The Kinsmen Club of Saskatoon's mandate is to "Serve the Community's Greatest Need.” The Princess Shop is honoured to be among the many worthy causes in the city being supported by this volunteer organization. 

The Kinsmen Club of Saskatoon have been a major sponsor of the Dress Program since the 2011-2012 graduation season, as Diamond Sponsor! This commitment and support has allowed The Princess Shop to grow and flourish over the years, and this year we are celebrating our 10th graduation season supporting Saskatchewan’s graduating women in need! With last year’s 127 Princess Graduates, we anticipate another busy year ensuring graduating students in the province have an equivalent graduation experience to their peers!

As a nonprofit group, the Kinsmen Club of Saskatoon puts on many initiatives throughout the year to raise funds that will go directly back into the community. It is important for the greater community to pay attention to these events, because their success is spread across so many initiatives in the community from grassroots sports to cultural events to social impact organizations like The Princess Shop! 

Keep an eye out for these fundraisers put on by the Kinsmen Club of Saskatoon:

Kinsmen Sports Celebrity Dinner - Feb 3rd, 2016 (tickets on sale now, here!) - The 57th Annual Kinsmen Sports Celebrity Dinner pays tribute to hockey legend Guy Lafleur with special guests Mario Lemieux, Luc Robitaille, and GM of the Montreal Canadiens, Marc Bergevin.

Kinsmen Home Lotto – Spring and Early Summer

Back to School means back to routines and getting down to business, which is what we’ve been doing at The Princess Shop! The change of season has the The Princess Shop team changing gears from summer and getting ready for the exciting year ahead of us!

The Princess Shop team had a great summer that was kicked off with The Perfectly Pink Appreciation BBQ, which was an awesome opportunity to celebrate a successful graduation season with all of our Princess Graduates. This summer we had a number of fundraisers including our first ever Wine-raiser, Firkin Friday at Fionn MacCool’s and Broadway Street Fair with KR Jewelry. Our volunteers also had so much fun with Back Then & Again Jewelry, selling old inventory at The Saskatoon Comic and Entertainment Expo

Now that the summer is over and autumn (or winter?!) is upon us, The Princess Shop team has been getting back to routine and planning events for the coming months! The 2016/2017 Fairy Godmother Program has commenced! The first official activity in September was held at the University of Saskatchewan. The program coordinators, Emily and Susan, created a photo scavenger hunt for the matches to have fun with. This activity was to expose the Princess Graduates to campus in a fun and relaxed atmosphere, while working together with their Fairy Godmother. Some of the questions were designed to get them thinking about post-secondary studies and what they would possibly like to pursue, and others were just for fun! The activity was also a great form of exercise as the matches were running back and forth all over campus! The October activity will consist of a self-confidence workshop put on by MASALA Model & Talent. Future activities that the coordinators are looking into are a self defense classes, healthy cooking classe, and a personal finance session with TD Bank to name a few!

Coming up we are having The Fourth Annual Steak Fundraiser for The Princess Shop at The Sutherland Bar for the Saskatchewan Roughriders' away game vs. The Toronto Argonauts on October 15, 2016. This is going to be a fun event to cheer on The Riders, while supporting The Princess Shop! There will be a number of awesome raffle prizes that will be available to win! Tickets are only $20 and you can get yours by contacting The Princess Shop at info@theprincessshop.ca or phone (306) 222-3311!

Last, but certainly not least getting back to routine means starting to plan for the 10^th Annual Glass Slipper Benefit for Princesses! The Princess Shop volunteer team has already started brainstorming in preparation to make this year the biggest and best year yet! Make sure you save the date for April 5, 2017, it’s going to be an event you don’t want to miss!

To stay up to date on upcoming events, new and stories for The Princess Shop is doing, join our mailing list! Request to be added can be found on the homepage of our website, www.theprincessshop.ca, along the left page margin! 

Pretty Little Shoes creates an at-home shoe shopping experience while giving back to local women’s charities such as The Princess Shop! Pretty Little Shoes is an e-commerce initiative founded in January 2016 by Baillie Janex with majority of sales being online or through home Shoe Parties. Baillie is passionate about giving back to the community and that’s how Pretty Little Shoes became involved with The Princess Shop! For every 150 pairs of shoes sold through Pretty Little Shoes home parties a brand new pair of shoes will be donated to The Princess Shop to be used by Princess Graduates participating in The Dress Program! 

We have asked Baillie a few questions about Pretty Little Shoes and her involvement with The Princess Shop:

Q1: Tell us about Pretty Little Shoes

Pretty Little Shoes is a home and ecommerce based shoe company located in Saskatoon. The bread and butter of Pretty Little Shoes is the in-home shoe party.

Shoe parties are so much fun - we bring a selection of shoes for you and your girlfriends to try on, purchase, and take home the day of the party. What better way to spend an afternoon/ evening then trying on shoes with your girlfriends?! In addition, we also offer one-on-one shoe shopping appointments, shopping via our online store, and we also have Facebook and Instagram so our customers can stay in the know about all things Pretty Little Shoes.

Currently we carry ladies shoes from size 5-11, but also carry a small selection of little girl shoes. We offer a wide variety of shoe styles (boots, heels, flats, sandals, booties), and carry a wide array of brands.

Q2: Tell us about yourself! Why did you wish to be involved with The Princess Shop?

I am an entrepreneur, student, runner, friend, and volunteer. I love the flexibility that my business allows me to have. Each day is a different schedule and brings something new - which is good because it keeps me on my toes. :)

When I first started Pretty Little Shoes, it was a priority of mine to find a local organization that we would be able to give back to. I know a couple ladies who are Fairy GodMothers with The Princess Shop and they have expressed how much they love their roles, so The Princess Shop was an obvious choice. Not only is it wonderful that they provide graduation attire for the Princesses, but offering mentoring to these young ladies is very encouraging.

Q3: How does The Princess Shop benefit from your involvement?

I'm very excited to be involved with The Princess Shop! Every woman deserves to have a day that they get to dress up and feel gorgeous and if we can help by providing a pair of shoes, then I am so happy to be involved. Pretty Little Shoes is excited to donate one pair of shoes to The Princess Shop for every 150 pairs of shoes that we sell. We also gladly accept donations from our customers/ hostesses that we pass on to The Princess Shop.

Q4: What was your graduation experience like? Your dress?

To be honest, I wasn't overly excited about graduation and the dress up experience. I used to say I was going to wear a brown paper bag to my graduation. But when I went dress shopping and found a dress that actually looked good on my tiny frame, I got so excited! It was a gorgeous strapless, navy blue dress with ruching.

Graduation was always something that scared me a little - fear of the day, fear of what would lie ahead, and saying good-bye to many friends who I had become so close to. But my graduation day was close to perfection. I have so many fond memories of that day, whether it be the ceremony, getting dressed up, or spending the day with my friends.

Q5: If you could give Princess Graduates a word of advice, what would it be?

If I could give a word of advice to Princess Graduates it's this - Work hard. Dream big. Have faith. Don't settle. Success isn't just handed to you - you have to work for it. Surround yourself with people who inspire you, lift you up, encourage you, and love you just the way you are.

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Good things can happen if you stay within your comfort zone but great things happen if you step out and see what else is out there.

The Princess Shop is grateful for local initiatives that can give back to our Princess Graduates in unique ways! You can find Pretty Little Shoes online, to shop or book a home party, at www.prettylittleshoesonline.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PrettyLittleShoes. You can also find them on Instagram @pretty.little.shoes and using the hashtag #PLShoes. Check it out for back to school shopping and you will also be contributing to a good cause, The Princess Shop!