Now THIS is how to spend a Friday or Saturday. BRIKA — a Canadian start-up online experience that celebrates modern craft and storytelling by featuring the work of authentic makers, artisans, and designers — is teaming up with The Shoebox Project to give women in shelters something special for Mother's Day.
The Shoebox Project was founded in 2011 by sisters-in-law Caroline Mulroney Lapham, and Jessica, Vanessa, and Katy Mulroney, and works to donate shoeboxes filled with little luxuries to women in shelters across Canada. And it's making a mark: in December alone, it brought 9,100 boxes to 188 Canadian shelters.
So that's where this weekend comes in: on May 2 and May 3, BRIKA will have a pop-up shop at the HBC store on Queen Street in Toronto, which will also be a drop-off location for Shoeboxes for Mother's Day. You can make your own shoebox, OR you can make a donation in-store (which will also give you the opportunity to decorate a Shoebox, which will be filled and given to somebody on Mother's Day).
If this is a cause you'd like to support, the pop-up shops will be located at HBC's lower level on Friday May 2 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Saturday May 3 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. You'll also get 15% off the entire store if/when you drop off a shoebox or donate to fill one. And if you want to fill one on your own, at home? Here's what The Shoebox Project is looking for, specifically:
– body or hand lotion
– mascara, lipstick, nail polish (no concealors or foundations)
– toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss
– nut-free chocolate, cookies, candy
– mitts, hats, scarves
– perfume
– brushes and combs
– subway tokens, bus tickets
– notebooks and pens
– phone cards
– gift certificates to chains like Tim Horton's, McDonald's, Shoppers Drug Mart, Wal-Mart (and include the receipt/value of the card)
– inspirational card and/or quote
It's also asked that you don't wrap the box, since they have to be inspected before being given out.
Here's to The Shoebox Project and BRIKA founders Jen Lee Koss and Kena Paranjape for teaming up for such a worthy cause. More of this, everybody!
