HoHoTO

This year alone, more than 1 million people came through the doors of GTA food banks. CBC just reported that 200-300 people line up for food. Every day. So, who are these people?

• Single-parent households
• Children under 18
• Seniors or people living on a fixed income
• People who recently became unemployed
• University grads having trouble finding work

Any of these sound familiar? The Ontario Association of Food Banks released its annual Hunger Report on Monday, and apparently, the use of food banks in Ontario hit the all. time. high.

This is where we turn this thing on its head. Times are tough, the world sucks, and what do we do? We party.

When you buy a ticket to HoHoTO, donate, become a sponsor, come out for a great party, enter the raffle for amazing prizes (why, we are looking for restaurants to do the Restaurant-a-month prize right now), and place your bets in HoHoTO’s world-famous Twitter hangover auction – you help the Daily Bread feed thousands of hungry people. Take that, hunger! Booyah!

The Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto helps thousands of people from the GTA. How would you like to help make the world a less hungrier and a much better place?

65, 500 children rely on food banks in Toronto, and you know what? You can be what’s RIGHT with the world.

HoHoTO 5 ways to fundraise challenge

We challenged the community to come up with 5 best ways to fundraise. Some of our favourite options include:

• Pancake breakfast or pizza lunch
• Bake sale – cause who says no to cookies?
• Decembeard-ize yourself for the Daily Bread
• Foursies happy hour – Stop work at 4 p.m. one day of the week for everyone to enjoy some drink-and-nibble time, and encourage small $5-$10 donations to HoHoTO and the Daily Bread
• Board game tournaments - or video game tournaments, or sword fighting tournament, or.. you get the idea

This fundraising thing gets as crazy – and fun – as you let it. Check out these options (seriously, take a look at that endless list of ideas) to get your creative juices flowing. What are some of your favourite, unique ways to fundraise? Do you have suggestions for us?

We’d love to hear – and feature – stories of how you and your company are supporting HoHoTO and the Daily Bread!

 
Big thanks to @Notashopaholic, the Daily Bread, and @photojunkie for the images.

HoHoTO is turning five in 2012. That’s right – we are about to celebrate HoHoTO’s 5th anniversary and how do we celebrate? We focus on raising even more money for the Daily Bread! Because everyone should have enough to eat.

Challenge of 5 to the community

HoHoTO is FIVE, people! This means a lot to everyone who has ever tweeted about it, danced it off at the party, rushed to Metro across the street to get food, run a food drive, asked their company to step up as a sponsor, got photoboothed, rickrolled, single-ladied, hangovered, and raffled-out, won awesome prizes, made new friends, and had a good time for a great cause.

Can you come up with 5 ideas on how HoHoTO should celebrate our 5th year?

Surely if we put our brilliant creative minds together, we can come up with five great ways to celebrate our five years together and raise even more money for the Daily Bread. It could be anything, from tips to doing HoHoTO right to 5 best HoHoTO outfits, to 5 best holiday decorations, to 5 ways to raise $$.

Please share your ideas with #hohoto or email info@hohoto.ca if your ideas are longer than 140 characters. Who knows, some of those ideas might grow into something big. HoHoTO was just an idea packed into a tweet once, too.

And the challenge is on!

Why do so many people still go hungry in the GTA? The driving force of demand for food banks is lack of income. The amount of money average Daily Bread Food Bank visitor has left with per day for food, after rent has been paid is $5.83.

So, What Can You Get For $5.83?

$5.83 is less than a TTC round trip. Less than two Starbucks lattes. Less than a movie ticket. $5.83 may not even buy you a decent beer at a Toronto bar.

Almost everywhere in the GTA, housing costs are going up, and incomes are not keeping pace. When a single mom of two spends 71% of her income on rent, $5.83 per person doesn’t buy much food, and sadly, that’s not unusual. More than that, it’s just not right, especially during holidays.

Help by Partying

Every single person who buys a ticket to HoHoTO is helping Daily Bread!  So if you are buying a ticket, you are making a difference!

