Nova’s Ark offers opportunities for individuals with special needs to join our trained and confident youth leaders to explore the many interesting animals and activities located on our ten acre property during our Summer Camp. Each individual is connected with 3 to 5 youth volunteers who become the Circle of Friends which is key in assisting with their program needs. The focus continues to be on social and communication skills through exploration, sensory stimulation and structured interactive activities. These programs provide, key life skills development, physical involvement and respite time with weather appropriate activities.
8th Annual Open House – What a Fabulous Day!
photos by Anne Wright
Wow! What a fabulous day it was for our 8th Annual Open House. The warm sunshine was out for us and our invited guests…with not a speck of mud to be seen. So many wonderful, happy people sharing the Nova’s Ark experience.
As always, it takes many people to put on an event such as this…Peggy Titus, our Events Coordinator, and her dedicated team of adult and youth volunteers were amazing. We are so thankful for our many volunteers who model our philosophies of respect and care for all. Each was an incredible ambassador for our program.
A huge thank you to…Verbancic Tree Supply and Landscape Ltd. for the donation of 45 trees and 4 skids of sod – that just made our property show so beautifully for the Open House. Starr Burger who provided, cooked and served our BBQ, Melanie Pringle for the Ice Cream, and the great tunes of the Workin’ Dawgs. We’d also like to thank Anne Wright who took the wonderful photos of our event featured on this page and to Durhamways Bus Lines who provided the bus shuttle all day, making the arrivals and departures a breeze.
Our 8th Annual Open House was a great success. Hope to see you next year – same time; same place…last Sunday in May.
Thank You…Thank You…Thank You…
We are still overwhelmed with the huge level of success of the 2013 Friendship Walk. The sense of family we felt, when so many of our old and new friends gathered and walked with us was absolutely tremendous – so many stories shared, so much laughter and so much passion. Our walkers truly understand what Nova’s Ark is all about.
So many traditions have continued from our first Friendship Walk…Workin’ Dawgs, who share their wonderful music with us (no matter how warm or cold it is!) Starr Burger, a valued partner who always arrives to provide delicious BBQ, served with a great big smile. And, the AMAZING Nova’s Ark Volunteer Force… Peggy Titus, Event Coordinator extraordinaire, and her dedicated organization team; Mary Conacher, our irreplaceable Volunteer Coordinator and the tremendous adult and youth volunteers who set-up/tore down, answered questions, shared stories, handled registrations, worked with the animals, baked goods, and ran the sales and craft tables. We couldn’t do it without you!
We’d like to recognize and thank Pat Foran from CTV Toronto, who shared his Saturday with us and did such a tremendous job as Master of Ceremonies at the event, and also to Councillors Elizabeth Roy and Don Mitchell, who spoke on behalf of the Town of Whitby and participated in the ribbon cutting to begin the Walk.
A huge thank you to our Business Community. This year, we had our very first Title Sponsor, Farmers’ Mutual Insurance–Lindsay. We have many corporate supporters who have been with us from the beginning and more new supporters who have come on board for 2013. Thank you for believing in us.
Click here to see our 2013 Friendship Walk Supporter Page.
We’ve had three successful Friendship Walks and hope to continue the tradition. This year’s fundraising has reached $17,542.17 and the total is still climbing. For all of those who donated, in whatever way they felt possible, every donation made a difference.
Thank you for believing and making such a huge impact
for all involved at Nova’s Ark!
It was also an honour to have representatives from The Cerebral Palsy Support Foundation of Canada present at our event and support us with substantial funding to assist us with the ongoing Nova’s Ark initiatives. |
Click below to view the Friendship Walk 2013 video.
Special thanks to Anne Wright and Ron Yuzark who provided the incredible pictures.