New Initiatives in Our Community:
Community Head Injury Resource Services Workshop
On July 5, 2011, The Concerned Kids facilitated a workshop at the Community Head Injury Resource
Services centre of Toronto (www.chirs.com).
The program was developed and headed by Josh Albert and Aarthi Vig. A portion of The Concerned Kids’
Violence, Gangs & Prejudice program was presented to the participants to introduce The Concerned
Kids, our style of puppetry, and our topics. All of the participants were individuals with an acquired
brain injury, who attended this workshop for free as part of a regular drop-in at the centre. Attendees
participated in a guided puppet play, learning how to manipulate the puppets: in movement, to show
emotion, and to communicate with others.
The workshop was a fantastic success. It offered an opportunity for the participants to communicate
with each other, explore their own feelings and relate to the world in a positive manner. It was fun for
everyone involved to explore new and creative ventures through puppetry.
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New Board Member – Nur Fritzlar
The Concerned Kids would like to introduce our newest Board Member, Nur Fritzlar. TCK welcomes Nur to the Board of Directors and looks forward to working with her in the future. See below for a short bio of Nur.
Mrs. Fritzlar recently formed a sole proprietorship focusing on services that will enhance relationships between corporations and their clients. Prior to starting her business, Mrs. Fritzlar was a Senior Director, Client Management and Continuous Education at a prominent Canadian Financial Services company. She provided strategic advice to Canadian and international companies ranging from mid-cap to mega-cap and she was assisting in the facilitation of multi-billion dollar transactions.
She holds an M.B.A. from The University of West Georgia (UWG) and is currently working towards her CFA designation. Nur and her family (husband Michael and daughter Melis Aria) live in the Greek Village with their two dogs and enjoy travelling, opera, golfing and skiing.
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New Board Chair at The Concerned Kids
The Concerned Kids Charity of Toronto would like to introduce its new Board Chair Richard M. Borins. Mr. Borins is a partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. He has been a Director on the Board of the Concerned Kids for over 10 years and is looking forward to the new challenges that this position brings. In addition to being a full time lawyer and volunteer Chair of the Board for The Concerned Kids, Mr. Borins is also a long standing volunteer coach for North Toronto Soccer and North Toronto Baseball where his children participate. As a father of four children in the public school system, Mr. Borins is very aware of the challenges that students face in their everyday lives and the need to create a forum where the children can discuss these issues. Richard has also written a puppet show for The Concerned Kids on Fire Safety.
The Concerned Kids looks forward to continue working with Mr. Borins in his new role.
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New Partnership for the Concerned Kids
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The Concerned Kids is pleased to introduce our new partner, Hire a Happy Nanny, an innovative consulting firm for families seeking private childcare centered around experiential learning and whole child development. Click here for more information on this great service.
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New Board Member - Brett Proud
The Concerned Kids would like to introduce and welcome the newest member of its Board of Directors. Mr.
Brett Proud was voted in by the existing Board members at the November 23, 2010 Board Meeting.
Below is short biography of Mr. Proud.
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BRETT A. PROUD |
EVP, NEW MARKETS & PRODUCTS AND MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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GUESTLOGIX INC.
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Brett has spent his entire career of more than 25 years in the Information Technology sector,
serving in senior positions with companies such as Accenture and Keane. In 2002, Brett co-
founded GuestLogix Inc. with Tom Douramakos. He now serves as the company's EVP,
New Markets and Products and he is also a member of the Board of Directors of GuestLogix.
GuestLogix trades under the symbol GXI on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Brett and his family (wife Jacqueline and son Keaton) live in the Beaches area of Toronto and
like to cottage in Haliburton during the summer and ski in Collingwood during the winter.
Charity Pub Event - Wednesday, May 18, 2011
The Concerned Kids is having a fundraiser at P.J. O’Brien’s Irish Pub and Restaurant! Come join us for refreshments and a raffle for great prizes. Please see our official invitation for further details.
Open House - Sunday, April 10, 2011
The Concerned Kids is having an Open House at our new office!
Come see what we do. Learn more about how and why we do it. We want and need your support. Donations are welcome and encouraged. We’ll have a bite to eat and drink, something to see (excerpts from our Puppet Shows) and tickets for a draw.
When: Sunday, April 10th, 2011
Drop In: 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Where: Centre for Social Innovation Building - 720 Bathurst St, Suite 300 Toronto M5S 2R5 (map)
How much?: Pay What You Will (suggested minimum $20.00)
For more information: Please see our official invitation
CSI in the News
Hey Change-makers! Check out this Eye Weekly feature on the Centre for Social Innovation!
The Concerned Kids have moved!
As most of you know by now The Concerned Kids had to find a new home for its office operations. We
have been very fortunate to find a great space that seems to be ideal for an organization such as ours.
