Media Release: Stratford Summer Fun Day Coming This Weekend
For Immediate Release: July 31, 2018
Stratford, PE -The Town of Stratford is introducing Summer Fun Day this Saturday, August 4th from 8am -1pm. This exciting and fun-filled day has something for everyone. A fundraising yard sale, BBQ and canteen will support the ongoing work of the Stratford Youth Council. For the kids there will be karaoke, games and an inflatable.
The Stratford Youth Council has 12 members who in 2017, along with the members of the Stratford Youth Center, contributed over 1500 volunteer hours in our community. The Stratford Youth Council and Stratford Youth Centre take the summer off but have come together to put on the upcoming Summer Fun Day.
YCAN Program youth volunteers will be onsite as well collecting non-perishable food bank donations. Anyone making a donation will receive a special treat as well! YCAN, YMCA Community Action Network, is a program offered by the YMCA which for the first time in recent years has returned to PEI and operates out of the Robert L. Cotton Centre in the Stratford Youth Centre space.
"There is a great synergy between having the YCAN Program and the Stratford Youth Centre in a shared space", commented Stratford Mayor David Dunphy. "When youth begin to age out of the Stratford Youth Centre, this offers them another place to go and continue building on their community spirit and volunteerism. And we are also seeing other young people from the area participating who weren't Stratford Youth Centre members".
The YCAN Program runs three cohorts per year. Each cohort is made up of different youth and together they decide the specific area they would like to take action on. The current group has 7 participants who have chosen homelessness as their area of interest. The group has a coordinator to assist them but primarily do the planning and execution of their ideas themselves. The YCAN Program is for youth 15+ with a maximum of 15 youth per cohort. The program will be recruiting for new members beginning in September when the next cohort runs through until mid-January 2019. YCAN is also affiliated with the Community Service Bursary Program with each youth able to earn up to about 120 hours of volunteer work.
The YCAN Program will also be attending Summer Fun Day to promote a community event later in the month. Details are being finalized but they hope to be announcing and encouraging residents to come out to this event at Summer Fun Day.
"The hope is to make this an annual summer event which families, and all residents, can look forward to coming together for each August", added Mayor Dunphy. "We invite all residents to join us at Cotton Park, 57 Bunbury Road on Saturday."
For more information on the YCAN Program please contact Joseph Dery at (902) 393-4324 or [email protected]. For more information on Summer Fun Day, please visit www.townofstratford.ca, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, or call us at (902) 569-1995.
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For more information please contact:
Wendy Watts, Community Engagement Coordinator
Town of Stratford
T: (902) 569-1995
E: [email protected]
Printable Version: Media Release -Stratford Summer Fun Day Coming This Weekend (July 31, 2018)