Help Andrea raise money

✨✨✨If you're so inclined, please join me in creating vibrant, healthy, and inclusive communities where everyone can meet their full potential✨✨✨

Here are a few of my 'Whys for the Y', and reasons I've also become a monthly donor:

1. 🚑 Culture - When my Dad unexpectedly ended up in the hospital recently my boss simply said, 'Go' and meant it. I went and she and our team carried my workload for the week I was out of touch. 🙏

Actions speak volumes and I see leaders at all levels making decisions that put people first every week. 

2. 🤝 Belonging - I've had the privilege of meeting some incredible newcomers recently and heard how finding the Y a few months into their lives in this rainy, off lonely city, has helped create a sense of belonging, friendships, comfort with conversational English, and even paths into new employment opportunities.

How refreshing to hear first-hand accounts of 'the system' working and Canada still being experienced as a place of kindness, hope, and opportunity.

3. 💗 Service - Yesterday, I chatted with someone who'd mailed in a cheque on behalf of her Mom's estate. Turns out her Mom had used Y services during a tough time & saw this as a turning point in her life. So much so that decades later, she graciously remembered the Y in her will. 

A timely reminder of the importance of having a compassionate social safety net and a lovely example of paying it forward.

4. 🤸‍♀️ Impact - I didn't fully appreciate the breadth of the Y before joining. I knew that it was more than a 'gym and swim' but I didn't know that we're also the largest provider of childcare in BC, serve community members at all stages, 'from seed to cedar' 🌱🌲 and play a special role in the social services landscape as champions of health equity.

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As I huff and puff around the sea wall on Sunday, I will be grateful for my health, my communities, meaningful work, and the opportunity to 'ignite belonging' in small yet mighty ways.

Onwards 🏃🏼‍♀️🌊

-A