Happy Summer!

Summer is officially here! 2020 has been a challenging year so far. In order to celebrate the start of summer and what will hopefully be a much more positive second half of the year, we thought we would share a few good stories, pictures and videos that came out of all of the hardship over the last few months!

Flowers, Birds and Butterflies

While we were all locked up in our houses avoiding the coronavirus, nature continued to do its thing! Flowers bloomed, birds made their nests and laid their eggs, and hungry caterpillars turned into beautiful butterflies.

Helping Families Handle Cancer

Our charity partner, Helping Families Handle Cancer, ran a Growing Smiles campaign this spring. A few of our Team members purchased some of their beautiful flowers for their home offices and yards. They look wonderful and help to brighten up our surroundings!

Baby Robins

Crista and her family had a robins’ nest fall out of a tree in front of their house. Luckily 2/3 babies survived the fall. The mom and dad robin continued to feed the babies while they were on the ground. Using sticks, they were able to lift the babies back into their nest and then carefully reposition the nest back in the tree. The mom & dad robin continued to care for their babies and they have now grown up and left their nest as healthy robins!

Butterfly Wings n’ Wishes

A few of our Team members took part in raising butterflies through the Butterfly Wings n’ Wishes organization. They took their caterpillar kits home and watched their caterpillars quickly grow over a two week period, eventually forming their chrysalis and becoming beautiful Painted Lady butterflies!

Fundraisers

Plaid for Dad

The Team took part in “Plaid for Dad” again this year in support of the Canadian Cancer Society and prostate cancer. They set a goal of $500.00 and raised over $570.00 in just two short weeks! The Team also participated by wearing plaid during our monthly Team Meeting and wearing plaid on Friday, June 19th in celebration of Plaid for Dad and Father’s Day.

Calgary Ethiopian Youth Alliance

Danielle and a few of her friends started a fundraiser as part of the Black Lives Matter movement, selling t-shirts in support of a local organization, the CEYA (Calgary Ethopian Youth Alliance). Their goal is to raise $2,000.

Insurance Company Support

With our Team working from home, some things have been a bit more challenging, including navigating technical issues and balance families and school with kids at home. Our amazing Insurance Company partners are also handling the same challenges from their homes and we would like to thank them for all of their amazing support and understanding during these crazy times!

Social Media Videos

For anyone who spends time on social media, you have likely seen some of these videos already, but they are too good not to share!

Some Good News

John Krasinski created a Youtube news channel called Some Good News where he highlights good news stories submitted by viewers. People are encouraged to submit their clips, weather reports and artwork in an attempt to focus on the good things that are happening in the world! He currently has 8 videos posted, the first of which can be seen here:

Dude Perfect

If you haven’t yet discovered Dude Perfect, we highly recommend checking these guys out! A group of friends that started filming basketball trick shots in their backyard have turned into a global sensation, complete with their live own shows and tours! They recently created a video about Quarantine Stereotypes which is good for a laugh. Check it out here:

Mark Rober

Mark Rober is a former NASA engineer who creates all kinds of amazing gadgets and things using science and engineering. One of our personal all time favorites was the obstacle course he created for the squirrels who had been stealing bird seed from his bird feeder! Check it out here:

Costen Insurance

And we can’t forget our own personal YouTube channel! We hope to get some more video content up on our site in the near future, but for now, in case you missed it, here is our video on what life has been like for our Team working from home:

Little Helpers

And perhaps the cutest of them all… thank you Danielle for sharing this video of you and your daughter, future Insurance Broker extraordinaire!

Do you have any happy or feel good stories, pictures or videos to share? We would love to hear from you!

Thank you and Happy Summer 2020,

The Costen Insurance Team