Bosley’s by Pet Valu New Westminster welcomes The Don’t You Want Me Project (“DYWM”), a social impact photography project that showcases the beauty and resilience of LGBTQ+ people, and the transformative impact their rescue dogs have on them.
Dont You Want Me Project – Photo Submitted
Don’t You Want Me Project Comes to New Westminster
Where: Bosley’s by Pet Valu (114-1015 Columbia St, New Westminster)
When: Daily March 28 to April 7, 2022 (9:00am to 9:00pm, 6:00pm on Sundays)
Co-founder Jack Jackson will be on site at the store on March 31st for Trans Day of Visibility, from 12:00pm to 4:00pm.
Admission: Free, although those who wish can make a donation online to support the project
Founded in 2019 by Jack Jackson and Deb Klein, the DYWM Project captures the transformation that happens when marginalized and often misunderstood individuals receive unconditional love and support. The exhibit includes six towers of compelling images and personal narratives of LGBTQ+ people and the impact their rescue dogs have had on them.
“Like rescue dogs, queer and trans people need love, purpose, family and to not live in fear,” says Jackson. “I am delighted to have the opportunity to travel across Canada with Don’t You Want Me; I look forward to chatting with visitors about the project and what happens when love is taken away, whether it’s by discrimination, isolation or ignorance and how people thrive when love is given back.”
Following its visit to New Westminster, the DYWM Project will travel to Winnipeg in April, Spryfield, NS in May, and Calgary and St. Catharines, ON in June. In each city, the project will be displayed in a Pet Valu store.
“The Project showcases the unconditional love, compassion and non-judgemental nature that is embodied in dogs, and how the strength and purpose they provide can help members of the LGBTQ+ community heal,” says Karima Jivraj, owner Bosley’s by Pet Valu New Westminster. “We encourage everyone to come in and experience the exhibit.”
During each stop on the national tour Jackson is meeting with new participants and capturing their stories to share through the DYWM project. Anyone who identifies as being part of the LGBTQ+ community, has rescued a dog and has experienced firsthand how their dog changed their life is encouraged to apply to participate.
Comedian Heather McMahan is bringing The Farewell Tour across the United States and Canada in 2022, with a stop in Vancouver on April 1, 2022 and you can win tickets!
Heather McMahan in Vancouver
Due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts, Heather McMahan’s show scheduled for April 1, 2022 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, BC has been cancelled. Refunds will be given at point of purchase.
If you don’t know who Heather is already, don’t worry you will! Heather recently sold Good Grief, a television show based on her life, to Peacock with Annapurna producing. She can be seen in the upcoming Netflix feature Love Hard, starring Nina Dobrev, Jimmy O. Yang and Darren Barnet, and her debut podcast, Absolutely Not with Heather McMahan leapt into the Apple Podcasts top ten on the day of the release.
A beloved standup comedian, Instagram storyteller and the best friend everyone wants, Heather has seen her fandom skyrocket with fans and the industry falling for her voice, her wit and her southern flair. Her audience on the platform has an average rate of engagement 4.4x higher than the average influencer on the platform and her growth has been explosive, doubling her following in just three months.
Heather has co-hosted the fourth hour of Today three times last fall and has an open door to return. She also previously hosted E!’s Daily Pop.
In 2019 she launched her tour, appropriately titled ‘The Farewell Tour,’ which sold out venues from Atlanta to Charleston to Seattle in under a minute with numbers that blew away all involved. She was prepared for another sold out run, but then of course, 2020 happened. Not to be deterred, Heather did two virtual shows last summer and sold more than 32,000 tickets combined. She officially returned to the stage last August, kicking off the back half of “The Farewell Tour” with over 30+ dates in 2021.
Win Tickets
I have a pair of tickets to give away for this fabulous night of comedy! Enter to win below:
A local couple’s NFT collection — which was inspired by their two-year-old daughter — will be the first in Canada to be featured in an original animated children’s series, as part of a new partnership recently announced by TIME Studios.
Vancouver’s the littles NFT Collection partners with TIME Studios
With a collection of 10,000 unique NFTs that live on the Ethereum blockchain,the littles was founded in November 2021 by Vancouver-based Wilson Lee and Cass Chan, featuring animated bears — their daughter’s favourite animal. There are now more than 5,500 holders, with each NFT currently costing a minimum of $1,200.
Following a tremendous reception — having sold out in less than two minutes of the launch, and with more than $40 million in secondary sales since — the collection caught the attention of the Emmy Award-winning studio. With it being only TIME Studio’s fourth NFT-based property, the new series will be based on the littles’ characters as part of the studio’s animated franchise lineup.
“When we were little, our world was so authentic and all we wanted was to have fun, which is why I find the name so encompassing of all the values that we strive to bring back to adults,” said Wilson Lee, founder of the littles. “Web3 has enabled me to share my roots globally, and through the littles to capture and share that long-forgotten sense of awe that children have. We’re excited to continue reaching new audiences and be able to tell stories through NFTs, not just in Vancouver and across Canada but also globally.”
In December 2021, the couple donated $100,000 of the project sales to the BC Children’s Hospital to fund Canada’s first pediatric thalassemia registry. The initiative was inspired by their daughter, who has a variant of thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder that causes the body to create less hemoglobin.
