A national celebration of volunteering

Held every April, National Volunteer Week is the biggest celebration of volunteerism in Canada.  This initiative pays tribute to the millions of Canadian volunteers who donate their time, energy and heart to causes that matter to them. According to Volunteer Canada, volunteers across the country gave 2.1 billion hours of their time in 2009 – making them an integral part of our communities.

This edition of The News for Now is dedicated to volunteers everywhere, who make all our lives a little better and a little brighter.

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Why volunteer?

Tell us why YOU volunteer. Take our online poll.

Interested in experiencing the benefits of volunteering? Consider getting involved with kids.now. learn how. 

We're also looking for coach-mentors for our fall 2010 programming. find out more.

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Reading, writing, 'rithmetic...and resilience?

Reading, writing and arithmetic, better known as the 3 Rs, have been valued by parents for generations as the skills needed to prepare children for success. But is it enough? Family therapist and author Dr. Michael Ungar weighs in on how a fourth "R" is required for a child to really thrive. read more. 

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10 tips for building resilient kids

Dr. Michael Unger offers top tips for families and caregivers who want to help nurture resiliency in children. read the tips.

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Latest evolution news: Survival of the kindest

Remember when mom used to say: "you can attract more bees with honey than vinegar"? Turns out she may have been right.  A recent study conducted by the University of California found that the kinder a person is, the more influence they have over others. read more.

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The science of success

Is your child a dandelion (hardy, strong and able to take root anywhere), or is she an orchid (fragile, fickle and in need of a lot of attention)?  New research suggests that the very genes that give us the most trouble as a species, causing behaviors that are self-destructive and antisocial, also underlie humankind’s phenomenal adaptability and evolutionary success. read more . 

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kids.now volunteers honoured with State Farm Good Neighbour Award

kids.now and Champion Sponsor State Farm Canada announced the winners of a new volunteer coach-mentor award, which recognizes volunteers who made an impact in their neighbourhood schools through their participation in the kids.now program.  A $75,000 contribution was made to kids.now by State Farm Canada on behalf of the award winners! Read all about it.

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Make it count

kids.now is rallying all our volunteers to join the kids.now group on the Power of the Hour website to help us reach our pledged goal of 6,000 volunteer hours in 2010. By logging your kids.now coach-mentoring hours with the Power of the Hour , a campaign developed by TVO's getinvolved.ca, you could help kids.now get profiled on the site, as well as give us some serious bragging rights! if you are currently volunteering with kids.now, little extra effort is required. Just follow these simple steps:

1) Visit getinvolved.ca/power and click on "Sign me Up" in the top left corner to create your volunteer profile.

2) Once your profile is set-up, click on the "Groups" tab, search for "kids.now" and select "join the group."

3) Visit the site often to log your hours, being sure to select "kids.now" when you input the hours you volunteered with us.

Thanks for your support!

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And the winners are...

Thanks to all kids.now coach-mentors who nominated youth participants for the Sharp Student Award. The award is presented in partnership with Sharp Electronics of Canada to twenty youth participants who reflect the kids.now program's guiding principles, which include: a commitment to self-set goals; being serious about wanting to succeed, and showing respect for self and others. See the latest list of winners. 

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Attention Albertan coach-mentors:

The Government of Alberta has just announced that nominations are now being accepted for the 2010 Great Kids Award. Albertans are invited to help recognize a child or youth between the ages of five and 18 who is making an outstanding contribution at home, school, or in their community. Why not nominate one of your kids.now youth participants? Nominations are being accepted until June 14. read more.

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Here we grow again!

Thanks to the tremendous success we've had through our expansions into eastern and western Canada, kids.now is very pleased to announce further growth! In the fall of 2010, kids.now will be increasing program delivery throughout Edmonton Alberta, and expanding into Saint John, New Brunswick - allowing us to coach even more Canadian kids to make positive choices. We are currently looking for schools in Edmonton and Saint John that may be interested in hosting our leadership and life success-skills program for kids in grades seven and eight.  We're also looking for volunteer coach-mentors to deliver these programs. Interested schools should check out the School Zone section of our website.  If you'd like to volunteer, visit our Coaches' Corner.

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Looking for a game to remember?

Join us on July 7 for the 5th annual Deerhurst Resort Pro Am Tournament and golf with a CPGA pro! Your golf day will also include Deerhurst accommodations, a BBQ lunch and gourmet dinner, cocktail reception, silent auction, and much more! Best of all, it's for a good cause; Tournament proceeds will be donated to kids.now. read more.

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Join the kids.now team

kids.now is looking to hire a Director of Development for our national office.  Qualified? Interested?  See the position posting listed on our website.

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A special thanks to our kids.now volunteers

Our kids.now coach-mentors have been fundamental to our organization's success and development.  More importantly, these volunteers have made a profound difference in the lives of our kids. Without the energy, commitment and time they offer, we would not have been able to deliver the kids.now program to over 10,000 kids and counting.

It seems fitting then, that the last word should go to our youth participants, who have a lot to say about their coach-mentors:

“I was very fortunate to have such an amazing mentor. Her presence was just enough to motivate us with her welcoming smile and friendly personality. I will never forget this once-in-a- lifetime opportunity!”

“My coach was great with us. Everyone liked her and we really built a friendship with her…Everybody was always looking forward to going to the kids.now session.”

“My coach made us all feel welcome and she influenced me a lot. I can look up to her as a GREAT role model”

“My coach taught us how to handle our problems. When I needed to talk to someone he would give me really good advice. There are so many words to describe so many good ways that he changed my life”

A big thank you to all our volunteers, the quiet heroes who dedicate their time and effort to making a difference in the lives of youth, without seeking praise or recognition for it. To paraphrase another kids.now participant: "You guys rock...seriously!"

Sincerely,
Janet King
president and founder, kids.now

View the video e-card we sent our volunteer coach-mentors in honour of National Volunteer Week (turn up the volume!).

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