We have moved to the Centre for Social Innovation Annex at 720 Bathurst St, just south of Bloor Street,
where we have rented two desks. The Centre for What?
The Centre for Social Innovation is a social enterprise with a mission to catalyze social innovation in
its home base of Toronto and around the globe. They believe that society is facing unprecedented
economic, environmental, social, and cultural challenges. They also believe that new innovations are
the key to turning those challenges into opportunities to improve local communities and the planet. A
social innovation is a new idea that has been put into practice for the public good. For more information
please check out their website at www.socialinnovation.ca
The Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) is a nonprofit and as such charges just enough to meet expenses,
their goal is to give a hand to small organizations that don’t have the finances for a fancy office yet
still need the amenities of a large office. So we have access to 20 hours of Board Room time monthly,
we have access to a large printer, shredder, mail service, security, kitchen privileges, coffee & tea, etc.
Above and beyond the physical amenities we have access to all of the other small nonprofit and social
innovators in the building. There is a great sense of community and we hope to make several new
connections to help us help others.
A New Initiative at The Concerned Kids
The Concerned Kids is pleased to announce the launch of Puppet Partners, a pilot program created in collaboration with the Tippet Foundation and the Toronto District School Board's Community Use of Space Project. Puppet Partners will be launched in October 2010 at Dorset Park Public School as part of a plan to target Toronto Priority Neighbourhood Schools.
Puppet Partners is a free after school program for students in grades 4-6. The program will be a more intensive version of the puppet shows The Concerned Kids have become known for. Students will be active participants in the program which guides them through discussions about their feelings and experiences with issues like Bullying, Diversity, Gangs and Substance Abuse. Through this discussion and other interactive modules, like making a puppet of their own, students will learn to communicate their ideas and solutions more effectively. Student's families will be encouraged to take part in the program.
The Concerned Kids believes that this type of prevention program will work to help children make safe, healthy choices at a younger age and throughout their lives.
The Concerned Kids would like to maintain and expand this program to other Priority Neighbourhood schools and continue to expand our puppet shows. Any and all donations will be gratefully accepted on behalf of the children we serve.
To donate please go here.
2010 September News Update
The Concerned Kids is in the process of training our new volunteer puppeteers. It looks like we will have 8 teams working for the school year 2010 - 2011. We will be presenting 4 shows: Bullies & School Safety, Gangs, Violence & Prejudice, Substance Abuse & Peer Pressure and Multiculturalism: Celebrating Diversity. As we have 20 shows booked already for November alone, our teams will be very busy this year.
New Affiliations
The Concerned Kids is now a member of the Ontario Puppetry Association and Volunteer Toronto! Click the links for more information about these organizations.
Spring Fundraiser!
Join us April 14, 2010 at 6:30 pm for a tour of the Osler Contemporary Art Collection. This is a rare opportunity to view a private contemporary Canadian Art Collection! All proceeds from this event will benefit The Concerned Kids. More details and ticket information available here.
News Bulletin!
As of March 1st, 2010 The Concerned kids will be handing out wallet sized cards with the Kids Help Phone Number on it at the end of our presentations. The Kids Help Phone is open 24/7, is anonymous, confidential and nonjudgmental. Trained professional counselors give free counseling and information.
Counseling and services are offered by phone and online, allowing kids to connect with a counselor whenever, and through which medium they use.
The Kids Help Phone maintains a national computer database of children’s services (currently almost 37,000 listings) which enables counselors to connect kids to resources in their own communities.
Kids Help Phone’s online services include: entries to the “Express Yourself section”; visits to the informational topic and link libraries; and reading questions from other Kids in the “Ask a Counselor” sections and benefiting from the counselors responses.
With the addition of these wallet cards to our performances The Concerned Kids presentations will now give a concrete place that a student can go to for help.
John Derringer's “Give Back to Kids” - KRG Children's Charitable Foundation
From: http://kids.krg.com/
KRG Children’s Charitable Foundation teamed up to help out local children’s charities with Q -107’s John Derringer in the Morning. Each charity wrote into Q-107 telling us a little bit about what the charity is all about and how the donation would be used if they were the chosen charity. We are pleased to announce the selected charities for this year’s “GIVE BACK TO KIDS 2009!”
T.E.A.D. – The Equestrian Association for the Disabled
For the Love of a Child
The Dog Guides Canada, Autism Assistance Dog Guide Program
Jennifer Ashleigh Children’s Charity
Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Simcoe
Future Possibilities for Kids (Canada Inc.)
The Hammer Band
The Concerned Kids
The Children’s Breakfast Club
Kinsa
We want to thank each and every charity for sending in their stories and we wish each and everyone a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful Holiday Season!
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