A few weeks ago, on September 30th, we honoured Canada's first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. While there was a great deal of excitement around the day, in retrospect, it's feels like we missed the mark in giving it the reverence it deserves. Even our Prime Minister was clearly confused about how to conduct himself on the day.
At Fine Edge, we treated the day as a statutory holiday (day off with pay), but didn't quite feel right about it. We felt that while the time off allowed for self analysis and introspection, it wasn't quite enough. Introspection and self analysis can be done any time any place. We felt that we could be more productive by coming into work, having discussions between ourselves and our customers about the day and its meaning, and then taking some profits from the day and directing them to organizations that could do something constructive for the Indigenous community.
So that's what we're doing next year. Working on the day, directing the equivalent of our day's wages towards good organizations in the Indigenous community, and encouraging our own community to have meaningful discussions about our past.
But this year isn't over! And why does truth and reconciliation get relegated to just one day? So for the month of October, we've put our energy towards supporting SHEWAY, a program in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside dedicated to helping new and expecting mothers who are dealing with substance issues and a lack of resources. Sheway is a partner of the Vancouver Aboriginal Health Society and many of the women who go through their doors are part of the Indigenous community.
Currently, Fine Edge and RESERVE are donating a portion of the sale of each RESERVE product directly to Sheway. This will run all the way to the end of October, so get your orders in! This applies to online orders and in store purchases.
Also happening in Fine Edge's Vancouver location, we have a betting board! Matt (you've likely seen him in the Main St shop) is running a 50km ultramarathon on Sunday, October 24th in Port Moody. For a $10 donation (to Sheway) you can make a bet on his finish time. He thinks he can finish in about 5 hours and 30 minutes and whoever guesses closest to his actual finish time will win a Parlux dryer of their choice and some Akitz Precision scissors!
