Expected to die long before now, baby Anaya’s strength and the love of her community have kept her thriving for two miraculous years.  In celebration of her second birthday we are throwing “Baby Anaya’s Birthday Bash” a family event and fundraiser.  Our exciting and meaningful event will be on August 26, at Nelson Rotary Lakeside Park from 4-8pm.  We will be having a BBQ, Live Music, Children’s Entertainment and a Fundraising Auction both silent and Live.

Anaya was diagnosed with Krabbe Leukodystrophy at four months of age. Krabbe is a demyelinating brain disease.  Children with this disease lose their motor skills, their ability to smile laugh, and play, followed by blindness and deafness.  The average life expectancy is thirteen months.  Thanks to incredible community support and the excellence of care that she has received, Anaya is still thriving and growing.  Although Krabbe disease is rare, there are other children right here in British Columbia that struggle with the same tragic condition.   Krabbe disease is treatable with a stem cell-transplant if the child is tested at birth and treated immediately.   Unfortunately BC does not test a child for Krabbe disease at birth and it is much too late for Anaya to undergo this procedure.  What we can do now is continue to provide Anaya with the best life experience possible.

Anaya needs care 24 hours a day.  Government sponsored nursing covers 8 hours a day while we, her family, care for her the other 16 hours.  We are her primary care givers and we stay home with her.  Currently we are raising money for all of Anaya’s care needs.

Please come out to our event from 4-8pm on Friday August 26^th. This event will be loads of fun for the whole family.  We have some really awesome auction items including helicopter rides (All Terrain Helicopters), lift tickets and lesson packages (Whitewater), winter Cat-ski trips (Baldface) Gourmet Gift Certificates (Bibo and All Seasons), 52” Plasma 3D TV (Private Donation) Accommodations packages and more!

Check out healinganaya.com for more details or email info@healinganaya.com

Two Columbia Basin conservation organizations, the West Kootenay EcoSociety and Wildsight, have teamed-up to create, ‘CBgreen’, a website of sustainability initiatives throughout the Columbia Basin. They are appropriately launching the website during the week of Earth Day (April 18th – 25th) in the hopes of providing a useful tool for advancing sustainable change in the Columbia Basin.

Matt Lowe of the EcoSociety said, “The inspiration for this website came at a brainstorming session between a few EcoSociety and Wildsight members where we pondered the need for those in our region doing sustainability work to link-up and know what each other was doing”.

CBgreen got its clever name from Wildsight member, Ingrid Liepa, who saw the opportunity to recognize in the name both the geographical region of the initiative and the sustainability reference, “see be ‘green’”.

According to Wildsight’s Megan Walsh Lohmann, “What you have in this website is a diverse set of listings of personal, organizational, business, and governmental initiatives throughout the Basin designed to lesson our impact on our natural environment and increase our ability to provide for our own needs.”

Two examples of how the website might be used are:

An elementary school teacher in Nakusp who wants to inform his class about what is being done in the West Kootenay to ensure the preservation of wild critters could look for resources under the Conservation, Protection, and Restoration or Education categories; or A farmer in Creston who is developing innovative ways to farm with less fossil fuel inputs, could share her successes with other farmers in the region in the hopes they might adopt her methods.

“We really hope that this will be a “living, growing” website that all those concerned with sustainability will use to support and promote their efforts for the common goal of making the Columbia Basin ‘green’,” said Lowe.

The website has been generously funded by the Columbia Basin Trust that according to their website “Supports the efforts by the people of the Basin to create a legacy of social, economic and environmental well-being and to achieve greater self-sufficiency for present and future generations.”

To access the CBgreen go to: www.cbgreen.ca

Come join us and enjoy…
* Candle dipping
* winter crafts
* cookie kingdom
* puppet shows
* wool works
* children-only store
* Artisan Market craft faire
And much, much more…

Saturday December 11th, 2009

Come and celebrate the festive season at the Nelson Waldorf School on Saturday, December 12th

Children’s activities are 10am–4pm and the Artisan Market is open till 4pm

Admission: $6/child and $2/adult for all the activities with the exception of “The Shoemaker and the Elves”puppet shows which are $3/person.

New this year! Remember to bring a Toonie or two for the Sustainable Solstice Toonie Auctions – featuring items with Earth-friendly, fair trade, handmade, soulful gifts!
The school is 5 minutes out of Nelson on Hwy 6 (dir. Ymir). For more information call 250•352•6919

Visit the school website  for information about the Winter Faire at http://www.nelsonwaldorf.org/school_winterfaire.php

Seven classes from South Nelson Elementary, Blewett Elementary, St Josheph’s Catholic School & the Wildflower Program at Central School gathered food donations

for the Nelson Food Cupboard and the enjoyed an informative tour of the Cupboard when they delivered their donations.