Help by Sponsoring

Sponsor HoHoTO – there are many levels of delivering happiness and holiday cheer!

Help by Swearing

Get a Swear Jar for your office. It really works, we F%$cking swear.

Help by Daily Bread Food Drive-ing

Because everyone should have enough food to eat. Food Donations can be brought to HoHoTO, or dropped off at your local fire hall or at Daily Bread’s main facility at 191 New Toronto Street. Most needed food items, according to the Daily Bread:

• Baby formula & food
• Beans & lentils
• Canned fruits & vegetables
• Canned fish & meat
• Cans of soup or hearty stew
• Dried pasta & tomato sauce
• Macaroni & cheese
• Peanut butter
• Rice
• Canned, powdered or Tetra Pak cartons of milk

Help by Tweeting

Tweet about HoHoTO, and you will help make a difference! This is the party that Twitter built. You could even make a video out of it: say why you support HoHoTO and join Biz Stone, Twitter co-founder and Queen Rania of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, who hailed HoHoTO as an example of social media leveraging online activism at LeWeb conference in Paris. It might even end up here!

HoHoTO is back!

On December 13^th, 2012, HoHoTO is once again set to take over the Virgin Mobile Mod Club, rolling into its fifth anniversary year. Who would’ve seen that coming back in 2008, when a single tweet started this party?

HoHoTO has earned its stripes as a community fundraiser and a mind-blowing, spectacular and geekalicious party in support of the Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank. Called “the party that Twitter built”, HoHoTO is often cited as one of the first remarkable examples of a hyper-connected social movement using the power of self-organizing online groups to make a real world difference. Since its founding in late November 2008, HoHoTO has raised over $200,000 for Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank. This year, let’s rock that mojo again and dance for a good cause!

#hohoto by hyfen

Why HoHoTO works

We’re not an entity – we’re a bunch of people. We’re a community. We’re not a foundation. We’re not a charity. And we’re not, sadly, tax-exempt. We are, however, the best holiday party you’ve ever been to, and a great way to help feed a lot of desperately hungry people. Speaking of hungry people, here are some numbers to chew on:

Hunger by the Numbers

• Overall number of visits to food banks across the GTA: 1,123,500
• Overall number of visits to food banks in Toronto: 946,000
• Percentage increase since pre-recession period in 2008: 18%
• Percentage of adults who go hungry at least once a week: 45%
• Percentage of Food Bank clients who are children: 32%
• Food bank clients are spending 71% of their income on housing costs
• Single parents make up 17% of people coming to food banks

What you can do

This party sells out fast and furious, so be sure to get your tickets (and a few for your friends!) as soon as possible. There are two ways you can do that:

1. Get your tickets NOW! Simple, right?

2. Sponsor HoHoTO and get tickets to use, giveaway, or raffle off with your sponsorship deal.

You  can also participate by getting creative with food drives, swear jars, and other fun ways to raise money for HoHoTO within your company, social circles, and friends. Get your mojo on and prepare to bask in glory – it’s super awesome of you to be supporting a kick-ass holiday party for a great cause!

About Daily Bread Food Bank

Daily Bread Food Bank is fighting to end hunger in our communities.

As the hub of the food bank community in Toronto, Daily Bread supports approximately 170 member agencies in running different kinds of food relief programs. Its agencies run neighbourhood food banks where people come to access food hampers, as well as meal programs where people can access prepared meals such as soups or casseroles.

Daily Bread is the largest provider of emergency food relief in the GTA. Its member agencies see a monthly average of 66,000 client visits and serve the majority of the clients accessing food bank hampers in the city and many of the clients accessing prepared meals. Daily Bread’s boundaries encompass the former cities of East York, Toronto, Scarborough, Etobicoke and York.

Daily Bread is non-partisan and all-inclusive. Its supporters come from every income bracket, cultural background, faith group and walk of life. Whether informed by faith or social justice, the one thing they have in common is the belief that no one in our communities should go hungry.

