Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Toronto Miracle: Toronto Mike'd #752

Episode Date: November 14, 2020

Mike chats with Jordan Mlynek about the Toronto Miracle on December 5th before they kick out miracle jams and talk about Mike Kic.

Welcome to episode 752 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. CDN Technologies, your outsourced IT department. CDN Technologies, your outsourced IT department. Joanne Glutish, a lifetime member of the National Chairman's Club, awarded to the top 1% of agents at Royal LePage Canada. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business.

We need Toronto Miracle stickers. Remind me about that in a moment. Ridley Funeral Home. This year's Holidays and Hope Candlelight Service of Remembrance is December 2nd at 7pm. And Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com and joining me this week from Toronto Miracle is my friend Jordan Malenik. Oh you nailed it. I'm gonna shut it all down right now like that was I've been worried about that for

20 years now would I ever have to say that last name? And I finally said it. And I got it perfect. You got it perfect. How are you doing, Jordan? I'm fantastic. Although I did just notice that the heating, the one and only heating lamp that is out here is directed only at you. Two things. Two things. One is it's not directed at me. It looks like it's directed at me. It's directed at the gear. Okay. That's what I'm worried about. There's gear over here. Not much. There's one microphone over there.

A camera. And your guests. But there's exciting news that will not benefit you in the least. But the exciting news is yesterday I bought a second, I got a propane heater yesterday that's for the guest table. Well, I'm excited for all of your future guests. You can come back next week and you'll be toasty warm. But it's not that bad. I thought it might be really cold future guests. You can come back next week and you'll be toasty warm.

But it's not that bad. I thought it might be really cold out here. But how do you feel? No, it's gorgeous. And I have a backup hat that I can put on. A toque? A toque. Okay, will it fit over your headphones? No, it won't work.

Because I need you to hear later in this program, we're going to kick out five miracle jams. I asked you to contribute to this list. I said, Jordi. Can I call you Jordi? Yes, you can. Because Jordan seems weird. I don't know who that is.

I asked you to contribute to the miracle song list and I got like crickets. Nothing. Nothing ever came back from you because you're very busy. I thought about it once. Did you? And did any songs enter your cranium? So like the one song that kept replaying over and over in my head didn't actually, once I started singing the song properly, it didn't actually even have. Okay, what song was that?

It was, you know, Footloose. I'm holding on for a hero. Of course. Yeah, in my head when I was, I kept going, I'm holding on for a miracle. And finally I got him like, it's not even a miracle, it's a hero. That song, I think that's written by, produced or written by Jim Steinem, the Bat of the Hell guy, you know, Meatloaf. You would know.

Okay, sorry, Jordi. I'm a little more versed in these things. But look, good to have you. The first segment, we're going to break it into a few different segments here. The first segment is going to be all about Toronto miracle. Cause I need to know everything. And I want people tuning in to know everything they need to know about the Toronto miracle,

which is happening the morning of December 5th. Is that a Saturday? What is that? That is a Saturday. Okay. So Saturday, December 5th, 2020,

cause somebody could be listening to this in the future and they could be fooled by this. Digging in the Toronto Mic Archive. It happens. I believe it. I get notes like, oh, I loved your conversation with Ed the Sock. And I'll be like, oh, yeah, that was 2014. It was a good one. Okay.

So we're going to talk about Toronto Miracle. Then we're going to kick out a few quickly. We're going to run through five miracle jams that i cut and then we'll catch up uh talk about slow pitch and some other ways that we are personally connected uh but first how are you doing like like how are you and how is your uh daughter ryan doing how are you guys doing you know we're doing pretty good um we're growing our own little fam jam so So recently engaged. What? Congratulations to you.

I did know this from the socials, but this is exciting news. It is exciting. So, you know, Ravi. You know what, though? True story. I've never met. I have no memories of meeting Ravi. Really?

Yeah. Yeah, I know. I know. I really, because did he come out to games? No, never. I don't. He's never watched me ever play baseball. So if you think of your life, right, and you've got these different worlds, right? And the worlds don't always collide.

And if they do collide, it's very rare. That world, the Ravi world, back when we were seeing each other regularly, you know, non-romantically, they never collided with the world I was in. Did you ever come to mike's baseball games the annual never once did i go to a game i didn't plan so no because i was not good enough for the like this is the men's team no the the um memoriam annual jays game that we oh yes no i went i went yeah okay yeah so ravi's been to every one of those. Okay. Well, it's possible you didn't introduce me to Ravi, uh,

keeping us separate. That's a wise move, Jordan. You don't want to, but this is, but congratulations nonetheless that you're engaged to be married. And we'll talk about Mike in the third segment. We'll,

uh, we'll talk about him, but, uh, so stay tuned for that, everybody. Uh, okay.

Toronto Miracle. Yeah. Cause all the Toronto Miracle volunteers are only tuning in for this first segment. They're gone by the time I kick out a Miracle yeah because all the Toronto Miracle volunteers are only tuning in for this first segment they're gone by the time I kick out a miracle jam so we have to give them what they want uh and I want everyone to get these details so Jordi what the heck is Toronto Miracle it's a great question it's a city-wide food drive that a bunch of us toronto mike included are organizing um to support families and individuals who are in need especially during the pandemic and it's taking place on december 5th and the ask couldn't be simpler that you register your intention to donate at

torontomiracle.org this will help us manage our our logistics. And then on December 5th at 10 a.m., you leave at least a non-perishable food item, but we certainly will take a box of items or more. And one of our amazing volunteers will come by and pick that up and deliver it to a social service agency in need. Okay, I got questions. Firstly, Toronto, I know this

because I recently biked around the perimeter of Toronto. Okay, it took seven hours of biking to get around this city. Toronto is enormous. It is enormous. It's a big city. This is 416 proper. We don't want anybody north of Steeles. Get the hell out of our way. We do want them if they want to volunteer. Okay, so talk to me about that. How can we pick up food at every doorstep in this enormous city of Toronto? How are we doing this? You have to write.

