Knit Fit | Beauty Night Society

We’ve come a long way!

October 22, 2009 By Christie Leave a Comment

It’s hard to believe that Beauty Night Society is almost 9! A lot has changed as we have grown, and a lot more will change as we continue to grow.
The Vancouver Sun wrote this story about our 8 year anniversary.
Since then, our programming has continued to expand, with thanks to our generous volunteers and supporters. We really couldn’t do this without you!
We’re at the start of our busiest season. If you’re interested in volunteering, please email info@beautynight.org to see about opportunities. If you would like to donate yarn or knitting needles for Knit Fit, that would also be wonderful.
We are trying to raise funds to buy products to put into our Christmas Stockings as well. Having funds allows us to buy in bulk, which is beneficial to the women. We love product as well, but it does have to be unused and unopened to ensure our clients feel dignified. Just think, would you like to receive a half used bottle of shampoo in your stocking?
We are also gearing up a Mom and Tot nutrition program, where we will be teaching Moms how to cook simple, healthy recipes under the constraint of it having to be prepared on a hotplate since that is the tools they have available. If you would like to donate crockpots or other kitchen supplies (such as tupperware), we would love that too!

I’m excited about what the future holds for Beauty Night, and I can’t thank you enough for making all of this possible.

Filed Under: Children's Programming, Donations/Fundraising, Fund Raising, Healthy Living, Knit Fit, Xmas Stocking Drive Tagged With: beauty night, caroline macgillivray, downtown eastside, Knit Fit, makeovers, Vancouver, volunteer opportunities

BNS’ Leading Ladies (Our Program Coordinators)

October 19, 2009 By caroline 1 Comment

Behind each Beauty Night Society (BNS) Program, there is a fantastic program coordinator. Without these ladies, our programs would not benefit our communities through the vast diversity. Each program offers a piece of the body/mind/spirit puzzle that many of us struggle with. Each program coordinator is a leader in her own right and inspires our participants and volunteers.

Tyla Flexman
Womyn’s Gym Program Coordinator

Tyla Flexman is a recent kinesiology graduate of the University of British Columbia. She is very interested in the health and fitness field and is a personal trainer as well as a community field hockey coach. Tyla has six years of coaching experience including coaching high school sports, development camps and provincial high performance teams. Her hardworking attitude and determination is what makes her a positive role model for young athletes in the community. She is a strong advocator of women in sport and strives to encourage female participation in exercise. She began volunteering for the Beauty Night Society in 2008 and is now the program coordinator for the Womyns Gym Program. She currently plays on the Canadian Women’s National Field Hockey team and was the 2008 recipient of the Gail Wilson Award, given to a female varsity athlete displaying leadership on the field and in the community. Tyla is excited to be a part of The Beauty Night Society and hopes to run the Sun Run this year with Womyns Gym clients!

Alexa Fox
Kid’s Club Program Co-coordinator
Mom & Tot Nutrition Program Co-coordinator

Christie Gray
Mom & Tot Nutrition Program Co –coordinator

Christie Gray has been a Vancouver resident for a year and a half. With a strong belief in helping people reach their potential and feel good about themselves, Christie finds Beauty Night Society(BNS) a great place to help make a difference. Christie is a Registered Natural Health Care practitioner with a love of cooking and formulating healthy, nutritious recipes. Christie believes that there is a strong connection between eating well and health in mind, body and spirit and hopes to help more people understand that connection through her work with BNS.

Sophia Hughes
Kid’s Club Program Co-coordinator

Caroline MacGillivray
Group Fitness Program Coordinator

Laura Mah
Knit Fit Program Coordinator & Founder

Laura Mah is currently in her final year of high school at Vancouver Technical Secondary. In 2004, Laura was strongly inspired by her cousin and the Founder of Beauty Night Society, Caroline MacGillivray, and created a knitting club at her elementary school. Now known as Knit Fit, this small group has transformed into a diverse program made up of individuals from all around Vancouver. The goal of Knit Fit is to knit scarves for the homeless and less fortunate people of Vancouver’s Downtown East Side and at the same time, to teach people the importance of giving back to our community through a fun new skill and hobby. This year, Knit Fit has expanded to elementary and high school. Six schools in Vancouver have been involved in Knit Fit so far. Every year, Knit Fit hands out scarves at Beauty Night Society’s annual Christmas Stocking Drive event, and we are in highly anticipating this year’s event! Laura cannot wait to see what Knit Fit has in store for the future. Laura is also largely involved at Vancouver Technical Secondary, and has served on the Student Council for the last 5 years; this year, serving at the council’s President.

