Woodwynn Farms

Stelly’s Secondary students hope to touch lives through new volunteer effort at Woodwynn Farms

richard — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:48:20 +0000

Making an impact on more than the farm

Clockwise from top left: Alex Mitchell, Gillian Bryson, Addie Côté, Charlotte Lauener, Lexy Young, Nareka Narendrabalan and Julia Bolster, all Grade 11 students in Stelly’s global perspectives class, prepare for their volunteer work at Woodwynn Farms.

Erin Cardone/News staff

By Erin Cardone – Peninsula News Review
Published: May 10, 2012 6:00 AM

Sunlight streamed through the windows of the 1940s barn as seven students listened to tales of how lives can so easily fall apart.

Seven Grade 11 students from Stelly’s secondary school’s global perspectives class heard about how, in an instant, a woman’s life deteriorated to drug use and homelessness when she lost her entire family in a car crash.

The students came to Woodwynn Farms on Tuesday, May 8 to experience farming and learn more about homelessness. It was the first day of a volunteering program that will last until the end of this school year and likely into the next.

“Most of us took the global perspectives class because we wanted to make a difference,” said Lexy Young.

The students will work with the several tonnes of hay the farm sells, as well as helping repair the 70-year-old barns on the property so Woodwynn can convert them into other uses, such as a market.

On the farm, they’ll work with Ed, a formerly homeless man who has been at Woodwynn since the winter. (Ed is a pseudonym to protect the man’s identity.) And with plans to erect a tent city on the property to house more people from the streets, the students might hear more stories about homelessness first hand.

“Woodwynn is such a good fit for our program,” said global perspectives teacher Elena Beristain. “The students who come through our program are very motivated and more in tune with the world.”

Recently, the global perspectives class bought land in Nepal and Grade 12 students went there to build a shelter for women who were victims of abuse or other violations. The Grade 11 students will likely visit the shelter next year.

“It’s so great that right in our community we have a great project that is so similar [to the one in Nepal],” Beristain said.

In addition to volunteering, the global perspectives program awarded Woodwynn’s Creating Homefulness Society with a $1,000 grant. The Grade 12 students applied for a Vital Youth grant through the Victoria Foundation, which gave the class $2,500 to put back into the community. They also gave $1,000 the Victoria Riding Association for the Disabled, located in Central Saanich, and $500 to the Peninsula Streams Society.

“It gives [the students] some empowerment to choose where changes happen in their community,” Beristain said.

The Grade 11 students will likely return to the farm every Tuesday to help out and learn about farming and homelessness in the same setting.

Stellys High School’s “Global Perspectives” program comes to Woodwynn

richard — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:00:55 +0000

Stelly's students get an orientation, in preparation for weekly volunteering at Woodwynn.

Volunteers ready our upcoming Farm Market

richard — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:56:27 +0000

Oak Bay High School students raise funds

richard — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:51:26 +0000

Isabella Watts presents a bagful of cash to Executive Director, Richard Leblanc

Isabella's group organized a fundraiser concert at Oak Bay High, to raise money and awareness of the importance of this project.

Thank you to Oak Bay High students!!!!

Victoria Foundation’s Vital Youth Philanthropists Present Grants to 18 Local Charities

richard — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:42:21 +0000

http://www.victoriafoundation.bc.ca/news/victoria-foundations-vital-youth-philanthropists-present-grants-18-local-charities

Victoria Foundation’s Vital Youth Philanthropists Present Grants to 18 Local Charities

Victoria, B.C., May 3, 2012 – Representatives of the Victoria Foundation’s Vital Youth program presented a total of $17,684 in grants to 18 local charities last night.

The Vital Youth program provides students with hands-on experience in philanthropy and community development. Formally launched in three schools in November 2003, the program – previously named Youth in Philanthropy – has grown to include seven high schools in three school districts:

• Belmont Secondary School
• Frances Kelsey Secondary School
• Oak Bay High School
• Reynolds Secondary School
• St. Michaels University School
• Stelly's Secondary School
• Victoria High School

Schools participate in the program through a leadership class or a youth advisory committee. The Victoria Foundation allocates each project team $2,500 annually to distribute to federally registered charities on southern Vancouver Island. Using the foundation’s Victoria’s Vital Signs® community report as a tool, the students learn about critical issues in their community. They then research potential charities, conducting interviews and on-site visits. Each participant provides input and the team as a whole decides how to allocate the grant funds.

This year’s grant recipients included groups conducting eco-system restoration work, housing programs for at-risk populations, and a program that has youth volunteers fixing bikes to give away to vulnerable youth (see the full list of grants at the end of this release).

“This is a one-of-a-kind program as it directly gets students involved in their community and gets them making a difference,” said Bree Neale, an Oak Bay High School senior who addressed the event with fellow Vital Youth participant Emma Thompson.

“It’s amazing to see how much of an impact the Vital Youth group makes on not only the charities who receive the grants, but also the students,” said Thompson.