The students learned about the need for emergency food services in Nelson – approximately 1,000 customers use the Nelson Food Cupboard every month, the goal of the Nelson Food Cupboard to stock its shelves with healthy foods, and the organization’s barrier free policies by which it strives to make everyone feel comfortable to use the service if in need of free food.

Two other Nelson women also inspired by theme United Against Hunger are hosting their own fund raisers for the Nelson Food Cupboard Society this November.

High School student Ana Seed has organized the Fast For Food Challenge and is encouraging everyone to join her for a 28 hour fast from noon on November 5^th to 4pm on the 6^th and to raise money by way of pledges. Pledge forms and informative pamphlets are available at the Nelson Food Cupboard, Self Design High & the Youth Centre.

Paula Smith, a Balfour artist has created a wall hanging of crochet and knit wash cloths that altogether resemble a bacon, cheese and lettuce sandwich and she will be selling the individual wash cloths at the Queen City Craft Fair at the Prestige Hotel on November 19^th & 20^th. As people purchase a wash cloth she will delicately remove it from its place in the big sandwich wall hanging, so as the sandwich is slowly eaten by its purchasers money will be raised to help fill the shelves of the Nelson Food Cupboard.

World Food Day has again proven Nelson to be a generous and talented community.

If you missed World Food Day but would like to donate food or money to the Nelson Food Cupboard, please send donations to 602 Silica Street, Nelson, V1L 4N1 or stop by (the basement of the Nelson United Church) during open hours: Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 – 12 & Thursdays from 12 – 2. Charity receipts will be issued for all monetary donations above $10. For more information please visit www.foodcupboard.org.

Thursday May 27th from 8:30 - 10:00 am

At the Nelson Waldorf School

Contact: 250.352.6919 to register

]]> http://ilovenelson.com/why-waldorf-2/feed/ http://ilovenelson.com/grounded-gives-to-kids http://ilovenelson.com/grounded-gives-to-kids#comments Sat, 15 May 2010 13:36:50 +0000 initiatives Community Initiatives http://ilovenelson.com/grounded-gives-to-kids Nelson BC – On Tuesday May 18th, Sasha Kitch of Grounded Organic Coffee House is once again hosting the hugely successful Grounded Gives to the Kids.  Last year Grounded gave all their daily proceeds to the Kootenay Kids Society and raised over $2,000 for the Life After Birth program, this year the team have a bigger goal, to help bring nutrition to children of unfortunate circumstances, the catch is, we have this need right here in Nelson.

The Kootenay Kids Society helps families, especially the young, get the proper nutrition and guidance when it is needed most, at the beginning of life.  Kootenay Kids Society’s mission is to help individuals, families and child care providers achieve their full potential through the provision of support, education and childcare programs.

The Kootenay Kids Society provides services and workshops about nutrition, cooking and food preservation which helps families and children get the food they need in the short term and teach them skills to provide for a healthy future.  These programs work closely with local resources and businesses making it truly a community effort.

When Grounded was deciding on what they could do this year a big idea and a major project started to form.  Sasha discovered that $20 will, not only help a family eat a nutritious meal, but they will also gain knowledge about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  In short nutritious food and education inspire families to be healthier which directly benefits the community it also reduces savings to healthcare and social services which are major benefits to society.

This is an important issue as the challenges in life don’t exist in isolation, what happens to kids and families is absolutely critical for the well being of a sustainable community.

To help raise awareness and funds for this program Grounded Organic Coffee House and a dozen other businesses have got together to help create a win-win fundraising event.  Along with donating her entire day’s proceeds away, Sasha at Grounded and other local businesses have created the $20 Cup of Coffee.  Along with your delicious cup of Kootenay Coffee you will get a bundle of gifts generously donated by local businesses.  When the call came out to help the Kootenay Kids Society, businesses didn’t even hesitate, the gift bundle is a booklet with vouchers for Candy from Pixie, Toy from Mountain Baby, Fudge from Cottonwood Kitchens, Flower from Touch of Dutch, Emergen-C from Natures Health, Admission to Touchstones, Climb/Try with Gravity Climbing Centre, Drop in pass from Kootenay Fitness and a deal at Tribute Board Shop.

“I feel it is very important that we don’t loose focus on the needs that exist in our own community.  It is surprising to hear who in this town has fallen onto tough times and have needed help to get back on their feet.  Some of these people have gone on to create major benefits for our town.  I do this fundraising event to make sure that everyone gets a chance.” Says Sasha Kitch Owner of Grounded, “Once we decided on what we wanted to do and explained it to our business friends everyone jumped on board, we live in wonderful community.”