Have we thought of this? I don't know if you noticed on the Slack channel this morning, but there were some commentaries about this. Okay, let me hear. Because when I went public about this, which was very recently, like, I don't know, Tuesday or something, where I started talking about it, I got notes from FOTMs. These are friends of Toronto Mike who said, I just registered to donate. I know Karen Brewer, Miriam, who we also know as Lieve

Fumka. She has a condo that her and her husband Juan live in. And they were like, we can collect in the condo. And I was starting to get, and someone else who lives in Mississauga was like, can I give money? Can I do something? So people, yeah, these nuts and bolts, the mic is yours. Okay. So I'll hit the first one. Can I give financially? So we're not a registered charity, but we are working with registered charities. And so we're working with Second Harvest, Dilly Bread, Food Bank, and North York Harvest to help us pull off the logistics for this amazing event. And so featured on our website are the logos of these three organizations.

And if you want to make a financial donation, you can click through and make a donation directly to one of those organizations in sort of under the guise of Toronto Miracle. Okay, so that's the first one. That's the first like lead off single of your career, I think. That was great. You know you can always count on me for lead off singles. That's right. You're the slasher. Okay, you know, you can always count on me for lead off sales. That's right. You're the slasher. Okay, continue, please.

And so if you're outside of our boundaries, unfortunately, we can't accept, we can't go outside of our boundaries, which are the 140 Toronto neighbourhoods to pick up food. But that doesn't stop you from being able to volunteer. And so especially if you have a car, then that doesn't stop you from being able to volunteer. And so, especially if you have a car, then we could absolutely use you. So you can still sign up at torontomiracle.org to be a volunteer and we will place you in a neighborhood that works for you. If it's close to your boundary, like if you're coming from Mississauga, we'll put you somewhere on the west end. Or if you're open to be placed anywhere, cause you have a car,

we'll put you in a neighborhood that's most in need. Okay. Beautiful. Okay. So that sounds like that's a key, uh, URL that you dropped there. So torontomiracle.org, O-R-G. Don't go to any dot coms or dot nets or anything. Go to dot org. You got it. Okay. So torontomiracle.org, that's where you can do a couple of things. You can register your intent to donate non-perishable food items the morning at 10 a.m. December 5th. This is coming up. This is coming soon. I'm getting nervous, Jordan.

I'm getting nervous too. So essentially, I know I was talking to Monica the other day because she's like, every Monday night I disappear into the basement when she's putting the kids to bed. And she's like, where did you go? And I'm like, I'm on a top secret mission here to feed toronto's hungry and it's very impressive when i say it like that and she's got you wouldn't just tell her keep things a little mysterious but she's got more than one can so this is the minimum the ask is get get a non-perishable food item

out and you have to market somehow you market that it's for toronto miracle but i have a question when these volunteers go around and there's food on the porch, just take the food, even if it's not marked. Like, what is it there for otherwise? I mean, it would be great if you could somehow market that this is for Toronto Miracle. A little masking tape. Yeah, like a little note. TM, Toronto Miracle. And, you know, there's a really good reason why we've indicated that we will pick up a single can of food.

And that's because we want to make this accessible. there's a really good reason why we've indicated that we will pick up a single can of food. And that's because we want to make this accessible. We want to make it accessible to folks who might also be food insecure themselves, but want to contribute to something beautiful going on in the city. Okay, I'm going to pick up that word food insecure in a moment, because I've been doing some reading recently. Since I realized I'm now in this thing, I've got to learn what's going on here. So we're going to get back to food insecurity. But the two things, the one thing we just mentioned is you can register your intent to donate non-perishable food items the morning of December 5th. This is important. Everybody listening, go to torontomiracle.org and do that right now. The second thing, and we are in need

of many, many, many, many volunteers. I would say thousands. We need thousands of volunteers. Well, it took you seven hours to bike the perimeter of Toronto. I might've been faster in a car though though, when I think back on that experience. But still, how many neighborhoods do we have? 140. And our goal is to see participation in all 140 neighborhoods. We have 140. I cannot name 100.

I did not know that. Everybody knows, like, oh, there's Roncey's. There's Hyde Park. There's The Junction. There's Mimico. I talk about New Toronto. You're really West End focused here. Boy, I don't know anything else. What else is over there?

But yeah, you're right. There's Leslieville. Let's throw a little East End action out there. But yeah, beaches, which they call the beach because they're pretentious over there. No offense to the people listening from the beach. We also have access to a beach. We do. We do.

