Laughs for Hope Action Awareness Raising- By Grace Hill

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Laughs for Hope Action Awareness Raising


I always knew Jay was a funny guy. I could see that right away when I met him. What I did not at first was that Jay was also a super passionate person who wanted to combine his interest of comedy to his heartbreak (Blue Sky terminology for something in the world he would like to change).  When Jay suggested he wanted to do a comedy event/ fundraiser, I was all over it and immediately asked if I could be apart of this dream of his. My name is Grace Hill and I go to Blue Sky School. Blue Sky School is a place where learners get the tools and opportunities to explore and discover their wildest dreams. So when Jay suggested this idea, Blue Sky of course was ready to support him in anyway they could. When Jay told me his idea, I explained to him how I would love to help him since I also wanted to make an impact! When I started working on it with him, it had no direct link to my project. My project was, at the time, opening a woman shelter for Women at South Sudan but now has evolved since then to workshop series for consent and gender equality.  
Me and Jay started planning the even right away. Ofcourse, we had never planned an event before so were a little lost on what our priorities were and where to start. Our meetings started off very inconsistent and  we would plan for hours on end on one week and then plan none in the next two weeks. We both knew it was a comedy event at the start since Jay was an excellent comedian, and it soon grew to be a comedy fundraiser for CHEO. Soon, our project went to a complete halt for weeks and it was not really going anywhere. We both had so much going on and since the project was completely student directed, we had no one really keeping us accountable to our task. Our coaches immedietly reconized this and gave us a quick reset (meaning some assistance in Blue Sky language)  and put one of our friends/ classmates Madison on the project because she was so good at event planning and even planned our Christmas party that same year. Madison helped us get things going and keeping us accountable to our task. While all this was happening, I was still working on my project and had a call that same day. The purpose of the call was to be introduced to one of Evin’s friends and mentors. Evin is an amazing guy who is the founder of Belouga, an organization that created a online platform for kids to learn from each other and connect all over the world! He had recently been helping me promote my project through his organization. Once Evin heard about my project, he thought I should be introduced to this woman named Gohe. Gohe is one of the most amazing woman I have ever met. She is inspiring and has so much knowledge to share with the world. She works for an organization called Stand For Education , an organization to help girls in South Sudan go to school, and have the right tools to be the best student they can be to achieve their highest dreams. Gohe also works on several other projects for gender equality, specifically in the global south. She is a true changemaker! Meeting her was an absolute delight and I learned so much just from that one call. Near the end of the call, she suggested we do an event together. At first, I didn't think too much about it except that it was a good idea, but after the meeting ended Shauna, my best friend/coach turned to me and said, ‘We should combine Laughs For Hope and Stand For Education’.


And that was how ‘Multiply Your Impact’ was born. Through multiple calls, hundreds of emails, and dozens of meetings,  the event finally happened! On April 7th last year, Multiply Your Impact was born and it was amazing! Gohe had organized some amazing workshops including t-shirt decorating, backpack assembling, and letter writing all for the girl students of South Sudan. Madison MCed the night and she was amazing, she can truly organize a killer event, and Jay did the funniest comedy routine!  Everyone loved him and he made me laugh so hard. Shauna facilitated it all the way through and then event would never have happened without her! So many pieces went in to make this incredible event, and in the end, it was all so worth it.

Now, of course an amazing event like this could not just be over after one! No, you guessed it, this year Laughs for Hope is happening once again on March the 7th, 2019!  This year will be different in we will be fundraising for different organizations but of course, there will still be Jay’s excellent comedy! If you could make it for a fun night of laughs and hope, that would be great! If you would like to learn more about this event, get in touch at hello@blueskyschool.ca or see the invite at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/laughs4hope-fundraiser-tickets-57065405163. If you would like to learn more about Blue Sky in general, visit our website at https://blueskyschool.ca/
We hope to see you there!
Thanks
Grace
Proud Learner of Blue Sky School

Co-Founder of Laughs for Hope

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