Power Walk for Dress for Success - Event Info

Haven't Registered yet? There is still time! You can register online or come by Saturday morning at Oakridge.

 

Location

·         The event begins and finishes at Oakridge Center (located at Cambie St and 41st Avenue, Vancouver).

·         When you arrive at Oakridge center, please head to the West Galleria, near the Apple Store and the Bay. 

·         The map of the route is available for download on the DFS Vancouver website here.

Transportation

·         If you are arriving by car, please park outside Kin’s Fruit Market on the west side of Oakridge Centre.  We will have volunteers to guide you from there.

·         If you are arriving by Skytrain get off at 41^st-Oakridge Station on the Canada Line and enter through the main doors nearest to the station.  Our volunteers will guide you from there.

Schedule

8.00am             Registration Opens

8.15                 Complimentary yoga class taught by Chantal O’Sullivan starts. Mats provided by lululemon Oakridge

9.00                 Event Starts

9.30                 Walkers Depart

A few extra reminders

•  The event is rain or shine so check the weather in the morning and dress accordingly
• Please bring your own reusable water bottle so that you can stay hydrated.
• Dogs are welcome to join, provided they are well-behaved and owners pick up after them.
• We want to thank you for your time and support, so we have tons of cool raffle prizes and treats, like hand massages after the walk so plan to stick around for a bit

Get Social

We encourage you to share your involvement with the 2012 Power Walk!  Like us on Facebook.  Follow us on Twitter (@DFSVancouver) and use the hashtag #2012PowerWalk.  You can also join the event on LinkedIn to connect with your fellow Power Walkers!

Keep spreading the word and feel free to bring friends; they’ll be able to register on site.  We can’t wait to see you all on Saturday!

If you have any questions, please email us at powerwalk@dfsvancouver.org or call 604-408-7923.

A chat with Chantal O'Sullivan

We’re excited to be starting the Power Walk for Dress for Success 2012 with a yoga class taught by yoga guru Chantal O’Sullivan, owner of Shanti Yoga in Tsawwassen and Oakridge lululemon athletica Ambassador. 

We asked her a few questions to try to pick her brain about everything from yoga to yummy eats.  Here’s what we learned:

Dress for Success:  Why do you love yoga?  

Chantal:  I love how it makes me feel. Every single time I practice, I discover something new about myself, my body and my mind. I think we're all naturally happy as people, but sometimes life can bog us down. Yoga helps us to peel away the layers, and shine. This is why l love teaching and feel so grateful to get to share yoga daily.

DFS:  Do you have any tips for new students, or people who haven't tried yoga?

C:  Go slowly and ask questions. Don't suffer or try to work through pain. Yoga is for everyone, it's not just for the bendy, pretzel people. Find a studio near you, then pop in and start asking questions. You won't regret it. 

DFS:  Do you have any recommended yoga resources to share? 

C:  There are so many different ways to engage with yoga that most people don’t know about!

If you already practice yoga and have a good grasp of alignment, it's great to look at some online yoga options. For instance, I teach classes for www.yogo.tv, where people can subscribe monthly and practice at home.

Secondly, my yoga studio, Shanti Yoga, offers retreats for all levels on Galiano Island and in Tofino. These are great ways to deepen your practice and have fun. If you go to www.shantiyogabc.com, details for November getaways can be found in the “retreats” section.

Also, many studios in and around Vancouver bring in master teachers from around the world and share workshops — Semperviva in Vancouver does a great job with this.

As far as books, there are so many great ones out there!  Good ones to start with are Meditations from the Mat by teacher Rolf Gates, as well as The Eight Human Talents by Gurmukh.  

Trude - Power Walk Ambassador and Inspirational Woman!

It all started with Trude a more mature woman joining our Professional Women's Group (PWG), a career development program for Dress for Success clients who have found jobs. 

Trude looked depressed and without hope. She told us that she had breast cancer and her healing journey took all her savings. A Dress for Success suit gave her the confidence to work part-time and the PWG meetings provided her with a new outlook on life. 

With the help of her PWG mentor, she successfully moved up four pay grades. Turning 65 years “young”, she decided to take on the leading role in the PWG CAP, a project that provides PWG members the opportunity to volunteer and give back to the community. With her passion for promoting wellness, she has recruited PWG members to either become coaches to help people exercise or to become participants that are coached to exercise regularly. 

Trude was also recently featured as Fred Lee's Person of Interest: Read her story here

At the moment, Trude is encouraging everybody to join the Power Walk.

Fundraising Tips for Power Walkers

We are now three weeks away from the Power Walk for Dress for Success 2012!  We know that you’re all excited to raise money for a worthy cause and we’d like to share a few tips on how to maximise your fundraising.

1. Start now.  The more time you give yourself to fundraise, the more you’ll be able to collect.  Give donors time to consider the positive impact that they can make in the lives of disadvantaged women, and they’ll surely donate generously.

2. Set a fundraising goal for yourself and write it down.  By having your target on paper, you’ll hold yourself accountable to raising your set amount.  Make a timeline on how much you would like to raise by what dates so that reaching your goal is manageable.

3. Make a list of potential donors.  Reach out to friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, and anyone else who you think could help out.  If you participated last year, previous donors are a great place to start because you already know that they’re invested in the cause.  Remember, the number one reason that people don’t donate is that they haven’t been asked!

We believe that each one of you can meet and even exceed your personal and team fundraising goals.  Through your efforts, we can help Dress for Success empower women and make a positive impact in their lives!