I'm going to take you around after this. I'm going to show you. We have, we are like the, I won't use that phrase, but we're like the West End wannabe beaches here. I get it. We're working on it. This is a nice street. Well, later I'll tell you a way you can, you can move to the street and be my neighbor. So I'll give you that tip later in the program here. So, okay. So the second thing you can do on torontomiracle.org is you can sign up to be a volunteer and somebody on our lovely team of volunteers will contact the people who raise their hand and say they want to be a volunteer. Yep. So we have a volunteer lead. We have a team of folks that are managing volunteer logistics because it's a huge undertaking. But once you sign up, you're in our system and then you will be contacted to, you know,

sort of with next steps and further direction. We'll be having a few Zoom calls, training calls to make sure that everybody's clear and understands what their role is. There are lots of different roles. There's, you know, we need community captains and those are the people that are going to be running. You need 140 community captains. We need at least 140 community captains because people might want to co-captain with someone. But yes, 140 community captains and you are taking on the role of really managing the logistics specifically

in your neighborhood with our support. But, you know, you're the go-to for the volunteers and the logistics in your neighborhood. And then we need food collectors. We need people who are ready to go door to door. Especially if they have like a pickup truck or something like that, right? Like a cube van. Trucks, cars, that's amazing. But like, you know, so this event was modeled off of similar events

that were done in Windsor, in Chatham-Kent. It was done in Montreal, in Northwest Territories. And we've seen pictures and spoken to the folks that have organized it there. And you also have families with their wheelbarrows going door to door. Or families, you know, with, you know, the dad driving with the car along the road and the kids running up door to door to collect the food. So this can involve everyone. I had a friend of mine ask me this morning, can my eight-year-old son volunteer with me?

Yes, absolutely. This is a perfect family volunteer opportunity and a great way to have these conversations with your kids about why it's important to give back, what other people might be experiencing um during the pandemic yeah uh great points Jordi all of those great points uh you're quite good at this now uh I've seen you in the media lately so I want to get to that too in a moment because you've been making the rounds and I want to put a call out if anyone's listening who is like a producer for

or some some kind of a content editor somebody hooked up with any like piece of mainstream media be it like a newspaper or a radio station or a television station like hit me up my dms are open on twitter toronto mike and i'll introduce you to jordy via email we've been doing this all week and we've got to get this story out there because like awareness is everything because we need a lot of volunteers. We need the city to step up and help out the food insecure. So here's my next question. Can you speak to that, the food insecurity?

Because some people listening might be lucky enough that maybe they kept their job through the pandemic and maybe they're lucky enough that they never had to consider using know, consider using food banks, et cetera. Like, can you speak to this? Because when I dove into it, I was, I was personally shocked at the number of Torontonians who are food insecure. Like maybe start by what does that mean? Food insecure. Yeah. So someone is food insecure when they don't have adequate access to the right quantity and quality of food on a regular basis. And so they're,

they're having to make choices between what they eat and how often they eat, um, because they have other financial pressures that are preventing them from being able to just fill their bellies as often and how they, they feel, um, is, is right for them and their family. And so that's the choice of being able to buy, you know, a full grocery load to satisfy the needs of your family for a particular week and paying your rent or paying your hydro bill. That's what food insecure is. And I saw numbers like on like the City of Toronto website,

they had these numbers for how many Torontonians are food insecure. And these numbers were based pre-pandemic. Yeah. So I can only imagine using my common sense that it is far more dire today than it was then. So pre-pandemic, one in five Torontonians were food insecure, which is a staggering number in and of itself. And then you layer on the pandemic. And so Daily Bread's COVID impact report identified that in June, they had 6,000 new

food bank users versus 2,000 new food bank users in February. So that is a stark increase. And the miracle is December 5th because what's the goal? Do you have any like metrics you're trying to hit? Like how many non-perishable food items are we aiming to collect on the morning of the 5th? 250,000 pieces of food. Oh my God. And do you sleep at nights like knowing that you've taken this on and there's not much time and there's so much work to do because like I want to hit that target. I want to crush that target.

I want to crush the shit out of that target. Blow that target away. producing any kind of event, it's nerve-wracking leading up to because you put all this energy and effort towards this baby that you're creating and it relies on getting the word out and, you know, harnessing the participation of others, which you can't necessarily guarantee. So from that standpoint, it's absolutely nerve-wracking. We need thousands of volunteers and we need thousands of food donors. In the other sense, I'm really proud of our group that we've been able to pull this off. We've brokered amazing partnerships with well-respected organizations. The city is behind us. You know, we have such a strong team of individuals on our core team that have been giving so much of their time to make this happen. So I'm also incredibly proud of what

we've been able to do so far. Oh, no doubt. Like this is an enormous undertaking. And as you said, like it's a grassroots volunteer led thing. Like this is sort of like other cities in this country have tried something similar. And is it you? Like, are you the person who said, hey, we can do this here? No, it's our friend. It's Jodi. Oh, I was going to give you all the credit, but it's all Jodi. Not at all. Jodi got the ball rolling.

So Jodi knows members of, I'm pretty sure she knows members in both Windsor and Chatham-Kent. And so Windsor, like the gold standard, they raised 2 million pounds of food in a single day. Oh my God, Windsor. Windsor killed it. And we're day oh my god Windsor Windsor and we're a lot bigger than Windsor we are a lot bigger and so that can work for us and it can also work against us like we have a lot more complexities that we have to work through um than than the

Windsor team um may have I mean still an amazing undertaking and incredible results. And our friends in Chatham-Kent raised 675,000 pounds of food and $100,000 for their local United Way. Amazing. Amazing. Yeah. So we know that the potential here is huge. It just requires everybody stepping up and signing up to support at torontomiracle.org. Now, because of the time of day we're recording, like when you go back and look at your Periscope feed here, you're going to see, it really does look like you're in heaven.

Because there's a sun, the sun's right behind you, and it's going right into the camera. And I'm just looking at it now, and it's like, it's going to blow you away. And I just want to say, I think it's a sign that you are clearly an angel here. Stop it. I'm going to help volunteering all this time and effort.

