Outdoor Concert Fundraiser: Oct 2nd 2010

Please plan to join us for an ...

Outdoor Concert & Fundraiser

Saturday Oct 2nd 2010

@ Kimberley/Beaches Alternative School

50 Swanwick Ave, M4E 1Z5

Music: Tin Star Orphans Band & Friends

Fun & Creative Activities

Water Relay (get 5 friends to sponsor you $5 each)

Come learn more about the Uganda Water & Garden Project and help us raise money for Vanessa's photo trip to collect and share images documenting the ways that water and food shortages have affected children in Uganda.

Through her photography and her photo workshops with Ugandan children, we will learn more about the Rain Water Harvesting and School Garden Projects that Toronto students have funded and the ways these projects have led to improvements in the lives of Ugandan students.

Vanessa is a member of the Social Responsibility in Education Committee, a long time volunteer on the project and a parent of a BAS student. She is donating one month of her time as a professional photographer to travel in Uganda with CASP coordinator Mr. Lyagoba. We would like to help her cover some of her expenses to make this all possible.

This is a ticketed event. Please check back in August for details.

Thank you for your support!

Please mail us a Donation

At this point we are a no-cost volunteer project. We do not have an on-line method for making a donation but you can always mail us a cheque written to the (Toronto District School Board (TDSB).

Uganda Project

Kimberley School

50 Swanwick Ave.,

Toronto, ON

M4E 1Z5

A donation of any amount would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Kimberley School!

The students at Kimberley School ran a freezie sale at their school to raise money for the Uganda Water & Garden Project. This activity was much appreciated and it was a lot of FUN too!!!

Thank You Adam Beck!

This school year, Adam Beck ran another book exchange fundraiser for the Uganda Water & Garden Project. This contribution enabled us to help make Kinu School a model school & show others how rainwater harvesting can be used at other schools too! Nearly 100 people attended a 2 day workshop where these techniques were shown to representatives from all 12 CASP Network Schools! Thank you Adam Beck!

Glen Ames is Making a Difference!

Glen Ames makes a significant contribution targetted to the second phase of the water project at Kinu Primary School. The plan is to continue fundraising efforts next year to see it through to completion!

This project will involve the construction of 2 more rainwater harvesting tanks to collect water for irrigation. The chariperson of local council within Kamuli District, in response to this exciting news has agreed to donate the eves trough system needed to collect rain water from the metal roof.

Kinu Primary School has a large amount of land, making it an ideal site to have several demonstration gardens (vegetables, fruit, medicinal plants, pine groves). People from other schools will then be able to learn from the work done at the Kinu gardens and determine what might be best transferred to their site.

Ultimately, this water project will contribute to the provision of food to thousands of school children in Uganda.

Thank you!

United Church makes a Donation

We send out our thanks to members of the Blackwell United Church who raised over $200 for the project while enjoying a chili lunch together!  Publish Post

The Remarkable Bean makes Donation

Our appreciate goes out to The Remarkable Bean (Fair Trade Coffee Shop) for making a $100 travel sponsorship donation.  We are fortunate to have such supportive partners in our community!  Thank you!

Local Royal Banks: clean water & water education

The managers of our two local branches of the Royal Bank (Queen St E. & Lee Ave as well as Lawlor Ave. & Kingston Rd) are excited to join our network of community supporters.  Bringing clean water to those who need it as well as water education for children in Canada are activities they wish to assist with.  They donated $500 to match the donation made to the project made by students at Beaches Alternative School!

Giving the Gift of Water

Consider giving the gift of food and water this holiday season.

The Uganda Water and Garden Project would like to remind you that making a donation as a gift this season can make a difference in the lives of so many children and their communities.

The vision of the Uganda Water and Garden Project is to develop Kinu Primary School as an education centre and site for demonstrating sustainable methods to address water and food issues that can be replicated at schools across Uganda.

Making a donation this holiday season will help to make this happen.

Inserts for your own greeting cards or e-cards are available in any denomination. Gifts of $25 or more are eligible for a charitable tax receipt. For an additional $1 (to cover printing costs) greeting cards with space for your own personal messages are also available. For those living outside of the Greater Toronto Area, please allow 7 days for your gift cards or inserts to arrive.

Please contact us for further information or to order your gifts.

CASPCAN1@yahoo.ca

647.995.7312 (Vanessa)

Thank you for considering a donation to the Uganda Water and Garden Project this holiday season.

