People Power Award 2016: And The Winner Is... October 25 2016

The moment that we've been anticipating all year is finally here!

Stephen’s Backpacks Society has been selected as the recipient of the 2016 People Power Award for excellence in grassroots campaigning and inspiring positive change!

Their organization has many projects, all aimed at ending youth homelessness. Stephen's Backpacks Society is currently providing backpacks, shoes, education resources, and hope to children and families in need.

Making a Difference with Buttons

In the past, Stephen's Backpacks Society has used pinback buttons to inspire positive change in classrooms through their Global Citizenship Project. Part of this education initiative involves "Dream Buttons," a way for students to write their dream, wear it, and share it everyday!

As the winner of this year's People Power Award, Stephen's Backpacks Society is the recipient of a custom 6-inch button award, and a button gift certificate to help them keep up the awesome work :)

People Power Award 2016 Nominees

The People Power Award is an annual award recognizing excellence in grassroots campaigning and inspiring positive change with buttons.

This year's nominees for the People Power Award were McKie Rich Productions and Stephen's Backpacks Society. Click through the link to read each organizations' award nominee blog post!

Call for submissions for the 2017 People Power Award

The People Power Award 2017 Nomination Form is now available and submissions are open until fall 2017.

If you know an awesome grassroots organization (or belong to one yourself!), fill out a submission :) You could be joining Stephen's Backpacks Society and the I Respect Music Project (Recipient of the 2014 People Power Award) in the winners circle!

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People Power Award Nominee: McKie Rich Productions September 07 2016

McKie Richards-Johnson is the talented individual behind McKie Rich Productions. Originally from Toronto, McKie has strong roots in the Caribbean & Africa. Over the past 15 years she has worked on graphic design projects overseas and in the GTA. McKie was always encouraged to be involved in the arts and was originally involved in dance and graphic design. She studied Broadcasting and Film at Centennial College and now works as a freelance producer, writer, director, and designer. Now McKie Rich Productions is headed in a new direction; film & music video.

McKie Rich Productions has worked on a number of short films including "Laughing Through Tears" which was featured in the Africa Diaspora International Film Festival in 2011. The film's trailer can be seen below!

Their most current project, a short film entitled "More Than Just...", has just finished filming this past June 2016. We are so excited for the future of this awesome organization :) Click on the image below to see some great pictured from behind-the-scenes of this independent film.

You can learn more about McKie Rich Productions on their website. Also check out photos and videos by McKie Rich Productions on YouTube, and Instagram!

 All images and videos in this blog post are from www.mckierich.com

WHAT IS THE PEOPLE POWER AWARD?

The People Power Award is an annual award we will give to a grassroots organization that is working hard to make a difference and is using buttons to spread their message.

Along with a custom six-inch button award, the winner will receive a free order of custom buttons so that they can continue to spread their message! Through our promotion of the award and the recipient's work, we can help create greater awareness for the work they are doing.

Recipients of the award will demonstrate our own values here at People Power Press. We believe in the power of people working to create positive change in the world. Buttons are an effective, fun and low-cost way to share the spirit and message of any organization’s work.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PEOPLE POWER AWARD, AND TO SEE ALL OF THE 2016 PEOPLE POWER AWARD NOMINEES, HEAD OVER TO PEOPLEPOWERAWARDS.COM

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It's Our Storefront's 1st Birthday! July 19 2016

We are celebrating the 1 Year Anniversary of opening the front part of our shop in the cheery pink building at 3095 Dundas St. West! It's been a great year full of fun new products, parties and events, and of course Make-A-Button!

Recently one of our awesome neighbours dropped off an article written by Claude McGilvray whose father, Watson McGilvray built the building that is now our happy home. He was a Tinsmith and started a tin shop in the basement and eventually opened a hardware store on the main floor.

Wait a second, Buttons are made of tin! We can't help but feel like we are carrying on a bit of a tradition!

This is Claude and his dad "Watt" McGilvray in front of their shop at 3095 Dundas West c. 1920:

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People Power People: Muhammad Ali 1942 – 2016 June 07 2016

Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali died last week at the age of 74. In addition to being a boxer, Ali will be remembered as someone who proudly and unapologetically represented both his race, faith, and community. Ali took a huge risk in the 1960s when refusing to be conscripted into the US Army during the Vietnam war cost him his title and three years of his fighting career.

Explaining his refusal, Ali said:

“My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America,” he said at the time. “And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn’t put no dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father… Shoot them for what? …How can I shoot them poor people? Just take me to jail.”

After his boxing career Ali continued to engage in philanthropic and humanitarian work, becoming the UN Ambassador for Peace in 1985.

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