January 1, 2011 - 8:03pm
Students studying Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) at Vancouver Island University are giving back to the community.
In addition to promoting National Child Day, students in Sheila Grieve’s ECE 211 class raised more than $800 for the Child Development Centre (CDC). They also collected $200 in donations of gift certificates, T-shirts, hats and a wine refrigerator for the CDC.
“Our class launched this fundraiser in lieu of writing a paper,” said student Becky Dudley. “The original assignment was to write about something we could change. As a class, we thought it would be great to go out into the community and advocate for something meaningful.
“National Child Day was a great opportunity. We raised awareness by creating posters and holding a barbeque and bake sale. We wanted the money to go to a good cause and selected the Child Development Centre here in Nanaimo.”
The Child Development Centre is a non-profit organization which provides individualized services for children and their families that promote child development. The CDC team, which includes occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech and language pathologists, family support workers and preschool staff, works with children to help them grow and develop. The Centre recognizes that each child has diverse needs that must be addressed if they are to reach their full potential.
Last year, the CDC helped over 1700 local children and families in the Nanaimo community.
Tags: In the Community