And we're going to help to feed Toronto's food insecure. Yep. So, okay. So everybody knows what they got to do now. Go to torontomiracle.org. Put in your address that, hey, I'm going to leave some food out. I do want to comment one thing on the apartment and condo buildings. Okay, good. So listen up, Lieve Fumke, because she was asking questions.

So our ask for folks who are living in buildings is, you know, might you be able to rally your entire building or, you know, members of your building to also jump into support? And so this might require you getting permission from your superintendent or your building manager, what have you, to put up some notifications throughout the building, identify a clear collection point where people can drop off their food donations, and then of course register your building as an area where we'll need to pick up food. So those who are in buildings,

there's a lot more opportunity than just your household. I would also venture to say that those in households could choose to rally their street and their neighbors to also sign up. So there's nothing stopping you from just doing it in your own you know, in your own respective home. Amazing. And just make sure you go to torontomiracle.org and register that your address that you're going to have some stuff for us to pick up. And if you can volunteer, shout out, like call to action to all the FOTMs. We need volunteers. So join me and Jordi on this, in this initiative. So December 5th, very exciting.

May I just do, I'm sorry. One other volunteer angle, shout out, is this is an amazing corporate volunteer opportunity. And the reason why I love corporate groups is because it's a huge bang for our buck. So I know that the not-for-profit landscape as a result of COVID has really shifted. And a number of organizations aren't able to provide the same type, if any kind of volunteer opportunity that they normally would

to their corporate partners. And so there are, there's a lot, there are a lot of gaps and there are a lot of corporate groups in need for these team building sort of rallying events, especially around the holidays. And I think Toronto Miracle is a perfect place for you guys to, to work together as a corporate team. And so if you want to chat about how to engage your company, then shoot us an email on our contact to us form at torontomiracle.org. And we will have those conversations with you and your CSR team and whoever makes those decisions at your place of business.

And you said something about, you know, students needing certain volunteer hours or something. That's another one, right? Good one. Thank you. Thanks for volleying that over. I'm taking over this. I'm now the spokesperson.

So, I mean, off the same sort of thinking of not-for-profits not being able to provide volunteer opportunities, there are a lot of students that are in need, high school volunteer hours. And so this is a great high school volunteer opportunity. You guys could be food pickup runners, that sort of thing. We have food depot hubs that are going to be placed within the city. You could help and support the activities that are happening at those hubs. So this is a perfect high school volunteer opportunity. We will sign those papers to get you the hours that you need. Amazing. Okay. This is exciting here. Now I want to know some interesting, I want detail on this

because I know FOTM David Ryder at the Toronto Star has put you in touch with Brendan Kennedy at the Star and they're going to write something. Is this in progress? We got a plug on Toronto.com. Okay, so Toronto.com has written about the Toronto Miracle. Okay, and that Toronto.com, is that owned by Torstar? Or is that a separate thing? Okay, but that's good.

That's good. Yeah. And the Toronto Star, are they still cooking something up? Oh, jeez. I don't know. It's okay. It's a question for Corey. the Toronto Star, are they still cooking something up to... Oh, jeez, boom. I don't... No, it's okay. That's a question for Corey. Corey, can you call her on your phone and put it on speakerphone so I can talk to Corey?

Bottom line is, I just think that's happening and that's good because I want the Toronto Star to write about this. I want to also just shout out FOTM Richard Southern. So you spoke with Richard Southern from 680 News and City News. You spoke to him the other day, right? I did. And he did an amazing segment for us on City News last night. You were on City News last night.

I was on City News. How did that feel? Like, was that exciting? Like, totally wackadoodle. And also, Zoom is so hard to do these kinds of things. Like, you don't know where to look. I wanted to look in the corner because I was talking to Richard. But then I was like, no, look ahead.

You got to look into the camera. So my eyes were all, you know. Well, it's a pandemic, Jordi. The fact is you got the message out on City News last night. Okay. And I did have an exchange of FOTM Kelly Catrera who passed. I think there's a producer there. His name is Chris.

Chris Creston, I want to say. Anyways, Chris, I've been engaging with him and he's going to get you on AMGNR, sorry, Global News Radio 640.

And again, another plea. I'm trying to speak to everybody who has any say in what's covered by their media. Please contact me so I can introduce you to Jordi and we can get the word out because we're going to need help from the media in the city

to raise awareness so people know that December 5th is Toronto Miracle. We need your help. So hit me up. Hit them up. Hit them up. And then CBC too. Metro Morning, Here and Now.

Yeah, you know, we got to get the word out. You guys need me as much as I need you. We need it. Well, we all need each other. That's some of the beauty here. Okay. Now I'm about to kick out some Miracle Jams and then we're going to have a little chat. Thank you for submitting zero Miracle Jams to this endeavor, Jordi.

You're very welcome. Thank you so much. Quick moment, though. I just want to let you know I have a delicious craft beer. Does Ravi drink beer? Ravi does drink beer. Okay.

I'm going to quietly put my coffee down. Well, now that you mentioned it, Ravi, he's always drinking beer. So you're going to bring him some fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery. And you can have some too. Oh, he's going to love it.

I'm working him into the convo. Love it. And Palma Pasta has sent over a delicious lasagna for you. That's so great. I love pasta. Okay. You're going to love this Palma Pasta. And you're going to get hooked.

Dinner tonight. Yeah. Dinner tonight. It'll feed everybody. And StickerU..com i know for years uh you've been waiting to make your uh toronto mic debut and you finally not only have you done it but you have a toronto mic sticker from sticker you.com but we really do need to talk to sticker you about uh toronto miracle stickers or decadent i mean that would be just how do we distribute

them but that's like what a great indicator. You just slap them everywhere. Like, so people can generate awareness. It's a great indicator for this is my Toronto Miracle food pickup. It's got my sticker. Oh my God. Right? But how do you get out to everybody? No, I probably don't know.

