The Meeting of Two Saints: Planet Organic Market & Sylvie Higgins
On May 17th, we received a personal donation from “Sylvie and Andrew Higgins” of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Back then when we were just approaching the Albertan border with less than 1000 miles under our shoes, Halifax seemed a zillion miles away. Little did we know how quickly it would come upon us…
After I sent her a quick thank you, Sylvie followed up:
“We think what you are doing is AMAZING! We would love to meet you when you are in the area! In fact, we wanted to offer to help out locally to promote, organize or direct you when you are in Halifax. [In time] I would love to check back with you folks to see if there is any way we can help out with your generous, honorable and admirable efforts. Best to you both! Keep those feet moving!!!
Good luck!
Sylvie & Andrew (and little Benjamin- 4 yrs and Madeleine-1 yr)”
These words became a forewarning of what was to come.
Four weeks away from our arrival in Halifax, Sylvie got back in touch and established herself as our Halifax Community Leader Extraordinaire! Because Sylvie doesn’t do anything half heartedly, in addition to telling pretty much every person who came within arm’s reach, ear range, or email connection, she put up poster all around town, contacted ALL her friends about how to get involved during our time in the city, got us dinner and dessert gift certificates, and called local media. She even went so far as to offer us yoga classes off her punch card with the best instructor in town!
Most especially, Sylvie organized a mini-kiddie run in conjunction with our last Planet Organic Market event in Canada! We call this ‘the meeting of Saints’, as Planet Organic Market has been a saint of a food partner for our entire run across Canada, and Sylvie, well… just read on!
At 4:00pm on Thursday, October 9th the cutest group of energetic eco activists under 4ft raced with us around a marked course in Planet Organic Market’s parking lot, braving the only rain we’d had in the past week. After crossing the Finish Line and exchanging high fives and tales from the race course, we all ventured inside for snacks and treat bags prepared by Planet Organic.
As if their national sponsorship wasn’t enough already, Planet Organic Market decided to INCREASE their donation to us! Jevens (store manager) and his staff not only threw a BBQ for us, but head office also mailed in additional donations to top off what they had already committed to!! We were absolutely blown away and are so grateful for their “just because” generosity.
This “meeting of two Saints” concluded what was an absolutely extraordinary time in Halifax.
Thanks you guys. You flatter me too much! You guys are the ones who rock!
It was wonderful to meet you and your crew Matt and Steph. Keep up the amaaazing work! You are inspirational!
We’ll be in touch soon with our contacts down in California. I also have a lead on possibly having proceeds raised from a small local run dedicated to your cause. I’ll forward the email.
Good luck down south!
Hugs and kisses,
Sylvie and the gang
Comment by Sylvie Bourgeois Higgins — Monday, October 20, 2008 @ 8:51 pm