bear visits Leo Nickerson School

Hi folks, today I held a presentation at Leo Nickerson School. This will be their 4th year involved and numbers keep growing! Kali Bear today was younger and smaller than yesterday (no offence Megs) but was stoked to play the part! This lovely young girl playing him today was prepped about "his personality" and bounded into the gym like Bambi romping through the field. After 15 minutes or so, I could see the bear was beginning to loose momentum. High fives became low fives, and the dancing transitioned into shuffling of big bear feet, vapour collecting around his nose..... If you have not experienced being a mascot - 25 minutes is like 2 hours in the gym, 15 in a sauna. It's a quick way to loose 5 pounds.

It astounds me how many children at every school put up their hands when asked if they know a child or teen with cancer. This is definitely up from years past (I pose this question at all schools). It is also remarkable how the kids respond to the event. For myself, talking and interacting with the kids is the easiest part of my job, watching the video is one of the hardest (even though I design it with all pics in place). Takes me back, even after watching it a dozen times.

Leo Nickerson is determined to increase their 95 kids to 150! I hope they achieve this, as I know that they are driven. In this past two weeks I will have presented at most of our top fundraising schools, including this one - (Elmer Gish, JJ Nearing, Neil M Ross, Sturgeon Heights, and Gibbons). This is indeed a huge honour. Who would have thought our little Mom & Pop operation would result into 3.62 million. Kids helping kids......