North of the 49th | Amway

As today is the day that our friends south of the 49th spend giving thanks, it's only fitting that I can post a link to one of our Canadian independent business owner's Web sites as his efforts and dedication to supporting Easter Seals is something that we're truly inspired by and thankful for.

Edmonton-based IBO Shaun Guthrie posted his Easter Seals' Drop Zone video today. I encourage all of you to go check it out and see what's involved. Then, like Shaun, I hope you'll look into participating in this year's event.

Earlier this year, I interviewed both Ottawa-based IBO Gregory Anthoine and Winnipeg-based IBO Diane Fedak about their participation in their local Drop Zone events. I hope that reading these stories and seeing Shaun's video helps motivate people to take that extra step and go over the edge in support of such a worthwhile charity.

As you can see, Shaun has set some aggressive fund-raising goals for the 2011 campaign, and he's looking to other IBOs to join in and support him. And we'll do our best to help all of you here at Canuck Central. Each year we try to co-ordinate your efforts as much as possible and I'm going to make a commitment to better use our social media applications to help you guys out. We'll be launching new Amway Canada and Nutrilite Facebook pages shortly, so I can use those to help share your stories, encourage support, and make people aware of what a great opportunity we have to support kids and families with disabilities. 

Again, thanks to Shaun, Gregory, Diane, and all of you who have given of your time, effort, and money to support this great cause. Feel free to visit the Drop Zone Web site. This year we raised over $1 million for Easter Seals — next year, with your support, let's shoot for much more!

As always, the comments are open. We'd love to hear from you. What can we do to help you if you're interested in participating? What does the Drop Zone mean to you? And what do you think of stories like Shaun's, Gregory's, or Diane's?

All the best,

Jay