The Sunshine Workshop

Works in Progress ~

Kailee is hard at play illustrating her new book, Forte.

Forte should be available near her 8th birthday in March.

Mr. Ed Davad has been hard at work creating beautiful new covers for Kailee’s “Missy & Lizzy” series.  Thank you again Ed for your patience and creativity !!!

I find the artistic progression very interesting to watch ~

• Sweet Snuggles ~ Illustrated by Kailee at 2 Years Old
• Balloon Wishes ~ 3 Years Old
• Roses & Rainbows ~ 4 Years Old
• The Thanksgiving Coat ~ 5 Years Old
• The Palm Beach Treasure Hunt ~ 6 Years Old
• I Know I Can ~ 6 Years Old
• Vivache ~ 7 Years Old
• Forte ~ will be published by her 8th birthday in March.

All interior and exterior files in Kailee’s 7 book

“Lizzy & Missy” Series are being updated and

will be posted soon to the website!

Three finished, four to go ……

Thank you Ed Davad for your creativity !!

A note of gratitude to The Austrian Society of Montreal and Air Transat who graciously help support the endeavors of SOS Children’s Villages.

SOS Children’s Villages provide loving homes for over 90,000 children worldwide each and every day.  They rely solely on donations from individuals and corporations for their survival.

SOS is aptly named; they literally transform lives across the world and do so regardless of race, religion, political views or nationality.  Their devotion to the children crosses all boundaries and reaches the hearts of those of us fortunate enough to come into contact with them.

I first heard about SOS when on a flight to Austria on Air Transat.

Ardent supporters, Air Transat offered their clients the opportunity to view a short video highlighting the villages and collected small change to give to the children.

I had no idea that Air Transat’s introduction would soon affect my own life so profoundly.

At The Austrian Ball, I had the distinct pleasure to meet Mr. Joseph Adamo, Air Transat’s Vice President of Marketing, who kindly gave a presentation showing his corporation’s support of the Children’s Villages.

To-date, Air Transat  has graciously shared almost a million dollars with the Children’s Villages since their relationship began.

Accountants when looking at this number may read this in a dollar sense, but having had the honor of visiting the SOS Jamaican village, I know this bottom line really means saving lives …. many, many lives.

Thank you to The Austrian Society, Air Transat and all the donors and volunteers who make this world a better place!

I have a tremendous respect for the work of SOS Children’s Villages do and look forward to helping in any way I can in the future.

Please note:  I am NOT a paid spokesperson for SOS or Air Transat … just truly and duly impressed

To support the children, please visit ….

• Air Transat:  www.airtransat.ca
• SOS Children’s Villages:  www.soschildrensvillages.ca

Gala Photo  left to right:  Dave Greiner Deputy Director SOS Children’s Villages Canada, Elizabeth Hoadley, Boyd McBride National Director SOS Children’s Villages Canada.

Photo on Airplane:  Joseph Adamo, Vice President of Marketing, Transat Tours Canada, Inc.

Bright Books for Bright Kids

The Sunshine Workshop

Following the beautiful “Lizzy & Missy” Theme that Mr. Ed Davad created for us,

he is currently working his magic on the book cover:

I Know I Can

Thank you Ed for sharing your creativity and talent with us ! 

If you need a fantastic graphic artist, please feel free to visit Ed’s online portfolio:  http://edudes.weebly.com/

3 – 2 – 1 – Lift Off !!

Congratulations to Laval Families Magazine who officially launched their new print/online Magazine this week at the Cosmodome in Laval, Quebec, Canada.

Luigi Morobito and his team are to be congratulated for their hard work and tenacity in their endeavors!

Both the magazine and Launch Gala were out of this world …. please excuse the pun…. I couldn’t resist.

Kailee and Elizabeth Hoadley look forward to being regular contributors to the magazine and their new article will be live shortly.

Hundreds of local residents, businesses and even the Laval City Hall came to celebrate and show their support.

M. Alexandre Duplessis, Member of the Executive Committee was present to address his constituents and fellow supporters of Laval Families Magazine.

Please have a peek at their site (http://www.lavalfamilies.ca/)

In a land flocked to by millions of sun and fun seeking tourists worldwide, a land flowing with natural beauty, vegetation and resources, there is a small community of little children who lives would be in peril if it weren’t for a group of people who stop the steamroller of generational destruction and change lives in a positive way daily.

These people are uplifting the lives of children who would literally be living on the streets, under bridges, in crack houses and in a world where the word “hope” is only found in a dictionary … too bad they neither would be able to afford, nor read one.

As CEO of The Sunshine Workshop, I was rendered speechless when I heard their stories of how they came to the village.

One child was literally found under a bridge – some are dropped off by parents who know they cannot care for the child properly – some are brought by the local police – some know their parents – some never will.

When I visited in February, a little girl was spending her first week at the SOS Village ~ she didn’t speak and even at 6 years old, was soiling her bed as a reflection of the stress she was escaping from.

