Food Bank Visit

This week we visited the Caledonia and District Food Bank as part of the Take Action program area. 

We met at the Church as usual and then walked to the Food Bank, where we were met by Dorette and Anne.

First we learned a bit about the services provided by the Food Bank and how it operates. They are open for service every Friday and people can access food, hygiene supplies, clothing, and find out about other community resources.

When a person arrives at the Food Bank, they take a form and a number. The form asks for some basic information (number of people in the family, male/female, ages of children) and then has a section where people can circle the items that they need. Another section at the bottom has other items that they can request. They put their number on the form, hand it in and wait to be called. While they are waiting, they can visit 'Linda's Closet'. Linda's Closet is a clothing closet that has all sorts of different items, including winter clothing and prom dresses. They also run a Backpack program in the fall so that children have the supplies they need to go back to school.

If there are school-age children in the family, each child receives a supply of snacks for school, which could include drinking boxes, yogurt, pudding cups, cheese strings, granola bars, apples, gold fish crackers, and/or individual hot chocolate packets. For infants, items such as formula, food, cereal and diapers are available. The Food Bank also runs a Christmas Hamper program where families receive a turkey, a food basket, fresh veggies (potatoes, carrots and onions), toiletries, hats and mitts, and a gift for each member of the family.

Some of the girls had brought donations, so we visited the scale and weighed our donations (25 pounds). Donation amounts are recorded along with the name of the group or individual donor. 

During our visit, we were able to help out with two tasks.

One area has been set aside for breaking down larger packages into smaller amounts - such as flour, sugar, rice, powdered milk, and pet food. The girls worked on dividing up large bags of dog food into smaller bags. They had to scoop food, trying to get as little as possible on the ground, and fill the bags with approximately the same amount.

The second task was to assemble toiletries bags for the Christmas Hampers. The girls used sheets with the ages and sexes of family members to make up packages for various families. When the sheet was given to the group, they had to record the family's number on the bag, then add items according to the age/sex of each family member. Each family received a bottle of shampoo, a bar of soap and a tube of toothpaste, then each person received a toothbrush and teens and adults received deodorant and razors.

At the end of the visit, we thanked Dorette and Anne and walked back to the Church for pick-up.

6th Annual Caledonia Community Easter Egg Hunt

Today a small group of us braved the cold, wind and mud to volunteer at the 6th Annual Caledonia Community Easter Egg Hunt! The Guides, Pathfinders and Rangers were kept busy face painting, while the Guiders oversaw the free coffee, juice and water station. Great job girls and congratulations to Sophie on completing her Pathfinder Community Service Award!

Links: 

• Caledonia Easter Egg Hunt 

International Day of the Girl 2017

At this week's meeting we celebrated the International Day of the Girl (October 11th) with the WAGGGS #TeamGirl Challenge and began making plans for this year's service projects!

Team Girl Gets Rights on Their Side
The first activity we did was aimed at helping the girls understand their right to an education and differentiating between needs and wants. We printed out 3 sets of the Needs/Wants Cards (see download below) and played a relay game. The cards were placed at the far end of the room and the members of each Patrol took turns to run up and get a card and decide if it was a Need or a Want. Once all the Patrols had sorted their cards out, we talked about a few of them to see if everyone agreed. As part of this discussion we noted that the basic needs for survival are food, water and shelter, but in order to thrive, we need other things as well.

Pathway to Education
This activity introduced the girls to some of the barriers to education that girls face, as well as a number of fun challenge activities! We used a slightly modified version of the game provided in the Challenge Pack and marked out a large gameboard on the floor with painter's tape. The girls played in Patrols and used water bottles and shoes as markers and large foam dice. The Patrols took turns rolling the dice and moving their counter around the board. Depending on where they landed, they had to complete tasks - sing a song, stay silent, name 7 countries starting with the letter B, name 10 different fruits, etc. It was very interesting to see which Patrols worked best together and how the Pathfinders interacted with the Guides.

At this point in the evening we separated, the Pathfinders and Rangers went upstairs and the Guides continued in the main room.

GUIDES

Get Set to Break Barriers
Our third activity further explored barriers to education, but also challenged the girls to start thinking of ways to overcome them. We chose three of the characters and scenarios from the Challenge Pack and gave a character to each Patrol. They had to come up with the character's back story - name, family, hobbies, feelings. They were then given a scenario that described a barrier to the character's education. Each Patrol then made up and presented a skit about their character and how the barrier affected her ability to get an education.

Team Girl Speaks Out
The final activity was about making a difference, so we asked each Patrol to make a list of issues they care about and any ideas they had for service projects. We had a variety of ideas and will be choosing some of them to work on later this year!

