(Sault Ste. Marie, ON July 7, 2021) – Each year, ¶ˇĎăÔ°AV’s third year Child and Youth Care (CYC) students host the We All Love Kids (W.A.L.K) event to raise money for local programs. This year’s class rose to the challenge and through creativity and passion organized a virtual event. We are proud to announce that the 21st annual CYC W.A.L.K raised more than $21,000 for the Every Breakfast Counts program, which provides children across Sault Ste. Marie access to healthy and nutritious breakfasts!
The success of this year’s event was propelled by a strong collaboration of supporters particularly the Algoma Leadership Table, including: Community Living Algoma, SSM Innovation Centre, United Way, Women in Crisis, ¶ˇĎăÔ°AV, Algoma Family Services, Nogdawindamin Family and Community Services, John Howard Society, Canadian Mental Health Association, and Social Services.
“The success of this event is meaningful in countless ways. For the students, it meant overcoming challenges presented by the pandemic, such as: learning to run an event virtually, hosting meetings and planning sessions online and reaching out for community support without the advantage of face-to-face encounters. We were proud to collaborate with various local agencies, whose support was directly linked to the success of our virtual auction. We offer our sincere thanks to: Michael Peever Auctions, Fratelli’s Kitchen, Katie Solomon’s Handmade Crafts, Soap By She, Ikabel Creations, Turning Point Woodworking, Karen Nisbet, Shabby Motley, BCK Woodworks, Rekam Printing, The Sault Scrunchie Sisters, Doug & Molly, and Made by Mak,” said Donna Mansfield, Professor, Child and Youth Care, ¶ˇĎăÔ°AV.
For third year students, organizing this event highlighted the importance of their learning and work and how these can positively impact others. “We're overwhelmed by all the support we received in order to make this event a success. We are so proud that we were able to overcome the many barriers the pandemic created to raise money for a program that we feel passionate about. We understand the impacts COVID-19 has created on families, which drove us to raise as much money as possible for the Every Breakfast Counts Program. We wanted to show that the pandemic was no match for our hard work, perseverance, and teamwork, and we’re so excited that our 21st annual W.A.L.K was a complete success,” said Shawna Larocque, third year CYC student.
This event showcased how collaboration, dedication and strong commitment can lead to amazing results. Congratulations to everyone involved!
-30-