bags, duvets, etc, that you no longer need.
6. Day 6. Check your pantry – do you really need all these tins of soup or canned stew? Collect and store.
7. Day 7. Invite a homeless person for coffee. Go to a Starbucks or McDonald’s, buy a combo, sit and talk. Get to know the person behind the story.
8. Day 8. Go grocery shopping. Find 2-for-1 deals and buy what you can afford. Save the second item for Helping Day.
9. Day 9. Kids are homeless too. Collect all your childrens’ unwanted toys and box up. This includes books as well.
10. Day 10. Go to your local fast food/coffee house and buy a bunch of gift cards ready for handing out.
11. Day 11. This one’s an easy one – share with your networks what’s happening and get them involved.
12. Day 12. This is Helping Day. Go to a shelter, take everything you and your friends/family have collected, and help. One hour; six hours; all day – it doesn’t matter. Help – serve food; give out packages; talk to people; befriend someone. Simply put – be human to another human being.

This isn’t an exhaustive list; it’s simply suggestions. Please, feel free to leave other suggestions in the comments, or join our community and let us know what you’re doing. And make sure you follow 12for12k on Twitter for all the latest updates on what everyone is doing.

Christmas is a time for giving; let’s give to those that need it the most. Thank you.

As we gear up to launch the initiative in the next couple of days, here’s 12for12k’s friend Mark Horvath with just one reason why we should do whatever we can over the next few weeks.

Thanks for being here with us, guys – you’re truly awesome.

There’s no donation widget this month – we’re offering a more hands-on challenge. By all means, if you wish to donate cash as well as the time and items we’ll be suggesting, that’d be great as well. So, with that said, let’s get into our streets this month and really help those that need it the most.

Thank you.

• Mark Horvath on Twitter
• Hardly Normal website
• Invisible People TV
• 12for12k on Twitter
• 12for12k on Facebook
• 12for12k Ning Community

As 12for12k evolves, our community will help you enable change in your neighbourhood. To this end, we’re delighted to introduce the new 12for12k community built on the Ning platform, which you can connect to from right here on the 12for12k website by clicking the Community tab on the navigation bar.

Please feel free to sign up today and join others like you who really want to make a change today. By joining our community, you’ll be kept up-to-date with:

• Live events
• Upcoming charities
• Resources
• Community collaborations
• And much more!

You’ll also be able to connect with others in your neighbourhood and arrange events and help for those who need it where you live.

The world is a big place, but with small steps together we can all leave an indelible footprint for social good forever.

Thank you for being part of the dream!