But I was just thinking you would run around the city and just slap it on things. And there'd be Toronto Miracle stickers throughout the city. Quality stickers, because stickererU will make them. So thank you. And are you willing to reveal the neighborhood? Like you said, there's 140 neighborhoods. Are you willing to reveal the neighborhood that you live in? I live in,

I guess technically it's Carlton Village. Because it's just outside the junction. We're on the wrong side of the track. So it's Carlton Village. Don't say that. Okay, you see, yeah, there's a lot of neighborhood names. You hear them and you're like, the junction we're on the wrong side of the tracks so it's carlton village uh okay that i you see yeah there's a lot of neighborhood names you hear them and you're like oh they don't have as good like pr like i never hear about those neighborhoods no because we get like lumped into the junction the junction in my lifetime because i used to live very close to the junction and i

can tell you that they've been expanding the junction for the last 40 years like the true junction was like keel and uh dundas and there was this little bubble. Shout out to my buddy Joe and T.O. His dad had a barber shop at the corner of Keele and Dundas. But now it's like, oh, everyone lives in the junction. I know. But it's like High Park, Junction, Ron C. Park. Yeah, but it's okay.

And then, yeah, that's a lot of West End action there. But if you were interested in moving to what I call Beaches West, to be my neighbor, I know somebody, Joanne Glutish. She's a lifetime member of Royal LePage's Chairman's Club, and that's the top 1% of Royal LePage for Canada. So I'd be happy to put you in touch with joanne and next thing you know it uh you're a short walk from me and it would be good to have you in the hood here so and i could be on the show all the time you'd be my co-host

i could use a co-host not just once every 785 episodes but i and i have the second heater coming like you'll be it's a propane heater too i'm going to set it on the table. Stu Stone is a bit of a diva. I don't know if you know that name, but he needs heat on him at all times. So it's all for Stu. And a shout out to CDN Technologies. They're there if you have any computer or network issues or questions.

They're your outsourced IT department. You can contact Barb anytime at 905-542-9759 You can contact Barb anytime at 905-542-9759 or you can write Barb at cdntechnologies.com. You ready for the first miracle jam? I'm excited. I also think it's fine if I can see if you can name the tune and put you on the spot there. What kind of music do you listen to at home?

Oh, God. I'm very eclectic in my musical taste. It's like the common answer that everybody gives, right? I don't know. I like a lot of hip hop. You like yesterday's classics and today's hits? No. I mean, I'm forced to listen to today's hits because of Ryan.

And how old is Ryan now? She is turning eight next week. Wow. Because she was at my wedding and she was very small. She was a tiny little human. And that's right. So shout out to Ryan. I think she's listening. She's probably jumping around right now.

I saw her at a recent Zoom call. I've seen her on Zoom recently. She loves the Zoom calls. She likes to pop in, as she says. Eight years old. She's getting to pre-teen land. She's aging rapidly, Jordi. You've got to slow that down over there. You don't have to tell me.

I've got an 18-year-old, so I can tell you about that. That's crazy. Do you know who this is? What wonderful Canadian is this? Okay. Jack knows what this is. Is he watching? Do you know who Jack is?

You looked surprised when I said Jack. You know, I know him because he's come to games. He has come to games. I'm just asking. He'll know who this is right away. Big hit. I know. It's really irritating me.

Okay, do you want me to help you? Yeah. This is Bruce Colburn. So I thought it was an appropriate song. It's really irritating me. Okay. Do you want me to help you? Yeah. This is Bruce Colburn. So I thought it was an appropriate song. Waiting for a miracle. You don't have to wait much longer. It's December 5th at 10 a.m. Got it.

And if it's a success, you can do this every year. We've talked about that. Yeah. And then you could do the Mississauga miracle. You got to buy up all these domain names right away. All the cities miracle. Come on. Get on it.

Okay. So that's bruised. I won't play the whole song because we're going to burn through five of these. But here's another one. You ready for this one? It's coming, Jordi. I'm waiting for it. I feel like this song could have been in Footloose. It is from the mid-80s.

If that's not clear. You don't say. Look, I remember the mid-80s, okay? Is it ringing any bells? At all familiar to you? I'll wait for the reframe. Or the chorus. Is this like Wham?

Nope. Is this Duran Duran? Nope. Keep naming 80s acts until we get it. 80s acts with male singers. Go. It's a little tricky if you don't know the song. Is it Culture Club? No, that's a good guess, though. That's a good guess.

What's the name? Here's the chorus. Hold on. Here it comes. So this is for all the listeners in the GTA. All we need is a miracle. All we need is you to volunteer and donate your food on December 5th. This, okay, let me help you out. Is it the two guys?

No, not Thompson Twins. You're thinking Thompson Twins, right? I don't think I was thinking Thompson Twins. And it's not Boy George, but teaser, that's going to come soon. That's going to come soon. So the band is actually called Mike and the Mechanics because it's named after Mike Rutherford from Genesis. You remember Genesis or Phil Collins? Yeah.

Okay, good. But this is not Mike Rutherford singing this song. This is actually Paul Young. Do you know the name Paul Young? Was he in something? Like a band of his own? Or a group of his own? Okay, so he...

