The second annual Dine Strathcona initiative, taking place November 18-30, 2020, will see Strathcona’s hospitality community come together to showcase the neighbourhood’s vibrant culinary scene while raising money to provide support for vulnerable individuals in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Dine Strathcona

First launched in 2019 by the Strathcona Business Improvement Association (“SBIA”) as ‘Dine Railtown’, the neighbourhood initiative has now expanded to encompass restaurants, cafés, and breweries across the larger Strathcona area. Dine Strathcona will see participating dining establishments such as Ask For Luigi, Dosanko, and The Garden offer a feature dish throughout the two-week event period, with $1 for each dish ordered donated to WISH Drop-In Centre.

For almost 40 years, WISH Drop-In Centre has been a refuge and an essential point of contact for street-based sex workers who have been made vulnerable due to poverty, homelessness, trauma, violence, stigma, and a lack of access to supports and opportunities. It is the largest organization in Canada supporting sex workers and the only drop-in centre in the region supporting them 365 nights a year. Money raised during Dine Strathcona will help fund the critical services and resources WISH provides, including its 24-hour drop-in centre where they serve over 9,000 meals a month, its emergency shelter, Mobile Access Project Van, and WISH’s capacity building programs.

“Small businesses and organizations like the WISH Drop-In Centre are at the heart of this neighbourhood and it’s more critical now than ever to show our support for them,” says Theodora Lamb, Executive Director of the SBIA. “Dine Strathcona allows residents and visitors alike to do just that — make a positive impact in the lives of those who live and work in the district while also enjoying safe dining experiences at the many incredible cafés, restaurants and small businesses that call Strathcona home.”

Participating Businesses

Participating locations have implemented extensive safety and distancing measures to keep their customers safe. Many of the feature dishes are also available for take-out and delivery for those who wish to support Dine Strathcona from the comfort of home.

UPDATE December 7, 2020: Unfortunately the event is cancelled for 2020.

I’m thrilled to share that Heritage Christmas at Burnaby Village Museum is NOT CANCELLED this season and you will be able to enjoy the dazzling lights, sights, and sounds of Heritage Christmas for the holidays!

Heritage Christmas at Burnaby Village Museum

• When:
  • November 21 to December 18, 2020 (closed Monday/Tuesday)
    • Wednesday to Friday, 1:00pm to 5:30pm
    • Saturday & Sunday 1:00pm to 9:00pm
  • December 19 to January 1, 2021 (closed December 24 & 25)
    • Daily 1:00pm to 9:00pm
• Where: Burnaby Village Museum (6501 Deer Lake Ave)
• Tickets: Admission is FREE but advance reservations are strongly recommended.
  • Reserve by calling (604) 297-4565 during office hours (Monday to Friday 9:00am to 4:00pm; Saturday and Sunday 1:30pm to 8:30pm)
  • One reservation (for up to six people) per call. Do not leave a voicemail.

Please note the Carousel and gift shop are closed.

Miss604 is the proud Blog Sponsor of VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation in 2020. The following has been contributed by their team:

High Five Worthy Research Supports Women’s Heart Health

In just a few short weeks the philanthropic community has helped High Fives for Health Care, a fundraising campaign by VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation in support of the most urgent needs of its hospitals and health care centres, reach extraordinary heights.

Donor funding supports key research and patient areas – like the Leslie Diamond Women’s Heart Health Clinic. For years, women’s heart attacks were misdiagnosed. Not only do women often report slightly different symptoms when experience a heart attack, but the cause is often different as well.

“These symptoms are not the typical crushing chest pain that are popularly portrayed, and that is because women tend to have blockages not just in the larger arteries surrounding the heart, but in the micro blood vessels instead,” says Dr. Tara Sedlak, Cardiologist and Director of the Leslie Diamond Women’s Heart Health Clinic.

“Not understanding these key differences can lead to disaster.”

Know the Signs

Women can display different heart attack symptoms than men. These include:

• Neck, jaw, shoulder or back pain
• Pressure or tightness in the chest
• Indigestion and dizziness

Donor funding supports vital research and more personalized care, resulting in better outcomes for all cardiac patients.

“Because of the generosity of these wonderful individuals in the community, patients at Vancouver General Hospital and UBC Hospital are able to be cared for by the best teams who have access to state-of-the-art equipment utilizing treatments based on the latest research,” says Angela Chapman, President & CEO, VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation. “And it’s not over yet.”

