Posts Tagged ‘caroline macgillivray’

In 9 years, the award-winning non-profit program has provided 10,000 makeovers to marginalized women and youth in Vancouver, Prince George, and Toronto. Beauty Night Society’s Monday makeover night on December 14th will include some North Pole notables—Mrs. Claus and her elves handing out Christmas stockings designed by Nancy Black. “This is the seventh year of our annual stocking drive,” says Caroline MacGillivray. “on December 14th, we will be handing out 600 Xmas stockings and 500 scarves in Toronto, Prince George and Vancouver.”

Typically, Beauty Night Society’s Monday makeover night at the PHS Life Skills Centre in Vancouver unites an impressive roster of Lower Mainland volunteers. Hairdressers, makeup artists, estheticians, massage therapists, plus many more volunteers join forces to offer services for the women.

Carrie Wheeler Talent Management, BC Hydro, and TD Canada Trust have been collecting donations of skin care, makeup, nail, dental, body, and hair care products to fill the stockings with. Other donations include gloves and toques. Beauty Night Knit Fit founder and program coordinator, Laura Mah have been offering knitting clinics to children in our communities. By knitting the community together, Beauty Night Knit Fit volunteers have knitted hundreds of scarves to hand out with the stockings.

Beauty Night Society Birthday party will also be making spirits bright for both volunteers and their makeover subjects with Christmas movies and other Xmas goodies. “This event is a tremendous community effort! Hundreds of volunteers have contributed thousands of hours to make this event special,”says MacGillivray, “Since the summer months, we have been cutting stockings and knitting scarves.”

The community has kicked in to help. Spearheaded by Beauty Night’s Stocking Coordinator, Blair Lockhart, designer, Nancy Black, Beauty Night Knit Fit’s Laura Mah and Product Coordinator, Revel Kunz, many more volunteers throughout the community have helped make this event a reality. Students at Chief Maquinna Elementary School, York House School, Churchill Secondary, Prince of Wales Secondary, Van Tech Secondary, Little Flower Academy,  and many more helped sew the stockings and knit scarves. Canada Trust, Carrie Wheeler Talent Management, and BC Hydro have been collecting donations of skin care, makeup, nail, dental, body, and hair care products to fill the stockings with. Other donations include gloves and toques.

For more information about donating product, snacks or money, please contact Caroline MacGillivray at info@beautynight.org. Media welcome. Beauty Night’s 7th annual stocking drive will be collecting new hair, nail, skincare, dental care, gloves and socks before December 1st.

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.

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.

Let us introduce you to the founder and creator of the non-profit organization Knit Fit; Laura Mah.

Laura showing her Goofy Side

She’s a spunky, down to earth and friendly girl who wants to do some good for this world. Laura began this organization in 2003 when she was only 11 at her Elementary School Chief Maquinna. Her inspiration to start up Knit Fit came mostly from her cousin Caroline MacGillivray, and her mom, Liza Mah. Caroline showed Laura the importance of giving back to the community through her own organization, Beauty Night. As Laura saw the expressions on the people’s faces after receiving gifts and services, she felt like it was her turn to make a difference. Liza works in a Dental Clinic in the Downtown Eastside and would always tell Laura how she wished she could do more for her clients. Both Caroline and Liza got Laura thinking about what she could do to give back to her community.   Laura talked with her teacher Ms. Lougheed about how she wanted to help the Downtown Eastside, but didn’t know how. Ms. Lougheed suggested that she should use her new skills (knitting), and teach it to others who could help alongside the Downtown Eastside.

The main reason Knit Fit was created was to give back to the Downtown Eastside. The people who live there are so close to us and are too often ignored. Since Knit Fit has been created, a difference has been made in the lives of the people who live in this community. Each winter, Knit Fit helps people be warmer.

SCARVES!

When asked what you enjoy most about Knit Fit, Laura responded “The expression on the people’s face when they see the scarves, teaching kids how to knit, and the importance of giving back.”

Please let Caroline know which events you want to volunteer for. You must have attended a volunteer orientation prior to participating in an event.

Mondays: Makeover Program (June 8, 15, 22, 29)
PHS Lifeskills Centre 412 E Cordova 6-9pm
Volunteers required: Hairdressers, makeup artists, massage therapists, body workers, skin care, henna, etc.

Tuesdays: PHS Lifeskills Centre 412 E Cordova 6:30-8:30pm
Massage or reiki volunteers
Personal trainers or group fitness instructors for womyn’s gym

Wednesdays:
Makeover Program
June 3rd HCC 166 E Hastings 6-8pm
June 17 BC Women’s Hospital 4500 Oak 6-8pm
Thursdays:
Makeover Program:
June 4th Kinsman Hall (Coquitlam)
Hair, makeup, nails, massage, skincare
6-8pm
PHS Lifeskills Centre
Wellness Program
Reiki, massage practitioners, literacy, yoga
personal trainers, general volunteers
6-8pm

I believe we are the only organization that has two volunteers nominated for the YWCA Woman of Distinction Awards. Katie Benjamin, fitness coordinator and founder of Womyn’s Gym has made the shortlist for the Young Woman of Distinction Category. Beauty Night Founder and President, Caroline MacGillivray has been nominated in the Building Community Category.

