Mission accomplished - YOUTHnetwork

Check out pics and videos taken by volunteers with their SaskTel cell phones during past Community Corps activities and see for yourself how people just like you are making a difference.

The Target:
Regina's North Central Family Centre was seeking assistance in removing graffiti from their neighbourhood's fences, dumpsters and community centres.

Your Assignment:
Students from Kitchener and Sacred Heart Elementary schools, SaskTel employees and participants of the 2008 Governer General's Canadian Leadership Conference joined forces on this sunny day to remove graffiti and re-paint garbage dumpsters in the community as well as remove graffiti from the North Central Family Centre's facilities. In 3 hours, they successfully painted more than 40 garbage dumpsters.

The Payoff:
A BBQ was held for all volunteers.

View Photo Gallery >>

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Mission: Prince Albert National Park Litter Blitz and Recycling Day #2
Date: Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Location: Prince Albert

The Target:
Prince Albert National Park covers 3,874 km² in central Saskatchewan and protects part of Canada’s ‘boreal’ forest. The park features many outstanding natural wonders, including the only fully protected white pelican nesting colony in Canada and a free-ranging herd of plains bison. The park provides interpretive programs that help connect us with the patterns and processes of this ecosystem. The park provides activities, hiking trails and beautiful sightseeing that can be enjoyed year-round.

Your Assignment:
In order to help preserve the park’s natural habitat, students from Nutana Collegiate, for a second time, volunteered to help pick up litter from the park grounds and sort through recyclable materials.

The Payoff:
The students got to enjoy the park’s beauty including a picnic and a nature hike.

Mission: SaskTel We See You #3
Date: January – February, 2008
Location: Massinga, Mozambique

The Target:
The YOUTHnetwork, in partnership with students from Regina and Saskatoon, the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region, the University of Saskatchewan Training for Health Renewal Program, and the SaskTel Pioneers teamed up to send much-needed goods to a clinic in Massinga, Mozambique.

Your Assignment:
With the help of students from Regina and Saskatoon who donated 400 hours of community service as well as SaskTel employees who also donated 400 hours, the YOUTHnetwork Community Corps was able to gather and pack the provisions for Massinga, Mozambique. The container arrived in Mozambique in May 2008.

Student contributions included; constructing more than 100 teddy bears from scratch with the SaskTel Pioneers; students from Nutana Collegiate, with the help of an artist from the Mendelson Art Gallery, painted 100 school bags for children in Massinga; and Mount Royal Collegiate donated carpentry tools.

Approximately 1.6 million people are living with HIV or AIDS in Mozambique, and over 90, 000 of them are children under 15 years of age! This is because most of their parents have died from AIDS or war. Between 1977 and 1992, up to one million Mozambicans died from fighting and famine in a war that ruined the economy and much of the countryside.

We sent the container through the University of Saskatchewan’s Training for Health Renewal Program, which, for the last 25 years, has linked communities and institutions in Mozambique with those in Saskatchewan. Individuals from the program work to improve health conditions for Mozambicans.

Mission: International Day of Disabled Persons
Date: December 3rd, 2007
Location: Regina

The Target:
In 1982, the United Nations declared Dec. 3rd the International Day of Disabled Persons. The objective of the day is to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with diabilities.

Your Assignment:
SEND, the SaskTel Employee Network on Disability, in partnership with SaskTel’s YOUTHnetwork and the Canadian Sport Centre of Saskatchewan, honoured the day by celebrating the achievements of Saskatchewan athletes who qualified for the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing China. Students partook in a “pep rally”, listened to a couple of short speeches from the principal and an athlete, and helped demonstrate the game of Goalball for the audience (a team sport played by athletes who are blind or visually impaired at the Paralympics). Students were given the opportunity to mix with the athletes, at the conclusion of the event.

The Payoff:
The event was memorable and educational for both the students and the athletes. It was a celebration of success, both in employment and sport in the disabled community.

View Photo Gallery >>

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Mission: Habitat For Humanity, Saskatoon
Date: Saturday, September 8th, 2007
Time: 8:00am to 5:00pm.
Location: Saskatoon

The Target: This fall, Community Corps will be teaming up with Habitat For Humanity Saskatoon to help build a home for low income working families in need to help alleviate the effects of poverty. While Habitat has created affordable housing and is helping families achieve the dream of homeownerhsip, they have also created an environmental program called Habitat Restore, which recycles used building materials diverted from landfills to be used for building new homes.

Your assignment: Community Corps volunteers will be assisting Habitat for Humanity with the construction of their latest house. Even if you have never held a hammer, now is the time to learn.

