This Women’s Day you can get moving and have fun while supporting three great local causes when you join the fourth annual Workout for Women’s Day in Vancouver.
Over 40 instructors will lead over 40 sessions in person and over Zoom from March 1-8, 2022.
Workout for Women’s Day in Vancouver
Workout for Women’s Day is a coming together of local trainers and fitness studios around International Women’s Day (March 8th) to offer classes for charities that support all girls and women.
Here’s how it works:
Donate to the cause of your choice (consider what you’d spend on a drop-in class, or donate what you can). The three beneficiaries this year are Battered Women’s Support Services, Vancouver Women’s Health Collective, and WISH Drop-In Centre Society.
Check the daily schedule and find the workouts and classes you’d like to participate in. They have everything from Power Step to Barre Fusion, HIIT, Zumba, Strength Training, Bliss Yoga Flow, Circus Bodies, Retro Dance Cardio, Kickboxing, Bollywood Dance Party, and many more.
Register for your class(es) and you’re good to go!
The goals of the campaign are to provide a space where all feel welcome and empowered to move in their own way, unite, support and share local movement instructors. Organizers want to raise awareness for organizations and causes that support all self-identifying girls and women, and gender expansive people, in the hopes of creating greater community connections now and in the future, and promote inclusion, diversity and equity in movement settings.
The three charities have identified areas of their programming where help is critically needed. In 2021, the campaign raised $33,447, bringing the initiative’s fundraising total to $61,447. Organizers are hoping that number is even higher this year.
After months of anticipation, Megaphone has released episode one of the Voices of the Street podcast today — its first foray into audio storytelling by people with lived experiences of poverty, substance use and incarceration. Tune in as new episodes are released over the next six weeks.
Voices of the Streets Podcast
Four Megaphone storytellers — Nicolas Leech-Crier, Julie Chapman, Angel Gates and Yvonne Mark — were given a prompt: explore the writing and themes from the 2021 edition of Voices of the Street that resonate with you to create an original podcast. They met throughout the summer of 2021 with podcasting mentor Helena Krobath and a slew of talented guest mentors to play with the dimensions of storytelling unique to podcasts.
“I’ve worked in a lot of collaborative processes before, because I love the energy of creativity flowing from different directions to create a single moment, and this was one of those for sure…except this time I got to be the star AND the host! It was a really unique and genuinely Megaphone experience for me and, I hope, for our listening audience! Enjoy!”- Nicolas Leech-Crier, Participant in the Voices of the Street Podcast Mentorship
Hosts: Yvonne Mark, Nicolas Crier, Julie Chapman, Angel Gates
The group learned about audio storyboarding, vocal techniques, interviewing, audio recording, theme music and sound effects, all while scripting and producing their original podcasts.
These unique stories are now ready to share with the public. With humour, curiosity, care and thoughtfulness, episodes from this series move from intergenerational trauma and family healing, to navigating the criminal justice system as an Indigenous person, to coming to understand yourself better through the act of writing.
You can listen to the first episode now to and learn more from the storytellers who have drawn on the wisdom of their lived experience and leaned into experimenting with audio storytelling.
The Family Day long weekend is here and with more events and attractions opening up the list of things to do around Metro Vancouver is seemingly endless! Just in case you wanted a hand-picked, curated, one-stop list of all of those awesome, fun things, I have it right here!
mugshare, a relatively new program in Vancouver, promotes the use of reusable coffee cups. Forget your own reusable cup? They’ve got you covered at over a dozen locations around the city.
Photo courtesy of mugshare
mugshare Helps You Say Goodbye to Cup Fees and Waste
“As plastic pollution continues to grow, cutting back on single-use food items, like polycoated coffee cups, and advancing circular solutions is more critical than ever,” says Melanie Chanona, director and co-founder of mugshare. “Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we were making progress, but lack of clarity around health and safety concerns stalled the momentum, and with added waste from disposable masks and gloves, the plastic crisis has only worsened.”
Did you know?
Vancouverites throw out up to 2.6 million single-use cups every week, costing the city $2.5 million annually to collect.
Single-use cups make up 22% of all city litter, ending up in the streets, in the landfill, and in our oceans.
Over 80% of Vancouverites think reducing single-use items is important, and that quick-serve restaurants or cafes should provide reusable options.
mugshare is a social impact program that provides a safe, reusable alternative to single-use cups through a convenient deposit-return system. The born-in-Vancouver business was created by a group of UBC students in 2016 in an effort to shift the norm on single-use waste, without putting the burden of responsibility on individuals. During the pandemic, they joined forces with CUPPY, another mug-sharing pioneer who shared the same values as mugshare, to collaboratively grow the reusable movement in British Columbia.