On Sunday, October 14^th, 2012, HoHoTO lost one of our founders, friends and bright shining lights,  Michael O’Connor Clarke, to esophageal cancer.

The Daily Bread Food Bank was an organization near and dear to Michael’s heart.  He had a great sense of community and an insatiable desire to help his neighbours who are hungry live with diginity. As a result, Michael has always been very hands-on with HoHoTO and his impact can be seen in every word written and dollar raised over the past four years.

It was Michael who first coined HoHoTo’s catch phrase, “help make the world suck a little less.” In this time of darkness, you can help make the world suck a little less. Leona, Michael’s wife, has asked that people donate to the Daily Bread Food Bank in Michael’s name in lieu of flowers for the funeral.

Michael’s death is reverberating through the hearts and souls of all who knew him, and through the internet in the form of countless tweets and blog tributes. Here are just a few of the words being said. Feel free to add your own in the comments of this post.

• Goodbye MOCC (Jay Goldman)
• Missing Michael (Doc Searls)
• Evergreen (David Weinberger)
• Remembering Michael O’Connor Clarke (Donna Papacosta)
• Remembering Michael O’Connor Clarke (Dave Fleet)
• Memories of MOCC (Kerri Birtch)
• Michael O’Connor Clarke (Tom Matrullo)
• Goodbye blog brother, for now. (Jeneane Sessum)
• RIP @michaelocc (Brent Ashley)
• The Day I Met Michael O’Connor Clarke  (Michael Nus)
• In memoriam: Michael O’Connor Clarke (Suw Charman-Anderson)
• R.I.P. Michael O’Connor Clarke (Joey Davilla)
• Michael O’Connor Clarke (Aerin Guy)
• Missing Michael (A.K.M. Adam)
• RIP, Michael O’Connor Clarke (Rick Klaus)
• Inspiration on Sunday (Connie Crosby)

Lots of folks want to help out with HoHoTO, and everyone brings their own special gifts. While at the end of the day we’re all about getting more money into the hands of the good people at the Daily Bread Food Bank, sometimes we get an offer to help out that’s unlike any other.

The good folks at Cartilage Inc. offered to create a documentary film about our event, and came down to the part with cameras and lights and action enough for us all.

Cartilage Inc. was excited to help out, while spreading their own social media wings, and so they are making a short-sweet-n-shareable web documentary. Director Brett Blackwell and producer Matt Kloske worked with the HoHoTO crew to grab interviews from founding members and plenty of footage from the event held at Virgin Mobile Mod Club. Here we present to you the teaser trailer for the full documentary.

Please share it around to your friends! Cartilage Inc. is going to wait until the trailer reaches 5,000 views before they release the full documentary, so encourage everyone you know to watch!

Toronto: thank you.

HoHoTO 2011 raised over SEVENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS for Daily Bread Food Bank. Our sponsors, and all of you who purchased tickets, should feel very proud of your contributions. These donations really help our community and we are humbled by the generosity of our fellow Torontonians.

This year, our media sponsor Metro Toronto ran a full-page ad a few days after the party, thanking all our sponsors. It’s a remarkable mix of big corporations, small businesses, and freelance operators who make this party possible, and whose donations make the holiday season a little easier for everyone. If you didn’t catch the ad the day it ran, you can download the PDF just by clicking on that image there on the left. If you’re one of those wonderful sponsors, you might want to print this and proudly display it in your office as a testament to your generosity and community spirit.

It was a bit of a job making sure every single logo appeared, but we certainly tried to make sure we squeezed them all in there. If we missed anyone, please accept our apologies. The last few days before the event are plenty crazy, and every now and then a detail gets past our highly-trained logo wranglers.

The HoHoTO events have now raised well over $225,000 for Daily Bread Food Bank since our first party back in 2008. If you want to get involved and help us with the 2012 event, email us and we’ll see how we can best make use of you and your talents.

Thanks again, Toronto. You still deserve your old nickname: Toronto the Good.

We’re all chomping at the bit to know what’s up for grabs tonight at the Hangover Auction, and finally the list!!!

