Dress for Success Vancouver Holiday E-Card

Finally, it's here! Click the gift to view our animated Holiday card.

Feel-Good Movie, Feel-Good Cause

Oakridge Centre Presents: Polar Express

Join us on December 13th to celebrat the holiday season with your family--and help make a difference in the lives of families in our community.

*All proceeds benefit Dress For Success Vancouver!

Tickets will be available at the Oakridge Centre Concierge Desk on Dec 4 or at the door on event day. Please call (604) 261-2511 for more info.

Visit the Oakridge Style Blog for information!

Deb is not in Liverpool!

SPAM ALERT

Deb is NOT in Liverpool!!

(Although after having harassed over 3000 of you I almost wish I were)

Rest assured - that although I am not averse to asking for money, I would never ask for it for my own personal use.

New e-protocols will be in place soon. In the meantime - if you need to reach me - please email Vancouver@dressforsuccess.org or call 604-408-7923.

Deb

Party with a Purpose with Stella & Dot - Tuesday, December 1st

Please join us for a Stella & Dot "Party With a Purpose" in aid of Dress for Success Vancouver at Yaletown's Shakin' Not Stirred Lounge & Grill.

Do some holiday gift shopping, enjoy a hand massage from Bloom Essentials Spa, and enjoy discounted food & drinks, knowing that a percentage of all jewellery and food sales will be going to Dress for Success Vancouver! 25% of profits from all jewellery sales at this event will be donated along with 5% of all food & drink sales.

For more information please view the evite here.

Details:
Tuesday, December 1, 6:00PM

Location:
Shakin' Not Stirred - 1144 Homer Street - Vancouver, BC V6B 2X6

Dress for Success Vancouver Holiday Ecard

Finally, it's here! Click the gift to view our animated Holiday card.

Staff Departure

(From Left: Vania, Lydia, Katie, Michelle, Val)

photo courtesy of Brian Hawkes

This is my last week working as Fund Development Coordinator here at Dress for Success Vancouver. It has been a pleasure working with Deb, Val, and Lucia and the incredibly wonderful volunteers. During my time here, I have noticed that Dress for Success Vancouver attracts some of the most caring and passionate people I have ever met. The dedication of the volunteers is both astounding and incredibly inspiring. I enjoyed working with you, sharing stories and laughs with you all, and will miss you.

Wishing you all Success,
-- Katie

Capillano University's Student Volunteer Day

Last week Capillano University's Leadership Class, Global Stewardship Program students and Business Administration Degree Program students volunteered at Dress for Success Vancouver.

The team takes a break to pose for the DFS photo crew

Sorting through cosmetics

An interesting find in the mountain

Eva and Sandy hard at work in the pink room, just like old times!

Thanks to Capillano's student volunteers, the clothing mountain is a hill

Your hauling, steaming, sorting, cleaning and positive attitude were greatly appreciated. We hope you can come back for another volunteer day in the near future!

PWG Members 'Getting Ready for the Holiday Party' event at Wearelse

On Wednesday, November 18th Wear Else hosted an event for our PWG ladies at their West 4th Avenue store. Thanks to Zahra, Jennifer and Crystal for their efforts in making this 'Get Ready for the Holiday Party' event so special. Members of our Professional Women's Group were able to spend time trying on clothes that Wear Else had collected from donors. PWG Members took holiday attire home for free and also received complimentary hair styles, provided by Suki's and complimentary makeover's, provided by Blanche Macdonald's Make-Up program students . Wear Else also provided pizza and beverages while Giovanni Amenta from Pink & Grey gave PWG members an engaging presentation on the topic of dressing for your body type.

Become a Facebook Fan of Dress for Success Vancouver

First we joined the blogosphere and now we have a Facebook Fan page. Become a friend and feel free to forward our Fan page on to your Facebook contacts. The Facebook Fan Page features updates from the blog and will give you the opportunity to network and connect with other Dress for Success Vancouver Volunteers and Supporters.

Hbc Rewards Community

We are now a part of the Hbc Rewards Community. You can donate your Hbc Rewards towards Dress for Success® Vancouver. It’s an easy and effortless way to help your favourite cause and your local community. To donate your points visit this link and click on the 'donate to an existing community' link. Then enter 2394296 into the Community Organization Public ID number box and select Dress for Success Vancouver as the organization you will be donating your points to. You can customize your points donation by selecting the percentage of points you would like to donate and the duration of time you would like to donate your points.