PATHFINDERS/RANGERS

Making a Difference
Our Ranger talked about her experiences at WE Day in September (it was awesome!!) and the group worked through some of the WE Resources to come up with a list of issues they care about and potential service projects. We will be putting their plans into action over the course of the year!

Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Article 26
(1) Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the UN for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Convention on the Rights of the Child - Article 28
You have the right to a good quality education. You should be encouraged to go to school to the highest level you can.

Convention of the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women - Article 10 
Countries must end discrimination against women and girls and ensure equal rights in education. This includes equal access to education and vocational training at all levels. Women and girls must be provided with the same curricula, examinations, standards for teaching, access to scholarships, and equipment.

Downloads:

• Needs/Wants Cards
• Pathway to Education Game Board 
• #TeamGirl 2017 Challenge Pack (WAGGGS Website) 

WE Day Toronto 2017

Imagine spending a day with nearly 20,000 young people committed to making change in their schools, communities, country and the world. Add a slate of inspiring speakers, musical performances, a surprise appearance by Prince Harry and you have WE Day Toronto 2017!

Unfortunately, none of the Pathfinders were able to join us for the day, but our small group of 2 Guiders and 1 Ranger still had a great time! We caught the 6.50am GO Train from Aldershot Station and made it to Toronto by 8am, ready for the short walk to the Air Canada Centre, once inside we made our way upstairs to our section and settled in. There were so many speakers and performances, that I know I've missed a few, but here are my memories of the day:

The first performance of the day was by Vanessa Hudgens and Shawn Hook, with "Reminding Me", followed by a welcome from Craig and Marc Kielburger. The first speaker was Gaten Matarazzo from "Stranger Things", spreading awareness for cleidocranial dysplasia, a congenital disorder that affects one in a million people. Jacob Tremblay and Millie Davis, co-stars in the upcoming movie "Wonder", urged us to "Choose kind. On the playground, in your classrooms, in your neighbourhoods".


Bailee Madison ("The Good Witch") introduced us two students who are working for change, something she would repeat thoughout the day. Sofia Carson ("Descendents") encouraged girls to be bold and fearless, saying "Books and pens are our greatest weapons, and girls, we are our own knights in shining armour."

Shawn Hook performed again, then Lisa Charleyboy spoke about reconnecting with her indigenous heritage and finding her passion in an unexpected way. Beginning in the world of runway fashion, moving to print media, and eventually creating a magazine showcasing indigenous design.

Spencer West interviewed Olympians Penny Oleksiak and Andre De Grasse about their role as Ambasasdors, not only for sport but for youth engagement and making a positive difference in the world. Watch Three Stools With Spencer West at WE Day.

George Takei ("Star Trek") spoke about his time in a Japanese Internment Camp as a child during World War II and the hope that youth represent for the future. He ended with "Today I see our future built by all of you. Boldly go where no one has gone before!" Watch George Takei at WE Day.

Lilly Singh spoke on the need to end girl-on-girl hate, challenging girls to build each other up instead of tearing each other down #GirlLove. She also launched her new #GirlLove Rafiki project to provide education to girls in Kenya! Watch Lilly Singh at WE Day.

Kelly Clarkson performed "Stronger" (with full crowd accompaniment!) and her new single "Love So Soft".

Hedley performed as well, then Mike Downie spoke about reconciliation and updated everyone on the work of the Downie-Wenjack Fund since its launch a year ago. Watch Mike Downie at WE Day. Rick Hanson spoke about perseverance and believing in yourself, and then there was a surprise speaker...

... who was no less than HRH Prince Harry, who is in Toronto for the 3rd Invictus Games! I think he received the loudest response of the day. Prince Harry spoke about the Invictus Games and the spirit of hope, challenging all of us to "say yes to optimism, yes to hope and yes to belief". He also spoke to our social media-obsessed culture saying "You all know that it's great to 'like' things on social media, but that it's more important to look up from our phones, to get out into our communities, and to take real action; to stand up for what you believe in!"

Ban Ki-Moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations spoke on climate change, the Paris Climiate Agreement, and the need for people from around the world to work together - "We are truly all in this together." Watch Ban Ki-Moon at WE Day.

Alexandre Trudeau spoke about his world travels, his adventures, and the need for kindness and understanding. Watch Alexandre Trudeau at WE Day. Then Theland Kicknosway spoke about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and performed a Hoop Dance

Sabrina Carpenter performed, followed by the final speaker of the day, Mia Farrow, who spoke about finding happiness by helping others and focusing on an issue that matters to you to start making change. Watch Mia Farrow at WE Day.  The closing performance was also by Sabrina Carpenter, with her song "Thumbs", and then it was time to head home, inspired to make change at home and around the world!

