Carrie
learned what she likes. This year she played soccer with the support of
the Children’s Foundation Free to Play Program. She even scored a goal.
However, when asked if she would play again, she says "I would but I
love to dance and sing and act.” Follow your passions Carrie!
Kirsten
is following her dream to become a veterinarian thanks to the new
Children’s Foundation Cargill Scholarship. She began studies at the
University of Saskatchewan in the animal bioscience program and plans to
continue her education to become a large animal veterinarian. When
asked what it feels like to receive the scholarship, she replied
thankfully, "For once my hard work has paid off. I think this scholarship will encourage other students like me, who can’t make the high marks no matter how hard they try, to keep pushing for what they want to do.”
Students
at St. Michael Catholic School in Guelph are getting more fruits and
veggies and loving it! Fruits and vegetables are ordered from market
vendors and one vendor delivers produce to the school on Fridays for
their Children’s Foundation Food & Friends student nutrition
program. The students are enjoying all sorts of fresh snacks but we
hear the "kids loved the fruit kabobs!"
Things
brightened up around here. After receiving some great feedback from our
donors, volunteers and partners we decided it was time to freshen up
our look. With the help of Letter M Marketing, we launched our new logo
in April. The sunny new logo has really caught on and brought about some
other great changes including a brighter and more youthful look at our
office.

Christmas
wishes came true. A Children’s Foundation Adopt-A-Family child asked
for a violin and got one! The generous donor went above and beyond and
took the violin for a pre-Christmas tune-up. The music store that gave
the violin a tune-up also donated a case for it. We can’t imagine how
exciting this was to open on Christmas morning but we did get to witness
the joy of giving. The donor was glowing with excitement when the
violin was dropped off at our Santa’s Workshop.

Thirty
grade six students at Mono-Amaranth Public School are pitching in to
make their Food & Friends student nutrition program happen. This
program has made several impactful changes this year. One change is
offering a morning meal each day of the week. The second change is
preparing ten lunches at a time for students that need one and
replenishing them as required. The third change is that the program is
offering healthy bins in each class with an assortment of fruits which are replenished when empty by volunteer students. High five to the grade six class!
Volunteer
extraordinaire, Michael Douglas, has put in hours on end to make sure
every person in Guelph has heard about Trees for Tots. Michael has
personally visited every place that sells Christmas trees and even
twist-tied hundreds of Trees for Tots postcards onto trees at many of
the locations. Not only that, he’s organized mobile signs all over the
city and is the best ambassador for Trees for Tots!

Valerie
became a starting pitcher and learned how to throw a "change-up”.
Valerie’s mom says "Sports would be an extra that our family would just
not be able to afford if not for your [Free to Play] assistance. It has
changed Valerie completely and she grows every year in confidence which
she was lacking before.”
11
year old Jacob and his dad get to play hockey and go to the theatre
together. Dad has had some struggles in the past and is working hard to
re-establish himself. They asked for hockey sticks for dad and Jacob so
they could play hockey together. They also asked for passes to a
theatre to see a show. Their fabulous Adopt-A-Family donor got them
both! Jacob and his dad are sure to create some special memories in
2016.
YOU!
Yes, that’s right – you! We were honoured that his Excellency the Right
Honourable David Johnston made special note of our collaborative work
at his keynote address at the Guelph Chamber of Commerce’s Awards of
Excellence. As he said these awesome stories are "only possible through
the shared efforts of Children’s Foundation volunteers and staff, local
schools, sports and arts organizations, social service and family
support agencies, donors and fundraisers, and sponsors and funding
agencies. Today, thousands of children in this community are happier,
healthier and have a better chance in life—and broad collaboration made
it possible.” Thank you for being part of that collaboration and for
being awesome.
These are just 10 awesome things out of
countless other awesome things that happened in 2015. Thank you for
being one of them. Happy New Year! We look forward to seeing you in
2016.