Tiffany Telford
Makeover Program Facilitator (Vancouver)

This Blanche MacDonald Make up Program graduate started volunteering for Beauty Night’s makeover program in February 2008. She had just moved to Vancouver and was looking for a volunteer opportunity and “loved it”. Tiffany loved it so much in December 2008, she brought Beauty Night to her home town. She facilitated a Christmas make over night in Prince George. When she came back to Vancouver, Tiffany became Beauty Night’s Outreach facilitator. Since May 2009, Tiffany facilitates our makeover program events on a weekly basis. Her fresh innovative ideas help strengthen participant relations, volunteer coordination and creating posters for our events. When she is not at Beauty Night, this makeup artist works on film and television projects shooting in Vancouver.

Saafi Warsame
Makeover Program Facilitator (Toronto)

Saafi has recently relocated from Vancouver and is helping facilitate Beauty
Night events in her new city of Toronto. She truly enjoys interacting with
Beauty Night participants, from sharing life stories to discussing the best way to apply nail polish. Saafi is also a volunteer with North York Women’s shelter as well as a couple of organizations that run in the Somali
community. In her spare time, she reads a lot and is looking to become a
lawyer.

Filed Under: Beauty Night Toronto, Children's Programming, Creative Endeavours/Literacy, Healthy Living, Knit Fit, Volunteer Profile, Womyn's Gym, Xmas Stocking Drive Tagged With: alexa fox, beauty night, beauty night society, BNS, caroline macgillivray, Christie Gray, Knit Fit, laura mah, Mom & Tot Nutrition, Saafi Warsame, Sophia Hughes, tyla flexman, Womyn's Gym

How Can You Help Knit Fit?

October 13, 2009 By allison Leave a Comment

Knit Fit is all about giving back. Knit Fit has evolved from a small elementary school club to a diverse organization made up of members from all over Vancouver. Our objective is to knit scarves for the homeless and the less fortunate of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside-but there’s so much more to Knit Fit.

Knit Fit is looking for dedicated people who are willing to make a difference in the world, and a significant difference in our community. You don’t have to know how to knit! Members of Knit Fit will teach you. This can’t happen without you guys! If you want to support us, if you’re interested in joining us, or just like the nifty name of this organization, feel free to follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/KnitFit411 or contact me at knitfit@beautynight.org

If anyone is willing to donate knitting needles, yarn or wool they have lying around, we would love to take them off your hands.

Filed Under: Knit Fit Tagged With: beauty night, downtown eastside, Knit Fit

Knit Fit’s First Meeting!

October 4, 2009 By allison Leave a Comment

On September 27 Knit Fit held its first meeting for the school year. We had a great turnout, with participants from all over the Vancouver area. Surprisingly, the participants that came out last week were mainly boys. KUDOS to the male knitters! The room was packed with excited volunteers, ready with needles and yarn in hand. Shout out to Chief Maquinna Elementary who have already knitted 260 scarves!

New volunteers are always welcome. Don’t know how to knit? Come to an orientation! Our next one is being held Sunday, October 4 at Britannia Community Centre at 1pm.

With everything just starting to jump into gear, Knit Fit has expectations to create a warm winter for everyone.

Britannia Community Centre:

1661 Napier Street Vancouver, BC

Filed Under: Knit Fit Tagged With: beauty night society, Knit Fit, knitting

Hope

October 1, 2009 By Christie Leave a Comment

Hope is such a powerful word. One definition reads “To look forward to with confidence or expectation.”

Hope is something many of our clients seem to lack. Hope is something that we at Beauty Night try and inspire, in our clients, our volunteers, and other people in the world. We love to tell the story of how we have helped other people be inspired and create their own cause, as is the case in Womyn’s Gym and Jen’s Kitchen.

Something that has me hopeful is seeing the youth in our community working towards making the world a better place. As is the case with Knit Fit, or some of the people I met who are involved with The Third World, it re-instills my faith in a powerful way.

No one is too young, or too old, to make a difference. Beauty Night appreciates your support, and we hope to bring some help in the lives of those who need it most.