Hot Chocolate for Haiti

Here is a (slightly modified to remove some personal details) email that I just sent out to parents of the 24th Ottawa Beavers and Scouts. If you happen to be involved with the Scouting movement in Ottawa but are not a member of one of the below groups, yet would still like to get involved in this fundraiser, please feel free to contact me as we'd love to include you!

Otherwise if you just live in the area, please drop by and enjoy some hot chocolate, and make a donation to a good cause!

---snip---
Dear Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Families,

As you probably know, one of the key themes in the Scouting movement is community service, and helping others. With the tragic earthquake in Haiti, the 24th Ottawa Beavers and Scouts (we do not currently have a Cubs program, due to lack of kids of that age), are organizing a fundraiser on Saturday, February 13th from 13:00 to 15:00. Please read on for details, and reply to me if you and/or your children will be participating in this event. For the 24th Beavers this will earn a badge since the only way for Beavers to earn badges is by participating in group activities such as this.

We are also trying to co-organize this event with the 32nd Ottawa St Matthias and the 3rd Ottawa Westboro - so it will hopefully be an opportunity for members of the 24th to meet other kids in the area who are also a part of the Scouting movement.

On Saturday the 13th we will be serving freshly made hot chocolate and collecting donations for the Canadian Red Cross, which is Scouts Canada's charity of choice for Haiti. Beavers, Cubs and Scouts across the country are raising money for Haiti with various events and activities, and "Hot Chocolate for Haiti" is a unique idea that we came up with for our kids to get involved. We currently have a number of local businesses involved in helping us out either with donations, or providing the use of their premises, or both, including at the moment the Royal Bank, Ottawa Bagel Shop, Bridgehead, Mountain Equipment Coop, and 10,000 Villages.

We have 2 locations planned at the moment, but whether or not we need both of them will depend on the response we get back from you. Please do NOT just show up without RSVPing to me. The idea is that each of you will be assigned a location - either the Ottawa Bagel Shop, or Mountain Equipment Coop. Let's get a great turnout so we can run both locations!

Here is the plan at present. Please feel free to offer suggestions on how to improve it. The event will begin at 13:00, but we'll need to do some prep work beforehand. We'll need at least 2 volunteers to let us use their kitchen for prep work , starting as early as 11:30 am - no later than 12 noon. Please contact me if you can volunteer your kitchen. Note that not all of us will need to be involved in the prep work - in particular the Beavers will most likely not need to be involved. We'll need just a small group of 3 or 4 people in each kitchen. Even if you cannot attend the actual on-site event, perhaps you could help out by offering the use of your kitchen.

What we want to offer people is a rustic, "camping" experience with fresh, home made hot chocolate made on our Scouts' camp stoves. We already have approval from both MEC and the Ottawa Bagel Shop to run our stoves outside their premises. In the case of MEC, in the nook at the front of their store. In the case of the Bagel Shop, on the new patio to the right of the store, which does not get used in the winter. Logistically speaking, however, it would be very difficult to heat up the required amount of water on-the-spot to accomplish this goal. So the plan is to prepare hot water beforehand in our kitchens. We have a number of insulated drinking coolers available to us, in which we can prepare the hot chocolate ahead of time. Warm enough to make the final heating on-site go more quickly, but not so hot that it becomes a hazard to transport. The insulated "Gatorade" style coolers will keep the contents hot for a pretty long time, even on a cold winter day.

We'll need Cubs and Scouts to run the stoves, and we'll need Beavers and Cubs to look so cute that people cannot help but donate money :-)

Please reply to me if you will be participating, and wait for a reply from him to assign you a location and duties. You can also specify if you are only available for a certain period of time. Maybe you can help in the kitchen, but not at the event itself? Or perhaps the other way around? Every little bit of help will be appreciated!

One final word : if you know of any local business who would like to
donate hot chocolate or cups to this event, please let me know. We'll
be happy to display their logo at our event.

Thanks