Remember biddding starts at $20, unless otherwise indicated and your auctioneers’ decision is FINAL.

8:00-8:30 Lots

#Lot1 -Blackberry Bold White ($599.99)

• Blackberry Bold 9900 – White
• Sponsor - @rogersbuzz

#Lot2 – Starbucks & Gelaskins ($170)

• Starbucks basket filled with goodies: whole bean coffee, Tazo tea,  Starbucks Mugs, Starbucks Holiday Ornament & a gift card
• Gelaskin for iPad2 & iPod
• Sponsors – @starbuckscanada @gelaskins

#Lot3 – Raptors vs. Pacers Dec 28th ($288)

• 2 tickets to Toronto Raptors vs. Indiana Pacers
  Wednesday, December 28th @ 6pm
  Section 106 – ticket value $144 each
• Sponsors – @raptors

8:30-9:00  Lots

#Lot4 – Night-In Kit ($170)

• Sideroad Twenty Cellars gift box with 2 wines
• Cheese board & Knife
• Geek demitasse set w/ Geeky design
• Sushi set from Eden
• Sponsors - @sideroadtwenty @edenspodek  @thetenspot

#Lot5 – Zip Car Membership ($210)

• Zip Car Membership for 1 year
• $75 of driving credits
• Pair of tickets to Yuk Yuks
• 1 litre of Hollywood Gelato
• Sponsors – @zipcar @yukyuks @hollywoodgelato

9:00-9:30 Lots

#Lot6 – Restaurant-a-Month Prize ($690)

• Enjoy a different restaurant every month for a year! (alcohol, taxes & tip not generally included)

• Dinner for 2 at Beast Restaurant
• $100 gift certificate from Linda Modern Thai
• $50 gift certificates from:

• Table 17
• any Oliver & Bonacini restaurant
• Burrito Boys
• Caplansky’s
• Cava
• Joey Toronto
• Lou Dawgs
• Fuel House
• School
• Mickey’s Pizza

• 2 litres of gelato from Hollywood Gelato
• Sponsors - @schoolville  @beastrestaurant @burritoboyz @caplansky @cavachef  @feedyourdragon  @FuelHouseTO  @joey_toronto  @lindaModernThai  @loudawgs
  @Oliver_Bonacini @table17 @hollywoodgelato
• Starting bid: $50

#Lot7 – Zip Car Membership ($210)

• Zip Car Membership for 1 year
• $75 of driving credits
• Pair of tickets to Yuk Yuks
• 1 litres of Hollywood Gelato
• Sponsors – @zipcar @yukyuks @hollywoodgelato

#Lot8 – Raptors vs. Nets Jan 6th ($288)

• 2 tickets to Toronto Raptors vs. New Jersey Nets
  Friday, January 6th @ 7pm
  Section 106 – ticket value $144 each
• Sponsors – @raptors

9:30-10:00 Lots

#Lot9 - Bag Full Of Harlequin #1 ($200)

• A collection of books from Harlequin, but not romances – cookbooks, humour and self-help. This ain’t your grannie’s Harlequin.
  
• Sponsors - @harlequinbooks
  

#Lot10 – Private Beef Tasting for 8 ($1,600)

• Enjoy an intimate, private artisan steak tasting and four-course meal in your home hosted by a world-class chef and a leading expert in beef flavor and texture. It’s like a wine tasting, but with steaks! ™ For up to 8 people.
• The festivities will begin with an interactive discussion with Carrie Oliver, founder of The Artisan Beef Institute, about how top ranchers and butchers influence taste and texture to create their own signature styles of beef. From here we’ll go on to taste the same cut of steak from four different ranch and butcher teams, each of whom specialize in a specific breed, diet, husbandry, aging technique, in a blind taste test. Chef Bangerter, Toronto’s famed Executive Chef of LUMA restaurant will give you and your guests a taste of the LUMA experience, right in your own home.
• Sponsors – @carrieoliver @chefbangerter
• Starting bid: $500

