Not To Be Trusted With Knives

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Dec
18

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On the seventh day of donating…

Category: health Tags: , , , , Leave a Comment

The fifth and final organization that my students worked with this semester was The Equestrian Association for the Disabled (T.E.A.D.)

T.E.A.D. Equestrian Association for the Disabled

T.E.A.D. provides therapeutic horse riding lessons for people with physical and cognitive/communication disabilities. 

It operates on a 92 acre farm in Port Hope, Ontario, with a very small staff, an active board of directors, and more than 250 volunteers! More than 300 riders per year take lessons with T.E.A.D., but they have growing waiting list.

Riding has many benefits including:

  • development of mobility, balance, and coordination
  • improvement of muscle tone and strength
  • development of confidence and motivation
  • increased concentration and improved learning skills
  • a fun and challenging form of recreation
  • independence

When someone who can’t walk, rides a horse for the first time, it’s like a miracle.

T.E.A.D. Parent
Donate to T.E.A.D.

Dec
17

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On the sixth day of donating…

Category: Uncategorized Tags: Leave a Comment

Another organization that my students worked with this semester was the Lifesaving Society – BC & Yukon Branch. This Society has been around since 1911 and its mandate is “to reduce water-related death and injury”. So whether you are swimming in a pool or at the beach or you are out boating or going out on a frozen pond, the Lifesaving Society has resources for you. 

They offer all sorts of things, including swimming lessons, lifeguard training, first aid training, public education, research, and consultations. They also “establish aquatic safety standards and consult on aquatic safety issues for the aquatic industry, governments, and the judiciary”. 

Of the many program offered by the Lifesaving Society, he program that my students focused on was Swim to Survive, which provides learners with the opportunity to learn how to protect themselves in the water. 

International Life Saving Federation research findings from around the world offer clear evidence that teaching the survival swimming skills taught in Swim to Survive decreases drowning, potentially reducing the mortality and morbidity from aquatic incidents by 50%.

Lifesaving Society – BC & Yukon Branch

The Lifesaving Society – BC & Yukon Branch does not receive any provincial or federal government funding, so they rely on revenue from their courses and donations.

Donate to the Lifesaving Society – BC & Yukon

Dec
14

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On the third day of donating…

Category: arts, New Westminster Tags: , , , , Leave a Comment

This semester I taught a program planning and evaluation class at SFU and the main assignment was for the students to work with a non-profit organization to develop an evaluation plan that the organization can use. So I figure I will highlight the five nonprofits that we worked with as part of my course.

First up is the Arts Council of New Westminster. You may recall the ACNW from such things as me being on their board of directors for a few years. The Arts Council is so integrated in the community that they have a hand in pretty much ever event that happens in the city. Fridays on Front Street, New West Craft, Music by the River, Uptown Unplugged, the Cultural Crawl, etc., etc., etc.!

Bringing Community Together Through the Arts

ACNW Tagline

In recognition of the great work that the Arts Council does, both the Executive Director, Stephen O’Shea, and the President, Leanne Ewen, won Platinum Awards1 , this year. Stephen won Citizen of the Year and Leanne won the Bernie Legge Cultural/Artist of the Year award!

Donate to the ACNW
  1. For those of you not from New West, the Platinum Awards are given out by the New West Chamber of Commerce and are kind of a big deal. [↩]