Although the littles is Lee’s first project in the NFT space, he brings a decade of entrepreneurial experience in various industries, including food and beverage, entertainment, and angel investment. He has parlayed his business acumen to the NFT space as a thought-leader, and creator, and will be speaking at the upcoming VeeCon, an NFT conference hosted by Gary Vaynerchuk.
Both Chan, an ex-Fortune 500 professional, and Lee will speak at NFTCon on Thursday, March 24, at 11:05am PST about their experience starting the littles.
In addition to the partnership with TIME Studios, the founders are in the process of creating the first interoperable skins-and-tokens-gaming experience in the Metaverse, set to launch via their web-based game platform, 1Up-Arcade.
Ronald McDonald House BC & Yukon (“RMH BC”) has announced the return of Step Up for Families, an annual campaign that raises funds to support BC and Yukon families seeking lifesaving medical treatment for their children.
Held in April, the springtime initiative invites the community to assemble their families, friends and colleagues to run, walk, roll or cycle at least 73 kilometres throughout the month. All donations collected will support the 2,000 families per year who stay at RMH BC’s 73-bedroom House and Family Room at Surrey Memorial Hospital.
Ronald McDonald House Step Up for Families 2022
Since 1983, RMH BC has provided comfort and housing to countless families who travel to Vancouver seeking life-saving treatment for their children – treatment that could take days, weeks or months to complete. The organization offers these families a home-away-from-home in a state-of-the-art, 73- bedroom House situated just steps from the BC Children’s Hospital. More than a place to sleep, the House welcomes families into a supportive ecosystem with amenities such as art and music therapy, comfortable accommodations and healthy meals.
This April, communities are invited to support these families during the third annual fitness-oriented Step Up for Families fundraiser.
At RMH BC, it costs $150 per night to house a family – so, by reaching the minimum $150 “Gift a Night” fundraising goal, participants can help provide a night of comfort to a family facing a stressful situation far from their home. This year, RMH BC has set a fundraising goal to provide 1,000 nights of comfort to families relying on the House and Family Room.
How to participate in Step Up for Families:
Recruit your team by sharing the Step Up for Families toolkit with your family, friends or co-workers (or tackle the challenge solo)
Visit the website to register and set up your fundraising page. Share the link with your team so they can join.
Connect your account to Strava, or manually track your distances throughout April.
Encourage your community to donate and help you raise a minimum of $150 to support a family for one night in the RMH BC House.
“Movement has a huge impact on mental health and how we are able to cope with stress,” says Jenna Morrison, Recreation Therapist at RMH BC. “From improved sleep and mood to decreased stress and anxiety, movement can bring us back to the present, so we are better able to focus on moving forward. For many of our families, movement is a tool that helps them to cope and stay grounded through the ups and downs.”
Last year’s Step Up for Families was a huge success, engaging 317 participants from over 55 communities in BC and Yukon. Collectively, they took 60 million steps and tackled 48,000 kilometres – and, in doing so, raised $151,000 for RMH BC, gifting over 1,200 nights of comfort.
Live Nation Canada and Wideglide Entertainment have announced the 2022 lineup for Laketown Shakedown festival, taking place at Laketown Ranch in the Cowichan Valley on June 30, July 1, July 2.
Laketown Shakedown Lineup 2022
The highly anticipated festival will kick-off with headlining performances by Canadian fan-favourites Arkells and LIGHTS on Thursday, legendary hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan (who were scheduled for the cancelled 2020 event) and southern California pop/rock band Sugar Ray on Friday, with high-energy rockers The Glorious Sons and rapper, songwriter, and record producer Big Boi closing out the festival on Saturday.
Supported by Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia, Laketown Shakedown 2022 has been designed to appeal to all generations of music fans with a lineup of artists spanning from hip hop and dance to rock, electronic, alternative and beyond.
Camping, Weekend Passes, and Single Day Tickets will go on sale at 10:00am on Friday, March 25, 2022.
Thursday, June 30, 2022
Arkells LIGHTS Felix Cartal Haviah Mighty Longwalkshortdock Def3 Vince Vaccaro Daysormay Mauvey BRAINiac w/ Ruze Records GI Blunt Nokturnal Funk DJ Boitano (Host DJ Mainstage)
Friday, July 1, 2022
Wu-Tang Clan Sugar Ray Goldfish Dear Rouge K+Lab R.O. Shapiro Diamond Cafe Kimmortal Murge Case Of The Mondays DJ All Good Bankes Brothers La Chuparosa DJ Anger The Odd Neighborhood Faultline DJ Boitano (Host DJ Mainstage)
Saturday, July 2, 2022
The Glorious Sons Big Boi Halluci Nation JJ Wilde Daniel Wesley Astrocolor Dunks Missy D Old Soul Rebel Illvis Freshly Neil Jam3s Mt. Doyle Khanvict Vox Rea Nostic & Nicki Michaela Slinger Hard.times w/ Lady Phyl DJ Boitano (Host DJ Mainstage)
Laketown Ranch is a world-class facility, featuring the largest permanent outdoor stage in Canada on a 172-acre site only minutes from Cowichan Lake.
Laketown Shakedown will host three days of live music across three stages in a truly spectacular setting, plus a festival village with food and other vendors, multiple full-service bars, a dynamic VIP area, flush toilets, and showers. Find more info on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
