Women at Risk Receiving Help from June Dresses

Vista Projects collaborates with United Way to support a new charitable campaign

CALGARY, June 4, 2013 /CNW/ - Vista Projects Limited (Vista) has teamed with United Way of Calgary and Area (United Way) on the June Dresses Campaign, a new fundraising movement in support of local charities that benefit women at risk. While 2013 is the fifth year for June Dresses, this is the first campaign involving United Way.

Women participating in June Dresses wear a dress every day for the month of June and set up personal pledge pages using a secure website run by United Way to raise funds and awareness.

June Dresses founder Adrienne Donnelly has worn a dress every day in June for the past four years. Donnelly says she quickly realized that the effect of putting a little extra effort into how she presented herself ran far deeper than appearance. She ended each month happier, more empowered, and more confident than how she started it.

Donnelly posted daily social media updates about her own June Dresses experience and other women started to commit to a month of wearing dresses. By 2012, nearly 100 women were posting pictures of their 30 days of dresses on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

"Women began to seek me out and tell me the impact June Dresses had on them. I was floored by the connectivity that this dress pledge had started. It had become a community," says Donnelly.

"It is great to see that Vista cares and that people here have big hearts," says Ailen White, Jr. Cost Control Analyst at Vista and Calgary Chapter Coordinator for June Dresses. "This is a great way for women in an engineering company, which is typically male-dominated, to connect with one another and bond over a common activity and purpose."

"I am delighted and proud that Vista has gotten behind a charitable campaign that specifically supports women," says Jennifer Gray, Principal and Mechanical Engineering Manager at Vista.

Bringing together women from across Alberta, June Dresses hopes to raise $10,000 for local charities, including the Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter, Making Changes Employment Association of Alberta, Calgary Immigrant Women's Association, HomeFront Society for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, and many more.

"I don't think it's ever too late to start supporting women in need. Even if it's the middle of June, I would encourage women from across Alberta to set up personal pledge pages and start joining in the fun," says Gray.

Visit www.junedresses.ca to learn more.

About Vista Projects Limited
Vista is a full-service engineering and procurement company serving oil sands and conventional oil and gas producers. Vista specializes in engineering oil sands (SAGD, CSS), heavy oil and enhanced oil recovery projects. This work includes grassroots facilities (small, mid-size and large) as well as sustaining capital projects. Since its founding in 1985, Vista has engineered more than 300,000 BPD of in-situ bitumen and heavy oil, working on some of the most successful projects in the Alberta oil sands and earning its reputation as a trusted partner to its clients. Vista has been recognized as a top Canadian employer four years running. For more information, visit www.vistaprojects.com or follow Vista Projects on LinkedIn.

SOURCE: Vista Projects Limited

Media Enquiries:
Adam Singfield
Marketing & Communications
Vista Projects Limited
Phone: [phone]
Email:   [email protected]

Jeremy Klaszus
Communications Advisor
United Way of Calgary and Area
Phone: [phone]
Email: [email protected]

Adrienne Donnelly
Founder
June Dresses
Phone: [phone]
Email: [email protected]