Justin Bieber inspires acts of kindness as he launches Canadian tour dates

By Sandra Sperounes

EDMONTON He might drive the most obnoxious car in Hollywood. (A chrome Fisker Karma.) He might not be able to sing without the help of computer software. He might be all your daughter talks about. Morning, noon, and night.Love or hate him, Justin Bieber is a force of goodness in this world. The Canadian pop sensation is giving a portion of his Believe tour revenues to build schools in Third World countries. He tried to donate sales from one of his singles, Turn To You, to a shelter for teen moms in London, Ont. (The facility closed before he could give them the money.) He helped raise awareness about organ donations when an Ottawa woman was waiting for a double lung transplant.Not only is Bieber known for his acts of kindness, his fans want to spread the love, too.Two Edmonton moms of Beliebers, for example, are organizing a food and toy drive for the Edmonton Food Bank and Santas Anonymous.Amanda Adams and Erin Acevedo want fans to bring donations to Biebers sold-out show on Monday at Rexall Place. Collection boxes will be set up outside the arena by the LRT and the Wayne Gretzky statue as of 4 p.m.Adams is the mom of two Bieber fans Katelin, 8, and her brother, Riley, 6. Acevedos six-year-old daughter, Estrella, is also a Belieber.We were both lucky enough to get tickets to the show and we got to talking about how much our kids have, says Adams.Most kids do appreciate, but some of them dont appreciate how lucky they are. So we were trying to think of a fun way for the kids to give back and we came up with this idea. The Food Bank and Santas were on board, and then we told the kids and they got excited, asking family members and friends for donations.The moms started a Facebook group on Oct. 1 Beliebers food and toy drive at Rexall Place and within 48 hours, more than 550 people had join! ed. Adam s, who admits Boyfriend is her favourite Bieber tune, says half her car trunk is already filled with two boxes of food and toy donations.I cant believe how many people want to help; its awesome, she says. Hes a good little role model. Hes this little guy who likes to give back himself and encourages all his fans to do the same.In fact, Adams and Acevedo arent the only ones to use Bieber to help the Edmonton Food Bank. A local radio station, up! 99.3 FM, collected 673 kilograms of food and $400 in cash as part of a ticket giveaway last week.

Here are a few more examples of big-heartedness by the pop star and his fans:

1. When six-year-old Avalanna Routh married a paper cut-out of the Biebs, little did her family know the pop star would become a close pal.Routh, better known as Mrs. Bieber, was battling brain cancer when the pop star heard about the mock wedding. The two became fast friends hanging out at shows, doing interviews, talking to each other via Skype.When the Massachusetts native died last month, Bieber tweeted about her death and paid homage to her life at his tour kickoff in Glendale, Ariz. (Yeah, the very same one at which he hurled.)2. Volunteer at an orphanage or go to a Bieber concert?Not many 10-year-old girls would pick the former, but Isabella Tonn did.The Edmonton native was recovering from a rare blood cancer when she asked the Make-A-Wish Foundation to let her volunteer at an orphanage in Baja California, Mexico.I had a few ideas; one of them was Justin Bieber, she told Global TV. But then I thought, in a few years Im probably not going to like him anymore.Tonn and her family volunteered for a week in August. Her parents say her prognosis is excellent.3. Earlier this year, Abbie Jacobson found a small silk purse with $4,000 in a store near Portland, Maine.The eight-year-old and her family managed to track down the owner a woman who had immigrated from Cambodia two years ago.A columnist with The Portland Press Herald wrote about the story and th! rew in t his request: (For anyone interested in making it even happier, Abbie wouldnt mind seeing Justin Bieber when he plays the TD Garden in Boston on Nov. 10.)The Bank of Maine then offered to send Jacobson and her family to the show, while a hotel chain donated free rooms.4. On Monday, Bieber met Megan Ham, after learning about her story via an Oregon TV station and Twitter.The 11-year-old girl cant walk or talk due to a rare neurological disease, but she moves and smiles whenever she hears Biebers tunes.He tweeted a message to her in June MEGAN you stay strong for me and Im gonna make sure we meet and the two hung out before his Oct. 8 show in Portland, Ore. Ill never forget you, he told Ham.5. In Calgary, Denika Hartwick and her brother, Corvyn, are auctioning off their tickets to Biebers Oct. 12 show at the Saddledome. Theyre hoping to raise money for a non-profit agency that provides lunches for 3,000 students every day.Our dad bought a pair of Justin Bieber tickets, reads the Hartwick familys website, kidshelpingkidscalgary.wordpress.com.We dont like Justin Bieber. At all. But he bought them just in case one of us changed our mind. And when we still said no way, he had an idea what if he could give away a life changing experience to someone?Bless their little hearts.

Justin Bieber plays Vancouver tonight. Further Canadian tour dates include:Calgary, Oct. 12Edmonton, Oct. 15Saskatoon, Oct. 16Winnipeg, Oct. 18Ottawa, Nov. 23Montreal, Nov. 26Toronto, Dec. 1