Raptors Game with One Voice One Team

On Sunday April 14, 2013 the MPCF had the privilege of attending the Toronto Raptors game against Brooklyn Nets. To our delight our beloved Raptors won 93-87.  Here at the MPCF we love being with inspiring youths, and the children from One Voice One Team were exactly that. We had a great night and one we will won’t forget anytime soon.  We would like to thank Orlando Bowen, the Executive Director from One Voice One Team for his cooperation and commend him for his great work.

Here are some great photos and quotes from some of kids that attended to this inspiring evening !!

“I still can’t believe that I got to step onto the ACTUAL basketball court the Raptors play on and actually took shots! Thanks Pinball!!!“-Christian, 12

“I`m glad the Raptors won and we were SOOOO close to getting Pizza too!!…Final score Raptors 93,Brooklyn 87!!!“-Braden, 12

“We had an AMAZING time! The boys will never forget that experience and neither will I!! Thanks MPCF“ DeWaine Frazer, One Voice One Team volunteer

Kids Are Heroes Also !!

This amazing video shows the courage of a young girl in the United States. Here at MPCF character is one of our pillars that we strongly believe is crucial in our vitality.

Movement for the sake of moving

One of the MPCF pillars is Health, as we believe is the foundation of vitality. This incredible article encourages us to make a change on us so we can make change in our society.

/Shelly Rosenthal

I am healthy now, I was healthy yesterday, but I don’t know about tomorrow.

Today I can run, jump, laugh, swim, ride a bike, listen to music and dance to it.

I work with children who were born with congenital heart defects. They didn’t get to make any choices about their lifestyles or behaviours; their health was predetermined for them. These children have a scar on their chest that reminds them that life is precious and fragile. I also work with people who have been affected by Parkinson’s disease. Every day they have to adapt to their reality, manage the disease and wait hopeful for a cure. Their mobility is impaired, they live with a tremor and they find themselves unable to do the things they were able to. These people don’t take their bodies for granted.

In today’s world we are challenging our minds at the expense of challenging our bodies. We forget that we have bodies that are able to run, jump, laugh, swim, ride a bicycle, listen to music and dance to it. We spend our days sitting and thinking, and when it is time for a break we sit again. Most people can’t remember the last time they challenged their bodies to the point of feeling out of breath and covered in sweat.

If you can relate to this, take a minute to reflect upon your health. The health you have today and you might not have tomorrow. If your knees are not hurting today go out and run, if your balance is good stand on one foot, if you have a ball play catch, if you own a bicycle use it, if you can walk then WALK! Recreation doesn’t end at the movie theatre; there are parks, ice rinks, fields, trails and more. Our bodies were not wired to sit still, we are designed to move.

Our health is precious and fragile; no one is immune to disease. I am not only writing this to promote physical activity for the health benefits (which is what I do for a living). I am also talking about movement for the sake of moving, moving for life just because we can. If you live in a healthy body be thankful, don’t wait until disease comes to scare you. We don’t need a scar in our chest or a tremor to be reminded about how precious and fragile our health is.

So until tomorrow comes I will run, jump, laugh, swim, ride a bicycle, listen to music and dance to it.

- Shelly Rosenthal @ShellyRok

www.moving4life.ca 

 

 

JUST GIVE

The Michael “Pinball” Clemons Foundation will officially launch this initiative in the spring of 2013, however the JUST GIVE Movement is something you can live every day, starting TODAY.  Spend a day volunteering at your local food bank; call someone you haven’t talked to in a while; buy lunch for a co-worker who is having a tough day; hold the door open for a stranger; but above all GIVE WITHOUT EXPECTATIONS.

Giving isn’t only about the grand gestures, start small, Just Give. Remember, simple deeds done in kindness can change the world!

What are you going to do today to Just Give?

Stairway to Heaven Gala 2013

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The Michael “Pinball” Clemons Foundation hosted our 6th Annual Gala on Thursday March 7th, 2013 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

The theme ‘Stairway to Heaven’ was represented from the moment guests arrived and walked across the white carpet, through the “pearly gates”, into the VIP Cocktail Reception. There were angels fluttering around to the sounds of a live harpist as they sold tickets to the promotional draw which offered a variety of “Heavenly Vacation Packages”. The dining room was breathtaking, offering the illusion that you had climbed above the clouds into Heaven and the theme was carried throughout the evening via the creative menu. The entertainment included the opening act of Dr. Draw and the Strange Parade with No Parachute Theatre, who performed an amazing rendition of Stairway to Heaven with a silk dancer to captivate everyone’s attention. The angelic voice of Juno Award Winning Artist Chantal Kreviazuk closed the show. Community Community speakers from the local Ambassador School enraptured the crowd and Michael Clemons created a room that was inspired to join the newly formed MPCF All-Stars; a group of philanthropic individuals committed to raising funds for the under resourced in our own community.

Thank you to all who attended, volunteered, donated & sponsored the Stairway to Heaven Gala. It was a GREAT success and an inspiring night of philanthropy.

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FAN DAY TROPICAL GETAWAY!

February 19th Fan Day 

Where: The Ronald McDonald House - 240 McCaul Street

Last month we kicked off 2013 with our first Fan Day of the year. MPCF hosted a Luau, giving old man winter a run for his money. With volunteers from all around the city, both new faces and old, the team created a tropical getaway for over 100 guests staying at the Ronald McDonald House Toronto.

Dinner included a variety of specialty pizzas. Whether you wanted to escape to Mexico, with our Taco Pizza, bask in the sun in Honolulu with our Hawaiian, explore the rainforest with our Vegetarian Delight or maybe you just wanted to have a BBQ with our BBQ Chicken, we had a pizza for all preferences. The spread was complimented with a splash of fruit punch, and to top it off we provided an array of fruits and carrot cake, donated by Georgie Porgie.

It was an inspiring and eventful evening relishing in the company of one another, surrounded by kindness and commitment to better our local communities. The families had a chance to retreat and spend some quality time as a unit and the volunteers had an opportunity to grow spiritually.

Every Fan Day is encouraging and extraordinary, to witness the sheer strength and commitment these families represent is an aspiring feat we strive to spread.

Stay tuned and don’t miss out on the next Fan Day!

 

MPCF’s 2012 year in review

Even though we are a couple of months into 2013, we wanted to share with everyone what an amazing year 2012 was for MPCF thanks to all of YOU! Check it out:

Haiti – Helping those that want to help themselves!

The Michael “Pinball” Clemons Foundation through Free the Children’s Adopt a Village Program brings new hope for Haitians by being a conduit for change.

\ Natasha Borota, Erin Barton-Chery,  George Sully, Jonathon Fischer

In the summer of 2009, Mike and Diane Clemons and I from The Michael “Pinball” Clemons Foundation (MPCF), along with a small group of supporters, embarked on a life-changing journey to Kenya. Upon our return and after some intense discussion, MPCF announced a commitment, in the fall of 2009, to build 131 schools in seven under-resourced countries with Free The Children’s “Adopt a Village” program. This past November, after…Read complete Article