Taylorbrooke Fall Factory Sale

This Saturday, November 14th from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Taylorbrooke is having their Fall Factory Sale. Clothing will be up to 80% off and 10% of proceeds from the sale will be donated to us. You can shop for ladies casual and career wear in sizes XS - XL and petite sizes. The sale is one day only and is taking place at 1388 Frances Street in Vancouver (Two blocks south of East Hastings). Cash, Visa and Mastercard will be accepted inside and tickets can be purchased by calling 604.408.7923. Tickets are $10 each and are redeemable for $10 in merchandise. Tickets will also be available at the door.

Wear Else

Wear Else is supporting us from October 23 to November 15. Three Wear Else locations will collect gently used Holiday Wear for Alumni of the Dress for Success® Vancouver program. These women are about to attend their first holiday events at their place of employment and Wear Else would like you to help us assist our Alumni in looking and feeling confident and beautiful! Wear Else encourages you to bring in a gently worn holiday dress or pant suit between October 23 and November 15.

In turn, Wear Else will present you with a $50 Gift Card to spend on a new Holiday Look for yourself! It's their way of thanking you for helping them to help others! On November 18th, after all the Holiday Outfits are collected, the 4th Ave location will host a special Holiday Styling Event for the Dress for Success® Vancouver Alumni. These lovely ladies will have the opportunity to choose one of the beautiful hoilday outfits that YOU donated. What a great way to go into the Holiday Season! You can drop off your holiday garments at either our West 4th, Park Royal or Oakridge locations!

Vancouver Fashion eZine Anniversary Print Edition 2007-2009

To celebrate 2 years in business, and to thank all the wonderful artists who have contributed their time and talents, Vancouver Fashion eZine has printed an anniversary issue. This glossy print collectible includes over 200 pages of articles and photos published from September 2007 to September 2009. Vancouver Fashion eZine has committed to giving Dress for Success Vancouver a percentage of proceeds from the magazine's sales. You can purchase your own copy of this fabulous special edition glossy at our offices for $12.00.

Y.E.S! Vancouver launches new website and talks Twitter with Miss604

Welcome to Y.E.S! Vancouver’s first guest blog for DFS - Thanks so much for having us! As incoming Co-Chairs for 2009, we are excited to announce the official launch of Y.E.S! Vancouver’s new website last night at V Lounge in Yaletown. Miss604, blogger and tweeter extraordinaire, (a.k.a Rebecca Bollwitt) joined us to talk Twitter and building your online brand. One of her best tips? Introduce yourself to your online community when you meet in person! We had lots of @YESVancouver followers there last night who are joining the conversation – it was great to meet you all!

Join us at http://www.yesvancouver.org/ to check out the new site. It features a sleek new design and acts as home base for all of our online communities, access to information on events and membership, and a gateway to Dress for Success Vancouver.

Wednesday’s web launch is just one of many fun fresh events we have coming up this season. Some of our new initiatives include more frequent members-only events; more professionally-oriented events; and support from a broad range of our fantastic sponsors and partners. We’re also working to build stronger links to DFS so our members can see the true value of how their membership and participation in Y.E.S! helps women in our community.

Stay tuned for more details on upcoming events. In the mean time, tell us who you are, what you’d like to see at Y.E.S! in 2009-2010 and how you’d like to get involved!

Katie and Saphina xo

http://www.yesvancouver.org/

Follow us on Twitter to get live updates from our events!

Find us on Facebook and Linked In for post-event online networking!

Limelight Floral Design - Percentage of Sales go to Dress for Success® Vancouver

When you purchase flowers from Limelight (in person or for local delivery), just let them know before the completion of the sale that you are a friend of Dress for Success Vancouver and Limelight will donate a percentage of your sale to our organization! Limelight Floral Design is West Vancouver's hip and trendy flower shop that features the artistry of Kyla Reveley and her gifted team of designers.

Location: Unit 520 Park Royal South, West Vancouver
(street access - beside Starbucks)
Call: 604.921.1999 or Toll Free: 1.877.921.1999
http://www.limelightfloraldesign.com/

Safeway Women's Networking Group Volunteer Day - October 30th

Yesterday was Safeway Volunteer Day at Dress for Success® Vancouver Headquarters. The Safeway Women's Networking Group steamed clothes, sorted, merchandised, and culled the racks. They were a spirited group with lots of pep and were positive throughout the day. Thank you to Safeway and the Safeway Women's Networking Group!

Pricewaterhouse Coopers Volunteer Day

The mountain that our brave PwC volunteers began to sort

The PwC crew doing a fabulous job of modeling while sorting

Last week our friends at Pricewaterhouse Coopers provided us with wonderful volunteers who not only setup our sewing corner and our new stereo system, but also began tackling the monumental mountain of clothing in the pink room. They were troopers and managed to have fun while staying on task. Thank you to the PwC volunteers for being such good sports and doing a great job!