“We’re building an incredible community of partners and mugsharers in Vancouver and beyond,” says Chanona. “Together, we’re taking a systems change approach to decrease reliance on single-use cups and help address the harm created by linear ‘make-take-waste’ models. We believe reducing barriers to participation is key to making this shift, so we prioritized simplicity and ease of use when designing the program.”
There are three easy steps to become a mugsharer:
Order a drink at any mugshare partner location and ask for a mugshare mug. Pay a $5 refundable deposit.
Enjoy your drink there, or take it to go.
Whenever convenient, return your mug at any mugshare location and be reimbursed for your $5 deposit.
mugshare’s intent is to keep the program as accessible as possible — no app is required to become a mugsharer, so a smartphone is not a prerequisite. mugshare partners and users will also avoid the new $0.25 fee to be charged for all single-use disposable cups in Vancouver that began January 1, 2022, and by joining now, they’ll establish a reusable mug habit before it’s enforced. Businesses who partner with mugshare will also be exempt from the extra administrative work of reporting the number of single-use cups distributed to their customers while filing their 2023 business license renewal with the City of Vancouver.
mugsharers can feel confident knowing their health and safety is a top priority: the reusable mugs are sanitized after every use, to the same standards as dine-in dishware. mugshare provides training to business partners on sanitization standards as well as guidance from public health officials that supports the use of reusable containers.
The quickly-growing list of mugshare partners already includes coffee luminaries like Giovane Caffè, Di Beppe, and Caffè Super Veloce in downtown Vancouver, select JJ Bean locations, DALINA in Chinatown and Fairview, Chickpea on Main Street, Continental Coffee House on Main Street and Commercial Drive, Boulevard and Doughgirls on UBC campus, and even Globe Cafe and Tapas Bar at Big White Ski Resort near Kelowna.
The Vancouver Canadians return to Nat Bailey Stadium for the 2022 season after 963 days since the last game played on August 30, 2019. The Canadians have a full promotional schedule highlighted by the traditional nine Post-Game Fireworks, eleven A&W Family Fun Sundays and season long Friday ‘Nooners presented by Fortis BC.
New for the 2022 season, the Canadians will also include eleven Play Now Tuesdays presented by BCLC, eleven RBC We Care Wednesdays and eleven Throwback Thursday where the Canadians will transform and wear replica jerseys to highlight the 1978 Vancouver Canadians. The fan favourite Dog Day of Summer presented by Pet Food ‘N More will take place on Thursday, June 16th.
Vancouver Canadians Promotional Schedule for 2022
BCLC Play Now Tuesday
RBC We Care Wednesday
Throwback Thursday
April 19 May 3, May 17, May 31 June 14, June 28 July 12, July 26 August 2, August 23 September 6
April 20 May 4, May 18 June 1, June 15, June 29 July 13, July 27 August 3, August 24 September 7
April 21 May 5, May 19 June 2 July 14, July 28 August 4, August 25 September 8
April 24 May 8, May 22 June 5, June 19 July 3, July 17, July 31 August 7, August 28 September 11
April 22 May 6, May 20 June 3, June 17 July 1, July 15, July 29 August 5, August 26 September 9
June 4, June 18, June 30 July 2, July 16, July 30 August 6, August 27 September 10
Since the last game at the Nat, a few changes have happened including the schedule which will now include 66 home games at Nat Bailey Stadium as part of a 132-game season. Major League Baseball has once again determined a format that features a “six on, one off” schedule with Mondays serving as the league-wide off day and two teams going head-to-head for six consecutive games Tuesday through Sunday. Fans will also enjoy a higher level of baseball at the Nat as the organization has made the jump from the Short-A level to the High-A level resulting in an increased level of baseball than in previous seasons.
The highly anticipated return of baseball in Vancouver kicks off with the Home Opener on Tuesday, April 19th featuring a magnetic schedule for the first 2,500 fans. The festivities continue all week long with a blanket giveaway (presented by Fortis BC), the first of eleven Friday ‘Nooner, a Saturday Afternoon Special (1:05pm. First Pitch) and the opening series concludes with an A&W Family Fun Sunday where the first 500 fans will receive umbrellas.
Canadians single game tickets will be available for purchase on Saturday, February 26that 10:00am. Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets online, over the phone at (604) 872-5232 or in person at the Nat Bailey Box Office.
For fans who have purchased NatPacks, they will have an early redemption period from Tuesday, February 22nd to Friday, February 25th to redeem their undated vouchers for games during the 2022 season. NatPacks are flexible ticket packages available in 10, 15, or 25 vouchers which can be redeemed in any denomination for the 2022 season.
