For the second year in a row, we are so grateful to be the recipients of the fundraising initiatives of the AUPE Young Activist Committee. As we learned last year, this is highly motivated group of 20-somethings that are working for positive change in Alberta. Through various fundraising initiatives over the past year (such as raffles and 50-50 draws), they are able to raise $1846.40 for Kids Up Front Edmonton, which will create memorable opportunities for so many kids and families that we serve. It’s especially meaningful given that one of the women on the committee was herself a recipient of Kids Up Front tickets as she was growing up. AUPE YAC, we are so thankful for your support and generosity. Keep up your great work!
Kids Up Front Executive Director Karla Schell fills in the AUPE Young Activist Committee with all our recent news and events.
We are so pleased to announce our new partnership with FC Edmonton, which will help us get local youth out to see some quality soccer games this season. If your agency is interested in tickets to any of the home games, please be sure to let us know. We look forward to growing this new partnership. Thanks, FC Edmonton, for making a difference in the lives of kids and giving back to our community.
Season home games (Clarke Stadium):
April 22; May 2; May 6; May 27; June 3; June 10; July 1; July 15; August 4; August 8; August 12; September 2; September 12; September 16; September 23
It’s certainly been a feel-good week for us in the office, being able to be part of the chain of events that allowed Dotti to attend a Hedley concert on Wednesday night. You can read all about how it came to be here. For a girl who was rendered speechless days ago by the surprise tickets, it certainly looks as though Dotti and her sister had the time of our lives. Once again, sincere thanks to those involved in making this dream come true for Dotti, and to all our partners and donors who continue to help us provide such amazing experiences for such amazing Edmonton kids.
Some of you may recall that a few months back, CityTV invited us to bring a few kids down to Breakfast Television and to share what Kids Up Front was all about. Well, one of the kids left such an impression with her dream ticket request (a Hedley concert) that the great folks over at CityTV made sure that when that concert was coming through town, she would be seeing them. Not only that, but thanks to Universal Music, she gets to meet the band as well; needless to say, when we surprised her at school with the tickets today, she was left speechless. Many, many thanks to everyone involved in making this dream come true.
Jennifer Parenteau (The Way In); Dotti, our lucky ticket recipient; Christine Cunningham (Kids Up Front)
To truly create an effective and successful Community Investment model that serves the best interests of a community, strategic partnerships need to be formed with all stakeholders in said community. By making those investments today, we are building stronger, more rewarding futures for all those in our community. One of the ways Kids Up Front is able to deliver on our goal of creating experiences for underserved local youth and families is through our strategic partnerships with some wonderful organizations.
By sheer volume alone, one of our biggest and staunchest supporters is actually another not-for-profit organization: Northlands.
Northlands is committed to providing the best in entertainment experiences and business opportunities. This is achieved by being a producer, partner, facilitator and host, while positioning Edmonton and the surrounding region for greatness and building the prosperity of our province. We’re proud to deliver exceptional experiences to over 4,000,000 guests that attend more than 2,500 of our events in Edmonton each year. As our community grows, we look forward to growing with it.
Without fail, each time there is an event at Northlands, they go out of their way to ensure that there are tickets set aside for us to distribute to one of our 160 partner agencies, thereby creating a memorable experience for local youth that might normally be out of their reach. In 2011 alone, Northlands donated over 18,750 tickets to Kids Up Front to distribute to youth and families in the greater Edmonton area.
While working on creating their new promotional video, Northlands decided that wanted to highlight their partnership with Kids Up Front and arranged for us to bring three families from different organizations (The Way In, Brittany Lane Housing Co-op, and Spirit Keeper Youth Society) to one of the World Juniors Hockey games at the end 2011. These families got the VIP treatment with seats in the Northlands box and dinner provided (the kids were especially fond of the ice cream bars after dinner), and were all so incredibly thankful for this once-in-lifetime opportunity that Northlands had provided them with; this is just one of the many examples of their gracious community investment initiatives.
Thank you, Northlands, for all you do for Kids Up Front and the community in general; when you say Excitement is what you do best, we couldn’t agree more.
We’re always both excited and incredibly grateful when we get a call that somebody has a donation for Kids Up Front. Yesterday afternoon, we got the call that there was a big cheque – literally – for us to pick up today. The Young Activists Committee (YAC), part of the AUPE, donated $1148.30, so we were so pleased to be able to meet and thank them in person.The most heart-warming part of the visit, though, was when one of the group members shared her story with us: growing up, she had been part of a social services program and had received tickets from Kids Up Front, and expressed her gratitude and appreciation for the program. Loved that she shared that with us, and love that she’s now giving back. And this is exactly why we do what we do.
We are positively giddy with excitement this morning after learning that we will be receiving 100 tickets to the World Juniors games in Edmonton. The Government of Alberta, through Honourable Heather Klimchuk, Minister of Culture and Community Services, has very generously donated ten tickets to each of the games being held in Edmonton. Thank you really doesn’t cover the extent of our gratitude for this incredibly benevolent gift which will open up what is likely to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many of our kids.
It is truly an honor to work with Minister Klimchuk and culture and community services to give disadvantaged youth the opportunity to experience Edmonton’s dynamic arts, culture, sports and entertainment scene; thank you for your belief in Kids Up Front Foundation.
On the same topic, we welcome any ticket donations to the World Juniors. Don’t forget, the timing of the Edmonton games is perfect for you to donate and still receive your tax receipt (for face value of ticket price) for the 2011 year. No need to leave a seat empty if you can’t use it – donate your tickets to us and get a tax receipt for yourself… everybody wins! Due to the timing of the World Juniors games around the holiday season, we are encouraging people to donate their tickets electronically if at all possible, in order for us to get them out to our agency partners in the most timely and efficient manner. Thanks for thinking of us!
