Paying it Forward with Sumac Ridge and Dress for Success Vancouver
byTo celebrate its 35th vintage, Sumac Ridge Estate Winery spent an entire year thanking its loyal customers for their support through a Pay It Forward campaign. From a non-profit dental clinic on Vancouver Island to an ice rink in the North Okanagan, two dozen British Columbians and Albertans were rewarded for giving back to their communities.
Recipients ranged from sisters who travelled from Vancouver to Kelowna on a regular basis to help care for their father suffering from ALS to a giving mother in Calgary who showed up on a friend’s door step – a brand new mother herself – with everything she needed to care for her baby.
I was honoured to be a part of the program’s launch last March, supporting Dress for Success Vancouver with a $500 donation to get the year of giving started.
Dress for Success Vancouver is a community empowering women into the workforce by providing them with professional attire, career services, and skills development programs. Their purpose is to offer long-lasting solutions that enable women to break the cycle of poverty. Dress for Success is part of a global movement for change, empowering women to obtain safer and better futures.
“We are able to help women feel confident on the road to self sufficiency.”
“With the $500 donation from Sumac Ridge in 2015, we were able to purchase plus size and extra small size office wear for our boutique, along with size 10 shoes and handbags,” says Dress for Success’ Christina Florencio.
“In addition, Sumac Ridge was our wine sponsor for our biggest fundraiser, IMPACT on June 4th which helped us raise over $70,000 towards our programs.”
Supporting Dress for Success gives women the gift of self-esteem, self-sufficiency, and success through education, mentoring, and professional attire.
This year, to wrap up the campaign, Sumac empowered me to provide Dress for Success with an additional donation. The organization will use to supply their boutique with much needed plus size clothing for women sizes 16+.
Learn more about Dress for Success Vancouver by following them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For more information, and to join the Pay it Forward conversation, find Sumac Ridge on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
