Popular TV show hosts lend hand in supporting local women's shelter.
Steven Sabados and Chris Hyndman (far left and right) of the CBC's Steven and Chris Show, take time out to meet with WomenAide founder Tracey Cairns and supporter Mario Furgiuele at last Thursday morning's taping at Studio 65. The show is partnering with WomenAide on a holiday drive to collect 3,000 goods-in-kind for local women's shelters.
Courtesy photo
"Everyone deserves a little fabulous!"
So say the hosts of the CBC's popular Steven and Chris Show in a new blog post announcing the Etobicoke-based not-for-profit WomenAide as their partners in their annual Giving Back holiday initiative.
For the months of November and December, Steven Sabados and Chris Hyndman will encourage studio audience members to bring down to Studio 65 goods-in-kind to donate to local women's shelters through WomenAide.
"These women are very brave. They've pulled together courage to leave their homes - often with children - to start new, peaceful lives," they wrote. "What a challenge - but what beauty in that moment. Reward them and give."
The goal of the drive is to collect 3,000 personal care items for abused women and their children by Dec. 16, said WomenAide founder Tracey Cairns.
"What (the Steven and Chris Show) did is they sent out a communication to all audience attendees telling them they're supporting WomenAide and asking them to please bring donations to the studio on the day of the taping," she explained. "They tape five days a week, and there's usually about 100 people in the audience, so this initiative has a lot of reach."
Suggested donations include: soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo and conditioner, lotion, deodorant, laundry detergent, feminine products, diapers, baby wipes, baby formula and food, pacifiers, and non-perishable foods in tins or packaged foods.
Since its inception in 2006, WomenAide - a not-for-profit group that provides such "creature comforts" to women and children fleeing domestic abuse - has collected thousands of items for local shelters like Women's Habitat, Ernestine's, ETA Vaughan and Red Door Family Shelter.
Those women who flee domestic violence and seek refuge at abuse shelters often do so in a panic and sometimes arrive at shelters with nothing but the clothes on their backs. In such cases, simple goods-in-kind donations can make all the difference.
Cairns said she's hopeful that, with such high-profile supporters as Sabados and Hyndman, this year's holiday season will be an especially happy one for such recipients of WomenAide's kindness.
"We just started, so we're hoping the momentum kicks in and things start rolling in the Stephen and Chris WomenAide 3000 campaign," she said with a laugh. "When I found out they'd be doing this for us, I said 'pinch me, is this real?' I still can't believe it. It was such a treat meeting those guys - they are larger than life, those two. I'm so grateful that they're supporting this cause. It's unbelievable."
Those wishing to attend the Stephen and Chris show, can go to www.cbc.ca/stevenandchris/ or if you can't attend a filming and would still like to contribute, contact WomenAide at www.womenaide.com or by calling 416-236-5110.