Nov 23rd Ceremony in Uganda: Special Announcement

Ceremony & Kamuli Community Celebration

On Nov 23rd the RT. Hon Deputy speaker of the 8^th parliament of the Republic of Uganda Rebecca Kadaga will preside over a ceremony to inaugurate the rain water harvesting tanks and the Canada Africa School Partnership (CASP) as a registered community based organization in Uganda.

We have prepared a speech which will be read by PLAN Uganda/International NGO representative.

We have also arranged to have a banner made for display during the ceremony with a special message from Canadian Pen Pal Schools.  It reads:

SHARING THE WORLD'S WATER CONNECTS US!

Thanks to the Ugandan and Canadian volunteers who build the Kinu School Rain Water Tanks

A message from Beaches Alternative Public School, Adam Beck Jr, Kimberley Jr and Monarch Park C.I.

In Toronto, Ontario, Canada

We have made arrangements for Mr. Lyagoba Moses, Project Director of CASP in Uganda to add a special announcement to his speech:

$500 donation from Beaches Alternative School

$500 donation (from Nov 15 community/small business fundraiser)

and ....

$500 from the Royal Bank (Lee & Queen and Kingston Rd & Lawlor branches)!

Ripple Effects

We began the year by showing all Beaches Alternative School (BAS) classes the Ryan’s Well Video about a 6 year old boy who raised money for a well in Uganda. After in-class work, the students came together to share what they had learned with one another during a project launch. The grade 3-4 class developed a skit about the “Ripple Effect” of social change based on the class discussion following viewing the video.

They were inspired by Ryan and wanted to promote the idea that kids could make a difference and inspire others. They performed their skit to the grade 1-2 and the grade 5-6 classes and handed out pebbles as a reminder that their SR work could also create a ripple effect…our children’s learning in combination with their actions did inspire people here and in other parts of the world too!  They also visited Adam Beck school with parent presenters to share photos and hand out pebbles.

Student-to-Student Ripple Effects
• BAS students presented their knowledge to other children at BAS and other schools
• Adam Beck, Kimberley and Monarch Park joined the project

Local Ripple Effects
• BAS and their families sold/purchased 170 reusable water bottles
• Partner schools helped BAS raise the $3,500 required for a rain water harvesting tank

Corporate Ripple Effects
• an IBM representative made a visit to the grade 1-2 class, students presented their knowledge of the project. In response, IBM announced they would donate 1 laptop computer and 2 digital cameras

Ugandan Ripple Effects
• Ugandan government donated a printer to the pen pal program, local elders donated 500 bricks for the water tank and parents of the students at Kinu Primary School donated their labour
• Moses would like to make Kinu Primary School a resource centre for other schools in Uganda to a) promote environmental education and b) demonstrate how gardens and tanks can be used to solve water and food problems at other schools throughout Uganda (he held 1 workshop so far).

International Ripple Effects
• The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Education Development Office was informed of our work and our success in raising funds for a) the school building roof conversion, b) a 10,000 L rain tank tank and c) the tank platform. They were impressed and in response provided funds for a second tank that could be attached to the opposite end of the building using the same collection infrastructure.

... And now the Deputy Speaker of the House of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda will be presiding over a ceremony on Nov 23rd to celebrate the accomplishments achieved through the collaborative efforts of Canadian and Ugandan students, parents and educators through this Ugandan Water & Garden Project!

Green Energy Efficient Homes Makes Contribution

We would like to send out our appreciation to recent travel sponsor.

www.green-energy-efficient-homes.com

Thank you!

Corporate Donations Towards Travel Expenses

Several people have approached us with requests for information to take to their employers for potential travel sponsorship. Thank you!! We are still in the process of putting together information packages but expect to have something by the end of October.

Community Thank You: Serenity Massage Fundraiser

Serenity Massage Hosted a Community Fundraiser for the Uganda Water and Garden Project on Nov 15, 2009 

Together, we successfully raised $1,544!  

We would like to THANK the following Local Business & Community Members:

First, thank you to Kim Dunlop and Trish Quintal at Serenity Massage for your tremendous efforts in hosting this event.  

We would also like to thank Jennifer's Original Gluten Free Bread for providing snacks for the Open House.  1027 Kingston Rd. Toronto, ON M4E 1T5 (416) 693-5333.

In addition, we thank teacher Bev Mummery who donated her photo cards and local book author Kathleen Myers Krogh for donating her children's books to the fundraiser.  Local business, the Remarkable Bean helped us sell fair trade organic coffee.  Oh yeah, and thanks to Kari for her hand made chocolate art & cards.