He was in... Well, he's in Mike and the Mechanics here. I don't know. I have to look into all this stuff here. I'm not prepared for these hard-hitting questions here. Sorry, sorry. I'm going deep. I have to look into all this stuff here. I'm not prepared for these heart-hitting questions here. Sorry, sorry. I'm going deep. But he, yeah, Paul Young's done some stuff.

But this is Mike and the Mechanics. All I Need is a Miracle. Our second Miracle Jam. Let's go to number three. I've got to get one. Because you mentioned, y'all, you're going to get this one because you've mentioned him already. All right.

Culture Club? Correct. That's correct. Wow. You got one. I'm good. And I picked hits because I didn't want it to be difficult. That's correct. Wow. You got one. Good. And I picked hits because I didn't want

to be difficult. Oh, yeah. Did you just like Google miracle songs? Well, these, no, these were all off the top of my head because these are all big time mainstream hits. No deep cuts on this list. These are all big hits. Yeah, so Culture Club. All...

Well, It's a Miracle is the name of the song. And Toronto Miracle, December 5th is a miracle. Good work on that. Okay. It's a miracle in the making. Okay. Let's go to the fourth jam. I'm glad you finally got one.

I know. I'm one for three. This is awful. We all started and I'll fade this down. Going back a little deeper here. Is this The Miracles? The song's called Miracles. It's another classic.

You might have heard it on Q107 or some classic rock station. This is Jefferson Starship. Big hit. Peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 back in 75. Big jam. I was never like a classic rock kind of person. I hear you. You live in the moment.

Why look back? I don't know what that means. I don't know what that means either. No, I dig soul. Well, what about like Beatles? You don't ever like dive into some Beatles? It's not a common place that I go on my own, but like happy when I'm there.

Like I definitely like the Beatles. You're there right now, Joanie. How's it feeling? It's a pretty good jam right it's nice it's moody I feel like you need like a TikTok thing

to bring this jam back like I could just see like you know they did Dreams yeah they could do the same treatment to this jam

Miracles but did Dreams ever go away yes it did actually it did yeah it did my 16 year old's inside she'll tell you she learned about Dreams when that guy put it on TikTok and it went viral.

Right. How's the Toronto Miracle TikTok campaign going? Because this might be the song. I can just envision this song in a Toronto Miracle thing. I'm not on TikTok. I have no idea what the pickups look like. Okay, so we need a volunteer who's on TikTok and can put something together to this jam. Help us get to those TikTokers.

I thought I'd have fun with the fifth jam. I'm wondering if you'll know this one. Here we go. We got a theory. You see, Mike? We got a theory about magic and miracles. That's right. That's right.

If magic is all we've ever known, then it's easy to miss what really goes on. But I've seen miracles in every way. And I see miracles every day. Oceans spanning beyond my sight. And a million stars way above them at night. You don't have to be high to look in the sky. And know that's a miracle open wide. Look at the mountains, trees, the seven seas

And everything chillin' underwater, please Hot lava, snow, rain and fog Long necked giraffes and pet cats and dogs And I've seen 85,000 people All in one room, together as equal Pure magic is the birth of my kids I've seen shit that'll shock your eyelids The sun and the moon and even Mars

The Milky Way, a fuckin' shooting star UFOs, a river flows Plant a little seed and nature grows Niagara Falls and the pyramids Everything you believed in as kids Fuckin' rainbows, after it rains There's enough miracles here to blow your brains I fed a fish to a pelican at Frisco Bay.

What lyrics? Holy smokes. He ran away. And music is magic, pure and clean. You can feel it and hear it, but it can't be seen. It can't be seen. Music is all magic. You can't even hold it.

Do you notice that? Like a nice miracle. It's just there in the air. Are you a believer in music? Can you name the fans? No, but fucking rainbows. And there's another lyric in this song. I think it comes up like, fucking magnets, how do they work?

Like, that's Miracle, right? It's Miracle. This is insane clown posse. Okay, that's why I don't recognize that. You're not a juggalo. No, I'm not a juggalo. I thought you were, you know, honestly. Really? What was it about me that made. You're not a juggalo. No, I'm not a juggalo. I thought you were, you know, honestly. Really?

What was it about me that made you think I was a juggalo? Do you remember me showing up to games in a clown costume? Wait, I think, was Matty Spry a juggalo? No. Although, if any one of us were going to be, it would have been him or Greg Faye. How's Greg Faye doing? I think he's doing good. I mean, it's been a minute since I've seen him. I think the last time I saw him? I think he's doing good.

It's been a minute since I've seen him. I think the last time I saw him was Maddie's wedding. I didn't get an invite to that one. I saw him at when Colleen and Engel were together at a Christmas thing. No, a New Year's thing. I saw...

I think we went swimming in their backyard. Yes, okay. I went swimming in their backyard. Yes, okay. I went swimming in their backyard, and Faye was there, and he had a kid. Do you know how many kids he has? He's one, Everly. Okay. This is, okay.

I'm having flushed with all these flashbacks right now. Excuse me. I'll bring down the insane clown posse. So let's take a moment here of our history together here. So my memory, before it was called Raging Storm, we had a slow-pitch team called Hooray for Everything. Were you on Hooray for Everything? I still have the, I think I still have the shirt.

I think I should have wore it. I think I have it too. I should have worn one of our old shirts. Now, the way I remember it going down is that this all came out of HMV. Like, this is how I remember it because my invitation to join Hooray for Everything came from MoFo.

