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03-Sep-10	Do You Google? Raise Funds for Sonshine While You Search. It's Really That Simple! Now you can help raise funds for Sonshine just by doing something you probably already do everyday – search the web. Thanks to a company called Comtribute, Sonshine is introducing an online fundraising program that enables you to contribute to Sonshine every time you search the web. Every search you run through our toolbar or search page will raise a few cents for Sonshine. Click release title to learn more...
24-Aug-10	Calgary Police Releases 2009 Crime Stats Calgary Police Service recently released its 2009 annual statistical report on person and property crime. It once again confirmed the pervasivness of domestic violence in our city. Pollice received 14,267 domestic violence related calls; up 3% from 2008 33% of all homicides were domestic related 40% of all assaults were domestic related  25% of all person crimes (including, homicide, attempted homicide, robbery, assault, sex assault, kidnapping, extortion and harassment) were domestic related. To see the full report, click here.
02-Jun-10	Team Sonshine at the Calgary Marathon - Check! 14 runners and walkers, including Sonshine's Executive Director, took part in the Calgary Marathon events this past weekend in benefit of Sonshine. As part of the Scotiabank Calgary Marathon's Group Charity Challenge, Team Sonshine raised over $6,400. This year marks the first time the Group Charity Challenge has been incorporated into the Calgary Marathon. 19 charities, including Sonshine took part in this fantastic fundraising opportunity. "The run was such a blast," said Sonshine's Resource Development Manager who ran in 10K along with her husband. "It was such a great experience. I look forward to participating again next year, as well as encouraging others to take on a great running and fundraising challenge."
13-May-10	Thank You Clearview Plumbing Sonshine would like to give a heartfel thank you to Clearview Plumbing for choosing Sonshine as their April "Charity of the Month." Every month Clearview Plumbing donates $1,000 to a local charity as a way to give back to the communties where they do business. For more information about Clearview Plumbing, visit their website here.
06-May-10	Calgary Marathon Group Charity Challenge Sonshine is excited to be participating in The Calgary Marathon’s Scotiabank Group Charity Challenge. As on official charity of The Scotiabank Group Charity Challenge, Sonshine is recruiting individuals and families to join our Executive Director Joy Johnson-Green in running and raising funds for Sonshine. The race is scheduled for May 30, 2010. Everyone running on behalf of Sonshine is eligible for the discounted race entry fee, as well as a complimentary personalize fundraising webpage. The first 15 people to register for Sonshine’s team and commit to raising at least $100 will have their race registration fee waved! Sonshine will receive every penny you raise, as all administrative costs are being covered by Scotiabank!
31-Mar-10	Sweet Hope is Coming Soon! It's coming once again. Sonshine's newest fundraising event Sweet Hope. Join us Friday, June 18th for an evening filled with sweet culinary delights and a hillarious live performance of Hockey Dad by Burnt Thicket Theatre. Thank you to our print sponosor Minuteman Press South Calgary and our graphic design sponsor Karla Smit Graphic Design. Event sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, contact Tania at 403.705.3485 or by email here.
05-Feb-10	Calgary Women's Show Supports Sonshine! Sonshine is excited to have been chosen at The Calgary Women's Show spring 2010 "Charity of Choice." As the charity of choice, Sonshine will be the recipient of fundraising and awareness activities, including free exhibit space and promotion at the event. We look forward to our participation, and hope that you will come out to the show - April 24 & 25, BMO Centre Stampede Park. A HUGE thank you to The Calgary's Women's Show for their support!
18-Jan-10	Art Exhibit to Benefit Sonshine Sonshine is thrilled to be the beneficiary of proceeds from an upcoming art exhibition. The Emmaus Fine Art Group is presenting a solo exhibition entitled "Love is Eternal" by Brittiny Simi. The show will be hosted at The House Coffee Sanctuary, 126 10th Street NW. The official opening of the exhibition is February 6 from 2-4, with music by Grahamko. Artist Brittiny Simi will be in attendance and snacks will be served. The exhibition will show until March 2. Proceeds from the art sales will go to Sonshine Community Services. Thank you Brittiny for your generous heart!
