Sweet treats and Easter go hand in hand, so while some children are hunting down eggs at The Broadwalk Centre’s free Easter egg hunt, other shoppers will be baking up a storm. Inspired by the BBC’s Great British Bake Off, the center is holding its own Edgeware Easter Bake Off on Saturday, April 4th.

The center’s judging team is looking for someone to take the title of The Broadwalk’s Best Baker—and with it, a host of cooking-related prizes from center retailers like M&S, Sainsbury’s and WHSmith.

The competition will be split into two categories: one for the 16-and-under crowd, and another for adult bakers. The judges are encouraging creativity and inviting shoppers to enter cakes from any and all cultures. They’ll be judged based on taste, texture and decoration.

Centre manager Angela Brooks said, “We are very much looking forward to holding the first Edgware Easter Bake Off here at The Broadwalk Centre. We pride ourselves on being at the heart of the community and believe this event will really bring people of Edgware together for a fun and interactive day. I’m very excited to see the variety of entries for the bake off competition, may the best baker win!”

Who couldn’t use a little more kindness in their day-to-day life? Metropolis at Metrotown spent most of February trying to spread kindness, starting with their shoppers and going from there.

The center launched a Pay It Forward campaign. On Facebook, it asked shoppers to come up with their best ideas for random acts of kindness. Everyone who shared their ideas through their official form was entered for a chance to win a $500 center gift card with a matching $500 donation to a local charity. And Metrotown went a bit further, donating $1 for every entry to CKNW Orphans’ Fund.

Meanwhile, the center’s Street Team was busy making sure shoppers had good reasons to want to pay a little kindness forward. They treated shoppers to free coffees, tasty treats, pink scarves and a lot more. Each random act of kindness was accompanied by a polite note letting the shopper know that it would be great if they kept the kindness chain going by paying it forward.

NABS Canada reached new heights this year: 19,300 feet, to be precise. The organization brought 18 climbers together to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

If you’re not familiar with NABS Canada, it provides assistance to Canadians in the marketing and communications industries who may need help due to illness, injury, unemployment or financial difficulty.

“The mountain, to us, represents what NABS does for others, and is symbolic of the struggles clients face every day. We climbed for those who couldn’t, and our efforts will net the funds to help at least 25 families facing financial and illness challenges this year.” said Louise Bérubé, climber and NABS Director of Allocations and Services.

In the process, the team has raised over $115,000 so far, which will go to deliver programs and financial support to people from the Marketing, Advertising, Media and Communications community who need NABS help and support, now and in the future.

NABS’ Media Sale and Marketing Manager Mark Neves said, “This seemed like the perfect follow up to NABS’ 30th birthday, and we attracted many who had helped in the past with fundraising or who had experienced NABS services. We sure connected on the climb, all determined to reach new heights both personally and professionally.”

The group also snagged a Guinness World Record you might not expect: the highest altitude haircut. Climber and legendary hair stylist Maurice Fiorio trimmed away 13 inches of curls for Google’s Anneliese Sculthorpe. The summit of Mount Kilimanjaro is quite the trip to take for a haircut, but it was all for a great cause.

The deadline for the 2015 U.S. MAXI Awards is just around the corner. Have you submitted your entry yet?

If not, you have until March 11, 2015 to finish getting your entry ready. This year’s competition is looking a little different, with submissions split into four categories:

• Centers less than 500,000 sq. ft.
• Centers greater than 500,000 sq. ft.
• Joint center campaigns
• Company

Eligible campaigns must have been implemented between June 1, 2013 and January 31, 2015. They’ll be judged on their objectives, implementation, innovation, and results. The goal of the awards program is to recognize innovative events, programs and technology that add value to shopping centers and companies across the U.S., and winners will get that recognition at RECon 2015 on May 17, 2015.

There’s still time to get your entry together, so visit the awards website for a full list of rules, information about preparing your entry, and the entry form itself.

Have you heard of Super Boss Day? Not only does it give bosses the chance to dress up as superheroes for the day, it raises money for a fantastic cause: HeartKids, a charity that helps care for the psychological and emotional well being of children and families after the diagnosis of Childhood Heart Disease (CHD) during treatment and post surgery.

Super Boss Day is new initiative, and it just passed on February 19th. Broadmeadows Shopping Centre was ahead of the game, though. It got involved in a big way, dressing the center up in a superhero theme. The center’s management and marketing managers were on board, and the center brought a number of retailers on board too. But Super Boss Day’s biggest proponent was Operations Manager David Farmer, a former Heart Kid himself. He wasn’t involved with the charity as a child, but after being born with Congenital Heart Disease, he grew up knowing how valuable the organization could be. That’s why the center was so motivated to support HeartKids—so current and future generations will have the support they need.

Since it fell just after Valentine’s Day, Broadmeadows tied the holiday into its campaign. The center offered love padlocks and customized Valentines, with a portion of the funds raised going to the charity.