Keep The Conversation Going

Book Launch For Greber Award Winner

A Good Friend of the Award

IN MEMORIAM 

JEANNE KAUFMAN - 1947-2011

JEANNE WAS A JURY MEMBER  FOR OVER SEVEN YEARS AND A GREAT SUPPORTER OF THE DAVE GREBER FREELANCE WRITERS AWARDS.  SHE WAS AN INTELLIGENT AND WELL READ WOMAN WHO CONTRIBUTED HER KNOWLEDGE AND HUMOUR TO THE SELECTION PROCESS.  SHE WILL BE MISSED.

READ MORE ABOUT JEANNE'S LIFE  AT http://eastendedge.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Cockrall-King Winner of 2011 Book Award

Jennifer Cockrall-King, an Edmonton freelance writer is the 2011 winner of the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Book Award. Ms.Cockrall-King’s successful submission was the ninth chapter of her first book, Food and the City: Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution. This 350 page book will be published by Prometheus Books in February 2012.

Award developer Shirley Dunn presents Jennifer Cockrall-King with the $2000 Dave Greber Award Freelance Writers Book Award for books on the CBC Centre Stage at the Edmonton Litfest,  October 14, 2011 

Jennifer's book about food and social (food) justice grew out of a 2007 trip to Cuba to research alternative food systems and urban agriculture. As the project grew, she travelled to Paris, London, Vancouver, Toronto, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, and New York. Urban agriculture projects in Calgary and Edmonton also are featured in the book. Her goal is to show that grassroots initiatives such as community gardens, urban farms, local food hubs and school gardens are having a profound transformative effect for the better on the cities in which we live.

Jennifer is as freelance food writer whose work has appeared in many publications such as Maclean's, Canadian Geographic, National Post, NUVO, Alberta Views, Alberta Venture, Westworld, Chicago Sun-Times and CBC Canada One. Jennifer has won a number of Magazine Awards (Western Canadian Magazine Award) and has been short listed for several others.  Jennifer teaches food and magazine writing courses at Grant MacEwan University, University of Alberta's Faculty of Extension, and University of British Columbia Okanagan in Kelowna. She is he founder and producer of the Okanagan Food and Wine Writers Workshop.

LitFest is the only nonfiction festival in Canada. It brings together some of the best-selling, awardwinning and emerging authors of books, magazine and film content.

 

 

Chris Cannon Winner of 2011 Magazine Award

Chris Cannon, a BC-based freelance writer, is the 2011 winner of the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Magazine Award. Chris will received the $2000.00 Award from Shirley Dunn, Award Developer, on Sunday, September 25, 2011 at The Word on the Street Book and Magazine Festival Vancouver. Vancouver magazine (April 2011) published the winning article titled "The Deserter," the story of Rodney Watson who spent a year fighting in Iraq with the US Army. Ordered to return he went AWOL instead, finding sanctuary in a Vancouver church with his new wife and son. Now he’s fighting to stay out of an American prison.

Chris Cannon has a wide array of writing experience, including reporter for Rolling Stone, columnist for the Vancouver Sun, contributing editor to Vancouver magazine and author of four books on music and travel. Over the last four years his work has steadily gravitated toward social and environmental topics, including a four-part series for the Tyee in 2010 on the rediscovery of community ties as a path toward environmental sustainability, for which he received a fellowship from the Tides Foundation. Other work he has written on issues of sustainability, community and the social impact of war has found support with grants and fellowships from the Canadian Arts Council, the British Columbia Arts Council, and the Banff Centre for the Arts.

To All of the Friends of the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Awards for Social Justice Writing

The Green the Greber Award fund raising campaign asking for micro donations has come to a close for 2011. Our tree has two green leaves ($1000.00)

I Thank all of you who donated for your good wishes and donations. Every dollar counts. You can donate year around and for any amount. Tax Receipts will be issued. http://www.greberwritingaward.com/donations.htm

The book award will receive the benefit of your donations and after Wine and Words our annual fundraiser is completed we will know by how much the award will increase in 2012.

Stay updated on the Greber Awards by coming to this blog.

Keep Writing

Shirley Dunn
Award Developer

Charitable Donations Can Bring Significant Tax Benefits

One of the many options to consider when making a charitable donation to the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Awards is to donate stock.  The tax savings for this type of giving can be larger than you think. 

Most people in Canada give primarily for altruistic reasons and many are not aware on how tax credits for charitable donations work in Canada and can be of benefit.  Tax credits for donations to registered charities are available to individuals for both the federal and provincial portions of your income tax. The federal rate is standardized across Canada and the provincial rate will vary from province to province. 

