It was the morning of my nephew’s wedding, Friday June 21, 2013. I was about to meet up with the rest of my family when I came out into the living room at my parent’s house. The news of the flood in Calgary was on every channel. Bow Valley did not look the same!  I was there the month before to host BlissDom Canada’s first Tweet-Up.

Less than a week later, just before the last BlissDom Canada Tweet-Up in BC, my business partner’s (@HartGalla) cousin in Calgary put out a call for help. She was looking for much needed items for the volunteers who were cleaning up the aftermath. Local stores couldn’t keep gloves and masks on the shelves.

Over the next two days we’d both be flying through Calgary, we felt we HAD to do something!

Jenn began tweeting with Westjet (and this is why companies should be active not just present on Twitter) to see if they would short ship our items. Once we had the go-ahead, we hit the stores!

She hit a local home improvement store while I made a quick phone call to an old acquaintance from my parent’s days in Rotary.  It didn’t take much to convince Mr Higgins, the owner of the Canadian Tire Store #622 near White Rock, to get involved. They generously donated 3 boxes of tough work gloves, rubber gloves and face masks!

Later that night as we were hosting the #SurreyBliss Tweet-Up at my parent’s restaurant, Amber who we had met in Montreal a couple of weeks earlier, showed up with a couple of boxes of gloves and a cash donation for this grassroots movement. Thanks Raj for sharing your Martini Money! 🙂  This is the social media community in action!!

Read our Bringing Bliss Across Canada post to get caught up on the Tweet-Up travels…

When we were ready to head home to Ontario, Westjet was prepared and greeted us with big grins.

Jenn and her cousin Val were able to see each other and share in the joy of being able to help.

Then it was my turn! In Calgary, I picked up the boxes and dropped them off at the Westjet counter. I let the team there know what I was doing and what had transpired the day before with Jenn. I made them aware Val may not make it so she’d send a courier to collect the boxes.

Just when I thought my heart or my smile… couldn’t get any bigger…

Dean, from behind the Westjet counter, said that he needed to help out. After his shift was over he would personally drive the boxes to Val.

So guess who Val got to met later that evening?!

Dean did what he said he would do. He met Val in her neighbourhood to make sure the parcels of direly needed items arrived at their destination.

Well done Westjet, well done!

Thanks again to Val for reaching out on Facebook, Canadian Tire Store #622, Westjet, and Amber for helping this grassroots movement come to fruition. ☺

Together we CAN make a difference!