Wondering if I can get some assistance in supporting a very worthy program... :)

[Dicentra]

Hey WTM peeps, :)

 

A very good friend of mine is the director of a non-profit program here in Ontario that's directed at helping girls ages 11-16 to develop their self-esteem.  It's called the "I Am Awesome Self Esteem Retreat for Young Women" and it's an incredibly worthy program.  Every year, she tries to raise as much money as she can so that the program can be offered to girls without them or their families having to pay for the retreat out of pocket.  We are in a rural part of Northern Ontario and unemployment and poverty loom large here, particularly since the main industry in our area shut down permanently a few years ago.

 

The retreat has been entered in a contest sponsored by Aviva, which is an insurance company here in Canada, and the contest is won by the idea or project that gets the most votes after an 18 day period.  The idea or program that wins can receive up to $50,000 in funding!  Here's is a bit about the contest from their website:

"The Aviva Community Fund helps passionate people like you make positive change in their communities.

For seven years, we’ve been putting our money where our business is — investing in charitable community initiatives across Canada, protecting the people and things you love, supporting the causes you care about most, and strengthening your local community. To us, at Aviva, this is just good thinking. We’re so proud to have provided more than $6.5 million in project funding to date, and we can’t wait to donate another $1 million this year."

 

I'm hoping that I can help out the retreat by getting some WTM folks to go and vote. :)  The page link to go and vote for the retreat is https://www.avivacommunityfund.org/voting/project/view/16-344 .  You have to register to vote but all you need to give is your name and email address.  Once you register, you are allotted 18 votes which you can use to show support for any of the ideas or projects entered in the contest - but I'm hoping that you'll use them to support my wonderful friend and her amazing retreat. :)  Said friend is also my dd's vocal teacher is just an all around fabulous person.

 

The program also has a website if you'd like to find out more about it:

http://i-am-awesome.ca/index.html

 

Again, the link to go and register and then cast votes is https://www.avivacommunityfund.org/voting/project/view/16-344 .  The retreat program is up against some ideas from larger centres like Vancouver and I figured that if we only stuck to getting votes locally, we wouldn't have much hope.  My plea here will hopefully help garner a much larger potential voting base. :)

 

I hope this isn't against any board rules.  If it is, I apologize and I'll take it down right away.

 

Thanks, folks!

 

ETA:  Here's a description of the program so that you'll have to do less clicking to find out about it. :)

 

The I Am Awesome! (And I Know It!) Retreat is a four-day weekend experience that nurtures and develops self esteem while exploring areas such as leadership, bullying, positive body image, peer pressure, confidence building, exploring emotions, and media influences. The girls discover more about themselves while participating in various arts-based workshops throughout the weekend. These workshops include drama, music, visual arts, yoga, creative writing, self esteem education and internet safety all presented by professional artists and instructors. The I Am Awesome! Retreat reaches out to young women in the remote area of the Rainy River District of Ontario. The first regional retreat was held in 2013 and welcomed 17 young women. In December 2013, the I Am Awesome! Retreat was chosen as a Grand Prize Winner in the Aviva Community Fund competition! The first ever regional I Am Awesome! (And I Know It!) took place at Sunny Cove Camp in 2014, located 10km east of Fort Frances on beautiful Rainy Lake and we were thrilled to welcome over 70 young women from throughout Northwestern Ontario. The 2015 and 2016 retreats have continued to fill up to capacity within one week of opening the online registration.
It is our goal to foster increased positive interaction between youth and community partners, as well as increased resiliency skills and internal assets including cooperation, communication, problem-solving, self-efficacy, self-awareness, goal-setting, empathy, decision making, conflict resolution, and increased leadership skills.
The I am Awesome! Initiative prides itself in providing top-notch professional artists and educators throughout the weekend. The girls are fully immersed in art, drama, and music workshops and they leave each workshop with a project to take home with them and the tools to continue to explore each of the arts at home, school, or throughout the community.
The retreat also has qualified mental health professionals, social workers, and drug and alcohol awareness counsellors on site at the retreat throughout the weekend to support the girls and answer any questions that they might have.
The I Am Awesome! Initiative is a not-for-profit organization, and we are also partnered with the Ontario Provincial Police Youth Foundation charity.

Edited October 14, 2016 by Dicentra

[quark]

Done Connie!

[Dicentra]

Done Connie!

 

Thanks so much, quark!!! :)

 

[Dicentra]

Just bumping this for the daytime crowd. :)  It's a very worthy cause!

[MrsRobinson]

Done! Good luck to your friend and her retreat!

[HomeMum]

You wrote enough in that post that it shouldn't matter what the board rules are  :laugh:  :laugh:  :laugh:

 

I went ahead and did it for you!

 

------------

 

Edit: 

This project has 7,230 votes

 

 

Dang, not doing too bad!!

Edited October 14, 2016 by HomeMum

[Dicentra]

Thanks, ladies!  We're up to 7,320 votes.  Yay!! :)