07-Jan-10	Domestic Violence's Deadly Toll in 2009 "Gang warfare on Calgary streets may have abated in 2009, but domestic violence continues to exact a deadly toll behind the city's closed doors," wrote Calgary Herald reporter Jason Van Rassel. The overall homicide rate droped in 2009 as police fight gangs, but sadly, of the 24 lives that were ended at the hands of others, 9 were the results of domestic disputes. What is even more tragic is that 4 of these 9 cases involved the murder of children (3 at the hands of their own fathers and and 1 at the hands of his mother's boyfriend). Although this is the extreme face of domestic violence, we know that thousands more in our city were impacted by this pervasive social issue at other levels, which is why Sonshine will continue providing and expanding its services to women and children in our city. Please join us by donating of your time, talents, and resources.
29-Dec-09	New Funding Helps Sonshine Finish Year Strong Sonshine is pleased to receive the generous support of the Catherine Butler Fund at The Calgary Foundation and the Trilogy Fund at The Calgary Foundation. The respective $10,000 and $15,000 grants come as a enormous blessing to Sonshine this year end, as the economic climate saw donations decrease for many charities in 2009. These grants will be invested in providing safe housing and supportive services to women and children fleeing domestic violence at The Sonshine Centre. This is the first time the Catherine Butler Fund at The Calgary Foundation and the Trilogy Fund at The Calgary Foundation have invested in Sonshine. Accordingly, we appreciate there confidence in the work we do and extend a heartfelt thank you for choosing to invest in the lives of women and children impacted by domestic violence.
09-Dec-09	ConocoPhillips Employees Deliver Truckloads of Christmas Cheer Two moving trucks filled Christmas hampers made their way to the Sonshine Centre this past week, as employees from ConocoPhillips stopped in to deliver Christmas cheer to women and children impacted by domestic violence.    All 24 families residing at the Sonshine Centre were “adopted” by groups of ConocoPhillips employees, who came together to raise approximately $44,000 to purchase gifts, food and other essentials for Sonshine residents. “We greatly admire the passion ConocoPhillips and its employees demonstrate for our cause,” says Sonshine’s Volunteer Coordinator Terry-Mae Hepburn. “Their commitment to care so generously for our clients, particularly in a time of recession, is very inspiring.”
19-Nov-09	Hope Gala Success Sonshine's annual Hope Gala delighted its over 200 attendees this past Thursday, November 12th.The event which included a silent and live auction, live jazz music, entertainment by Toe Tappin' Swing Dance Team, and of course a fabulous meal raised over $73,000 to provide safe housing and supportive services to women and children fleeing domestic violence. A BIG, BIG thank you to everyone who helped make this event a success. A special thank you to our event sponsors ConocoPhillips, Nexen, Crescent Point Energy, Investor's Group, and Integrity Wealth, as well as our printing sponsor Minuteman Press South Calgary and our graphic design sponsor Karla Smit Graphic Design.
09-Nov-09	Sonshine's Childrens' "Dreams Take Flight" Sonshine staff and residents were filled with great excitement this past month, as five of the children at the Sonshine Centre were able to participate in the Dreams Take Flight trip to Disney Land. They joined 133 other children for an all expense paid one-day trip to the happiest place on Earth to see Mickey and his friends. A big thank you to Dreams Take Flight Calgary and Air Canada employees for giving these children this wonderful opportunity. For more information on Dreams Take Flight visit http://yyc.dreamstakeflight.ca/
19-Oct-09	Harry & Martha Cohen Foundation Support Children's Programming at Sonshine Sonshine is pleased to accept a grant from the Harry and Martha Cohen Foundation for children's programming at the Sonshine Centre. The grant will be used to purchase program materials for the children's program. Sonshine extends a warm thank you to the Harry and Martha Cohen Foundation for their support. The Foundation's support will be far reaching in helping children impacted by domestic abuse.
