The Star Online - Summer 2009
Events & News | Information & Resources | Stories
Events & News
Miss Vancouver
BCACL Conference
No BBQ for the Rain
Another Win
ADP Skills Day
Summer Social & Celebration
At the DDA, we're thankful for all our wonderful supporters, clients and volunteers. One specific supporter we would like to thank is Miss Vancouver, Tracy Chand. Tracy, who has previously worked with the DDA at different residential sites, currently works as a school teacher. In addition to her position as a teacher, she is also running for Miss Petite Canada and tirelessly advocating for us at the Developmental Disabilities Association through fundraising, speaking to others, attending parades and volunteering at events.
Thanks Tracy! You are an inspiration!
BCACL Conference
By Fred Banks, Member of the Self-Advocacy Group
We went to Victoria on June 4th for the BCACL Self Advocacy Conference on the 7:00am ferry. Some of us went to the different places in the conference building as everyone was able to choose workshops they were interested in. Some of the choices were: How to Make Friends, Aging and Developmental Disabilities, How to Beat Bullying, a screening of the new documentary about closing institutions and Client Rights. At the end of our first day, they asked us to write down what we thought about the speakers. After that, we went to the hotel and got our rooms. We enjoyed our dinner with other people.
The next morning, after the breakfast, the conferences started. Our working part of the day finished about 3:30pm and then we had a free afternoon. We went to the hotel and later that day, we had dinner.
The last day of the conference started at about 9:30am and lasted until about 1:00pm. We had a late lunch there and they told us we can do anything we wanted for the rest of the day. I will remember this day very much because I gave Jane an engagement ring. She said yes! We met many people who were passionate about self-advocacy and who were doing amazing things. We topped off the weekend with a dinner and dance at the conference centre. The food was great and everyone seemed to have a good time.
On the last day of our trip, we packed everything up and we got to the ferry terminal by 11:00am. We had a lunch on the ferry itself and we arrived in Vancouver at 12:45pm.
I really enjoyed the conference speakers and look forward to another conference next year.
No BBQ for the Rain
By Deanne Ziebart
So, what do you do when you've planned a BBQ for 200+ people at a gorgeous picnic site in Stanley Park, but it's pouring rain? You head indoors to the Ukrainian church hall of course!
With so many day services and home-based day programs, we decided to have one big party, so old friends could reconnect and have some fun. Despite the lack of sunshine, a great time was had by all. We had "Maestro" Butch getting the crowd dancing and his colleague Doug on guitar. We are grateful to a group of United Commercial Travellers (George, Dale and John) who cooked up the hotdogs and hamburgers. They have been volunteering and donating to DDA programs for over 25 years! The group event was a big success and we hope to do another one this winter.
We're excited to announce that the developmental disabilities Association is the 2009 recipient of the Recycling Council of British Columbia (RCBC) Environment Award in the non-profit category for excellence and leadership in environmental stewardship.
DDA would like to thank our donors for their contributions that have enabled us to recycle millions of pounds of clothing, housewares and bottles. We look forward to your continued support!
The Arlington Day Program celebrated their annual ADP Skills Day & BBQ with a gathering of friends and family. In attendance were a few clients from Grandview & Core Day Program in addition to clients from residential programs at East 45th, Minoru and Langton. The ADP Skills Day kicked off the celebration with various sports such as T-Ball, Soccer and Croquet, followed by an assortment of fun games. The sports and games ended with the traditional breaking of the piñata that was filled with healthy treats.
The menu for lunch was jumbo hot dogs, vegetable chips and coleslaw. A new culinary trend called Japa-dogs was introduced as an alternative to the traditional ketchup, mustard and relish dog. A Japa-Dog is simply a standard hot dog topped with Japanese condiments, and in this case Wasabi-Mayonnaise, Teriyaki Sauce and Seaweed. Some gave it the thumbs up and others politely said it was not bad. The rest of the day was filled with good conversation and plenty of laughter. There is no better way to spend a warm summer day sharing good food with friends. The day came to an end after everyone gathered for a group photo marking the 2009 ADP Skills Day event.
The event could not be possible without the planning and hard work of the Arlington Day Program participants and staff. Special thanks, to our summer student Kim Choy for assisting the participant in the design of the t-shirts.
Summer Social & Celebration
By Rachelle Czerwinski
On June 26, we had our annual Vancouver Parents Transition Group Summer Social. What makes it special is that we also take this opportunity to celebrate our new grads with special needs. This year, we celebrated Connor, Fraser, Rosalie, Gillian and Charlie. We also celebrated some of last year's graduates, Justin, Hussein and Nicholas. Each graduate was a guest of honor at their table with their name card and graduation plate.
We had plenty of food and drinks thanks to the generosity of DDA. The Award ceremony was a celebration of each person's achievements. Each graduate came to the stage to collect their gift bag from Lyne, the social worker of the Vancouver Pediatric team. We ate dinner and enjoyed the most exciting part of the night - a slide show of photos. Parents beamed with pride as they watched the photos on the screen. Transitioning from high school into adulthood brings lots of uncertainty, especially to parents. Parents wonder about the future of these young adults, but on that day, we cast aside our worries and enjoyed the event.
As the day came to a close, one parent came to me and said, "Rachelle, this, by far, is the best party we've ever come to, thank you so much for organizing it, there was magic in that room."
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