FIRST NATION BUNK BED PROGRAM: REPORT FROM MISH

Reports from the community of Mishkeegogamang, ON (Mish) indicate that the first 50 beds are assembled and that by all accounts, “It's been a great experience.”

Karen Ward, FTC Canada First Nations Programs, reported that her team of young adults, most from the Mish Adventure Summer Program, have had a truly amazing time helping assemble beds and seeing the immediate impact it is having.

Parents are appreciative, perhaps overwhelmed by the generosity of the gift of bunk beds.  One young person commented, “Lots of people come up to Mish - but I've never seen anyone do anything like you are doing - giving us beds to make sure the kids have a place to sleep.” He said it's such a blessing for his people.

You can be a part of this work in the far North.  Your gift will go immediately to helping ensure children are not sleeping on a cold floor this winter. Click here to go to the Bunk Bed donation page or click the button below to make your donation immediately.

 

AWARD WINNING SINGER-SONGWRITER LENDS A HAND

It was a partnership that started back in 2005 and culminated in a song!  “After the Song” was penned by multi-award winning Singer-Songwriter, Ali Matthews and added to a reissue of her Christmas CD, “On Angels’ Wings”.

Ali Matthews

On Sunday December 5th Ali held her Annual Christmas Concert in support of FTC Canada. The event held in Stratford, Ontario, at the elegant Church Restaurant, was hotly anticipated by people far and wide and was packed out.

During the concert, Ali talked about how “After the Song” came to be.  In thinking about the struggles of others around world, she could not help but think that, once Christmas ended, those people were likely still struggling.  It became clear to her, and she wrote:

Finding the lost, feeding the hungry

The motherless child without a prayer

Ending the wars, calming the angry

And soothing the souls in despair

When we can love a world that’s broken apart

That’s when Christmas will start

Ali will donate a portion of her concert ticket sales to FTC Canada to support the ongoing work of feeding hungry children in Canada and around the world.

You can receive a copy of “On Angels’ Wings” for a $20.00 donation.  Just click the button below to donate now. Please share this post with your friends so they can enjoy this special offer.
(offer available to December 17, 2010: we can not guarantee delivery for December 25, 2010)

On Angels' Wings

2005 Seasonal Song Of The Year*: "On Angels’ Wings"

2006 Seasonal Song Of The Year*: "Brand New Miracle"

*GMA Canada Covenant Awards

CHARACTER: HIGH SCHOOLS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

It used to be that the phrase, “a person of character”, inherently meant “good” character. As we look at more than a decade where our politicians, business leaders, sports stars and celebrities have drained the previous positive inference, out of the word character, a ray of hope is emerging ... from our high schools.

It is one thing to employ a tag-line or slogan that includes the idea of building character in our students of today, it is another to build and implement programs that both teach our children and put into practice the principles held forth.

Meadowvale High School and West Credit High School in Mississauga are achieving integrity in implementing such a vision, by partnering with several vendors in the city and with FTC Canada. Together we are building bunk beds to send to First Nations communities north of Sioux Lookout, where conditions for families are deficient.

According to the 2007 Child Health Summit, "Living conditions for First Nations people rank 63^rd in the world - comparable with developing countries - and one of the root causes of poor health in these communities."

A lack of proper sleep for children is detrimental to their development and health. Changes in sleeping habits can impair a child’s learning, memory and ability to concentrate. To try and address the problem of a serious shortage of adequate beds, FTC Canada has developed the First Nations Bunk Bed Program.  
 

This Christmas is the launch of a three-year program that FTC Canada has initiated with the support of major corporate partner, Vale.  The goal is to deliver at least 100 beds a year for three years to several First Nations communities.

“Our hope is to provide proper sleeping spaces for at least 600 children in these communities”, said FTC Canada’s First Nations Coordinator Karen Ward.

We have the support of many people, however, more beds need to be built, bedding and other supplies are still required and the product needs to be delivered to the Far North. We invite you to be a part of this vital project. 

Please CLICK HERE to help now!
  

FEEDING HUNGRY CHILDREN IN NICARAGUA

It is not always possible to obtain video footage of the work we do with our partners, amateur or otherwise.

Over the last several years we have shipped tens of thousands of meals to our partner World Mission Outreach in Nicaragua. One of our donation partners involved in supporting that cause is the Ontario Christian Gleaners.

Here are some images that a volunteer has provided in thanks of the work that we have been able to facilitate with our Canadian partners feeding children in Nicaragua.

Cliff Cline
Vice President - Chief Operating Officer

UNISYNC CANADA PRESIDENT: PARTNERSHIP WITH FTC CANADA

Unisync Canada President Carmin Garofalo talks to FTC Canada VP-COO Cliff Cline about the partnership that was formed and ultimately galvanized by the disaster in Haiti.

Love From Guatemala

Medical Team In Action

Everyday in Guatemala put the Medical Team into a school room.  Schools or churches with classrooms are generally made available for us to use, and if they are not free that day, school children are given the day off like they were in Palencia.

The medical portion of the team this week was made up of 6 doctors, one paramedic and two nurses (two other nurses were on the team, one in dental and one handing out glasses).  They would split into groups of 4 each day, meeting up with their Guatemalan interpreters.  Set-up for the "doctor's office" required a chair for interpreter and "doc", chairs for patients, tables for various medical tools and then it was off to work.

You can see that it also became a small operating theater near the end of this video.  Dr. Muhn removed some non-dissolving stitches from a woman's C-section as they were creating a reoccurring infection in her abdomen.