Yeah. MoFo worked at HMV. You were at HMV. Greg and I worked together. Right. Yeah. And Andrea, Ange,

was dating Greg. And Ange worked at HMV. But, like, way after, didn't she? Oh, that I don't know. I just know she, like, was a long-time HMV-er. Yeah. But I way after, didn't she? Oh, that I don't know. I just know she like was long time HMB-er. But I just remember this team came out of like people who knew each other from HMB. And then it kind of, obviously I never worked at HMB.

But, and I know my brother Steve was on like one year of Hooray for Everything. And then he retired due to like injuries or something. But then we played a long time together. That team, the core of that team was together a very long time, as I recall. Over 10 years. I think more. Early 2000s, if not 2000 or something. Early 2000s.

And I only left that team. I left that team. I'm just trying to get the year right. But I guess my last season was 2013. Yeah. I think that's where we kind of, it stopped. It sort of started to crumble. Okay.

So, can we, actually, actually, I can't do it. You can do it if you want. I can't do it, actually. I was going to, no. You't do it actually I was gonna no you know actually I was nervous as hell about you coming on because I thought

this moment because I actually I actually for first you know for six and a half years now when I think about him I start to cry

for six and a half years I know and I can't do it actually but okay I'll play a clip because I did pull a clip I pulled a clip so I'm going to play a clip

and then we'll see if we can do a little bit here so here's a clip Yo what's going on gamers it's Mike here at the Future Shop playing NBA 07 on the PSP. This game is bananas. Jay, shoot it. It's so easy to play.

The gameplay is hot. The commentaries are on fire. Take it, take it. Come on, bring it. Crazy slam dunk competition. That is just bananas. These features, incredible. Check it out, guys.

NBA 07 on the PSP. Peace. Ready for everyone. Bananas. Okay. Rating for everyone. Bananas. Okay. That's like the most perfect way to describe Mike. He just walks into a future shop. They ask him to, you know,

randomly film this little clip of how much he loves this game. And he's like, yeah, sure. I'll do it. And he nails it. Okay. So let's look. a lot of people are confused right now so i just feel like we should tell people what's going on here okay so uh you were married to my buddy mike kick i was and then uh and i've been i talked about this on the

show a few few times especially when m grinder came over like we talked in fact in fact in fact uh she recorded a song about you guys but i guess you know that called visiting hours which i actually loaded that up too but uh so and i can i'll tell him i'll cry and i think real quick but but but but kick uh he he died uh how old was mike when he died 32 he was 32 when he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. And he was 33 when he passed away. And I can't forget when he passed away because it was literally three days after Jarvis was born. So that makes it April 2014. Okay, so how are you doing?

Like we're six and a half years now since Mike passed, and you look like you're doing well, and Ryan looks like she's doing well, and you're engaged to be married now, and everybody's very excited and happy for you, and that's amazing. That's fucking amazing. But I just want you to know, I guess,

that I think about him a lot. Like, I see him. Like, that's the thing. I see, he's got a look, and, like, I'll see people with his look. Like, when he had the beard. And I'll be like, oh, there's kick. And then it's like, that can't be kick. But, you know, it's like you see him a lot.

And then, you know, I think about him a lot because a couple of things. One is that when I started this stupid thing back in the summer of 2012, like, literally, like, at the beginning, you know, it was exciting to see a hundred downloads like that. Oh, a hundred downloads. Like this is big league. But always like I'd get feedback from Mike. Like he'd listen.

This is the early days. And, you know, Colleen would be on, for example, from Raging Storm. And he always had the feedback. And then we finished the 2012 season. And at that, at the end of the 20 and do i have my years right now 2013 season oh my gosh yeah so we finished the 2013 season and at this point mike doesn't realize he's sick right at the end of the storm season no it was soon it was very soon after it was crazy you know, he looked and felt otherwise healthy. He ran a 10K without training two weeks before he was diagnosed. Well, Monica and I got married in June of 2013.

You guys were there with Ryan and like just a big strapping, handsome young man. Yeah. And we finished the season, which I don't know if that is September or something. Diagnosed September 24th. So shortly after that season ends, Mike finds out he has esophageal cancer. And I mean, a couple of thoughts. One is that I went to,

I want to give a shout out to Ford Canada because I went, I had a contact at Ford Canada. And I said, my buddy's fighting cancer and he's having a tough go and he's a huge Raptor fan because Kick was the biggest Raptor fan I kick was kick was the biggest Raptor fan. I knew he was the biggest Toronto sports fan. Yeah. Big Toronto sports fan.

Many times kicked out of Raptors games for chirping. For chirping. Oh my gosh. Well, yeah. Do you remember the dodgeball game when he threw the ball? Do you remember this? And then do you remember,

I don't know. It was just once or was it twice where he sent emails out to the team? Yeah, I have one email because I think I posted it on TorontoMic.com. But he, in anger, we were on a dodgeball team too. Okay, I mean, in fairness, this is self-officiated dodgeball, like among young adults. Like you're just asking. You're asking for fights for it being self-officiated. But I guess he threw the ball at the other team in anger, as I recall.

Probably. He got kicked out and then he sent this email and he was going to quit the team. He was going to quit the team. Guys, I've disappointed you all. I've been a disgrace. And on Storm, I remember because I was pretty competitive and feisty and then you threw in kick and angle was in the three mics. We were all mics, but go ahead. Also Greg. Greg Fay was the three mics were all mics, but go ahead. Also Greg.

Greg Fay was the hottest head of all. And you know, looking back, like kind of nuts that we gave a shit. Like we were so like, what did we think that was? It was everything apparently. Insane. Okay, so I went to Ford Canada, sent over two tickets for kick and I to kick ass seats.