Together with Beauty Night Society, board member, Gwen Webster and Beauty Night book keeper, Jacqui Ellis, the ladies will be at the award ceremondy tomorrow night. No stranger to award ceremonies, Jacqui Ellis was one of the award recipients at 2009 WIFV’s Spotlight Gala Awards.

Hi everyone,

I am a finalist in Canadian Living’s “MetoWe Awards.” (in the Community Category) They are honoring people who “do good things” in the community. The voting is by public poll. If I “win”, they will donate $5000 to the charity of my choice. The monies would be going to Beauty Night Society (www.beautynight.org or www.beautynight.org/blog)

Even if you do not vote for me, you can vote for people who are making a huge impact in the world. Here is the link http://www.metowe.com/awards/vote

Sincerely,

Caroline MacGillivray

P.S. You can feel free to retweet my message on Twitter, if you like:
Please help @beautynight win the “MetoWe” Award! (”In The Community” Category) Vote & RT http://twurl.nl/zwepmy

Me to We Awards – Vote for your hero

Source: www.metowe.com

Beauty Night Society is excited to announce that two of our volunteers are short listed for the YWCA Women of Distinction 2009 Nominations.  Katie Benjamin who spearheaded Womyn’s Gym and Caroline MacGillivray, founder and president of Beauty Night Society are included in the list of 61 women who have been nominated for their achievements in the lower mainland.

From Caroline MacGillivray:

Beauty Night Founder, Caroline MacGillivray meets and greets Toronto Volunteers

Although we have been running the makeover program in Toronto for over 6 years, many people are surprised to hear about it. Ann Roche, who ran the Toronto programming resigned in December. It is going to be difficult to replace Ann.  She has been a wonderful asset to Beauty Night.

I am in Toronto until April 8th looking for facilitators to run two makeover programs each month. I can be reached at 647-995-4526.

We are also looking for storage space for our supplies that have been stored at CAMH. CAMH is renovating their space and we are looking for new storage space in the downtown Toronto area. Please let us know if you know anyone who might be willing to donate space.

The Toronto events this week are:

Saturday, April 4th
Massage by donation
Aradia Fitness Toronto
721 Queen Street West
2-4pm
Females only
* I am still looking for volunteers for this event

Sunday, April 5th
CAMH
1pm Moving our supplies from one space to another
* CAMH has generously donated space for our storage and drop off location for supplies. We will be sorting and dropping off donations to other organizations that might need it. We will also be sorting through supplies that are older and need to find homes.

Monday, April 6th
Volunteer orientation
6pm
Starbucks Chapters.
We will be meeting at the Starbucks in Chapters at the corner of John and Queen Street West. If you have friends that might be interested in volunteering, please have them email or facebook me.

Although I am in Toronto working on Toronto Beauty Night, things are still active in Vancouver. Katie Benjamin and Tiffany Telford are running the makeover events in my absence. These two dynamic volunteers are busy in their own right.

Tiffany spearheaded the Xmas Beauty Night in Prince George and runs the monthly Beauty Nights in Coquitlam and at the Health Contact Centre. This month, she will be running the makeover program with CHIUS (community health initiative by university students) at Urban Native Youth Association. For these events, we are still looking for volunteers. Please facebook or text me if you are able to attend.

Wednesday, April 1
Health Contact Centre 6-9pm
166 East Hastings Street

Thursday, April 2
Kinsman Hall (Partnering with Soroptimists)
Port Coquitlam
6-8pm
The address for Kinsman Hall is 2175 Coquitlam Ave, Port Coquitlam, built in Aggie Park. The map is on the link below, and your team of volunteers may want to get the directions from the link.

http://maps.google.com/?q=2175%20Coquitlam%20Avenue%2C%20Port%20Coquitlam%2C%20BC.

Wednesday, April 8th
UNYA * please email for addresss
6-8pm

Katie Benjamin, a long time volunteer for Beauty Night has created her own initiative, Womyn’s Gym. Funded through Telus, Womyn’s Gym creates one on one personal training opportunities for Beauty Night clients. Together with Tyla Flexman and Miranda Landry, Katie has been training kinesiologist students to work with our clients. This initiative is in it’s third week. Goal setting, nutrition and fitness are key components of this wonderful program that runs on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

We are looking for child minding volunteers for the participants children. Alexa Fox has been coordinating the child care. We are in need of volunteers that have their criminal records check, extended first aid, current CPR, and enjoy working with children. Early childhood education is a huge asset.

We are also looking for green space in the Downtown Eastside to start a gardening project. We have had a donor offer donate apple and fig trees to this project. We just need somewhere to plant them. I am hoping this project will harvest food for our nutrition and fitness programs as well as a strong sense of community for the women. Perhaps if this happens before summer, we will be able to move our yoga classes under the shade of the trees.

On April 14th, we are adding our Chillaxing Wellness Nights to our existing programming. We will have a foot care clinic (pedicures) run by health care students and professionals; reiki, massage and reflexology. We are looking for more volunteers for this program. Orientation will be April 13th (Easter Monday). If you are a current volunteer, just let me know your availability.
The night will run in conjunction with our yoga classes, womyn’s gym, child care and women’s writing group that run on the Tuesday evenings. Thera Wise has donated product for our foot clinic and Sage has donated products for the relaxation services.

Thank you for everything that you do.

Sincerely,

Caroline
778-885-4526
647-995-4526