Tax Benefits of Donating Stock
A recent article in the Calgary Herald by Mario Toneguzzi called “Charitable Giving Has Social And Tax Benefits” talks about the various reasons that prompt people to make charitable donations and touches on the tax advantages available for those donating securities that have appreciated in value.  The author spoke to several individuals in the investment industry on the benefits of donating stocks.  In the article, he quotes Jo-Anne Ryan, vice president of philanthropic advisory services for TD Waterhouse, who said:

“"People do give a lot of stock that government eliminated the capital gains for donating securities in the federal budget of 2006. So a lot of people have really gotten used to donating securities when they have appreciated in value,” . The article goes on to say that TD Waterhouse runs the Private Giving Foundation, an independent public charity dedicated to encouraging charitable giving that has donated more than $16 million to charities.  Ryan also pointed out that:

"(Alberta) has the most generous tax incentives for charitable giving compared to any other province," says Ryan. "If you make a donation, you're going to get a tax credit of 50 per cent right back. And of course if you donate securities, you're going to eliminate the capital gains that you would normally have to pay. If you were to sell that security, 50 per cent would be taxed as income."  "Good tax incentives to give," she says.”

Quick Tax Credit Calculator
To find out both the federal and province by province basic tax credits available to individuals for donations,  please view the CRA Charitable donation tax credit calculator, HERE.  As an example, a $1000.00 donation made by a resident of B.C. in the 2010 tax year would be eligible for a combined tax credit of 389.72.

Charitable Donation Tax Credits Deadline
The April 30th deadline for individuals to file their tax returns for 2010 has now come and gone but  the CRA deadline for self-employed individuals to file their personal tax returns is still upcoming on June 15 so for many there is still time to make your donation for the 2010 tax season.

Our Green the Award fund raising campaign is on now.  Green is the symbol of growth and greening the earth and is also the colour of a twenty-dollar bill. When you donate $20.00 you will contribute to the growth of the awards.Help us achieve this year's goal of ten thousand dollars by making a donation online, by mail, or by calling us at the Jewish Community Foundation of Calgary at (403) 640-2273 or toll free at (877) 271 3283

New Ways to Find Us on the Web

With the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Awards going national and our ongoing efforts to spread the word about the awards, there are now several new ways to find us on the web.  To find us through Google you can just type in either “social justice writing”, “freelance writers award”, “social justice awards”, “social justice literary award” or “Canadian writing awards” and you will see the award listed on page 1.  You can even type in  “freelance writers” and find us on one of the first two pages. 

We are grateful to all those who have helped to spread the word on the Web through Facebook and elsewhere. Together we have heightened awareness about the award, supported Canadian freelance writers and helped shine a light on social justice issues at home and abroad.  We thank you.

New Greening the Award announcement!

The focused goal of the 2011 fund raising campaign is to ensure that all donations received go directly to increasing the size of the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Book Award. The winner will be announced September 2011.

The $500 that has been raised thus far (and we’ve turned over a leaf on the Greening tree!) means that the September award has   already been raised from $2000 to $2500

Thank you to those that have already donated. You make a difference.

Please help Green the Award by giving $20 or more, and be ensured that your money will go directly to the winning writer of this year’s book award. If  you  keep the donations coming  we will keep increasing the value  of  the Book Award. Information, can be found on Green the Award page at http://www.greberwritingaward.com/green_award.htm or read more about the awards in our Call For Submissions at http://www.greberwritingaward.com/submissions.htm

Support a writer by Greening the Award.

 
 

Greening the Awards

March 6, 2011

Green the Awards has Launched!

Many weeks ago, we asked many of you who are friends of the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Awards to hang on to a twenty dollar bill in anticipation of forthcoming news.  

Well we have plenty of news.

First of all, as we indicated at the end of January, the awards are now national awards. 

Six years ago, only Calgary writers were eligible but this year its satisfying to know that the Call for Submissions will be going from coast to coast. 

As part of the effort to become a fully Canadian award, that twenty dollar bill we asked you to put aside now has a destination and a future. 

On the first of February we kicked off a fund raising drive to support the commitment to open the award to all eligible Canadian freelance magazine and book writers who delve into social justice issues.  The funds will be used to support the expansion of the awards as well as to increase the amount of the awards. 

The goal is to raise ten thousand dollars, the accumulated value of 500 twenty-dollar bills.  

So donate now and spread the word to friends, family, colleagues and any one else you think would be interested in the award and its aims. To learn more go to our Donations Page, help turn another leaf from gray to green on our Greening the Award page, or just click now to donate.