Ford seats, so you know they're good seats. That I could take kick to a game as he was battling the game was like february 2014 okay and kick was all set to go and then he said he wasn't feeling up to it obviously and then i actually went to ford canada and i said to ford canada i feel you know terrible but i asked for these tickets because i was going to take my friend who was battling cancer. And he's not up to it. And I was trying to give the tickets back. And they actually said to me, you know, take your daughter. They said, take your daughter.

Like, so sweet. And that was the night T. Ross hit 51 points. So this tied the record. And I was at the first time when Vince Carter hit the 51 points. So, yeah, we actually lost the game to the Clippers, I believe. But anyway, there was that. And then, of course, I remember when Jarvis was born, and I was taking Michelle and James to St. Joe's to meet their little brother. And then I had a text from you that said, you know,

if you want to say goodbye, it's now. And me and the two kids who were pretty young, uh, we went to visit Mike and I still remember like, uh, you know, Mike and like the, we did the exploding fist bump. And I remember, I just remember crying with you in the hallway because I realized I wouldn't see him again yeah and I just you know I think about you a lot and I just I'm glad you guys are doing well and if you ever need anything I'm here but I don't know I just miss kick and I want everyone to know in kicks family and your family that we think about him a lot and shout out to Pete too because every once in a while I get to know from

Pete because Pete will google his brother's name. And then he ends up on my site. And he thanks me for not forgetting his brother. And I'm like, Pete, um, like we're not going to forget my kick ever. Cause the guy was just a sweetheart.

Nice. It's just a sweetheart. And we talk about him all the time. He's not going anywhere. Uh, yeah. Just sometimes, We talk about him all the time. He's not going anywhere. Sometimes, right? Life is unfair. This is a case of that, for sure. And the song in the background.

This song just tears me up. And this song's really about you. And M. Griner. You know, you mentioned kick a big Toronto sports fan, but a big music fan. Visiting ours Come and go I'll stay here

by your side Your heart and mine And Kick was in some M. Griner videos, like famously in that elevator scene as a businessman, right? I mean, if we, you know, you know the list, right? Every couple has a list. If I got to... Okay. Like, no doubt, Em would be number one on his list.

He had such a crush on her. Well, great musician, beautiful woman. And wrote, when she found out that, about what was happening to Mike Kick, she wrote this song, Visiting Hours, about you. She came and visited Ryan and I a few times. She was beautiful. You know, the most beautiful thing happened when Mike got sick, and that's just the community of everyone just sort of rallied all around us

and always made him feel so loved. And I think, you know, the moments of his passing were probably the most difficult but beautiful thing that happened at the same time. And in the room with us were probably about 30 of, 30 of our friends and family who just refused to leave. And so this song is pretty, you know, reminiscent of that time for me, obviously. She hit the nail on the head.

Well, Jordi, I'm sorry that we well I'm not sorry I don't know how to have you on the show and not talk about my cake to be honest I know it's probably why it took so long for this to happen

because there's a camera on me right now and it's live streaming and it's yeah it's I mean I always think if I feel this way

I always think how the fuck does Jordy feel he's never far I just know that he'd be so proud of you know the family that I'm building and keeping just keep going right he'd be so mad if we stopped

and I once in a while on a bike ride I'll pop over Keep going, right? He'd be so mad if we stopped. And I, once in a while, on a bike ride, I'll pop over to see his gravestone at the park lawn. And forever, you know, the We the North flag would fly there. And I was just, you know, when the... When the raps won it all and you know you think like cake would have fucking loved this like this was this would have blown his mind the raps are the 2019 nba champs would have gotten apeshit All right. to share with everybody that this year's Holidays in Hope Candlelight Service of Remembrance is a live online event this year and you can join the good people at

Ridley Funeral Home to receive comforting messages, enjoy live music, and reflect on your loved one's life and legacy. So that's happening Wednesday, December 2nd at 7pm. And if you want to attend, you can RSVP by writing them at,

contact us at ridleyfuneralhome.com. Again, everyone listening, go to torontomiracle.org. I don't want to bury the lead here. And that's where you can register your intention to leave non-perishable food items at your door on December 5th. That's 10 a.m. Also, we need thousands of volunteers. So like everyone listening has to volunteer. That's the rule. Go to torontomiracle.org and you can sign up to be a volunteer. And someone on our small but mighty team will be in touch with you.

Jordi, great to see you again. Congrats again on the engagement. Thank you. And yeah, thanks for helping to spread the word about Toronto Miracle. Well, thanks for generating all these amazing awareness opportunities, Mike. Well, we've got to get a bunch more. We've got to get CBC, we've got to get the Toronto Sun, we've got a whole bunch more places we've got to get

talking and writing about Toronto Miracle. So, we're going to work on that. And that brings us to the end of our 752nd show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike.

Jordi's on Twitter, but she doesn't tweet. But it's Jordan Malinik. Malinik. I'm sorry. It's ML. It's not sounds like it's spelled. We got to fix that. Malinik.

Malinik. Not Milnik. That's a whole different last name. It's a whole other guy. It's a whole other guy. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Sticker U is at Sticker U.

CDN Technology, they're at CDN Technologies. Joanne Glutish is at J Glutish, G-L-U-D-I-S-H. And Ridley Funeral Home is at Ridley F-H. See you all Monday when my guest is Joey Jeremiah from Degrassi Junior High. That's amazing. I know. That is amazing. Can't wait for Joey Jeremiah.

I don't know what the future can hold or do for me and you. But I'm a much better man for having known you. Oh, you know that's true because everything... This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Rome Phone. Rome Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls. Visit RomePhone.ca to get started.