 10:00-10:30 Lots

#Lot11 – Blackberry Torch  - White ($550)

• Blackberry Torch – White
  
• Sponsor - @rogersbuzz

#Lot12 – Little Kitchen 7-Course Dinner

• 7-course dinner for 2 catered in your home by Chef Matt Kantor of Littlekitchen.ca and Secret Pickle Supper Club ($400)
• Sponsors - @mattkantor
• Starting bid: $100

#Lot13 – Raptors vs. Timberwolves Jan 9th ($244)

• 2 ticketes to Toronto Raptors vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
  Monday, January 9th @ 7pm
  Section 106 – ticket value $122 each
• Sponsors – @raptors

10:30-11:00 Lots

#Lot14 - Yes/No Cuff links ($298)

• A set of cufflinks from Studio 1098 – YES on one, NO on the other
  
• Sponsors - @studio1098
  

#Lot15 - Bag Full Of Harlequin #1 ($200)

• a collection of books from Harlequin, but not romances – cookbooks, humour and self-help. This ain’t your grannie’s Harlequin.
  
• Sponsors - @harlequinbooks

#Lot16 - Ubisoft Rocksmith ($60)

• Rocksmith the music video game produced by Ubisoft
  
• Sponsors – @ubisoft

Bidding

Place a bid using the following tweet format:

@hohoto #LOT<lot number> $<your bid>  – <optional friendly note>

Here’s an example of bidding $150 for the Raptors vs Nets game:

@hohoto #LOT8 $150 -  I want to watch the Raptors crush the Nets!

Click here to read How to Bid in the Hangover Auction

Tomorrow, Tuesday Dec 20th, is the #HoHoTO Hangover Auction – your last chance this year to help HoHoTO help the world suck a little less by helping Daily Bread.

We’re auctioning off  some great new prizes, the prizes that arrived late, and the small handful of unclaimed prizes left over  after Thursday’s massive, exhausting, and wonderful HoHoTO Holiday Party!

There are some exceptionally groovy goodies in this list‚ terrific last minute presents for a friend, loved one, family member, or just to treat yourself! We’ll get to the list of auction items shortly, but first here’s how to be  a part of it!

• Tomorrow morning (Tuesday)  go to the blog and check out the list of Bid Lots
• From 8:00pm to 11:00pm, Tuesday Dec 20th get yourself onto Twitter
• Bid lots run for 30 minutes, so keep a close eye on the prize!
• Watch for the auction bid lots to be announced as open on the @hohoto Twitter account;
• Start bidding using the following format (note: bids can ONLY be accepted in this format):
  @hohoto #LOT<lot number> $<your bid>  – <optional friendly note>
  e.g.  @hohoto #LOT8 $150 -  I want this prize so badly!
• Watch for other competitive bids, and try to win your favourite auction lot!

Rules and backgroundy details:

• Winners will be determined by the highest bid received at or before the time the relevant bidding window closes, based on the Twitter time stamp.
• Winners will be announced by the auctioneer on @hohoto
• The final decision of the auctioneers is FINAL!
• No late bids, no early bids will be accepted.
• Opening minimum bid on most items is $20 (higher where indicated); no maximum. Remember – every dollar goes direct to feed hungry people via Daily Bread Food Bank.
• Any items not bid on by the end of their allotted 30 minutes may be withdrawn and re-purposed for other charitable ends.
• Prizes must be claimed in Toronto and services-type prizes must be used in the Toronto-area

Just In Case:

• If for any reason the kind folks at Twitter decide we are tweeting too much from @hohoto, we will continue the auction at @hangoverauction

We’ll contact each winning bidder and arrange for payment and collection of your winning items (yes, we’ll need you to collect them‚ remember, the goal here is zero expenses, if possible. More money for the food bank that way).  Items must be collected within 6 months (preferably 6 days), or they will be re-purposed for other charitable ends.

So get your Twitter fingers ready and help push us over the $72,000 line. All proceeds, as always, to Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank