Congratulations to our Winners Jim & Nancy Stevenson!

The Winning ticket was #508,  the first Early bird prize of a 7 day all inclusive trip to the Dominican Republic!

June and and Heather , a summer student at Easter Seals, Draw the first Early Bird Ticket – #508 first Early bird prize of a 7 day all inclusive trip to the Dominican Republic goes to – Jim & Nancy Stevenson.

June and and Heather , a summer student at Easter Seals, Draw the first Early Bird Ticket – #508 first Early bird prize of a 7 day all inclusive trip to the Dominican Republic goes to – Jim & Nancy Stevenson.

My first official day as a client came on April 10th 2013; it was the best day of my life.

The staff are great, they have given me more responsibility and I appreciate it very much. The skills they let me work on are kitchen skills such as making blueberry muffins and binning items and peeling bananas.

I have learned to do jigsaw puzzles and write my numbers so that they can be read which is wonderful. I have been working on my money and customer skills by going out on the cart with Carlton to sell treats such as muffins, squares, chips and the list goes on.

It looks like my day on the cart will be Tuesdays.

I also did the daily deposit for the cart after we were finished It gave me a chance to work on my driving skills outside which can be a little shaky at times.

One of the many reasons I love working at New leaf is the staff foster independence and get us to do as much for ourselves as possible.

I will look forward to many great new experiences in the future.

My name is Randy Kerr and I am 38 years old. I’ve been working at New Leaf since 1996 and really enjoy my time here. I am very active in all programs at New Leaf and look forward to comeing to work to see all my co-workers. My favourite thing to do at New Leaf is the recycling of Christmas lights.

While in the Day Program there are many activities I really enjoy participating in. Literacy activities, computer programs challenge me and I like a good challenge.

I also enjoy arts n’ crafts. Another program I enjoy is business skills when contracts arrive. I enjoy stuffing and sealing envelopes. These contracts keep me busy.

The kitchen is another place I enjoy. The baking, mixing and wrapping of all the products is rewarding.
Recently I began to use a walker at work helping me with the posture, mobility and allwoing me to get around the facility safer.

I will be attending Camp Tidnish this summer again and I’m looking forward to seeing my friends.

Sometimes I go to Toyota and Parkstone to operate the lunchrooms. My pictiure for Easter Seals Drop Zone makes me feel special I still don’t like working in the kitchen. I wish I could just have kitchen on Friday instead of Wednesday.

If I could change my schedule I would be even more happy to also have two days with Rene as well. I also do the paper recycling every day and I also do invoices from Farmers Dairy.

I also write short stories sometimes when I’m in the day program. I am pretty good at math and reading the Give yourself Goosebumps books.

I like lots of animals like: Rabbits, Raccoons, Dragons, Foxes, Wolves and Unicorns. I especially like red foxes the best.

There have been so many exciting things happening in the Camp Tidnish office at our ESNS ‘headquarters’!

Most camper sessions have been filling up pretty quickly, but there are still plenty of spots available in Wayfarers 1 – I know that some of you worry that it’s too cold at the beginning of June, but that’s the beauty of an indoor heated pool, and we can all stay warm by DANCING!!

Speaking of staying warm, we just received an AHH- MAZING donation of some ‘made with love’ quilts from the Amherst Quilters Guild. Is anyone else as excited as me to snuglle up in one of these quilts during evening cabin time before bed?

(insert picture here)

And since we’re on the topic of things that are ‘made with love’ I just received this staff package in the mail… can anyone guess who sent it?

Dinosaurs and camp stickers… it must be from Donna! Getting this letter put a HUGE smile on my face, so feel free to plaster your camper and staff packages with stickers too! Or drawings… or lipstick kisses… haha

Check back often to get the inside scoop on the adventures of the camping office and the other super fantastic programs of Easter Seals.

Cheers,

Patti

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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IMMEDIATE ATTENTION: COMMUNITY EDITORS
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Easter Seals Nova Scotia celebrates Weston Bakeries’ “Wonder”ful donation.

December 14, 2012 – AMHERST – Employees of Amherst Weston Bakeries demonstrate again, their everyday kindness.
In 2012, employees at Amherst’s Weston Bakeries chose to adopt Easter Seals Nova Scotia’s Camp Tidnish and the needs of its camping program as part of their annual Wonder+ Cares fundraising campaign. Each year Weston Bakeries employees across Canada select a local children’s charity that helps kids get active or eat better and the Amherst plant prides itself on always raising the most funds. In October they raised $38,262.48, with more than $22,000 coming directly from pledges donated by warm-hearted employees.