Her luck had just turned however, she was escaping TO the wonderful, loving village of SOS which has children’s communities worldwide, where she would receive the continual gift of community, family, education, healthcare, sports and a sense of community and civic duty.  SOS provides loving homes for over 90,000 children worldwide and depend solely on contributions from people and corporations. (https://www.soschildrensvillages.ca)

This November 17, 2012, we have the opportunity to support the SOS Children’s Villages by attending The Austrian Ball of Montreal (http://www.balviennoisdemontreal.org/tickets.htm ).

SOS was originally founded in Austria after WW2 to house, love and educate the myriad of new orphans after the carnage of the war and has expanded their breadth ever since ~ they now are worldwide, but their roots originate in Austria.

All donations and ticket prices are tax deductible as a Canadian charitable donation.

For more details please contact Anita Hold: 514-369-2339; ahold@tonalco.ca

I know CEO’s want to always maintain their dignity and stoic “CEO-ish-ness” ….. but I’ll let you in on a little secret…..

Last year, I received an email from a woman named Ronee Martin that left me crying like a 1st Grader ….. I am usually all smiles, but …. well – before you get upset with her, let me tell you the whole story.

I was checking emails one day, when I received a note from someone claiming to be Ms. Ronee Martin.  The person on the other end of the email told me she loved what Kailee and I were doing and could she and her goddaughter participate … I was intrigued.

I get emails from many people, and like most everybody in today’s world, I turn directly to Google to research with whom I am in contact.

I Googled ‘Ronee Martin‘ in the Search Bar and found a clip on YouTube.   I clicked through.  Could this be the same person ??  Many of us share similar names – was this her?

In a million years I would never have expected to see/hear what I saw/heard ….. an informal backyard performance of one of the most seriously beautiful voices I have ever heard in my entire life – I nearly fell off my chair.  I thought someone must be pulling my chain …. this voice …. unbelievable !

I sat there in front of my screen, my jaw dropped to the desk, and quite un-CEO-ish, I literally broke into tears for the power of her voice and how grateful I was that she had reached out to contact Kailee and I.

My 15 year old son had a friend over for supper, and MUCH to his intense embarrassment, I cried with happiness ~ I made everyone watch/listen to the video ~ once you click through you will understand.   Normally I am all smiles, so everyone at the table just stared at me wide-eyed and dumbfounded, not quite sure what to do …

I didn’t want to be the next casualty of the Ashton Kutcher “Punk’d” show, so Ms. Martin and I emailed back and forth until we confirmed each others identities before we made phone contact.

I have been grateful and honored each day since to not only know such a lovely person, but to also have our company graced with her creative genius and silken voice.  I later learned that Los Angeles based Martin was a songwriter for Gladys Knight on her Good Woman Album, and sang alongside epic singers such as Elton John, Seal, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

I cannot (YET) share the song Ms. Martin has written for us, but I would like to say publicly to her how grateful we all are to her.  She brought in another uber-talented genius musician to work with her on the musical score …. but story that is for another blog post.

So, without further delay …….Ladies and Gentlemen ……. Let me have the pleasure to introduce to you ……… the uber-talented, incredible, Ms. Ronee Martin ………..

Ms. Ronee Martin, plain and simple, you inspire me   

Elizabeth A. Hoadley

Still in it’s “tweaking” stage, The Sunshine Workshop is happy to share with you our first sneak peek of the animation of Vivache, part of Kailee’s Missy and Lizzy Series.

What makes this production so unique, is that animator Gaia Bracco, has literally isolated 7-Year Old Kailee’s original artwork, made it move, dance and interact.  One feels as if Bracco has virtually breathed life into the characters and settings.

The animation has been produced by a veritable International Dream Team:

• Directed by Anthony LaMolinara (Oscar Winner SpiderMan2, Nominations for Spiderman, Stuart Little and ToyStory), (China)
• Flash Animation by Gaia Bracco, (Producer at Emergency Exit Productions), (Milan, Italy)
• Original Musical Score and Lyrics by Ronee Martin (songwriter for Gladys Knight on Good Woman Album, worked alongside singers Elton John, Seal, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw  ).  (Los Angeles)
• Musical Composition by Byron J. Smith, (worked alongside Barbra Streisand, Clifton Davis and Dionne Warwick). (Los Angeles)
• Voice-over by Gigi Abraham, (vocal talent for Disney Interactive, The Smurf Interactive Video with Ubisoft, Tonka, Clifford the Big Red Dog).  (New York)
• Illustrations by 7-Year Old Kailee (Montreal, Canada)
• Written by Elizabeth A. Hoadley (Montreal, Canada)
• Produced by Elizabeth A. Hoadley (Montreal, Canada)

This animation follows the book “Vivache” a lyrical book about triplet fish born in Venice, who may be brothers, but have nothing in common with each other.

The young fish each have their unique personalities;  Vivache is vivacious, Pigaro is lazy and Avarro is greedy.   Each brother follows their distinct paths and Vivache learns how to craft his own destiny ~ creating a wonderful life for himself and others.