Each spring, COBS Bread and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada host a joint campaign to raise funds and awareness for Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies across the country. This year, COBS Bread has created a new limited-time scone flavour for Big Brothers Big Sisters, Strawberries & Cream. This year’s scone fundraising weekend is on Saturday, May 12 and Sunday, May 13 where COBS will be donating 50¢ from every scone sold to Big Brothers Big Sisters.

“It has been a pleasure to increase our involvement with Big Brothers Big Sisters over the past three and a half years. We continue to be impressed with the care and dedication shown by the organization’s volunteers and staff, and look forward to many more years of this beneficial relationship,” says Michelle Duck, Marketing Manager of COBS Bread.

Each of the 123 Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies depends on donations to help recruit volunteers and reach more children. Funding received from companies like COBS is used to conduct background checks on volunteers to ensure child safety and provide ongoing support for children, families and volunteers to build long-lasting relationships.

“COBS Bread has raised more than $95,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters since 2009, which has allowed agencies across the country to provide many children with the support of a mentor. In addition, COBS has raised awareness of the urgent need for more Big Brother and Big Sister volunteers. COBS’ in-store campaigns have inspired many men and women to volunteer their time to provide encouragement and support to a young person in need in their community. We are so grateful for COBS’ support of mentoring,” says Justine Greene, Executive Director of Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland.

The limited edition Strawberries and Cream Scone is full of strawberry pieces and has strawberry cream cheese folded throughout and is topped with a decadent cream cheese icing. It is only available until May 16, so make sure you get it before it is gone!  To find your closest COBS Bread location in Vancouver, click here.

Join the Women in Leadership Foundation for the 7th annual BC Women in Business Luncheon and listen to inspirational women from different industries share their journeys of leadership, how they overcame obstacles along the way, and the best tips for success they have ever received. Ultimately, their stories of success and wisdom become ours to share.

This year’s theme will be Mentorship – Best Advice I Ever Got, featuring keynote speaker Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia, Chair, Vancouver Board of Trade; CEO, Century Plaza Hotel and Absolute Spa Group.

In addition, the event includes a panel of three inspirational women from various industries sharing their journeys of leadership, overcoming obstacles, and the best tips for success they have ever received. Ultimately, their stories of success and wisdom become ours to share. This year’s speakers include Jill Earthy, CEO, Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, Rebecca Bollwitt, Miss604 and Jane Russell, Senior Vice President, Pacific Region, TD Canada Trust.

Regular tickets are $55 and student discounted tickets are $45. Proceeds from the Women in Business Luncheon will support the WIL Mentorship Program; a program that helps to increase women’s participation in management or leadership positions in Canada through mentorship and leadership skills development.

For more information and to register online, click here.

Traditionally in France, March 20th is Le Jour du Macaron (Macaron Day).  Initiated by famous pastry chef Pierre Hermé, it is now celebrated worldwide and now the tradition has been brought to Vancouver.

On March 20th, French Made Baking (81 Kingsway at E. Broadway) will be giving a free macaron to everyone who visits the store in celebration of Macaron Day.  There’s no catch, but there will be a donation box at the till.  All the money raised on that day will go to support BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.

For another Vancouver bakery/cafe celebrating Le Jour du Macaron, check out Thierry in Downtown Vancouver.

On Tuesday March 20th, Vancouver’s Spring Advertising is celebrating the first day of spring with the public Boink Day Pogo Challenge benefitting the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society.  From 7am to 7pm at the Vancouver Art Gallery (Georgia Street side), for every pogo bounce performed by participants, Spring Advertising and will donate ten cents to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society. In other words, it’s a dime a “boink.” The public can also make a cash or non-perishable food donation. For every $1 donated, the food bank can purchase $3 of nutritious fresh fruit, vegetables, and eggs.

Pogo sticks will be provided on site. Or, participants can bring their own.

Following in the tradition of the international association Relais Desserts and other macaron festivals around the world, on Tuesday, March 20th, Thierry Chocolaterie Pâtisserie Café will celebrate ‘Jour du Macaron’.

