At this time of year – there are many requests for donations from organizations helping others …. here are two of them:
Email patricia@growvantage.com if you’d like to highlight a cause that could use some help
Gilda’s Club Simcoe Muskoka: Providing Support to people with Cancer and their loved ones:
Cancer rates are growing (last year the stats were 1 in 2) and especially at this time of year, people need more support. Gilda’s does not receive government funding. They have had to become inventive in raising funds.
The Raw and Reflective Calendar is one of those fundraising projects created by Sharon Smith (Connect Hair Studio) who leads a group of volunteers every year.
At $25, this annual calendar is organized by a group of volunteers led by Sharon Smith (Connect Hair Studio), who began this project several years ago. Everyone volunteers their time to arrange, photograph, design, write and publish the stories from those who are battling cancer to those who have beaten it. These are inspiring stories that grace the monthly pages of the next year’s Raw and Reflective Calendar.
The 2023 calendar is on sale at Gilda’s Simcoe Muskoka and Connect Hair Studio: Here is how to purchase a calendar for only $25 each.
From Gilda’s: https://gcsm.gnosishosting.net/Portal/Donate/RRCalendar
From Connect Hair Studio: 274 Burton Ave 12 – 13, Barrie, ON L4N 5W4, 705.503.7702, info@connecthairstudio.com
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Bringing Christmas To Women and Girls Who Are Homeless or At Risk – Shannon Murree
Courtesy of Dan Blakeley, Barrie 360 Published: Nov 24th, 2022
There are toy drives, toy teas, and food drives to help families in need get through the holiday season. There’s also a Shoebox Project for Women.
Local realtor, Shannon Murree, brought it to Barrie and Simcoe County nine years ago, specifically for women and girls. “We are looking for luxury items, anything between, you know, like a luxurious soap or shampoos, nothing sharp, nothing with alcohol, up to $50 worth.”
Murree says it’s something that’s fun for schools, for the whole family, for a corporation, for friends getting together, throwing stuff together in a shoebox, and donating it to women and girls who are homeless or at risk.
How great is the need? Murree walked out of a Barrie big box store this week with 290 plastic shoeboxes to be filled. “Definitely over the last couple of years, we’ve seen an increase in everything … whether it’s the cost of everything going up, challenges in people’s lives, addictions, mental health, (some) just on the cusp of homelessness.”
Murree rarely meets any of the recipients, to see the impact the Shoebox Project for Women is having. She does sometimes hear from the organizations she works with or the caseworkers. And once in a while, “one of the recipients comes back, and they’re out of their situation, and they remember how the shoebox made them feel, and now they’re volunteers for us.”
Click here for a list of drop-off locations, how to make a cash donation, or how to get involved.
“We’re just trying to do something special for the women and girls, just to remind them that they’re empowered, and they’re special, and they’re not forgotten during the holidays.”
Patricia is the Business Mentor and owner of Grow Vantage and a Past President of the Barrie Chamber of Commerce. She applies over 30 years of business experience (from start-up to corporate) to mentor entrepreneurs. Since 2011, she has held over 6,500 coaching and training sessions in-person and online. Through Ask For Directions Training, her entrepreneurial training program (and parent company Grow Vantage), and as a business coach, she works with start-ups who are new (or who have lost traction) to design, launch and grow their businesses. Along with 20 other expert instructors she teaches strategies in marketing, sales, communications, and finance, as well as practical techniques to increase productivity, and manage their businesses. In other words, everything entrepreneurs need to learn to grow and run their businesses successfully, and avoid the costly mistakes they can't even see coming - that lead to delays in growth and getting stuck.
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