On Tuesday May 18th 2010 Grounded Organic Coffee House, 616 Vernon St.,  will be donating all of their proceeds for day to the Kootenay Kids Society Nutrition for Families; there will also be an opportunity for you to purchase a limited edition $20 cup of Coffee filled with gifts from local businesses.   For further information or to reserve your $20 cup of coffee, call Grounded Organic Coffee House at 250.352.1712 and learn more at www.KootenayKids.ca

Angelika, a local artist of international renown, works in Fashion, Fibre and Wearable Art. She started her practice with a three year dress-making apprenticeship at Yves Saint Laurent in Paris, France, receiving a degree as Master dress-maker-designer. Currently, she is an instructor in the Fibre Department at the Kootenay School of the Arts in Nelson, as well as teaching workshops across B. C. related to Fashion, Furniture and Wearable Art. Her work is exhibited and available for sale at the Craft Connection Cooperative on Baker Street in Nelson.
“Angelika meets all the requirements to be a Cultural Ambassador for Nelson,” says Councillor Donna Macdonald. “Her work is stunning, her practice is very professional, and she travels to exhibit and teach. We know she’ll represent us well.” Adds CDC Chair Stephanie Fischer,               “ Angelica’s work is contemporary sculpture, using fibre and incorporating accessories of the highest quality into beautifully tailored gowns. I admire her tent dresses which are literally made from old BC pioneer tents.”

Angelika has had multiple solo exhibitions including her Waistcoat/Wastecoats exhibition at the Alberta Craft Council in Edmonton in 2006, and the Brassiere Series at the Canadian Craft Museum in Vancouver in 1997. Werth participated in invitational / curated group exhibitions in Canada, France, Japan and England and in the United States. Her work was accepted into over 30 juried exhibitions including Fibreworks in Cambridge, Ontario and the Contemporary Craft in BC: Excellence With Diversity at the Vancouver Museum in 2008.  She is also a recipient of the 2008 B.C. Creative Achievement Award.

Werth is the second Cultural Ambassador that Nelson has appointed, the first being the Corazon Youth Choir who were appointed in 2009. Angelika’s appointment was announced at the Nelson & District Chamber of Commerce Business After Business Annual General Meeting, held on March 30th at the New Grand Hotel.

The CDC established the Cultural Ambassador position in recognition of local individual artists, groups or collectives who have achieved a high standard of excellence in their artistic discipline and who are active not only in Nelson’s cultural community but extend their talents to other communities and countries. The Cultural Ambassador is expected to represent and promote the City of Nelson on their travels, increasing the visibility and cultural reputation of Nelson. In return, the Cultural Ambassador can use their official designation in their own promotional materials, programs and fundraising.

The energy of transformation is all around us (you can see it on Baker Street when the sun is out, LOL!).  Our plant and animal brothers and sisters are undergoing changes, too.  The buds on the willow shoots are thickening, and the earliest spring seeds are starting the process of converting starches into sugars, becoming sweeter, before breaking open their hard seed coats and reaching forth.  One stretching tendril of the seed will turn downwards and anchor itself in the soil and the other tendril will stretch skyward.  Seeds, like people, always grow like this.

The process begins with an awareness that change is necessary, that we haven’t yet expressed our true potential and that we can become more than we have been.  Then comes the sweetness; we envision, dream and affirm that we ARE more than we have allowed ourselves to experience.

Now a choice must be made.  To break open our hard seed coats and grow, we must expose ourselves to all of the perils out there.  And at no other time in our lives will we be more vulnerable than when we unfurl our first tender leaf.  A mouse or insect may chew our leaf, and our roots will likely encounter stones or clay, but we are more resilient than we may have supposed.  We grow new tender leaves and our roots spread deeper.

Or, we choose to remain a closed seed and wait.  Maybe we’ll open when the soil is warmer, or when the soil moisture is just right, or when the competition for sunlight isn’t so fierce.  We might wait a long time…  some will even die while waiting.

But when we do break open, we match action with intuition.  Our new roots know to establish a firm foundation with all that has come before.  We drink of the minerals that are the wisdom and knowledge of the ancient stones.  And we are vitalized by the nutrients of all those who have lived and died, their fallen leaves and bodies, their essence lying in wait before being transformed into our new expression.

We make certain that our roots are firm, and then we reach skyward, bursting through the soil wall and into light.  And we experience a new magic.  Allowing ourselves to expand and stand exposed to the elements of light, air and water, we receive these gifts, internalize them, and taste a new sweetness.  Is it fructose or is it love?

You decide.

Blessings,

Chris Morasky
Dr. Michael Smith
Pathways School
250-357-2822