Fellow Action Canada Anil Patel is in Vancouver this week getting ready for the city’s 2nd annual Timeraiser. Anil is a great guy and Timeraisers is a fantastic organization.

For those not in the know, a Timeraiser is part volunteer fair, part silent art auction and part night on the town. Throughout the evening you’ll meet with different agencies and match your skills to their needs. Once you have made your matches, you are eligible to bid on artwork. The big twist is rather than bid money, you bid volunteer hours. Once the auction is over the organizers announce the hours raised and then celebrate our contribution to the community. A more detailed explanation can be found here.

To date Timeraisers have raised over 55,000 hours, invested $300,000 in the careers of Canadian artists, engaged 4,500 Canadians to pick up a cause and worked with over 250 NGOs. Pretty cool!

So if you are interested, the second annual Vancouver Timeraiser will be taking place this Thursday! Details are:

The Date: Thursday September 24th, 2009
The Place: The Roundhouse, Yaletown
The Time: Doors open at 6:30 pm
Info and tickets at www.timeraiser.ca