Mehnaz Thawer – Mehnaz was one of the first people to sign up for Blogathon Vancouver, and this truly inspired me (and made me thankful I’d found her super entertaining blog). She was able to reach out to her charity and they even included her Blogathon effort in a press release:

“Blogging is an excellent way to bring together networks of people with similar interests and to expand the pool of knowledge and exchange ideas. I found out about the Blogathon through a local newspaper and have had a chance to connect with many people through my blog. Blogs are a quick and easy way to get the most current information to audiences.” [AFABC]

Mehnaz’s website: Strawberry Ghetto
Mehnaz’s cause: Adoptive Families Association of BC
Mehnaz’s Blogathon motivation: “One in three people are touched by adoption, and this year as part of blogathon 2008, local Coquitlam/Burnaby blogger Mehnaz Thawer has chosen the Adoptive Families Association of BC as her charity of choice. Thawer, who has been a blogger for two years, realizes the impact AFABC has on many families and knows the importance of blogging in social movements and creating awareness.” [AFABC Press Release]

Jenn Lowther/Nadia Nascimento – Jenn and Nadia of Invoke are social media stars in their own right. Singing the praises of Twitter, present at many meetups and always with a funny story to share or a story that turns out being hysterical anyway. These two are dedicated their time this weekend on their corporate site with the help of others from Invoke:

Thus far, Nadia Nascimento, David Tedman, Dario Meli, Ryan Holmes, Andre Liem, Murat Ayfer, James Wilson, and our very own bacon chocolate chip cookie baking Zuri Scrivens have volunteered to write at least one post. This list will most likely grow as the actual date grows closer.

Invoke has set a fund raising goal of $3000 (thanks for everyone who’s donated – we reached our original goal within hours – it feels great to be able to increase it) for the blogathon. [Invoke]

Invoke’s website: Invoke Media Blog
Invoke’s cause: Lochmaddy.org
Invoke’s Blogathon motivation: “Invoke has chosen a charity that is very close to our hearts. Through the Lochmaddy Foundation, all donations will be directed to a community in Mali, West Africa. We are collecting donations through Plan Canada and would like to thank them and specifically Heather for all of their hard work in helping Invoke bring this all together.” Invoke is collecting pledges through Plan Canada.

Chris Richardson – Although Tagga has yet to launch to the public, one of Vancouver’s newest startups has signed on to the Blogathon being one of two companies that have taken on this challenge for such a good cause. They’ve been posting so far about some of Tagga’s features which look like some pretty cool tools, especially for bloggers.

Tagga’s website: Tagga
Tagga’s cause: Lochmaddy Foundation
Tagga’s Blogathon motivation: “We at Tagga thank her kindly and welcome the opportunity to participate. The charity we’ve chosen is the Lochmaddy Foundation, which is a cause that our sister company Invoke Media is heavily involved with. We’ve setup a donations page at Dreambank, please donate! It would be great if we could raise the $1000 we’ve set our sights on. Please find it in your hearts to help the Lochmaddy Foundation with their work in Mali.” [Tagga]

Barbara Doduk – Being one of the two blogs I read during Blogathon 2006, I’ve been a fan of Barbara’s site ever since. She’s got her own style, her own thoughts and opinions and isn’t afraid to go against the frey – which is quite often refreshing.

She’s had the great of idea of having a theme throughout the Blogathon so she’ll be writing 48 posts about 48 people.

Barbara’s website: The Love Blog
Barbara’s cause: BCSPCA Paws for a Cause
Barbara’s Blogathon motivation: “Last year in 2007 I was in the middle of moving (the 5th move since April 2006) and couldn’t join in on the Blogathon that year, but swore I would be back this year with another 48 More People in 24 Hours… … I am going to raise more money (hopefully) for the SPCA PAWS FOR A CAUSE WALK that I am all ready raising money for. If you have all ready donated thank you. [The Love Blog]”

Sometimes I feel really overwhelmed with blogging as it’s not only my hobby and passion, it’s also my career. Aside from that, it revolves around my daily life which can be sporadically busy, chaotic, and emotional. I’m sitting here at the Calgary Airport and yes, I have cheated with Blogathon a little bit, I have pre-set blog posts about the participants. You’ll hear about the rest of them while I am 39,000 feet in the air flying over Rutland or Keremeos.

To say that this week has been a whirlwind would be an understatement. I lost a friend, and friends lost a brother, father and son. It has been moving journey out to Calgary to see old faces and celebrate the life of someone truly inspiring. Throughout all of this, I tried to put together Blogathon so that we could all give back to great causes and give a little bit of ourselves for someone else. I can’t even begin to fathom how the family feels at this time given that I myself am feeling terribly rundown on my own and although I continue to shed many tears, my loss was in no way as great as theirs.

I try to give a lot of myself to others only because I was first shown love, compassion, selflessness and kindness from so many people. Flying across the province, writing notes, sending texts, making calls and composing blog posts are just tiny ways that I can repay all those that have blessed my life.

I’m not sure how long I’ll last for Blogathon but I’ll try to persevere. My cause is the Union Gospel Mission in the downtown eastside that helps out those who cannot help themselves. Their values and compassion inspire me everyday to want to help others so it is my pleasure to give part of myself to help them this weekend.

… and in the words of my friend Tanya last night – if you love someone you should tell them that every chance you get.