For those of you who couldn't be there, watch the WE Day Toronto broadcast on CTV on November 25, 2017

Odds & Ends

Occasionally, in place of a regular meeting, we have an 'Odds & Ends' night. This means there is no single theme for the evening, and we do a variety of different activities!

As the girls arrived, they were introduced to their new Patrol Notebooks. These books will be used for arrival activities and gathering ideas and information from each Patrol. This week's activities were to write down some ideas for different careers/jobs they were interested in for our Career Awareness night later in March, and to come up with some ideas for when the 2nd Year Brownies visit us at the end of March. Some patrols were more successful at this than others, but we will keep working at it.

After opening, we moved into our first activity - the Postal Badge. Information signs were put up around the room with details about postage rates, package weights, and special services. Each Patrol was given a worksheet (from Bluenose Guider) and was challenged to find the answers to a variety of questions. Their final task was to address an envelop to themselves. While we waited for everyone to finish, the girls worked on making birthday postcards to send to the UK for the Rainbow 30th Birthday Celebrations. We then played a game - Everybody's It Tag. 

Our Pathfinder led the next activity, a service project to make Birthday Boxes for the local Food Bank. Each Patrol had to wrap their box to finish up the Postal Badge, and to also make a nice container for their birthday supplies. The boxes were filled with the supplies needed for a child's birthday party - cake pan, cake mix, frosting, candles, balloons, streamers, plates, and napkins.

The remainder of the meeting was spent working on the Learn How to Plan section of the program. As the Patrols finished making their Birthday Boxes, they were given a list of activity themes with descriptions (Go For It's! from Girlguiding UK). Each Patrol choose a theme and was given the Go For It! pack that matched. They were then asked to choose 4 activities that could be done as a Patrol, each activity to take about 20 minutes. A calendar was provided in their notebooks, and the Patrols scheduled each activity over a 4-week period, made a list of supplies needed and decided who would be responsible for each item.The Patrols will have the first 20 minutes of each meeting from March 21st to April 11th to do these activities.

The Daffodils decided to try Go For It! Lifewise. "You’ll find out about ways to keep happy and healthy, to stay safe and be independent.If you’ve ever fancied living on your own or making more decisions for yourself, this is the Go For It! for you.By the end, you’ll be cool, calm and able to deal with anything (well, almost anything!), and to look out for your friends, too."
The Pansies will be working on Go For It! Camp Out. "Sample the fun of camp without leaving your meeting place! Go For It! Camp out features a great range of activities, from wide games to camp cooking and useful things to make.A great way to enjoy the fun of camp all year round or share your camp adventures with others in your patrol."
The Roses chose Go For It! Fitness. "You all know it’s important to keep fit. Go For It! fitness will give you a go at all sorts of different activities.Whether you do loads of fitness activities already or try to avoid them, there is fun to be had with this Go For It!"
The Trilliums picked Go For It! I Will Survive. "Survival isn’t just about using your shoelaces as a belt or eating raw worms for dinner! Whether you’re rural rascals or urban urchins, there are more important things to sort out. Go For It! I will survive shows you how."

The meeting closed with Campfire, Announcements and Taps.

Food Bank Visit (NSP: Action on Poverty)

This week we visited the Caledonia & District Food Bank as part of the National Service Project: Acton on Poverty.

We met at the Church as usual and then walked to the Food Bank, where we were met by Dorette and Anne.

First we learned a bit about the services provided by the Food Bank and how it operates. They are open for service every Friday and people can access food, hygiene supplies, clothing, and find out about other community resources.

When a person arrives at the Food Bank, they take a form and a number. The form asks for some basic information (number of people in the family, male/female, ages of children) and then has a section where people can circle 12 items that they need. Another section at the bottom has other items that they can request. They put their number on the form, hand it in and wait to be called. While they are waiting, they can visit 'Linda's Closet'. Linda's Closet is a clothing closet that has all sorts of different items, including winter clothing and prom dresses. They also run a Backpack program in the fall so that children have the supplies they need to go back to school.

If there are school-age children in the family, each child receives a supply of snacks for school, which could include drinking boxes, yogurt, pudding cups, cheese strings, granola bars, apples, gold fish crackers, and/or individual hot chocolate packets. For infants, items such as formula, food, cereal and diapers are available.Each family receives the items they've requested and may also receive items from the "Goodie Shelf". These are extra items such as cookies, Sidekicks, ketchup and salad dressing. (This was an eye opener for the girls!) The Food Bank also runs a Christmas Hamper program where families receive a turkey, a food basket, fresh veggies (potatoes, carrots and onions), toiletries, hats and mitts, and a gift for each member of the family.

