By Loretta Cella, Executive Director
Yesterday I received an email from one of my Directors, who had asked me if I had seen this article written on Rehtaeh Parsons. I had, a few times over in fact, as the tragic story of this beautiful young woman has been greatly publicized.
“…An unbelievable shame. This could have been prevented,” he wrote. I agree. Just as the loss of Amanda Todd, and many other girls who have not had media attention could have also been prevented.
Special thanks to Margot Micallef and Robyn Gooding for making this possible!
The Scotia Half Marathon is in June and we are creating a team of 21 runners to run the race with us! In fact, we are creating an entire campaign around it. We’ve called Campaign 21.
Here are the details:
A team of 21 runners (female and male) all ages and abilities (You don’t have to be a star runner. In fact this is Loretta Cella’s first 1/2 marathon ever!)
21 days before the event we will launch a campaign for people to sponsor a 1km. Each km of the race will represents 1 challenge/ adversity a girl faces in Canada.— Each runner will raise awareness on a challenge/ adversity in a 20-30 sec video to talk about who is she / he in the world and why she/he chose to run this 1/2 with our team and why people should get involved.
During the race Loretta and some other runners will have the 21 challenges/ adversities attached to their bodies and each km will tear one off to symbol possibilities.
All funds raised will go to provide leadership development training and community building projects for girls 11-18 years of age in BC (through our Elements of SUCCESS leadership development program and Passion Projects).
Our goal is to raise money to support 50 girls in BC to receive subsidies for our leadership training programs to decrease self harm and violence and promote higher self esteem, resiliency and community contribution.
100% of the donation will be tax deductible.
The Challenges / Adversities we are highlighting:
1 Bullying
2 Eating Disorders
3 Low Self Esteem
4 Anxiety
5 Depression
6 Drug and Alcohol Misuse/ Abuse
7 Teen Pregnancy
8 Sexual Exploitation
9 Sexual Abuse
10 Relationship Violence
11 Self Mutilation
12 Physical Abuse
13 Body Image Issues
14 Racism
15 Discrimination Against Sexual Orientation
16 Over-sexualization
17 Sexual Peer Pressure
18 Social Economic Disadvantages
19 Cultural division
20 Societal gender bias and gender competition
21 Media influence
We are looking to finalize the team by March 31st so that our amazing fundraising team can start to work on some details around it.
Bonuses for joining our team:
If you are interested in joining the Campaign 21 running team to support girl’s and young women’s leadership development in British Columbia please contact us
Happy Holidays from Bangalore, India!!! (more…)
With the growing number of girls who are starting to speak out about bullying, peer pressures, cutting and other self harm activities it’s time to really support them to feel more empowered to make change and live life fully. (We know that when someone is ready to speak their pain they are ready for change and we need support to make that happen.)
We are amazed by all the incredible small businesses and individuals who are supporting Passion Foundation to help us reach out to more girls and young women.
Over the next week we’ll start to feature them!
Today: Bioéthique Spa on 4th
A note from Claudine
” Bioéthique Spa on 4th has set the date for our annual Christmas Event! Please join us on Thursday, December 13th from 2:00pm to 7:30pm for fabulous deals on our products, gift sets and services! If you’ve never tried our line of certified organic and 100% natural skin care Bioéthique, we will also be offering free mini facials as a great way to try the line!
We are thrilled to offer treats for sampling and great offers from Julie Beyer’s delicious (and nutritious!) Glow line as well as delicious and festive seasonal drinks. Holistic Nutritionst Ashley Giordano (loveskin.ca <http://loveskin.ca> ) specializes in skin issues and will be on hand to answer your questions and offer amazing deals on her services.
We are also proud to be donating 100% of the proceeds from our popular Hyaluronic Acid Serum sold at the event to the Passion Foundation.”
Thursday December 13th
2 pm – 7 pm
(Alma and 4th – beside Aphrodites Cafe and Pie Shop)
For more information about Bioethqiue or For the Love of Food please visit
For questions about the event please contact Claudine at claudinemichaud @ bioethiqueorganic.com or Julie at julie @ loveoffood.ca
A powerful message from Jade, a young woman who has experienced more pain that many could even imagine which resulted into anger and committed inexcusable crimes that she doing time in prison for. Jade knows bullying all too well and she is now working incredibly hard to change her life so she can offer her service back into the world; telling her story and life lessons for the pain cycles to stop in others. See her story here
-Loretta Cella, Founder, Executive Director
The death of Amanda Todd has me in over drive and my heart aching. I to was a victim of bullying but unlike Amanda I became what my bully’s feared. A person with no limits or hesitations. (And that is why I ended up where I did) I thought that was the only way to live. After all everyone steps on everyone else to get higher up.
Life doesn’t have to be like that. I’ve come to realize that life is beautiful and living it every day helping others is fulfilling. Bullying is every where we go. Us, as a community, need to be more aware and willing to step in.
To the people who are being bullied please stand up. Speak out! You are a beautiful human worth life and you deserve happiness. If you feel like you have no one to turn to, think again. There is ALWAYS someone who will help you. Don’t be discouraged, stay strong and you shall conquer your pain. I want everyone to understand that bullying needs to come to a stop and I will do what I can to contribute to that. I am with you every step of the way. I would like to dedicate this to Amanda Todd. RIP Amanda. I will do this in memory of you.
STAY STRONG AND STAND UP IT’S TIME TO CONQUER BULLYING! – Jade <3
Loretta Cella, Passion Foundation’s Founder and Executive Director recently spoke at TEDxSFU about how she created the Elements of SUCCESS, the coaching series used with young women involved in Passion Projects.