You can join VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation for a broadcast event taking place this Saturday, November 14th. Listen live on CKNW 980 at 2:00pm and/or watch Global TV at 5:00pm.

The Global broadcast will feature more of Denise’s story as well as insights from Dr. David Wood on the improvements made to cardiac care thanks to donor support.

If you donate today, your gift will be doubled as John and Sherry Floren, Djavad Mowafaghian Foundation, Noordin and Nancey Nanji, Alan and Gwendoline Pyatt Foundation, Juggy Sihota-Chahil, TELUS and anonymous donors are matching every High Fives for Health Care donation up to $250,000.

London Drugs has announced the return of its popular Stocking Stuffers for Seniors holiday donation drive. The simple gesture of giving a gift could mean the world to thousands of seniors who are seeing increased isolation this holiday season due to COVID-19 protective protocols.

Stocking Stuffers for Seniors at London Drugs

Supporters can visit their local London Drugs between now and December 16, 2020 to choose a tag from the tree that contains the wish list, or everyday essentials, of a local senior. The gifts are then safely delivered to the seniors before Christmas.

To ensure the utmost safety for seniors, staff and volunteers of the program this year, each London Drugs location is working with their program partners and elder care experts to ensure the program meets their specific safety requirements for the safe collection and transfer of gifts that will be delivered to the seniors by approved personnel and volunteers.

Each London Drugs will have information posted next to the Stocking Stuffers for Seniors tree with information on how the participating care homes will be managing the gifts to keep their seniors safe. In many instances, donated gifts will be isolated for 72 hours prior to internal distribution to the seniors.

“This year, it’s more important than ever to show seniors that they are not alone,” said Jimmy Morrison, Community Relations Supervisor, Operation Friendship Seniors Society. “Just the act of receiving a gift helps to significantly improve the spirits of a senior and can have lasting mental and physical health benefits.”

How It Works

To support Stocking Stuffers for Seniors, visit any London Drugs between now and December 16th and take a tag with a senior’s wish list from the tree. From there, simply fulfill the items on the list and bring the new and unwrapped items to customer service at that store to check out.

Popular Gifts for Seniors

• Books or magazines
• Blankets and throws
• Kitchen essentials
• Candy or chocolate
• Board games or puzzles
• Slippers or warm socks
• Toilet paper, paper towels, or tissues
• Warm clothing like gloves and scarves
• Travel mugs
• Gift cards for groceries and toiletries

Stocking Stuffers for Seniors participants and campaign supporters are being asked to use the #StockingStuffersForSeniors hashtag on social media to encourage others to get involved so more elderly Canadians can be supported at the holidays, as well as year-round.

The Stocking Stuffers for Seniors donation drive concept originated in British Columbia’s Okanagan, and expanded to Edmonton in 2015 with a goal to help 40 low-income seniors by providing them with simple gifts such as food, hygiene products or warmth items. The campaign has grown quickly to now include all 81 London Drugs locations in 35 cities across Western Canada. Since the campaign started, approximately 44,000 packages have been delivered to seniors.

In honour and celebration of Co.ERASGA‘s 20^th anniversary season, the company presents Offering, created by acclaimed choreographer and Artistic Director Alvin Erasga Tolentino.

Co.ERASGA Presents Offering

Where: Anvil Centre(777 Columbia St, New Westminster) and online
When: November 28-29, 2020 at 3:00pm 
Tickets: Live/in person $20-$25 or online by donation. Purchase online or call (604) 521-5050

This collection of solo works, performed by 6 of Vancouver’s finest and diverse dancers, aspires to honour the living practice of Dance and Dancing and the challenges of keeping this art-form alive during this extraordinary time of the pandemic crisis and isolation.

How do our bodies relate, move and dance at this critical time of pandemic adversity? In this new creation, Tolentino asks each dancer to explore movement as a form of devotion and prayer –allowing the dance to transcend luminous energy. Each work individually and together as full-evening presentation, Offering becomes a performance ritual, evoking a spiritual reach for a universal interconnect, awareness, and healing for the world.

Co.ERASGA’s 20^th milestone season faces a challenging and unprecedented time of being in the middle of a pandemic, however our intention is to keep dance alive– over the past two decades, along with all of our artists, arts partners and audiences, we dance with gratitude, building and sharing together. More than ever, we rise to the gift and healing power of dance.

Win Tickets

I have two online tickets to give away. Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Click below to post an entry on Twitter

I will draw two winners, who will each get online access, at 12:00pm on Thursday, November 19, 2020. Update: The winner is Renate!