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"If more children are succeeding rather than acting out their frustrations – school and neighborhoods will be safer for all kids."

- Dr. Dan Offord – Order of Canada – Former director of Camp Christie, Ontario 
  
For most children playing sports such as basketball and soccer or learning how to swim  or dance or paddle a canoe is just part of growing up.  But for children who come from families living below the poverty line such activities are a luxury that they can’t afford on their own.
  
 
It’s these children – the ones who otherwise would never get to have those basic childhood  experiences – that local residents Maureen Davis, Dan Poulin and Brenda Hanson decided to reach out to by creating the Northern Star Camp for Kids.  

 


  The goal of the Northern Star Camp for Kids is to provide a yearly camp and after school experience for children being raised in financial poverty.  Organizers try to ensure that sponsored children have access to the kind of skill development experiences that many other children take for granted.

The program provides a safe place for children to expand their skills, and allows them to return year after year until they are old enough to enter the ranks of junior and senior counsellors themselves.  Participants attend programs 1-2 times each week, learning skills they are interested in.  There is an awards banquet  twice a year to honour the progress the children have made and once a year they attend a camp on Ness Lake for a full week of skills development with canoeing, camp craft and nature lore.

Currently, the program takes in participants from Spruceland Elementary and Quinson Elementary in Prince George.



  Northern Star Camp organizers are working towards offering swimming lessons for participants and are actively searching for funding support or another individual or organization who can donate use of a van for 1-2 nights each week.

As a non-profit organization dependent on provincial direct access grant funding and donations, the Northern Star Camp is always looking for assistance.  Anyone interested in volunteering or donating to the Northern Star Camp for Kids program can call the program office at 250-649-0806.

For More Information Please Visit
www.shirleybondmla.bc.ca

 

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