DONATED Raffle Items & Winners

2 Hour Photographic Portrait Session, Vanessa Garrison Photography (winner: Joanne Mee) 

Massage Therapy, Serenity Massage (2) (winners: George Ingram, Joan Fadore)

Toronto Symphony Orchestra Tickets (2) (winner: Allan Levine & Cindy Bowman)

Bach Consort Tickets (2) (winner: Eileen Gordon)

HP Colour All in One Printer, Scanner and Copier from The GRACEs - Re/Max Hallmark (winner: Doris Bauer)

Edible Art ~ bowl made of Belgian Chocolate by Kari (winner: )

4 movie passes from The Fox Theatre, 2236 Queen St E  http://www.foxtheatre.ca/ 

(winner: Tim Dawson)

Gift Basket, The Art of Beauty, Kingston Road (winner: Ed Pilon)

Gift Basket, Crown of Jewels, Kingston Road (winner:Blair Johnson)

Gift of signed Children's Books, Local Book Author (winner: Lisa Patrovannie)

Gift including Photo Card from Blacks Photography, 2036 Queen Street East: http://www.blackphoto.com/blacks/index.jsp

(winner: Blair Johnson)

Gift Certificate ($25 value) from The Wholesome Market 2234 Queen Street East (winner: George Ingram)

Gift Certificate for Ice Cream Pie ($30 value) from Ed's Real Scoop, 2224 Queen Street East (winner: Tim Dawson)

Gift Certificate for A Pie ($25 value) The Pie Shack, 2305 Queen Street East, http://www.pieshack.ca/

(winner: Robyn Irving)

Gift Certificate ($20 value) Ambiance Chocolat, 753A Queen Street East, http://ambiancechocolat.ca/

(winner: Joanne Mee)

Gift Card, ($20 value) from The Business Depot - Shopper World Danforth Ave.: http://www.staples.com 

(winner: Rosemary Anderson)

Gift Certificate, ($10 value) from Wild Earth Cafe & Bakery, 2142 Queen Street East: http://wildearthbakery.ca 

(Gregory Patterson)

Gift Certificate, ($10 value) from The Remarkable Bean, 2242 Queen Street East

(winner: Rosemary Anderson)

Gift Certificate, ($10 value) Ellaminno Children's Bookstore, 1915 Queen Street East

(winner: Peter Drum)

Several items were DONATED to be made available for a Silent Auction:

A hair dryer from Shoppers Drug Mart (Queen St & Lee Ave) (value 89.99)

A creativity package from DeSerers/ Loomis
(Woodbine & Danforth Ave) (value 74.30)

A Cranial Sacral/Reiki Treatment (value 100.00)
from Renee Long, private practitioner, babble@pppoe.ca

THANK YOU ALL!

Indulge, relax, reflect.

Join us for a relaxing and inspiring afternoon!

You are invited to an Open House Fundraiser at Serenity Massage Therapy on November 15th, 2009 between 1 and 4pm. Indulge in wine, chocolate and massage while making a difference in the lives of 700 children.

Tickets are $10 each or 3 for $25. A tax receipt will be issued for $25 or more.

If you can’t attend but still want to contribute, purchased tickets will also be entered into a raffle. A full list of prizes will be available shortly. Check back for updates.

Water Tanks Installed at Kinu

It took the entire school year for the students at the four schools (Beaches Alternative School, Adam Beck, Kimberly and Monarch Park CI) to raise awareness and funds for the Rain Water Harvesting Tank.  It was constructed in several stages over the summer primarily while the Kinu students were on holidays:

1.) the school building that actually had an intact tin roof was converted with gutters etc to collect the rain water
(the heat on the tin provides a first step towards sterilizing the water entering the tank)
2.) cement platforms were constructed using bricks donated by local elders
3.) tanks were transported to site
4.) a brick wall was constructed around the tanks to protect tank from damage and to keep the water cool
(after 48 hrs in dark cool tank, mosquito larva die off).

The water from the two Rain Water Harvesting Tanks will be used for primarily for drinking, cleaning and cooking at the school.  Some water however has also been used to irrigate garden test plots for phase two of the project at Kinu.  The local community is also accessing water at the new tanks, particularly during the rainy season when the tanks fill quickly.

Phase 1 Complete with UNESCO Matching Donation

Through a dedicated effort by students, educators and parents, four TDSB schools in East Toronto have succeeded in raising enough money to build a 10,000L Rain Water Harvesting Tank at Kinu Primary School in Uganda.

In recognition of their accomplishments, UNESCO donated a second tank which brought Phase 1 of the Uganda Water and Garden Project to completion.

Water from these tanks are being used for drinking, cooking and cleaning.