Ten per cent of all macaron proceeds from this day, while supplies last, will be donated towards Growing Chefs! Chefs for Children’s Urban Agriculture.

Chef Thierry has a long-established following for his macarons, using a signature combination of fresh seasonal fruits and fine artisanal ingredients. Then, since opening last August, macarons have become a highly desirable item at Thierry, literally flying off the shelves.

“We want to celebrate both the joy of this simple pleasure, as well as a great cause,” says Chef Thierry. “We invite all of our friends to drop by the shop and join in the fête.”

By Manveet Virk, Modern Mix Vancouver writer

Bring out your best little black dress and black tie for the LBD Soiree Fundraiser at Fortune Sound Club on Saturday March 3, 2012.

Trying to give back to the community is on everyone’s agenda these days, but what if you can do it while having the perfect excuse to get all dolled up and spiffed out? Join the local not-for-profit group Help Change My City (HCMC) at the LBD Soiree on March 3rd at Fortune Sound Club to help raise funds for the Battered Women Support Society’s My Sister’s Closet boutique shop. With the goal of raising $1000, there is plenty of incentive for all those coming out such as performances by StillettoFit’s burlesque beauties, over 15 giveaways, a silent auction and best of all, the perfect avenue to connect and mingle with fellow young professionals. Tickets are set at just a $10 minimum donation. RSVP or learn more about the event at facebook.com/helpchangemycity.

All entries will be entered into a draw with five small thank-you prizes of a cute little heart necklace from the brand-new Special Addition collection with your own personal engraving on the back!  Good luck and Happy Valentine’s Day!

“It’s not just a drop in the bucket.  Its the chance to participate in change. It’s the opportunity to share the message. It’s all about the love. Love Love.”

By Eudora Koh, Modern Mix Vancouver writer

Last week, I was among a fashionable, artistic and elegant crowd at Hawksworth Restaurant for the unveiling of Sancha Jewelry’s latest and greatest, the Love Love Project, which has generated buzz for its initiative to help create positive change in the world. Love Love allows and encourages consumers to wear uniquely hand-crafted jewelry pieces not only in the name of fashion and style, but also in love and goodness.

The goal of Love Love is to bring awareness to and raise funds for international water related crises around the world, through sales of the jewelry and the discussion that emerges from it. At this particular time, all profits from Love Love sales will be donated to Oxfam Canada to raise money for the drought in East Africa. As for the pieces in the Love Love Project, there are three in the collection—a bangle, a necklace and a pendant—each is handmade in copper, a natural element noted as a positive conductor of energy, and all pieces are available in tarnished or rose gold copper.

The designer behind it all is the radiant and very talented Sancha Tatlock. Sancha Jewelry features Canadian hand-crafted designs featuring many raw and organic materials such as gemstones, crystals, antique relics and precious jewels, all of which Sancha believes has their own power as natural elements. Sancha explained to me that her designs have been inspired by her love for nature and the wilderness, both in which she was surrounded while growing up as a child.

Combine that passion for nature with an attraction to reading French fashion magazines, and that epitomizes Sancha’s bohemian childhood.  Sancha also has a love for water and the ocean, inspiring some of her other collections, such as Resort, which consists of sea shell designs and turquoise-blue tones. Speaking specifically to the Love Love Project, Sancha says “The Love Love Project was inspired by the work of Japanese scientist, Masaru Emoto who studied water’s response to positive and negative emotions”.

Currently, Love Love Project pieces, as well as selections of Sancha’s current and permanent collections, are available at these independent Vancouver boutiques: Dream, Little Dream, Spill It Sister, Body Politic, Tenth & Proper, and Dr. Vigari Gallery. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, consider purchasing some jewelry for your loved ones while supporting a fashionably worthy cause, all in the name of Love Love. For more information (including price points and how to purchase online) about Love Love Project and to view its entire collection along with Sancha’s other collections, visit the website: http://www.sanchajewelry.com.