The Payoff: Be part of the satisfaction of seeing a home grow before your eyes and know that you were a part of its completion. A draw will also be held at the event for 18 tickets to see Rihanna and Akon perform at the Credit Union Centre on September 19th, 2007.

Mission: White Buffalo Youth Lodge Mural Project
Date: August 21st & August 22nd, 2007
Location: Saskatoon

The Target:
The youth mural project was envisioned by Amber Veitch, a member of Youth Launch, an organization dedicated to youth-driven initiatives and provides them with support and guidance. Amber wanted a project that would engage youth and help instill pride and ownership for their community and heritage. She felt that a mural based off of the youth’s drawings and ideas would be an excellent way to do so. The mural would engage students in a visual art project, while also teaching them the art of community.

Your Assignment:
The mural was designed by the children of White Buffalo Youth Lodge to demonstrate the many things that they enjoy doing with their families. Two identical murals were painted, one remained at the White Buffalo Youth Lodge, and the other circulated throughout the Pleasant Hill Community. White Buffalo Youth Lodge, Youth Launch, SCYAP Inc. Art Centre, and SaskTel’s YOUTHnetwork teamed up to create the community murals.

The Payoff:
The students were able to witness their own artwork circulating around the community.

View Photo Gallery >>

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Mission: Regina Outdoor Swim League
Date: Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Time: 12:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Location: Regina

The Target:
Jocelyn Herback, a 20 year old from Regina, started her own community swimming programs when she was only 13, called Swim Fun, which provided free swimming lessons to kids at the inner city pools. She has just launched a new speed swimming program called the Regina Outdoor Swim League, which offers free speed swimming programs during the summer, and has also started a similar program in Saskatoon.

Your Assignment:
Community Corps volunteers would assist in the Regina swim meet on August 1st, including timing the races, calculating results, and assisting with handing out prizes/awards. The swim meet is then followed by a BBQ which volunteers are invited to stay for.

The Payoff:
Vouchers to attend Roughrider home games (excluding the playoffs and Labour Day).

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Mission: Community Greenspace for Regina's Core Neighbourhood
Date: Thursday, June 7, 2007
Location: Regina

The Target:
Students from Scott Collegiate’s Ecological Program had designed a community greenspace for their school but needed the manpower and supplies to build it. The community greenspace entailed creating a community garden that includes a vegetable garden, prairie grasslands, Saskatoon Berry bushes, and artwork designed by their fine arts students. The garden not only provides a place for students to gather, but also provides an educational and environmental purpose as well, as the garden can be incorporated into the Science, Fine Arts, Home Ec, and Construction class curriculums.

Your Assignment:
Nearly 100 SaskTel employees and Scott Collegiate students and staff joined together to construct the community greenspace within 4 hours. This involved building raised flowerbeds, grouting hand-made benches, painting a mural, and spreading crusher dust and soil to create well-defined paths and gardens. The creation of the garden was a great success and can now be enjoyed by students and community members alike!

The Payoff:
A beautiful new greenspace for the school.

Mission: Prince Albert National Park Litter Blitz and Recycling Day
Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Location: Prince Albert

Your Assignment:
In order to help preserve the park’s natural habitat, more than 60 students from Nutana Collegiate volunteered to help pick up litter from the park grounds and sort through recyclable materials.

The Payoff:
The students got to enjoy the park’s beauty including a picnic, hike, and even a (cold) dip in the lake!

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Mission: SaskTel We See You #2
Date: February - April, 2007
Location: Arusha, Tanzania

The Target:
Students from Regina and Saskatoon, in partnership with The Regina Qu'Appelle Health District, SaskTel Pioneers, the Saskatchewan Transportation Company, CanDo Couriers, and U of S Professor, Pammla Petrucka, have teamed up once again, this time to send much-needed aid to a clinic in Arusha, Tanzania.

Your Assignment:
Community Corps volunteers contributed hundreds of hours to gather and pack provisions to send to the clinic in Arusha, Tanzania. SaskTel employees, community organizations, and students all made incredible contributions to the container, including school supplies, clothing, toys, and books, with the other half of the container filled with medical equipment from the Regina Qu’Appelle Health District. In addition to sending the container, students, companies and individuals all made contributions to the YOUTHnetwork’s Nothing But Nets fundraiser to help raise funds for mosquito nets that save lives by preventing malaria, the leading killer of children in Africa. The container was packed and shipped from Nutana Collegiate in Saskatoon on April 18th, 2007, and is making its way to Tanzania.
Student contributions for this container included: constructing 188 teddy bears from scratch with the SaskTel Pioneers; students and mentors from the Nutana/SaskTel Mentorship program sewed pillows for children; Nutana Collegiate housed and organized more than four hundred boxes of contributions at their school; Bedford Rd’s SRC in Regina held a fundraiser for Nothing But Nets; and Robert Usher’s SRC held a student drive to collect goods for the container.
Arusha is located closed to the Kenyan border in Tanzania, Africa. The goods in the container are to assist the Green Hope Youth Organization, a Tanzanian non-governmental organization working to assist in the improvement of social economic conditions of vulnerable and deprived communities in Tanzania. All the contributions sent will help the organization accomplish their goals of promoting education, health and other integrated rural/urban development programs.

