During the Christmas season, things tend to get stressful around Youville Centre. Our moms are scrambling to get school work completed before the break, all while figuring out how to provide their young family with the perfect Christmas. As you can imagine, it’s not a time of year when much self-care takes place for the moms.
We were delighted to be approached by Cathy Hupka and her friends at Hearts and Hands. They brought forward an incredibly fun and ambitious idea to lift the spirits of our students during this chaotic time.
The group wanted our moms to take some time to spoil themselves. How? By turning our gymnasium into the ultimate shopping centre. The Hearts and Hands group spent weeks collecting gently loved items from friends and family. Many closets were purged, and a spectacular amount of beautiful items were acquired. To give you a rough idea, a moving truck was required to transport all of the generous donations to Youville Centre.
A full evening of set up later, it was clear that the preparation and planning had truly paid off. The shopping centre was a breathtaking sight to behold. It featured a jewelry and accessories department, formalwear, outerwear, footwear, jeans, pants, skirts, and more tops than you can even imagine. Two mega-sized change rooms were also assembled, complete with red carpet runway and full-length mirrors.
The moms were invited into the shopping centre throughout the day. The atmosphere at Youville Centre that day were absolutely incredible. The young women excitedly browsed with their friends, trying on new outfits. Many left at the end of the day with multiple shopping bags filled with awesome new wardrobe items. Mission accomplished!
And as if this day wasn’t already spectacular enough, the day ended off with a Fashion Show, featuring five Youville Centre students strutting down the red carpet to show off their new ensembles. It was a day of smiles and laughter, a day of finding amazing new styles, and most importantly, a day for our young moms to have some fun during a chaotic time of year.