Upcoming Events

Around the World Gala

OPA! Glorious Greece
Saturday, October 23rd, 2010

Join us for an evening of wonderful Greek culture that includes a gourmet meal, wine, entertainment and spectacular prizes.

Tickets are $100. Reserve your tickets today - email glenna@childrensfoundation.org

Did You Know?

The Children's Foundation awards 12 scholarships each year. The Promoli Scholarship was presented to a youth in care of Family & Children's Services who is off to Seneca College. Eleven Future Fund Scholarships are also awarded - one to each of the high schools in Guelph and Wellington. Good luck at college or university to all of this year's recipients! 

Ways to Give

Are you passionate about reality TV like the SOAR crew? Or maybe sports? 

Why not host a fun event for your friends and family and at the same time raise funds for children in our community.

Find out more about hosting a Third Party Event.

Dear Glenna,

Have you ever had an idea that seems a bit ridiculous? Or insignificant?

The original idea for the Southern Ontario Amazing Race or of having police officers visit the GCVI breakfast program would probably have fallen into those categories. But luckily for the children and youth that we support, that didn't stop them from happening. In this issue of the Beacon we celebrate these two bright ideas and those who made them a reality.

Supporter Profile: Southern Ontario Amazing Race

The Southern Ontario Amazing Race (SOAR), a two day adventure competition, is put together by a dedicated and creative group of volunteers. The event was started by a group of friends with an interest in reality television and their passion has helped establish SOAR as one of the most exciting local fundraisers. The Children's Foundation of Guelph and Wellington is honoured to be the recipients of the funds raised by this event which each year includes original and amazing challenges for its competitors. This year was no exception with challenges from rappelling an apartment building to solving the brain busting Setting Sun puzzle.

For the 7th consecutive year, SOAR has passed the previous year's fundraising total. The 20 competing teams raised $70,000 in donations. Hats off to Rob and Jake Drexler who raised $14,000 on their own! For the second year in a row, Mike Pinkney and Jay Hahn stepped on the final Pit Stop mat in first place, again capturing the SOAR title.

Vicki Gojanovich, Coordinator at the GCVI Breakfast Club, recently contributed this story about how a breakfast club can be an opportunity to build relationships in the community between kids in some kind of need and those who care.

This year, we arranged for some police officer friends to stop by our breakfast program periodically and join us for coffee. Our program is for high school students who are in pretty tough situations at home and for whatever reasons come to the breakfast club for peace, safety, social interaction and of course good nutrition. Through this interaction with the police officers in a safe and comfortable atmosphere, the students have developed a unique friendship, feeling at ease with the officers being there.

Continue reading Vicki's story.

In The News: 2010 Active Healthy Kids Report Card

Active Healthy Kids Canada released their 2010 report card which looked at the physical activity levels of children and youth. According to the report only 12% of children are getting the recommended amount of physical activity. They found that sport participation rates are decreasing rapidly in younger generations with one of the biggest factors being the cost of participation.

Read the full report card.

Share Your Story

The Children's Foundation would love to feature your story in The Beacon. If you've had a memorable experience as a donor, volunteer or have received financial assistance and would like to contribute a story, contact Glenna Pengelly at glenna@childrensfoundation.org

We would also appreciate your feedback on The Beacon. If there are topics that you would like to see featured or have comments on articles featured here, let us know.

Please help us share our story by forwarding this message to a friend.

The Children's Foundation of Guelph and Wellington | 519-826-9551 | www.childrensfoundation.org | info@childrensfoundation.org