The Toronto Newsgirls Calendar 2012 project has been a resounding success! When we decided to put this calendar together in September 2011, we had no idea what to expect. Our goal was to inspire others through photographs and to raise some money for Shape Your Life. But from inception to today, it has become so much more.
1. Awareness
The primary purpose of this project was to raise awareness of how freakin’ strong women are. We’ve received a lot of feedback of how inspiring it is that women see how strong women are. We also wanted to raise awareness in how effective boxing is for attaining higher physical and mental fitness. Boxing pushes you to challenge yourself.
The secondary purpose was to raise awareness and money for Shape Your Life – a very important program for survivors of violence to release their aggression in a safe place and to believe in themselves to become who they want to be. It is our responsibility to our neighbors, to those we love, and to our communities to ensure that people in need receive the support to rebuild themselves.
2. Community
We were very humbled to witness how present & past Toronto Newsgirls re-connected over this project and we are so grateful with the amount of help we received from the Newsgirls network.
This project would not have been possible without funding from our 14 sponsors and enthusiasm from our 12 boxers. Sponsors and boxers all come from diverse backgrounds but when it came to assisting in this project, everyone came together.
3. Involvement
Lots of people were involved on this project’s implementation. Kudos to photographer Jacklyn Atlas, who took all the photos and spent countless hours designing the calendar with Simone; our team of photographer assistants, who endured long hours of spraying boxers and holding equipment; our printing team; our communications team; our sales team and to everyone who helped in any way possible.
Special recognition to the following individuals who personally bought or sold a whole whack:
Anne S., Dugey A., Italia A., Joanne G., Katie P., Mark C., Maryam K., MaryAnn S., Robin G., Sheila J., Tanya D., Teresa F., Wendy K., Virginia W.
4. Numbers
Calendars have been shipped to 6 countries, 30+ towns & cities. To this date, we raised over $1,800 for Shape Your Life through sales and calendar donations to students of the program. This amounts to over 35% of total revenue – an operational feat!
Thank you each one of you for your support. And especially to Savoy Howe & the Toronto Newsgirls – thank you for giving us the remarkable opportunity to do something fun and socially meaningful. We look forward to the new year as being filled with awesome projects and continued involvement. May 2012 bring love, light, and happiness to everyone.