As for everyone else, keep those entries coming in. We can’t wait to see the winning entry for March!

As part of our ongoing 10th birthday celebrations this year, we are having a birthday card contest through the end of this year, and we want you to be a part of it! From now until the end of November, we are inviting your agency kids to create a birthday card for Kids Up Front and send it in. At the end of each month, we will choose the winning card for said month: the card creator will then get 2 tickets to an event of their choosing (provided we are able to secure tickets to the event) the following month. So February’s card contest winner will receive 2 tickets to any event that we have tickets to in the month of March. Once we have 10 monthly winners (at the end of November), those 10 become finalists for our grand prize draw of a very special ticket experience in December. Children and agencies are able to enter as many times as they want – each birthday card sent in is another chance to win; however, if a child wins the monthly prize, they will not be eligible for another monthly prize as a finalist.

This contest is open to all kids and youth served by your agencies, so don’t delay – send in those cards today! Deadline for the February contest is February 28. The kids can be as creative as they want, electronic submissions (cards, videos, etc) are also eligible to win.

If you have any questions or would like further information about our Birthday Card Contest, please contact Christine McCourt.

Cards can be mailed to our office:
Kids Up Front Edmonton
Kingsway Business Centre
11810 Kingsway Avenue
Edmonton, AB   T5G 0X5

http://www.mayorscelebration.com/

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.

CANADA, 22-Jan-2013 – The combined efforts of Kids Up Front Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Toronto culminated at the end of 2012 with the distribution of the one millionth ticket, an enormous milestone in the history of the Kids Up Front Foundation.

In 1999, Kids Up Front founder, John Dalziel, sat surrounded by empty seats at the Calgary Saddledome, wondering how those unused tickets could be used. John’s original idea evolved around convincing Calgary corporations to donate their unused entertainment tickets to kids and families who couldn’t afford them. Following Calgary, Kids Up Front Foundation quickly expanded to include Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto. Collectively, these foundations have now sent more than 1,000,000 underserved children and youth to arts, sports and entertainment events using donated tickets with a total face value of more than $29 million. Giving these kids a ticket into community via an event experience creates lasting positive impact. One foster parent recently told Kids Up Front: when the children have a chance to attend positive extra-curricular activities they “see improvements in almost all aspects of their lives. Their school work and attendance improves, their attitude at home stabilizes, and high-risk behaviours decrease.”

Kids Up Front Foundation continues to grow with the support of their many donors throughout their four regional foundations across the country; ticket donations are gratefully accepted with tax receipts available for the original purchase price of the ticket. On a national level, their work is reinforced through partnerships with Corus Entertainment, CIBC and TD Financial, ensuring that Kids Up Front is able to continue helping deserving kids and families.

In honour of the millionth ticket milestone and the much-lauded return of the NHL season, each Kids Up Front Foundation will be distributing a special “millionth ticket” NHL experience for a child in each city. In Edmonton, the millionth ticket NHL opportunity has been made possible by our ongoing partnership with Northlands, who has committed to providing at least six tickets to Kids Up Front for every Edmonton Oilers home game. These tickets for tonight’s home opener will be handed out in a ‘millionth ticket’ photo-opp today, for a deserving youth at the Boys & Girls Club of Strathcona County.

KIDS UP FRONT: Millionth Ticket Distribution Photo Opportunity
4:00 p.m., Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Boys & Girls Club of Strathcona County: 3 Old Spruce Avenue Sherwood Park, AB

Kids Up Front Foundation relies on the mantra “One little ticket, one big lift”, but today they’re saying “One million little tickets, one million big lifts!” Here’s to one million tickets distributed; one million acts of kindness from donors; one million experiences. Most importantly, here’s to one million smiling kids!

When thinking of putting the kids up front (forgive the pun!) during the holidays, one of the organizations that naturally comes to mind is Children First Family Services Association, an agency that provides a safe, temporary out-of-home placement for children unable to live with their family of origin. Children First is dedicated to providing quality, family based care to children who are in need of stability and consistency, believing that a nurturing, healthy and safe family environment is essential for the well being of all children. We couldn’t agree more, so it’s been a very fulfilling for us to help them provide experiences for the children in their care this year.

“On behalf of Children First, staff (AKA foster parents) and the foster children, we would like to say thank you for all the tickets you have had provided us in the past such as K days, Oilers, Oil kings, concert tickets to Brad Paisley, Bon Jovi with Kid Rock and the Singing Christmas Tree. Oilers game was most popular with the older teens. The teens that went to the oilers game had fun. It provided time alone for the staff to get know the teenagers in the home. It was time well spent. The staff appreciated the opportunity and had fun with the two teens. The older teens have never gone to a first class hockey before. This was such a treat for them. The staff (AKA foster parents) had an amazing time at the concerts. As everyone knows, being a foster parent is not an easy job and that they would like to say thank you for the wonderful opportunity to attend and to be able to get away to energize and rejuvenate. K-Days was also another fun family activity for the kids and foster parents. We are looking forward to another year of fun filled activities.”
– Tancy Truong, Children First

“Thanks so much for the tickets. The kids all really enjoyed the game. Oil Kings scored 5 goals, so everyone got a $5 gift certificate for Royal Pizza; they were all incredibly pumped. We really appreciate the opportunity you offered, and it’s a great point of bonding for the mentees with their mentors as there is more freedom at the hockey games. It was an exciting way to end off our Christmas “celebration” before the holiday break. Thanks for adding a little extra joy this  holiday season!”
– Kiandra Wagar; Mentorship Coach with The Way In Project