Friday May 25th was a HUGE day for us. We held our first ever women's retreat fundraiser. The idea came from our board member Jacquie. She attended an event similar to this and loved it so much that she suggested we host our own. What a great idea it was. So Melissa and Billie took the idea and ran with it. With only about 6 weeks to plan and get everything ready there was a lot of hard work ahead of us. Good thing we had some amazing people helping. We have so many people to thank that made this evening possible and a huge success. A very special thank you to our friends and family who sold tickets, donated, collected auction items, sold raffle tickets, worked the door, help with the silent auction, ran around picking up last min things, bringing us food or drinks, arriving early to clean up and stayed so late to clean up, way past the tine we expected them to stay. We could not have done this with out you all! You know who you are! AND especially to EVERYONE who bought tickets, came out and showed us your support by just being there, whether you bought anything at all, just having your presence there was more then meaningful to both of us!

Here are the people and businesses who made this night possible and as wonderful as it was!

SWAG BAG

HOTDAME
PURE Botanicals
Label 25
Melissa DePape Photography
Davids Tea
Family Connections Inc.

MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT

Tiffany Sparrow - You graced us with your beautiful voice and patience while we got the microphone problem fixed. It was a pleasure and an honour to have you perform, you were amazing.
Kena León - Your presence was felt and appreciated. You wowed us all with your voice and your ability steal the show. Thank you so much for your support we look forward to having you come back and sing for us again.
Shakti Flow - The story you tell through your movements and dance is captivating. Thank you for coming last minute to rescue us when we had a last minute cancellation. We were so please that you came and truly showed up.
InnerVerse Connect - Charlene, you arrived at the perfect time. You came in with a bright light about you and contagious energy. You took the stage and made the us all feel energized and beautiful. Thank you for coming out and showing us what a little movement can do for your soul.

SERVICE BOOTHS

Tarot Card Reading - Christoffe was well received with his gift of tarot card reading. He was so popular and had so many people sign up for a reading, that he stayed late to make sure everyone received their reading. He also donated all his time to the Charity. Thank you for coming it was great to have a little masculine energy among all the women.

Dakota Moon Reiki & Crystal Holistics - Charlene came out and offered a Crystals 101 class and introduction to crystals and crystal grids. Each client that came to see her picked a special crystal for them to take to take home. Thank you Charlene for arriving early and staying late your love and energy was was appreciated.

Alberta College of Massage Therapy - We had 4 practicum students come and donate all their time and talent to us. We had amazing reviews from the attendees, all of these ladies will do amazing in their new career! We wish them nothing but the best!

Feel Fabulous Mobile Spa - We had the lovely Mirielle come out and give our ladies mini manicures! Thank you for coming out and pampering some of us! We loved the service.

YogaPath Wellness - Michelle Dionne and her crew of ladies came out and donated their time doing a special hand treatment called AROMATOUCH. They used quality DoTerra oils and lots of knowledge. Thank you ladies!

Essentially Balanced - Kristie joined us and offered Aromatherapy Massages. These were so well received and she booked up pretty quickly! Thank you so much for coming out.

Reflexology and Wellness Studio Edmonton - When your feet are walked on everyday and they are strained and tired Sarah will work magic on them... well reflexology magic! Sarah booked up and sold out before the night was half over! We heard nothing but amazing things about her skills. Thank you Sarah, we might have to clone you for next year.

Henna - We had two henna artists who do not have business websites or FB profiles! Thank you Izza and Nilufar. Izza donated her time and talent. Thank you both for coming out and sharing this beautiful art with us.

Infinite Mist Readings by Sandra - We were blessed to have Sandra there helping guide some of our attendees. Thank you for coming out and sharing your gift with us.

Welcome OM - Thank you Jennie for moving flights so you could attend. We appreciate the commitment you gave us and to all our attendees. We hope your next engagement was wonderful and we look forward to having you for next time!

InSentives By Design - Robin Cahill came out and had a table filled with her amazing designs. Using all natural crystals and stones. All of her jewelry is made using lava stones, so it’s diffuser jewelry so you can use your favorite essential oil.

RAFFLE PRIZE

We were so lucky to have an amazing Raffle Prize! A 7 night stay in Mexico. SAY WHAT??? YES!!! Melissa's dear friend owns an amazing Scuba School Resort in Cozumel, Mexico. BLUE ANGEL RESORT is a small quiet resort with a beautiful view, delicious food, live entertainment, and the staff is also AMAZING. We were excited to gift this prize to Janet Tancsics! Congrats, we hope you have an amazing holiday. It is the only place in Mexico Melissa will stay.

