Rise Against Bullying

     I have another full day ahead of me so this will likely be the only sign of life for the foreseeable future. However, I'd be remiss in my responsibilities to my young Canadian friend Justin Preston if I didn't do this for him.
     You may or may not remember Justin from a Youtube video he did a couple of years ago that went somewhat viral. It commemorated the second anniversary of Jamie Hubley's suicide but the central message was a plea to end bullying. In the index card text, Justin goes on to say he was bullied for being gay as was Jamie and that the effect was so toxic, he'd attempted suicide five times.
     Fortunately, unlike Jamie, Justin found his true north and decided to stop being a victim and to love himself for who and what he was. This led him to form an organization out of his native Ottawa called Rise Against Bullying and he's spreading the word by selling ballcaps and toques with the message on them. While still in school, he has big plans for his organization and is methodically building it up one step at a time. Today it's hats. By early next year, hopefully, he'll work his way up to tee shirts. The next step after that will be a banner made by a professional sign shop that he'll stretch over a booth at a future Gay Pride event. After that, who knows? The kid's full of good ideas.
     According to what he's told me on Twitter, he's still about $163 shy of realizing his goal of buying the stock shirts that will sport the organization's logo and/or message. To break it down for you, the more hats he sells, the closer he'll get to having his contractor make shirts that will allow him to further diversify.
     So, as we're entering the holiday silly season, please consider buying one or more hats from Justin. 100% of the proceeds will go toward his advocacy group and he never spends a penny of it on himself. It's a hell of a worthy cause and I support this brave kid's efforts 110%. If it helps save the life of one bullied teen like Jamie Hubley, it will have all been worth it.