Volunteer | Beauty Night Society

Beauty Night Programming – Week of Sept 28

September 28, 2009 By Christie Leave a Comment

Beauty Night Programming Sept 28 2009 – Oct 4 2009

Caroline and Dawn

We have another week full of great activities.

Tonight, September 28, we have our regular Beauty Night makeover session at the Lifeskills Centre. We are in need of hairdressers, if you are a hairdresser and have been wanting to come out, tonight is the perfect night!
We are also having a volunteer orientation session tonight at 5:30 for those who are interested. If you’ve always wanted to know more about Beauty Night, and to see how you can help, we would love for you to come see what we’re about. The orientation will also be at the Life Skills Centre (412 E Cordova).
Children’s Programming will also be occuring so that the mommies can fully relax while being pampered. Spread the word!
Tuesday, September 29 – Stroller Disco! This is a super fun way for moms to get fit while bonding with their child.
Wednesday, September 30 - Closed Board Meeting
Thursday, October 1 - Womyn’s Gym Training
Sunday, October 4 – Stocking Cutting Session – we are in need of people to help sew, cut stockings and knit scarves and more. If you’re interested in coming out, please email info@beautynight.org. If you click on this button, it will add the event into your google calendar for you!

We are still in need of fabric and wool for our stockign drive. If you are not able to help in that way, perhaps consider donating some funds to help our programming. Or your valuable time!

We love to hear feedback, what you would like to see featured on the blog, ideas you have for programs…even if you would like to suggest areas we could improve on, we always love to hear from you!

Happy Monday everyone!

Filed Under: Donations/Fundraising, Newletter, Womyn's Gym Tagged With: beauty night, beauty night society, christmas stocking drive, downtown eastside, fundraising, Vancouver, volunteer, volunteer opportunities, Womyn's Gym

New Christmas Stocking Design!

September 24, 2009 By Nancy 4 Comments

I’m really excited to be part of the Christmas stocking design again this year for Beauty Night.
Last year I did a boot with a heel and thought of going in a new direction. That’s where the idea came for a more feminine looking stocking.

Beauty Night Stocking 2009 Pattern

I’m was trying to go a an elegant foot in a panty hose idea but that may have gotten lost when the size was made much bigger than the average ladies leg. hahaha

We’ve had 2 cutting sessions with fabrics donated by local Vancouver residence. We started by transfering the original pattern onto manila and made 6 patterns. It was great having everyone busy at their own section tracing and cutting away. We had a couple of people take turns ironing the material as well. We decided to bundle them in sets of 10 making it easier to keep track of how many and to give them out to sew. I sewed up a few at the end of the day so that we could have samples for the students to see.

Beauty Night Stocking 2009 before they are sewn

The following cutting session we didn’t have as much fabric but somehow managed to get about 80 stocking cut from what we had. There were lots ladies helping which made the day go by much quicker. We’re at around 300 stockings already cut, just waiting to be sewn.

With new fabric donations coming in this week we are all getting together again this weekend to have an other cutting session. Stay tuned for some photos of all of us at work so you can keep track of the whole process!

Beauty Night Stocking 2009

Filed Under: Donations/Fundraising Tagged With: beauty night, christmas stocking drive, nancy black, Vancouver, volunteer, 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

New Vancouver Volunteer Comment

August 11, 2009 By caroline 1 Comment

Thank you Caroline, for inviting me to volunteer with Beauty Night last night, “because dignity is beautiful”.

Those young men who also volunteered, cutting hair and giving neck massages to the downtrodden – wow what bella generous Spirits.

One young man (24 years old) who has worked on the DTES for 4 years now on the front lines, said that he previously thought like the majority, “the homeless were all assholes”, until he began his service and now his heart and eyes were open wide. … Read more

I woke a few hours ago with tears in my eyes. I’m so ashamed to be living here in affluent Vancouver where the Hearts of so many, Canadian, wo/men and children are on the street.

You are truly a miracle Caroline, w/ your 9 years of selfless service to the world family. I’m honour to serve and be an active participant in Beauty Night.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: beauty night, downtown eastside, volunteer, women

Beauty Night in Vancity

August 10, 2009 By caroline Leave a Comment

Good morning!

We are back at PHS Lifeskills Centre 412 E Cordova tonight for the first time in two weeks. While I will be running the volunteer orientation (starts at 5:30pm – 7:30pm tonight), Tiffany will be coordinating the volunteers for the first makeover at Lifeskills this month!

For our volunteers (must have gone through orientation) we will be working with a new skincare line tonight sponsored by Advanced Spa Technologies. We are still looking for volunteers for this evenings Beauty Night makeover program (in Vancouver and Toronto). Hair, makeup, nails, massage, and skin care volunteers are most welcome.

Part of tonight’s volunteer orientation for those who have never been to the Beauty Night space will cover:

Tour of the Space
Overview of Beauty Night Society
Code of conduct
Safety Precautions
Volunteer opportunities
Volunteer Benefits

After the general orientation, some of our hair dresser volunteers will be directed to Tiffany to begin volunteering this evening. Our child care volunteers will stay for more indepth orientation. For our Womyn’s Gym program (Created by Katie Benjamin), we offer child care for the low income women who access the services. By September 2009, we aim to offer childcare four nights per week.

Womyn’s Gym will be starting the September Session on Monday and Wednesday evenings while our group fitness classes run on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Our makeover program will continue on Monday evenings at PHS Lifeskills Centre. Wednesdays will continue to be led by Tiffany Telford, our outreach facilitator. On Wednesdays we provide our makeover program to other organizations that include health services, transition homes, addiction services, drop in centres and other resources for marginalized women and youth.

Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 16th at 6:30pm at PHS Lifeskills Centre. If you are interested in serving on our board, please notify us prior to August 19th. Our last board meeting before the AGM will be held on August 19th. If you would like to attend the meeting, please email info@beautynight.org.

Other exciting news – Beauty Night Society is one of the recipients from the Lush Charity Pot. The proceeds from the Lush Charity Pot (a fantastic hand and body cream) are donated to charities that Lush choses. Each charity pot has the logo and the mission statement of the charities that they support. Beauty Night is the recipient of $4000 donation from the Charity Pot Funds.

Huge thanks to those who sponsored me for www.blogathon.org. If you check out the www.sexyinvancity.com website, you can see the 48 blogs posted in 24 hours to raise monies for Beauty Night. If you have not made your donation yet or want to make a donation, please visit our website at www.beautynight.org and hit the donate now button.

Or cheques can be made out to:

Beauty Night Society
PO 95029
RPO Kingsgate
Vancouver, BC
V5T 4T8

Sincerely,

Caroline MacGillivray

Founder and President of Beauty Night Society
beauty night… because dignity is beautiful.