The Vital Youth program is supported by fund-holders at the Victoria Foundation (see backgrounder for list). The program also deposits $500 annually in each participating school’s endowment fund account to generate funds for future granting.

“The size of the grants is relatively small but the impact of the program is unquestionably large,” said the Victoria Foundation’s Board Chair Deirdre Roberts. “Students gain analytical skills and an appreciation of community leadership that supports their future academic and professional endeavors. The program also fosters philanthropic literacy that we hope will encourage participants to support their community throughout their lives.”

The Vital Youth event took place at the Canadian College of Performing Arts, whose students performed an excerpt from their recent musical production of Footloose.

– 30 –

Vital Youth Grant Allocations – 2012

Belmont Secondary School
Victoria Cool Aid Society – Downtown Activity Centre, Every Step Counts $625
Victoria Disability Resource Society $1,250
Wild ARC $625

Frances Kelsey Secondary

KidSport Canada – Cowichan Branch $200
Cowichan Search & Rescue Society $450
Canadian Mental Health Assoc. Cowichan Valley Branch for Bike Works $650
Cowichan Historical Society $600
Cowichan Women Against Violence Society for Somenos House $600

Oak Bay High School
PEERS Victoria Resource Society $2,500

Reynolds High School
Victoria Integration Society $2,500

St. Michaels University School
Extreme Outreach Society $1,000
PEERS Victoria Resource Society $884
Anawim Companion Society $750

Stelly’s High School
Victoria Riding for the Disabled $1,000
Creating Homefulness Society $1,000
Peninsula Streams Society $500

Victoria High SchoolThreshold Housing Society for Mitchell and Holly Houses $625
Fernwood Community Association $625
Garry Oak Ecosystem Recovery Team $625
Victoria Cool Aid Pandora Youth Housing Youth Support $625

Background:

Donations support the Vital Youth program. The following supported the 2011 Vital Youth program:

Honorary Governors' Millennium Fund (including personal contributions from a number of the Victoria Foundation’s Honorary Governors)
Saanich Peninsula Foundation Fund
Victoria Foundation Vital Youth Program Fund (including contributions from various donors)
Anonymous Donor

Grade 12 students Bree Neale and Emma Thompson of Oak Bay High represented Vital Youth participants at the grant ceremony. Both attended the international conference of community foundations in May, 2011, where they met dozens of other youth leaders, grappled with questions of youth engagement, produced video clips on community issues and learned about the community foundation movement.

The Vital Youth grant event was held at the Canadian College of Performing Arts, which Victoria Foundation donors have supported through previous grants for refurbished flooring, lighting and a rehearsal piano.

For more information, please contact:

Stephanie Slater
Director of Communications, Victoria Foundation
250.381.5532 ext. #227 Cell: 250.686-8477
email: slslater@victoriafoundation.bc.ca
www.victoriafoundation.bc.ca

Stelly’s Secondary School’s Vital Youth program grants Woodwynn $1,000

richard — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:39:26 +0000

St Michael’s University School Students volunteering

richard — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:31:02 +0000

St Michael's University School students painting up a storm at our upcoming petting zoo, beside our Farm Market

Volunteers helping with hay

richard — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:25:06 +0000

Sue leads the way with volunteers moving hay.

Sue get to drive the tractor (experienced operator here)

Saanich Baptist Church “Serving The City”

richard — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:19:53 +0000

We have over 150 volunteers coming to Woodwynn over the next 10 days for several work parties.

Leading the way is the "Serve the City" group from Saanich Baptist Church.

This group is truly amazing.

This is their 6th work party at Woodwynn over the past 3 years.

Painting, mulching, loading hay, and market set-up are the orders of the day.

Thank you for your support!!!!!

Check out this letter to the Times-Colonist

richard — Tue, 01 May 2012 23:07:54 +0000

Re: "Woodwynn decision not our proudest moment," April 28.

I disagree with the writer's statement that "the decision of the Agricultural Land Commission and the Central Saanich municipal council concerning Woodwynn Farms is a most disappointing setback."

In fact, it was a magnificent defence of the Agricultural Land Reserve. Since the ALR is needed to preserve B.C.'s ability to feed its residents, it must, at all costs, be maintained. Use of ALR land for any purpose other than agriculture sacrifices our ability to feed ourselves in the future.

The writer states "it is a matter of profound shame that in British Columbia – we cannot find it in our hearts to devote less than one hectare of land to house those of our people in critical need." It isn't a "shame," it is a proud achievement of the ALC and of Central Saanich municipal council to have prevented agricultural land from being used for anything other than agriculture.

Greed has nothing to do with it. Agricultural land must be used only for agriculture, not for housing. Use only nonagricultural land for housing.

Denis F. Oliver

Victoria

http://www.timescolonist.com/Agricultural+land+must+preserved/6545776/story.html