Here’s a doubly special opportunity: shop for Mom and benefit DVS. On  Thursday, May 1st, as part of New Haven’s monthly First Thursday celebration, Hello Boutique: offering innovative and hard-to-find clothing (1090 Chapel Street) and Villarina’s: Pasta, Gifts & More (1092 Chapel) will give 10% of sales from 5-8 PM to DVS.

You can also save 10% on gift certificates of $50 or more at both shops.

Hello Boutique will also donate 10% of gift certificate sales May 1-11 to DVS. 

Hello Boutique, 562.1252 (www.helloboutique.com) 

Villarina’s, 772.0872

Bring your leashed or caged pet — or even a stuffed animal — to Edgerton Park on Saturday, May 17 from 10a.m.-noon for prizes, raffles, and the opportunity to meet other pets and their families while enjoying Spring in New Haven’s Edgerton Park (Whitney and Cliff Streets).

The cost: $10/per family with pet or pets; $5 for those without live animals.

The purpose: to raise money for Domestic Violence Services; the reason for the walk: abusers either hurt or threaten to hurt family pets in order to keep their victims from leaving.

For more information or to register call 203.865.1957 or write shartt@dvsgnh.org.

On Friday and Saturday evenings, March 7 and 8, two plays — “The Vagina Monologues” and “A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer” — will be preformed in New Haven’s Little Theater, 1 Lincoln Street to benefit DVS and the Global V-Day campaign to end violence against women and children. Admission is $10 at the door or online at www.newhaventheatercompany.com.

The New Haven store of fair trade retailer Ten Thousand Villages will donate 10% of sales from noon until 6 p.m. on Sunday, March  9 to DVS. In celebration of International Women’s Day (March 8^th), Ten Thousand Villages has partnered with the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence for this event.

What a delightful way to spend a Sunday afternoon: shopping for gifts, toys, jewelry, and a wide range of household items.

Help women everywhere. Help us help women and families. Shop at Ten Thousand Villages in New Haven, 1054 Chapel Street, 12-6 on Sunday, March 9. For more information, call Ten Thousand Villages at 203.776.0854, DVS at 203.865.1957 or visit www.tenthousandvillages.com.

Cafe 9, 250 State Street in downtown New Haven, will be the scene of a rocking fundraiser for DVS on Saturday, February 9th, beginning at 7 p.m.

The bands scheduled to appear — for little more than round applause and gratitude — are Two Man Advantage and Broken & No Image. The DJs will be Kevin and Reverend Brian. The cover charge of $8, raffles and other surprises will all benefit DVS and our clients.

So, come for pre-Valentine’s Day fun and help DVS at the same time.

The culminating event of DVS’s 30th anniversary year was “An Evening of Appreciation” on October 27 at Woodwinds in Branford. The event was intended to honor — appreciate — six people who are especially dedicated to ending domestic abuse and to bear witness to those who have survived and survived abuse. 

The honorees were:  three Hamden High school health teachers: Nancy DeFrank, Sharon Hale, and Charlene Scarpati; Sharon Miller and her co-workers at Proliance; Shelley O’Brien, from the Connecticut Department of Social Services, Adult Protective Services; and Marc Ramia, Connecticut assistant state’s attorney, Geographical Area No. 23 at New Haven.

Hedda Nussbaum, the survivor of notorious abuse at the hands of her young daughter’s murderer, was the evening’s principal speaker — almost exactly 20 years after her case received international notoriety. Her soft-spoken story of horrific abuse and of survival left the audience of 135 attentive and hushed. 

With 28 items ranging from a weekend in a Maine to VIP tickets to a Neil Young concert and a $500 gift certificate from Bender Plumbing Supply, the silent and live auctions inspired lively bidding — with prodding from auctioneer Eric Hummel.

For pictures and more details, please refer to the Winter 2007/08 DVS newsletter on this site: Info & Workshops, Publications.