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Kimmett cheque impacts Right to Play in big way

On Jan. 28 a cheque for $31,782.39 was donated, by the Lindsay Leigh Kimmett Memorial Foundation, to the Kimmett Cup / Hockey Quest 500 donation page.
Fun and games at Elizabeth Barrett Elementary School for Right To Play.
Fun and games at Elizabeth Barrett Elementary School for Right To Play.

On Jan. 28 a cheque for $31,782.39 was donated, by the Lindsay Leigh Kimmett Memorial Foundation, to the Kimmett Cup / Hockey Quest 500 donation page. This action triggered a number of outcomes:

• The first was that it brought the total for the event to $91,826.42, only $8,000 away from our target of $100,000.

• The second was that it brought the donation figure raised for the Quests for Kids initiative to $523,362.58.

• The third and most important result is that the number of children helped, with Right To Play programs, hit 10,467. When you add in the matching donations from Right To Play partners this figure jumps to 21,192 children.

My original objective for Quests for Kids was to complete 10 “Quests” in five years, raise $1 million and help 20,000 children with Right To Play programs. I still have four quests to do, two years to do them and $476,637.42 to raise.

I like to keep track of the pennies, because every penny counts.

I have had a lot of help over the last three years and in particular I would like to thank my strategic partners. These are 4iiii Innovations, Back on Track, Boma Africa, Downunder Travel, Ink’d Graphics, Rocky Mountain Books, Rotary Club of Cochrane and TransRockies Events.

Since 2009, when I began fundraising for Right To Play, the organization has been making big strides around the globe. Every week, their programs reach over 800,000 children. These programs encourage long-term behaviour change in four critical areas of development: Basic education and child development; health promotion and disease prevention; conflict resolution and peace building; and community development and participation.

Almost 50 per cent of those children are female. Local, volunteer coaches implement programs designed around the needs of the communities. Working with these coaches, 5,000 junior leaders, some as young as eight, are empowered to make decisions, facilitate discussions and lead educational games.

In Canada, Right To Play has established the Promoting Life-skills In Aboriginal Youth (PLAY) program. It started, in 2010, with two First Nations communities and by 2012, has increased to over 40 First Nation communities and urban Aboriginal organizations.

The PLAY program is community-owned and is continuously supported by Right To Play. PLAY is experiential learning that engages children, youth and communities in a healthy and safe environment. It delivers measurable results and establishes confident leaders that create positive, supportive conditions for change.

Closer to home, students are enrolled in Right To Play programs at schools in Calgary including Tuscany, Springbank, the Edge School, Colonel Irvine, Marion Carson and Father Lacombe.

Finally, right in our backyard, students from schools in Cochrane, including St.Timothy, Holy Spirit, Elizabeth Barrett and Glenbow are learning with Right To Play.

As Right To Play says “When children play, the world win”.

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