“It’s great to hear the fellow employees talk about the excitement that came from having Camp Tidnish as our charity this year and all the great things the Camp wanted to do, and now can afford to do because of us,” celebrated Susan Higgins, Human Resources/Health & Safety Manager.
Camp Tidnish was chosen because it offers a great deal of both indoor and outdoor activities for children with physical disabilities who would not normally be able to participate in these activities.

This year, the employees’ goal was to raise $25,000 for Camp Tidnish. They smashed through the original number and raised $38,262.48. This amount will be matched by George Weston Limited dollar for dollar for a grand total of $76,524.96.

Employees raised money in a variety of ways including going door-to-door selling chocolate bars, holding a Walk-a-thon and partnering with other local businesses to hold weekly charity BBQs. Several employees also raised money by travelling to Halifax to sell food items at Easter Seals’ first annual Oktoberfest.

“It gives me great pride to be able to give this donation from our employees back to the community,” expressed Amherst Weston Bakeries plant manager Tyler McLeod. “It’s good to see such great programs within our community.”

McLeod helped to motivate coworkers when he and Peter Hamel, Production Manager, both uneasy with heights, offered to participate in Easter Seals’ Drop Zone event held in Halifax. Drop Zone sends participants rappelling down the 285 foot Hollis Street building. Hamel and McLeod challenged employees to sell 50 boxes of chocolate bars in one week; if the challenge was met, Hamel and McLeod would rappel. Employees met the challenge, raising over $3000 through the sale of chocolate bars alone.

The money will be used at Camp Tidnish, which is a fully accessible, residential camp for Nova Scotians with physical disabilities located just outside of Amherst. Tidnish is committed to providing top-quality experiences, adventures and independence to its campers in a supportive environment.

“We’re able to provide these camping experiences because of people who care. Because of people like the staff at Weston Bakeries,” praised Stephen Maltby, Easter Seals Nova Scotia board member. “We’ve spent 2012 celebrating our extraordinary 75-year history of delivering outstanding summer programs to people with disabilities, but now it is time to focus on the future, and this tremendous support by Weston Bakeries through their Wonder+ Cares program, helps us to do just that.”

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Cheque presentation:
December 14, 2012 at 10 a.m.
Weston Bakeries Limited
35 Tantramar Crescent
Amherst, Nova Scotia B4H 4J6

For more information contact: Elizabeth Murphy – Director of Development
Easter Seals Nova Scotia
Tel: 902-453-6000 x224
Cell: 902-817-9999
E-mail: e.murphy@easterseals.ns.ca
www.easterseals.ns.ca

This year there are over 100 superheroes working hard to raise money for Easter Seals Nova Scotia, in addition Easter Seals Drop Zone for the first time ever will also be host to rappellers from all across the province. Funds raised through this event expected to be record breaking at this 9^th annual Drop Zone in Halifax.  Through the hard work from Courtney and the incredible people participating in Drop Zone, Easter Seals Nova Scotia will be able to provide a great service to people with disabilities in helping them reach their goals and aspirations.

The Bell Aliant Rappel team has a fundraising goal of $15,000 for 13 people, and they plan to exceed it. These superheroes are in action and won’t slow down.  Their joyful smiles and good cheer attracted a consistent flow of customers and donations. This group of individuals inspiring passion and enthusiasm is admirable to many of the businesses and organizations of HRM area.

The Art of Fundraising

JUNE 20, 2012 HALIFAX- Over the past two months Easter Seals Nova Scotia has seen many terrific efforts in raising funds for their programs. Ashley Martell, member of Team McInnes Cooper, has raised over $400 in scarves that her grandmother has been knitting for the cause.  Many corporate teams have hosted pizza sales that raise over $400 in funds for their superhero debut. Rappellers this year have been creative with their efforts with other activities like pub crawls, brewery tours, bake sales, yard sales and beyond! The team effort and strong work ethic of rappellers in the Maritimes inspires others to be, more.

Easter Seals Nova Scotia is moved by the efforts of all organizations, businesses and individuals raising money for their programs. Fundraising works best when the people involved are excited and devoted to a cause and that devotion carries on into the people giving funds. The more creativity, passion, enthusiasm and loyalty put into fundraising, the greater the results. Easter Seals Nova Scotia thanks all the teams and individual rappellers for all that they do and encourages them to keep the energy up. These Maritimer’s are true superheroes.