07-Oct-09	Calgary Civic Symphony Concert Supports Sonshine! The Calgary Civic Symphony will be hosting "Beethoven 9" on Sunday November 8th. A portion of all proceeds will be donated to the Sonshine Centre! The concert will begin at 7:30 pm at First Alliance Church. The concert, conducted by Rolf Bertsch, will feature the First Alliance Church Choir, Cantare Children's Choir, and members of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus. Tickets are $14, and can be purchased at the door or by calling 403.670.5430. Thank you Calgary Civic Symphony for supporting Sonshine!
12-Aug-09	Darrel Janz to MC 2009 Hope Gala Darrel Janze, anchor for CTV, will be the MC of Sonshine's 2009 Hope Gala. The event sponsored by ConocoPhillips, Crescent Point Energy, Integrity Wealth, Nexen, and Investor's Group will feature live music by Absolom Trio and entertaintment by Toe Tappin' Swing Performance team. Start your Christmas shopping at our fabulous silent and live auction. Great items are coming in, including exciting travel packages and exursions! Tickets are $125, and can be purchased by calling Tania Evans at 403.705.3485.
15-Jul-09	Kale Tire Fundraiser For Sonshine Kale Tire Chinook Centre will be hosting a huge “Garage Sale” in their parking lot on July 17th and 18th from 11-4 with amazing discounts of 50% off tires, wheels, mechanical services, and more. The event will include a BBQ with donations being accepted for the Sonshine Centre. For more information call Kal Tire Chinook Centre at 403-253-6502.
20-Jun-09	Sonshine featured in the Herald Sonshine's Executive Director Joy Johnson-Green was recently interviewed by the Calgary Herald regarding the release of new research findings by the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters that demonstrates the high need for second-stage shelters like Sonshine. Click link above to read the article.
08-Jun-09	Domestic Violence Stats Released by Calgary Police Calgary Police Service just released its 2008 annual statistical report on person and property crime, which included some shocking statistics about the pervasiveness of domestic violence. These include: 13,496 domestic violence related calls, up 7.8% from 2007; 2585 total domestic violence related crimes against people (including, homicide, attempted homicide, robbery, assault, sex assault, kidnapping, extortion and harassment). This account for almost ONE THIRD of all person crimes in Calgary for 2008; 21% of homicides were domestic violence related; and 37% of all assaults were domestic violence related. To see the full report, click here.
28-May-09	Dessert-theatre offers "Sweet Hope" to women fleeing domestic violence Over 100 guests enticed their eyes and taste buds this past weekend at Sweet Hope, an innovative dessert-theatre fundraising event hosted by Sonshine. Local bakeries donated culinary delights for guests to enjoy, and a live performance of Threads by Fire Exit Theatre and Corps Bara Dance followed the feast of sweet treats. Click link above to read more.
20-May-09	Women forced to chose between violence, poverty and homelessness A recent News Release by the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters (ACWS) claims new research completed between 2007and 2008 uncovered that a fear of poverty is a significant reason many women return to the same abusive relationships that brought them to a women’s shelter in the first place. Click here to see ACWS' full news release.
18-Nov-08	2008 Gala Success It was difficult to find a dry eye last Thursday evening at Sonshine's annual Gala and Auction. As part of the event, previous clients of the Sonshine Centre shared powerful stories of escaping domestic abuse. Some details of their stories were very difficult to hear; yet for all who were there, the cause they were supporting suddenly had a very real face. The tears and excitement came to a climax when representatives from the Canadian Progress Club, City Centre presented Sonshine with a surprise $50,000 donation. Click link above to read more.
08-Sep-08	Alberta: "Domestic Violence Captial of the Canada" In a two-part series, Herald columnist Valerie Fortney examines the issue of domestic violence in our city and province, along with the groundbreaking work being done to combat the problem. Alberta has earned the the dubious title of "Domestic Violence Capital of Canada," and Calgary, thanks to recent high-profile domestic homicides that have captured national and international headlines, is its battered poster child, Valerie says. Read part one here and part two here.