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Feel Good Christmas
Gift nearly floors barista-ballerina
Money raised for organizations redirected to 'make an immediate and direct impact on the life of an aspiring artist'
BY SUSAN SCHWARTZ, THE GAZETTE DECEMBER 14, 2010 10:57 AM
MONTREAL - When she lived in the neighbourhood, Anita Nowak was a regular at the Second Cup on Greene Ave.
The sweet disposition of one young barista in particular “always made my day whenever she prepared my latte,” she recalled.
Over time, Nowak and Raquel Lanziner got to know each other’s names and stories:
Nowak, director of advancement and alumnae relations at The Study, a girls’ private school in Westmount,
learned that Lanziner had come to Montreal from Vancouver to study dance at the École supérieure de ballet contemporain.
In early October, Nowak moved from Westmount and the two didn’t see each other for a couple of months.
When Nowak dropped into the Second Cup the other day Lanziner, 20, greeted her with her usual good cheer but told her,
when Nowak asked what was new, that she’d injured her back, that she is in pain, and that she can’t dance until she is better.
She’d seen an osteopath, a physiotherapist and a chiropractor, she said:
Everyone had a different opinion of what the problem is, but the only way to confirm what is wrong and,
by extension, what kind of treatment she needed, was with an MRI.
In the public health care system, the wait could be up to a year – and as a student working full-time
to support herself and pay for such school-related expenses as pointe shoes,
Lanziner didn’t have the $600 a private MRI would cost.
“She wasn’t telling me this news for sympathy or help, but only in response to my question,” Nowak recalled.
Hold that thought.
For several years, Nowak, 37, has co-hosted a holiday party with friend and mentor Tullio Cedraschi,
retired CEO of the CN pension fund.
The hosts insist that their guests not arrive with gifts for them but ask, rather,
that they each bring two envelopes: one with the name of a local or global non-profit organization
“that does great work,”and the other with a cash gift.
The gifts are anonymous, so people don’t feel obligated to give more than they can.
The total is tallied and that becomes the “pot” for the year.
Then five to 10 envelopes are chosen, at random, from the non-profit batch.
The name of each is read aloud and the person who nominated the organization speaks briefly about its work.
One envelope is picked from among the five or 10 – again, at random – and the money goes to that organization:
at this year’s party, held Dec. 3, the 47 guests in attendance raised $1,675 for the David Suzuki Foundation.
“It’s tough to describe in words without sounding cheesy, but this kind of communal fundraising
effort translates into such a feel-good evening,” said Nowak,
a doctoral candidate at McGill University whose research deals with empathic action
– the belief that social change takes place when a critical mass of people help others.
Three days after the party, the day she saw Lanziner, Nowak emailed the other guests,
who did not know Lanziner, and asked for permission to give her $600 for an MRI.
“We’d still have more than $1,000 going to the Suzuki Foundation,” she wrote,
“but by redirecting some of the funds, we’d make an immediate and direct impact on the life of an aspiring artist.
“I believe deeply in my heart that this girl is deserving of an act of kindness of this magnitude
– and I hope you will send me a note to say that you’re OK with idea.”
Within minutes, there was a flood of emails saying “yes, absolutely, give her the money,” Nowak said.
And so it was that yesterday morning at 9, Nowak stood across the counter from Lanziner at Second Cup,
holding a red box, inside which were 30 $20 bills bundled with an elastic, tied with a silver ribbon.
Lanziner learned about the holiday party and the group decision.
“No way!” she said. “I don’t even know what to do with this.”
“Take care of your back,” Nowak said.
“Oh, my God!” Lanziner said, trembling. “I am overwhelmed.”
She came out from behind the counter and the two women embraced.
“I cry when someone wins a car on The Price is Right,” Nowak would quip later,
but the emotion in that tight circle was palpable and real. “We just wanted to celebrate this moment,” she said.
The two repaired to a table, Nowak with a honey-sweetened latte, Lanziner still trembling.
Nowak gave her a card with the names of those who had contributed to her gift, and said they sent love.
“Oh, my gosh,” Lanziner said. “I’m going to write every single one of them.”
And then, heady from all that good karma, Nowak headed across the street to her car where,
tucked under the wiper on the driver’s side, she found a parking ticket.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/Gift+...062/story.html
Last edited by BULLITT; 12-14-2010 at 01:16 PM.
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So glad to see universal health care come thru for this young girl!!
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America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." - Claire Wolfe
"Possibly, but it's not to early to start loading ammo!" - Loki
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Originally Posted by
loki520 
So glad to see universal health care come thru for this young girl!!
"Canada's national health insurance program, often referred to as "Medicare",
is designed to ensure that all residents have reasonable access to medically necessary hospital and physician services, on a prepaid basis.
Important to inform yourself; http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hcs-sss/pubs/.../index-eng.php
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So... it's "reasonable" to expect to live in pain for at least 365 days until you can get an MRI to determine the cause of your pain. Got it.
That is as "informed" as anyone needs to be.