The video can be found here . Please mine the first two minutes of audio on the recording it wasn’t recorded well but the remainder is fine.
Loretta also spoke at TEDxKids@BC in October speaking about her journey to connecting the world she was born into to the world she was raised in which lead her to create not only Passion Foundation but also Global Sorority . As soon as that video is released we’ll post it here!
Happy Halloween Everyone!
I drove up to the prison (or I think the most correct terminology right now is “institution”) a couple weeks ago for my monthly meeting with Jade. It’s the same drill every time. You wait for the guard to let you in to the office, you sign in, hand over your ID, lock up your belongings, sometimes there is random checks/inspections, they call to another guard to advise the inmate that their visitor is there. You sit down in the office and wait until the person you are going to see is in the visitors room and then you go through the scanner, get buzzed in the doors (x2) and then you enter a quaint room where everyone in visiting. There are people, young and old, some bring children, games line one wall along with a small play kitchen and a vending machine.
Jade was sitting at one of the tables with a smile on her face, and she asked if I want to play Jenga. We’ve never played a game before on our visits as we get right down to business (talking, sharing, and often laughing) but I know the power of having a fun game going on while having a meaningful conversation. (It’s a great physical distraction to let the mind and feelings express themselves)
Within my 2 hour visit with Jade we played 4 games of Jenga and a game of scrabble (I have to admit it’s my favourite game and Jade stated she thought I played too much… too many strategic moves…ha!) We talked about what has been going on since the last time I’ve seen her.
In the middle of one of the games though, Jade stopped, looked at me, and stated she wanted to let me know she was really serious about doing things different when she got out. That she wanted to start telling her story and talking to others about the things she’s learnt and wanted help out with the Passion Foundation. I saw something different in her. A real sense of confidence, faith, and determination. And I told her that I believed her more than I ever had before. She asked if I havent believed her before. I told her I had but there was something different when she said it this time. She smiled, ‘ Huh, I think I’m really ready but I need supports when I get out of here.’
My goal is to do as much as possible to support Jade but the fact is she’ll also need to find other people who are positive role models in her life with alot of structure. She is looking at her plan for the first 6 months of release. She needs an extremely strong network/community around her.
Jade’s release will most likely be in February and we are working on a plan. Part of that plan is employment, education, volunteer work, and support meetings. (The Passion Foundation would hire Jade in a heart beat but we aren’t in a financial position right now to do this my hope is one day we will be.)
Here is Jade’s blog for this month:
” Life really tests you with your struggle’s. In the past couple weeks I’ve had many encounters where I’ve struggles to do the right thing. Arguments with peers, disagreements with staff, inner conflicts just when things get good. It gets tough faster. I will not give up though I’ve learnt over the past couple years of being in jail that life is hard and something you always have to work at, but it’s worth it. The outcome is much more satisfying than drugs, bad choices, and the things that we are comfortable doing (such as old behaviours). I love life, more than I ever have, and I’m thankful every day that I got a second change at it. Stay strong people, because if someone like me who has lived in hell could gain such happiness, you can too! Dont’ forget that.”
If you haven’t read Jade’s story please go here
Until next time
Loretta Cella, Founder/ ED-Passion Foundation
On Saturday September 20th I stepped onto the TEDxSFU stage in the Goldcorp Center for the Arts at SFU in Vancouver, BC to talk about my personal journey that lead me to creating the Passion Foundation and the specifics of what we do with Passion Projects (the question everyone always asked has been answered!)
Opening the day up for an amazing lineup of speakers was a little nervous racking. The result, empowering. I feel extremely honoured to have shared my journey with others and hope that the inspiration carries on.
Sending out lots of gratitude to the TEDxSFU team who were very supportive and well organized!
As soon as the link is online to the talk we’ll be sure to post it.
October 22nd I’ll be speaking at TEDxKids BC at Science World and providing workshops to participants during the break out sessions.
Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead!
Loretta Cella, ED/Founder
Thank you to everyone who came out and supported our event Inspire Passion 2012 at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Friday September 14th.
We were expecting around 90-100 people and ended up with standing room only (Closer to 120)
The evening started at 630pm and ended at around 10pm (We actually had to escort people out as many did not want to leave) Needless to say it was a huge success.
This event attracted a whole new group of supporters and we are extremely grateful to all who attended and supported.
We started the formality of the evening off by introducing the Passion Foundation and Global Sorority to our guests and showing the interview video provided by Arlene Dickinson for the event, Robyn then introduced the amazing Lauryn Oates and Tia warmed the crowd up to the trailer to the first lag of Global Sorority: Uganda, Italy, and Ireland. We also had the amazing Rahael Yohannes and Julia Spitale perform.
Lauryn Oates
We were blessed to have Kat Thorsen there and her amazing volunteers to do some interactive art work with the attendees as well as chair massages by Amanda and Tallulah from Three Birds Body Care and Massage.
With over $500 in raffle ticket prizes thanks to Coliseum Medi Spa in West Vancouver with the support of our business sponsor Jordan Consulting and Safeway and an amazing array of silent auction items from very generous local businesses were we able to raise close to $4000 to support our new Passion2Action leadership scholarship fund and Global Sorority.
Rahael Yohannes
Robyn Gooding (2nd on the right), Girls4Girls Charity Founder and
Global Sorority Partner & friends
Special thanks to the Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Fashion Week, Vancouver Opera, Half Moon Yoga Products, Lunpads, Patch Planters, Manito Luxury Silk, Three Birds Body Care and Massage, Gastown Physio Pilates, and Mark Anthony Brands for their donations and support for the event!
For more pictures from event night please go to our Facebook page
