We have been busy making and selling Quaker Calm Tea as well as upcycled/ repurposed throw pillows made from old blankets, sweaters and coats. We also sold Quaker Calm Soap for the first time this year. We are planning on donating to a variety of initiatives and the following describes the programs we will support through our fundraising:
∙ Indigenous Sovereign Seed program
Sovereign Seeds is an Indigenous-led initiative doing incredible
seed sovereignty work. SeedChange is supporting Sovereign
Seeds’ growth and vision, as part of our commitment to
Indigenous food leadership and food justice.
Indigenous communities in North America have long been singing
to, praying for, and dancing with the seeds that nurtured them
through centuries of oppression and colonial violence. This
oppression continues today in many forms, including food insecurity, which impacts Indigenous people disproportionately.
COVID-19 exacerbates food insecurity and injustice. Seeds are at the heart of the issue. Like other seed farmers, Indigenous seed keepers are experiencing increased demand for seeds from their communities. With small seed supplies, this can result in difficult decisions: gifting seed for food, at the risk of losing ancestral varieties. Sovereign Seeds has responded to the challenge by facilitating the COVID-19 Indigenous Seed Crisis Response Circle to support seed keepers this growing season.
∙ Ignite Youth Centre
Ignite strives to provide an environment and opportunities
that will spark and support our Youth’s passion to learn,
grow, explore, be creative, be themselves, ask questions,
become part of our Community and spark change in our
Community! Ignite is fun, supportive and inclusive. We
offer age appropriate activities, programs and
opportunities for all Youth in a wide array of areas such as
recreation, leadership, arts and culture, education,
prevention and awareness, and volunteering in an accessible environment.
Ignite supports and encourages Youth to aim high and achieve their goals. We support our Youth in becoming active and responsible participants in our Community this, we are partners with a number of key organizations throughout St. Thomas and Elgin such as the YWCA, CMHA, F&CS, Public Health and TVDSB.
∙ St. Thomas Food Bank
∙ Local Youth at Risk
We also work with the YWCA and other local service providers, to support youth aged 16 to 24 living independently.
Our wish is to provide these youth with some basic supports, coupled with an awareness that they are a part of a community that wants them to survive and thrive. Our main initiative is providing heart-felt and homemade holiday gifts.
“Deep within us all there is an amazing sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn lives, warming us with intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home to Itself“From A Testament of Devotion, a Quaker classic by Thomas R. Kelly (1893 – 1941)