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┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐
America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." - Claire Wolfe
"Possibly, but it's not to early to start loading ammo!" - Loki
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High Fives / Like - 1 High Fives, 0 Dislikes
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Originally Posted by
loki520 So... it's "reasonable" to expect to live in pain for at least 365 days until you can get an MRI to determine the cause of your pain. Got it.
That is as "informed" as anyone needs to be.
Well since you wrecked a good sentiment Christmas story anyways, I'll have
to point out what to most people would seem obvious - the physicians consulted are the authorities as to what is reasonable.
But feel free to contact Health Canada and inform them of any magic you know of
that can make better determinations, than 7-10 years (minimum) trained medical physicians.
Though, I'd guess if you really had viable information on that, you would likely be a Nobel Prize laureate in Medicine, a multi-billionaire with the related patents, and equally likely not wasting your valuable expertise and time, on a sports board.
Save the slag about a nation's social policies without knowing the details for yourself. Soundbites and misleading editorials from Rupert Murdoch media outlets, are not in fact informative.
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High Fives / Like - 3 High Fives, 0 Dislikes
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Originally Posted by
BULLITT Well since you wrecked a good sentiment Christmas story anyways, I'll have
to point out what to most people would seem obvious - the physicians consulted are the authorities as to what is reasonable.
But feel free to contact Health Canada and inform them of any magic you know of
that can make better determinations, than 7-10 years (minimum) trained medical physicians.
Though, I'd guess if you really had viable information on that, you would likely be a Nobel Prize laureate in Medicine, a multi-billionaire with the related patents, and equally likely not wasting your valuable expertise and time, on a sports board.
Save the slag about a nation's social policies without knowing the details for yourself. Soundbites and misleading editorials from Rupert Murdoch media outlets, are not in fact informative.
Yes, and they couldn't determine what was reasonable until they had an MRI, which requires up to a year to get thanks to a horrible UHC system...
What talking heads are you listening too... Maddow and Olberman?
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The parking ticket adds a nice touch. /sarcasm
Winston Churchill:
"Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak."
"If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no brain."
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High Fives / Like - 1 High Fives, 0 Dislikes
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Originally Posted by
BearStuff The parking ticket adds a nice touch. /sarcasm
'No good deed goes unpunished.'
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Here's the follow-up;
Barista-ballerina living a dream after readers pitch in
BY SUSAN SCHWARTZ, THE GAZETTE DECEMBER 15, 2010 11:00 AM
A story in Tuesday’s Gazette about the kindness toward an aspiring young dancer shown
by people who have never met her has led to more kindness from more strangers.
Twenty-year-old Vancouver native Raquel Lanziner, a barista at the Second Cup on Greene Ave.
and a student at the École supérieure de ballet contemporain de Montréal had injured her back severely enough that she’d stopped dancing.
Only an MRI would determine what was causing the pain,
but the wait in the public health-care system could be a year and she didn’t have the $600 a private MRI would cost.
Anita Nowak, a regular at the coffee shop who was charmed by Lanziner’s sweet disposition, wanted to help.
She co-hosts a holiday party each year at which guests are asked to bring no gifts for their hosts,
but instead to donate cash (in an envelope so no one knows the size of anyone else’s contribution)
to a non-profit organization chosen at random from among those they themselves suggest.
This year, the 47 guests at the Dec. 3 party contributed $1,675 to the David Suzuki Foundation.
On learning of Lanziner’s situation just days later, Nowak emailed the other guests to ask permission to give her $600 for the MRI.
Absolutely, they responded.
A story in Tuesday’s paper described how Nowak turned up at the Second Cup on Monday morning and presented her with the money,
how Lanziner was overwhelmed and how, after embraces and some tears,
Nowak headed across the street to find a parking ticket on the windshield.
The story struck a chord with readers, among them a Montreal entrepreneur who wants to remain anonymous
who emailed me to say he’d make up the $600 to the David Suzuki Foundation – and pay Nowak’s parking ticket.
“What captured me was the spirit of pay it forward/pay it back,” he wrote.
Montreal physician Sheldon Elman, CEO of the Medisys Health Group,
called to offer an MRI for Lanziner at no charge.
Physician Jeffrey Brock, CEO of a company called MedExtra,
emailed to offer to review Lanziner’s MRI and propose a treatment plan, also at no charge.
And Sgt. David Sedgwick of Westmount Public Security emailed Nowak:
“In the spirit of the season, and to keep the ‘good karma’ intact,
I’d like to offer to take back the parking ticket that you received,” he wrote.
At 1 p.m., Lanziner was at the Medvue MRI Scan Centre, the medical imaging company affiliated with Medisys, for an MRI.
Elman phoned her later with the results: a herniated disc, which she is confident can be managed
with rest and other conservative treatment.
Today, Lanziner is scheduled to be on a flight home to Vancouver for the holidays.
“Honestly,” she said Tuesday night, “yesterday and today feels like a dream.
I feel like I haven’t been in real life.”
As for the kindness of those strangers, she said she’ll find a way to “pay it forward – and pay it back.”
sschwartz@montrealgazette.com
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/...833/story.html
Last edited by BULLITT; 12-15-2010 at 01:44 PM.
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