THE GIVER: Say ‘donate’ to the dress, help homeless women, volunbeer at Oktoberfest
Eating & Drinking

THE GIVER: Say ‘donate’ to the dress, help homeless women, volunbeer at Oktoberfest
BY Dee Campbell
POSTED October 1, 2014 1:30 pm

The Giver is written by Ottawa Mag’s Dee Campbell, who knows that people prefer to volunteer in ways that speak to their interests. Dee has volunteered for the Terry Fox Run since she was a little girl and is a Brownie Leader of 15 years.

Do you have a volun-gig needing filled? Email dcampbell@stjosephmedia.com.

Off With the Dress

Dresses available at The Brides Project, where 100 percent of profits go to cancer charities.

Look, you’re never going to wear that wedding dress again. You’ve got pictures of it (or maybe they’ve been ritualistically burned?) and the likelihood that your daughter will wear it is slim. She’ll want some hippie beach wedding anyway, and  bustling is so not her thing. So, as long as the gown is <5 years, donate it.  It will be sold at The Brides Project in Toronto where, get this, 100 percent of profits go to cancer charities. {big eyes} Contact Amanda in Ottawa to donate yours: mckay.ottawa@hotmail.com (Dry cleaning is unnecessary and she covers shipping. They also accept accessories.)

P.S. In addition to wedding dresses, Amanda collects bridesmaid dresses which are given to low income youth for graduation. Guess who’s clearing her closet of a few dresses this weekend?

Writers Take Note

The good people at Cornerstone help single women experiencing homelessness whether it’s emergency shelter, a transition while searching for affordable housing, or a much longer stay. Interestingly, women are called the invisible homeless because they are more vulnerable than men who we see much more of. In fact, there are more shelters for men than women, and Cornerstone is the only female-only shelter in Ottawa.  How can you help? Short-term, they need a writer to help them rework their messaging.

VolunBeers Needed

In exchange for working a 1/2 day at Beau’s Oktoberfest, you get:

  • Admission to the festival for the whole weekend
  • Transportation to/from Ottawa
  • A coveted volunbeer hat to wear all weekend and to the exclusive Volunbeer Party

There’s even a Giver element to Oktoberfest itself; last year they raised $75,000 for their chosen causes. That’s a lot of brew.

Don’t feel like ‘working’ at the fest? Love to bike ride? Join the 100km or 133km ride from Ottawa to Vankleek Hill on Saturday, raising funds for Social Rec Connect.