DONATIONS
Weir Concepts Inc. $1000.00

AUCTIONS ITEMS

Vanessa Brill - Tupperware Kit
Time Out Beauty Retreat & DJR Custom Builders - $400 Gift Card for Time out Beauty Spa
Jenny's Beauty Room - Lipsence Lip Collection
Edmonton International Airport (Chelsey Quirk) - Airport VIP Experience
Simple Country Co. - Macrame Plant Hangers
GoodFellas Ink - $100 gift Certificate and a Sweater
Don McMann - Ladies Drawing Night
Modern Gravity - Three Floats
MC Collage - Spa Getaway
Pandora Kingsway - Pandora Necklace and Earrings & Rose Gold Charm bracelet and Rose Gold Charm
Jacquie Dzioba - Michael Kors Rose Gold Purse and Wallet , Michaels Kors black leather fanny pack, Rae Dunn Flower Pots
Team Builder Sales - Tupperware Meal Prep
A Very Nice Greenhouse - Hanging basket
Cannor Nursery - $100 Gift Certificate & a succulent Planter
Rebecca King Fashion House - Designer Dress by Rebecca King
Saje Wellness (Kingsway) - Merchandise Valued over $125
Labronze Tan - Tanning Package
InSentives By Design - Bracelet and Earrings

FOOD /DRINK

Tim Hortons - Chad Jenkins ( St. Albert and Morinville )
DAVIDs TEA (Kingsway)
Sherbrooke Community Hall
Sandwich & Sons
M ercato Foods Italian Bakery
Jenny from Jenny's Beauty Room and HOTDAME who donated all her time to serve us drinks! She was amazing and always made sure Billie and Melissa were taken care of, as well as our guests!

DECOR

A huge thank you to the lovely Susan Ozirney from Inside Edge Designs who donated all the linens that pulled our decor together. Thank you so much Susan!

A big thank you to Melissa's husband, Corey, who built our cool light standing tables. When we started to plan this, we both agreed we needed to have the tables, we had a vision. We left it up to Corey to pull this one off.

Adorning our tables were Liliacs donated by Jacquie and Jacquie's Dad (John), and Family Connections. The flowers were arranged by Charmed Floral in St.Albert. Honestly these ladies worked all day to have them done for the next morning, they did amazing. Thank you so much they were stunning and made great door prizes.

Our beautiful photo stand, which held hundreds of our tiny lights photos, and rustic frame for our event banner was made and donated by Billie Depatie Designs.

LILAC BLACKBERRY LEMONADE

We had a lot of compliments on the Lilac Blackberry Lemonade. We had seen Jillian Harris post this speciality drink on here Instagram, and we knew it would be perfect. Our main table centre pieces were lilacs, and lilacs represent spring, also The Tiny Light Foundation's signature colour is Purple. Taking Jillian's recipe and multiplying that so we had enough for over 100 people was hard. We squeezed over 60 lemons, and used over 10 cups of organic cane sugar to make the simple Lilac Syrup. After many attempts, we ultimately decided to blend the blackberries, strain them, then add it to our simple syrup. The lemonade had to be made more tart so when the syrup was added it wasn't too sweet. We used Vodka as the spike in place of Gin. All in all people loved it and it will definitely be our Spring Soul Retreats specialty drink for years to come. Thank you Jillian!

SUCCESS STARTS WITH YOU!

This fundraiser made it possible for our charity to not only continue our work, but it has also allowed us to start the planning of a new program. We want to make sure that no family misses the opportunity to get photographs of their family’s last moments together. We have raised enough money to get help putting together a program that will allow us to reach out to some bigger sponsors. With the goal that we can provide at the organizations, hospitals, and hospices with the right equipment and knowledge to capture memories of families and their beautiful children seen in the form of photographs, when we cannot get there in time.

With your help and generosity, this dream of ours is well on it’s way to coming true.

THANK YOU!

In conclusion this event was fabulous! We weren't sure how things would flow, but the response we got squashed our doubts and worries. The room was filled with good energy and wonderful people! The people we both met for the first time were just simply amazing souls, along with faces we already knew and loved. We were overwhelmed with gratitude for the people that we met and that took time out of their lives to make this event spectacular! And again we can’t even begin to thank everyone that came out to support us, your support means more then you know! We will definitely be planning it for next year! Bigger and better!!

XOXOXO
Melissa & Billie
and the Tiny Light Foundation team!

Below are some photos of the evening! Enjoy!