Laura Mah | Beauty Night Society

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

Why Knit Fit Started

September 29, 2009 By jenna 1 Comment

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.”

Filed Under: Knit Fit, Volunteer Profile Tagged With: beauty night, caroline macgillivray, christmas stocking drive, downtown eastside, Knit Fit, laura mah

The weekend is here!

September 25, 2009 By Christie 1 Comment

That doesn’t mean our programming has stopped though!
We have a busy weekend ahead of us.
First we have Knit Fit Orientation

Date:	Sunday, 27 September 2009
Time:	13:00 – 15:00
Location:	Britannia Communitiy Centre
Town/City:	Vancouver, BC

Also on Sunday is our Xmas Stocking Cutting session number 3.
Sunday: Xmas Stocking Fabric Cutting 2pm, please email for directions info@beautynight.org

We are also in need of fabric, sewers, wool and knitters for our many projects. If you can’t help in that way, consider donating some funds instead. Every bit counts!

Photo by Aaron Chung

Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

instead. Every bit helps!

Filed Under: Donations/Fundraising, Knit Fit Tagged With: beauty night, Christmas, christmas stocking drive, Knit Fit, laura mah, Vancouver, volunteer opportunities

The Knitting Season Is Starting Up Again

September 22, 2009 By jenna Leave a Comment

Knit Fit is a non-profit organization founded in 2004 by Laura Mah. Volunteers donate their time to knit scarves which are distributed to the marginalized women and children on the Downtown Eastside.

Knit Fit plans to knit 100 scarves by this coming winter. Along with the scarves, Beauty Night and Knit Fit will be sewing stockings to stuff with scarves and other items for distribution on Christmas Eve.

One the many scarves created by students

During October of last year, Knit Fit had its first ever meeting at Chief Maquinna Elementary School. About twenty students came bustling into the library, all carrying a plastic Ziplock bag of two needles and a ball or two of yarn. After a few minutes, the knitting of scarves was in full force. There were those familiar to knitting, and many of those who were not. Nonetheless, all these kids took it upon themselves to grab a pair of knitting needles and make a scarf that would be used to keep someone warm during the cold winter. These students took the first step in making a positive change for their community. These students were ten years old.

This fall Knit Fit is expanding its horizons. With participants from many different High Schools, Elementary Schools and Universities in the Vancouver area, Knit Fit is working toward full force. Knit Fit welcomes people of all ages, from 8 to as old as 108; any volunteer can participate and make a difference. With Beauty Night and Knit Fit working together, an ambitious goal of 100 scarves and 500 stockings to hand out this winter has been set. However, we can only accomplish this through the help and support of our volunteers. Help is always welcome, from sewing stockings to knitting scarves, and donations are greatly appreciated. There are a variety of opportunities to give back, and we hope that through your help, this winter can be special for everyone in Vancouver.

December 2008 scarves were handed out during the Christmas Season

Knit Fit shows the importance of giving back and provides a chance for everyone to look inside themselves and lend a helping hand. It all starts with just two needles and a ball of yarn. By taking the time to knit a scarf, we send out a message that as a community we can and will work together to make a difference, one scarf at a time.

Filed Under: Donations/Fundraising, Knit Fit Tagged With: beauty night, christmas stocking drive, fundraising, Knit Fit, laura mah, Vancouver, volunteer

Beauty Night Stocking Stuffing 2008

December 18, 2008 By caroline 3 Comments

Beauty Night volunteers spent their snowy Sunday stuffing Christmas stockings. As Christmas songs played in the background, volunteers filled the stockings full of dental care, hair care, skin care, and body care products. Stocking stuffers included socks, gloves and cosmetic goodies. 500 Christmas stockings will be handed out to Beauty Night clients this holiday season.

Photos by Carrie Wheeler

Hundreds of volunteers and donors made this event special. From Nancy Black designing the stockings to Blair Lockhart, Beauty Night’s stocking coordinator organizing the volunteers to sew the stockings, to Revel Kunz, our product donations coordinator. Students from York House School, Henry Hudson School, and the Rangers pitched in to make the stockings. The Rangers filled the first 136 stockings on December 6th. Sharon Hong, Sarah Traynor, Revel Kunz, and Cami all took the time to sew the stockings.

Knit Fit’s Laura Mah taking time out from knitting to stuff some stockings

Catherine Dangerfield of TD Canada Trust spearheaded a campaign through 18 branches to donate products to fill the Christmas stocking. Carrie Wheeler Talent Management, Joya’s choir, University Hill Church, Style Spy and many more donated product to fill the stockings to the brim.

Revel Kunz, Beauty Night Stocking Product Coordinator making home made bread for volunteers.

Special thanks to Blair Lockhart, Revel Kunz, Nancy Black, Laura Mah, Sarah Mah, Katie Benjamin, Tyla Flexman, Carrie Wheeler, Jaman, Karen Fleming, and Joya for making sure the Beauty Night clients will get something special on Xmas eve.