Wear Else: October 23 - November 18

Wear Else is supporting us from October 23 to November 18. Three Wear Else locations will collect gently used Holiday Wear for Alumni of the Dress for Success® Vancouver program. These women are about to attend their first holiday events at their place of employment and Wear Else would like you to help us assist our Alumni in looking and feeling confident and beautiful!

Wear Else encourages you to bring in a gently worn holiday dress or pant suit between October 23 and November 15. In turn, Wear Else will present you with a $50 Gift Card to spend on a new Holiday Look for yourself! It's their way of thanking you for helping them to help others! On November 18th, after all the Holiday Outfits are collected, the 4th Ave location will host a special Holiday Styling Event for the Dress for Success® Vancouver Alumni. These lovely ladies will have the opportunity to choose one of the beautiful hoilday outfits that YOU donated. What a great way to go into the Holiday Season! You can drop off your holiday garments at either our West 4th, Park Royal or Oakridge locations!

High Heel Appeal DVD Launch Party Tonight!

We know this is short notice - but if there are any shoe lovers out there (as if you aren't all shoe lovers) On Thursday, October 22 (tonight!) at CIRCA (1050 Granville) from 7 pm-9 pm John Fluevog shoes will be modeled as part of a DVD Launch party. The DVD is an instructional one on "how to choose and walk in high heels". Tickets are $8.00 and there is a signature martini being offered, the "High Heel Appeal-tini". Suzanne Fetting - the creator of the above mentioned DVD, has offered half of her DVD sales to Dress for Success Vancouver. It would be great if some of you could attend and give your support to this young woman in her business.

Shop at iGive.com to benefit Dress for Success® Vancouver

You can help Dress for Success® Vancouver while shopping! Shop at iGive.com and a percentage of your purchase will be donated to us. Over 700 stores participate in the iGive donation program, including Amazon.com, eBay, Staples, JCPenney, Barnes & Noble, Overstock.com, drugstore.com, Office Depot, QVC, Expedia, Home Depot, HSN, Best Buy, Drs. Foster & Smith, Gap, Buy.com, & NORDSTROM. To shop and qualify for a donation, you must be logged in as an iGive.com member and you must reach the store through iGive.com or iSearchiGive.com.

Jewellery by Suzan Lee

Suzan Lee is one of our extraordinary volunteers who has been tirelessly working on our volunteer appreciation initiative and helping us with some administrative office work. Suzan has also found the time to put her jewellery crafting skills to use while hand-beading her creations and donating them to the shop for clients. Suzan's necklaces and earrings have been flying out of our shop for several weeks and Suzan wants your help to determine which jewellery is the most popular so that she can ensure the 'must haves' are always in plentiful supply. If you are a Dress for Success Vancouver volunteer and have noticed that certain styles are more popular than others please let Suzan or a staff member know.

Corporate Challenge Wrap Up

On Thurday October 1st, the Corporate Challenge Wrap Up event was held at the Pacific Palisades hotel. The event ran smoothly and was hugely successful thanks to our wonderful volunteer committee, without whom this event would not be possible.

Guests had a blast playing the mystery auction, shopping the Showcase, enjoying the delicious appies, winning door prizes, and listening to Rosalyn Taylor O'Neale's heartwarming words. Challengers were enthusiastic participants in the scavenger hunt and in the fashion show that followed. Thank you guests and Challengers for making the Wrap Up so much fun and for showing your support! This wonderful evening was undoubtedly one of the highlight's of the year.

We raised a total of $16,700 over the course of the Challenge.

Dress me for Success Corporate Challenge - Raffle Winners

On Tuesday, September 29th, the names were drawn for the Dress Me for Success raffle. And the winners are:

Kim Elliot - Won a Clarins Gift Basket

Christina Suh - Won a Whole Foods Gift Certificate

Janice Everett - Won an AG Hair Gift Basket

Mike Inglehart - Won a Victoria Getaway

Linda Godin - Won the Tourist in Your own Town prize

Ting Khuolle - Won the Football Fanatics prize

Wayne Martell - Won Chevron Gift Cards

Brian Feeney - Won the Zoom Whitening prize

Congratulations to all of our lucky raffle winners.

Tonight the Dress Me for Success Corporate Challenge wrap up event is taking place at the Pacific Palisades. If you don't have a ticket, don't worry because tickets are available at the door for only $20.00, which gets you a drink and a chance to win one of our amazing door prizes. Just by attending you could win a stay at one of these glamorous hotels: Opus Hotel, Wickaninnish Inn, and Moda Hotel. The total value of this year's door prizes is over $4,000!

Date: October 1st

Time: 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Place: Pacific Palisades Hotel - 1277 Robson Street, Vancouver, B.C.