May

25

From a Children’s Heart Society Family that we sent to the circus this week:

To Whom it May Concern,
Thank you so much for the tickets for the Royal Canadian Circus. Both of my children loved watching the performance. My oldest child who is eight loved the acrobats and the funny clowns. My youngest daughter who is 5 loved the atmosphere. She isn’t very verbal, so when she puts her hands in the air and yells,”yeah” you know that she is having a good time.  She rocked to the music and clapped her hands on the ride home. We really appreciate the tickets  and having the opportunity to spend the evening together as a family.
Sincerely,
Jennifer L.
Proud mom of Sapphira (8) and Vienna (4)

May

17

So excited that our very own Oil Kings won their division last weekend and are advancing to the 2012 Memorial Cup – Go Oil Kings Go! The Oil Kings have been so supportive of Kids Up Front this year, so we’re pleased to share some well-wishes for the guys:

To the players of the Oil Kings:

On behalf of children and families of the Oliver Centre Early Learning Programs we would like to take this opportunity to wish the team good luck on their road to victory for the Memorial Cup. The children and families have enjoyed the games they were able to see over the past season. We have been very fortunate to receive tickets through Kids Up Front and have enjoyed each and every game we were able to attend.

So to all the Oil Kings players, the children of Oliver Centre have faith in you and will be “Cheering Loudly” for you all the way! GOOD LUCK!!

Sincerely,

Sue MacLean

Executive Director, Oliver Centre Early Learning Programs For Children & Families Society

May

17

A lovely email came through one of our staff partners at Catholic Social Services today:

This is a comment from one of our Youth mentor volunteers who took 5 newcomer youth to the Edmonton Energy basketball game on May 5, 2012:

“Volunteering with Catholic Social Services, is both rewarding and fun. On a recent outing to watch the Edmonton Energy basketball game, our youth were given free t-shirts, post-game autographs and one teen even participated in the half time challenge. They had a great time cheering, learning Canadian customs, spending time with their peers and mentors and just laughing together. There are many opportunities to get involved in the community and this was just one of many enjoyable activities that are provided by Catholic Social Services.”

Also, in the Edmonton Journal the next day there was a picture from the game and our group (Rachel and three of the girls) were in the background of the picture
– Kara , Youth Mentor Volunteer

Thanks, Kara, for taking the time to share your appreciation… Edmonton Energy loved hearing that you had a great time.

May

16

A couple of weeks ago we were absolutely blown away when we were given a personal tour of Braemar School by Terra Centre Executive Director Karen Mottershead. The work they are doing with pregnant and parenting teens is incredibly inspiring and uplifting, and we were so heartened to learn how much their students value the ticket opportunities we provide for them. We, of course, were left speechless by everything we saw, from the loving infant child care centre to the notes moms left on the lockers for other moms as motivation:

But this morning we were moved to tears by the work the organization does at their annual Promising Futures breakfast, most especially upon hearing directly from two teen parents at the breakfast about how Terra has empowered them and helped them work towards a better future for themselves and their young families.

Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be sharing a story or two coming from our partnership with Terra Centre; we are humbled and honoured to be able to work with organizations like this on a daily basis, and are proud to be able to support them in any way we can.

May

10

Congratulations to the Edmonton Rush on an outstanding lacrosse season. Kids Up Front was thrilled to have partnered with Edmonton’s professional lacrosse team this year to provide Rush game tickets to local youth. But the community partnership didn’t end there: Booster Juice has been an great supporter of the Edmonton Rush by hosting school clinics throughout the lacrosse season. When we started working with Cheryl Schneider, a Healthy Living Coach for 7 inner city schools, we wanted to give those kids the same opportunity. With the generous support of Greg Christenson and Christenson Developments, students from those inner city schools were able to attend a lacrosse game and learn more about the sport at clinics in their schools facilitated by Edmonton Rush players. For most of the kids in the inner city schools, this was the first time they were able to have an opportunity like this, and watching them experience it was uplifting. Our favourite story was of John, a little boy who moved here from the Philippines only two weeks before the lacrosse clinic was held at their school. With an odd number of students in the class, friends paired off quickly and John was left on his own, not even really understanding what was going on with his limited English skills. But he was beaming instantly when Jesse, the Edmonton Rush player facilitating the clinic, paired up with him and proceeded to give him one-on-one tips and coaching him for the rest of their session.

John had a great time at the Edmonton Rush lacrosse clinic

To Bruce Urban, owner of the Edmonton Rush, and Gord Sawyer, President of the team, and especially to players Ryan Dilks (#24) and Jesse Fehr (#18), thank you for your community involvement and for helping us create something truly special for local youth. You’ve definitely garnered some lifelong fans in the process. Can’t wait to do it all over again next year!