The Payoff:
Student volunteers were entered into draws to win a variety of prizes, including tickets to the 2007 Juno Awards and Juno Fanfare and Product Red IPODs, which raise funds for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in 136 different countries, including Tanzania.

Visit our SaskTel We See You travel blog for more information: www.mytripjournal.com/weseeyou

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The Target:
The YOUTHnetwork Community Corps, in partnership with The Regina Qu'Appelle Health District, SaskTel Pioneers, and Professor Pamela Petrucka (U of S) have teamed up to send much-needed aid to a clinic in Africa.

Your Assignment:
With the help of more than 60 students from Regina and Saskatoon, the YOUTHnetwork Community Corps was able to gather provisions and create AIDS awareness in their communities. Student volunteers also played a significant part in loading all the special packages that will change many lives in Makina, and were treated to a traditional Kenyan meal, and an opportunity to meet Mr. Kennedy Baraza, from the office of the High Commission of Kenya, who flew to Regina especially for the occasion on December 1st, 2006 (World AIDS Day). The container is due to arrive in Makina, Kenya at the end of January, 2007 and video footage, as well as photos and stories, will document the unraveling and the impact it makes on the community.

Student contributions included; constructing more than 100 teddy bears from scratch with the SaskTel Pioneers; students at Nutana Collegiate in Saskatoon constructed and painted a beautiful new sign for Makina clinic; students at Bedford Road Collegiate in Saskatoon held a pencil drive at their school, which will enable more 5100 youth to attend school in Kibera; and students from Scott Collegiate in Regina painted 7 special starblanket paintings to be hung on the bare walls of Makina clinic and to provide a piece of their culture to Kenya. Several students also gave journals and photos of their lives in Canada, and Nutana Collegiate provided 40 computers that will be used in Kibera’s developing educational centres.

Makina is a small region in the suburb of Kibera in Kenya that is considered one of the largest slums in all of Africa. With an estimated population density of nearly 300,000 people for every square kilometer, many of Kenya's poorest people live in over-populated shelters, with little access to necessities like running water, electricity, or proper health care. The average income of a resident in Kibera is roughly $60 a year.

The Payoff:
Students were treated to a traditional Kenyan meal, and an opportunity to meet Mr. Kennedy Baraza, from the office of the High Commission of Kenya, who flew to Regina especially for the occasion on December 1st, 2006 (World AIDS Day).

View Photo Gallery >>

View Event Video >>

Mission: Royal Canadian Legion Mural
Date: September 30th, 2006
Location: Regina

The Target:
This community corps event entailed painting a mural covering two walls of the Royal Canadian Legion building on 1820 Hamilton Street. In partnership with the City of Regina’s Graffiti Management program, the students’ mural has helped to restore the Canadian Legion building and reduce vandalism.

Your Assignment:
Students who were interested in participating were asked to submit a drawing or design a mural appropriate for the Royal Canadian Legion. From those submissions, 8 students were selected to participate. The students then spent an entire Saturday collaborating with artist Jolene Erherdt to design the mural, while also learning about the RCL and meeting with the veterans. After 9 hours, the mural design was completed and approved and ready to be painted onto the building. The following Saturday, September 30th, the students gathered at the RCL on 1820 Hamilton Street and were able to complete the mural within 6 hours!

The Payoff:
All students were happily rewarded with tickets to attend the Rolling Stones concert on October 7th.

View Photo Gallery >>

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Mission: North Central Community Centre
Date: Saturday, August 12th, 2006
Time: 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Location: Regina

The Target:
The SaskTel YOUTHnetwork Community Corps hit the streets on August 12th, 2006 and tackled its very first mission; to help the North Central Family Centre and its community. In 3 hours, the 40 student volunteers built and painted a new fence for the centre and also branched out into the neighbourhood to clean up yards and fix fences for two very appreciative local residents in need of a hand. They also cleaned up the debris and vandalism at the NCFC’s Dewdney parking lot, which helps to raise funds for the centre’s programs.

Your Assignment:
Help Community Corps build and paint a new fence for the centre and perform general clean-up in the community

The Payoff:
In exchange for their work, the student volunteers each received a ticket to the August 19 Roughrider game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and as an added treat, 9 of the Roughriders came out to show their appreciation and meet with the volunteers.