During our visit, we were able to help out with two tasks.

One area has been set aside for breaking down larger packages into smaller amounts - such as flour, sugar, rice, powdered milk, pet food and teabags. The girls worked on dividing up boxes of tea bags. They had to count check for the best before date on the package to make sure they were fresh, then count out 12 tea bags, put them in a bag and label the bag with 'Tea' and the best before date.


The second task was to assemble toiletries bags for the Christmas Hampers. The girls used sheets with the ages and sexes of family members to make up packages for various families. When the sheet was given to the group, they had to record the family's number on the bag, then add items according to the age/sex of each family member. Each family received a bottle of shampoo, a bar of soap and a tube of toothpaste, then each person received a toothbrush and teens and adults received deodorant and razors.


At the end of the visit, the donations we had brought were weighed and we found out that we had donated 100.5lbs! We then thanked Dorette and Anne and walked back to the Church for pick-up.

International Day of the Girl 2016

Tonight we celebrated the 5th Annual International Day of the Girl!

In honour of this special day, Girl Guides of Canada produced an Instant Meeting focusing on Girls and Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) that had lots of interesting activities. As our unit regularly runs STEM-related activities, we decided to work on the WAGGGS #TeamGirl Challenge instead.

Download the GGC Instant Meeting
Download the WAGGGS #TeamGirl Challenge

As the girls arrived, they played a tag game, after which we practiced forming a Horseshoe. One of the Guides led a game of Hot Dog Tag before we started our evening's program.

The #TeamGirl Challenge is divided into three parts: Team Discover, Team Build and Team Action. We completed Team Discover and Team Build, and began work on the Team Action section.

Team Discover
To begin our program, we talked briefly about the 17 Global Goals set by the United Nations in 2015 to end poverty, fight climate change and tackle all forms of inequality by 2030. We explained how Guiding members around the world were taking part in the #TeamGirl Challenge to learn more about these issues and make a difference in their own communities. We then introduced the NSP: Action on Poverty and talked about how through this project, Canadian Guiding members are addressing Goal #1 No Poverty.

Our first activity was Factors Leading to Poverty from the GGC NSP Instant Meeting.  We divided the girls into 3 colour groups - 70% yellow, 20$ red and 10% blue. Everyone then lined up across the centre of the room and we read out a series of statements from the meeting plan. For each statement, the girls had to take a certain number of steps forwards or backwards, depending on the colour of their card. Once we had finished, we had a reflection discussion about what the girls thought and felt during the activity and what statements stood out the most to them.

Our second activity was What Is Poverty Like? from Together We Can (Girlguiding UK, 2011). For this activity, the girls were divided up into groups of four and asked to describe poverty using their senses.

• Sight - How do others see you? What are your surroundings?
• Sound - What do others say to you? What background noises surround you?
• Smell - What kind of food is cooked around you? What is happening around you?
• Taste - What kinds of food do you eat?
• Feel - Where do you live? What is it like there? What emotions do you feel?

Although not an entirely successful activity, it did get everyone thinking about how poverty could affect a person's environment and living situation.

Team Build
For the Team Build section, we tried three of the activities from the #TeamGirl Challenge Pack. First up was Crocodile River. In this activity, girls are divided into teams and provided with newspaper. Their challenge is to get their whole team across a river full of crocodiles! The only way to get across the river is by stepping on floating logs or stones (the newspaper). Only one person may stand on a log or stone at a time. The logs and stones can be picked up and moved, but not thrown. The instructions said to provide each team with a number of pieces of newspaper equal to 1/3 the size of the group - i.e. 3 squares for 9 people, however, in order for this activity to work, the group needs a minimum of 3 squares regardless of the group size. We had four groups of four so that the activity wouldn't take too long (where girls might get bored).

The second activity was In Balance, where everyone stands in a circle and holds hands. The idea is that they can then lean backwards and the circle will help everyone stay upright. The second part is to have alternate girls lean inwards and outwards, and, again, the circle will help everyone stay upright. I have to label this activity as USE WITH CAUTION. If your girls are different sizes and strengths, they may hurt each other as the strain placed on hands and arms can be too much. It may work better if the girls linked arms rather than holding hands - but we didn't try this.

The final activity was the most popular - Tallest Tower. Each team was provided with straws and tape and given the goal of creating the tallest possible free-standing structure in the allowed time.


Team Action
To end our program, each group of girls was asked to use the last five minutes in order to come up with a list of ideas of how we could take action on poverty. The ideas were varied and we will use them going forward to complete both the #TeamGirl Challenge and the NSP: Action on Poverty.

The meeting ended with reminders for next week, distributing forms for the Planetarium trip on November 1st, and we closed with Taps.