When more than 6,000 children across London wake up on the morning of Dec. 25, run to the Christmas tree and open their presents, many will unwrap handmade hats, mittens and sweaters.
While there are a lot of groups that donate handcrafted items to the Salvation Army Christmas Hamper Program, many of those items were made by members of one northeast London group. In total, around 6,300 bags of toys for children under the age of 12 were handed out this year by the Salvation Army.
There are around 30 members of the Cards, Games and Crafts Club, which is run by the North East London Community Engagement (NELCE) council. NELCE gets funding and support through the London InterCommunity Health Centre. One of the club’s leaders, Nancyann Sweetzir, said the bags and bags of items made by members all go towards charity.
“Every child that is registered gets a hat and a pair of mittens and a sweater or a piece of clothing,” she said. While Sweetzir said she has been donating knitted items to the Salvation Army since 1992, the Cards, Games and Crafts Club has only been around for about a year. The knitters circle also linked to a group at the London Public Library’s Beacock branch too.
Maj. Pat Phinney with the Salvation Army said any efforts from clubs, groups of women or
individuals are invaluable to the organization. “When we’re packing the packages for the families, particularly the stocking stuffers for the children, those items are just so welcomed by the families who receive them,” she said. “Those kinds of contributions are greatly valued as we go through our Christmas assistance program.”
The club isn’t just about the community helping the community, but members pride themselves with establishing a place where family-like relationships can be established.
Carol Moss, another leader with the knitting group, said it’s the best thing that’s happened to northeast London in years. She added relationships are built through the club.
Moss moved to London from Toronto a couple years ago. “I had no friends. I came here and our son and daughter-in-law were the only people we really knew,” she said.
After being bed-ridden for around a year, Moss said establishing relationships was a main priority for her.
“So, how to make friends? Start volunteering,” she said, glancing to Sweetzir who was sitting next to her. “Then it was just a few weeks after that and I met Nancy who was also looking for a friend. It’s been really good.” While camaraderie and contributing to the community are major aspects of the group, Sweetzir added the club also functions as a haven.
“We don’t criticize anyone at all. They do as well as they can and it may not be perfect, but they did it,” Sweetzir said. She added that when Chris started knitting, she wound the wool around the needles so tightly that they started to coil and warp. “We’ve got her knitting perfect tension now.”
Moss added when Chris tied off the last stitch in the first hat she made, it was a big deal for
everyone. “This was the first thing Chris had ever completed because if she made mistakes and that, she would tear everything undone,” Moss said. “We finally said to her, ‘You’re going to do a hat, but there’s no tearing it out. If you think you’ve made a mistake, we’ll help you correct it’.”
“That was first thing she’d ever completed and it was the fact that she was giving it back to the community too.” Both Moss and Sweetzir grinned as they said the people whom they’ve taught to knit are now teaching others the skill too.
There are many areas NELCE where members can contribute towards the greater good of the area. Established in 2005, the council was created to offer residents a way to get involved in the community.
Along with the crafts-orientated projects, NELCE has also taken on food drives, literacy events, carnivals and community initiatives with the London Transit Commission and the city.
People looking formore information or to get involved with NELCE can check out their website at www.nelce.ca.
For the last four years, Northeast resident groups, North East London Community Engagement [NELCE] and Kipps Lane & Community [KLAC] have collaborated together, to sponsor the Kipps Lane Neighbourhood Pumpkin Retirement Party on the day after Halloween, November 1st. Previously held at the Kipps Lane Plaza, this year, we decided to host it at the newly redeveloped Ed Blake Park, which is off Barker Street, from 5 to 8pm.
Preparations for this popular annual event started in the morning of November 1st at the London InterCommunity Health Centre’s kitchen, with NELCE volunteers Joe Weis, Sue Henderson, Gord Johnston, Donna Darnbourgh, Marlene and Roy Graham and KLAC President, Mark Rose, who worked together to make over a hundred delicious, healthy pumpkin muffins, from scratch, for the evening’s event.
It was a brisk, clear, fall evening just right for the Pumpkin party. NELCE members Donna Darnbourgh, Ben Cunningham and Gord Johnston served the pumpkin muffins, along with Hot Apple Cider (donated by KLAC) to about 150 people who came to the party in the park.
As you can see by our photos what a treat it was to walk around the circle in the dark and admire each family’s unique carved pumpkin.
At 8pm, children and adults, were invited to blow out the candles in the pumpkins. The pumpkins were then carried away to a Van that would take them to be retired, i.e. composted at a recycling depot.
October 31st is a date carved in the minds of many children across Canada and the USA, as a day to play dress up all day and collect lots of candy. And, with migration, cross-cultural experiences, and more people traveling across the globe, many other countries around the world have also begun to enjoy and partake of the festivities on Hallowe’en.
It was great to see how much effort people were willing to put into dressing up, including donning make-up, to have some fun. After all, who says you have to stop having FUN when you are an adult???
In another corner, the regular, occasionally rambunctious, Euchre players were turning their tricks. And, at another table, we had a game of Scrabble underway.
As we had 32 people at the Club yesterday, many of whom really put in the effort to get dressed up in full regalia, it was impossible to pick just one best dressed or most original costume – so everyone who came in costume left with a small prize.
Our Club is growing in numbers, but we still would like to have more Euchre players and crafters – we often have different “Make It & Take It” craft ideas each week. It is the perfect place to be if you are looking to make new friends in the neighbourhood, feel lonely, are a senior, homemaker or stay-at-home mom, home-school your children, or just want to give back to your community. So why not join us if you are looking for something to do on Monday afternoons?
NELCE member Donna Darnborough worked the information booth for NELCE and LIHC, doing a fabulous job speaking with people about the volunteer opportunities available and explaining what we do at NELCE. Donna is a wonderful spokesperson for NELCE, which has become like a second home for her.
Do you consider yourself financially literate? Do you fully understand banking basics, debt maintenance, or even how to organize your important financial papers, legal documents and information?
After much planning and organizing, several Northeast community partners – Child & Youth Network, Life Resource Centre, London InterCommunity Health Centre, London Public Library, LUSO Community Services and NELCE – came together on Saturday, June 4th afternoon at Beacock Public Library to co-host the 1st Family Financial Fair, with the theme, “Making $ense of your Dollar$ & Cent$”.
And they were not disappointed! Approximately 76 people registered and attended that afternoon. The Fair occupied two of the larger meeting rooms at the library. Those who came to the Fair were treated to Subway sandwiches, donated by the local Subway outlet at Huron Heights Plaza.
Some of the activities included: face painting, interactive games about money, and crafts for the children. The adults browsed the various tables and interactive activities that were loaded with helpful information about the Credit Bureau and how to read your credit report, banking and credit card information, fraud protection emergency preparedness, menu planning and budgeting, and other resources available in our community. Representatives from Canada Revenue Agency, Child & Youth Network, Ontario Works, TD Canada Trust and NELCE were all on hand providing information.
A table was set up to distribute Personal Information Organization Binders, which were booklets produced by NELCE and LIHC. These binders help families record and store important personal information properly, so that in the event of a personal crisis or emergency, the information is readily available in one, safe place.
Would you like this fair to be an annual event? We would love to hear from you, so please leave us a comment.
Saturday, June 25th began as a dark, dreary day with grey clouds threatening to pour out of the skies. It looked like rain was going to spoil the opening celebrations planned for Ed Blake Park.
My day started about 3 pm when I got to Ed Blake Park. I looked around and saw the new splash pad where kids were having a great time. Lots of laughter and giggles could be heard. In spite of the light rain, people came out anyway determined not to let a few drops of rain spoil their fun. I went straight over to our NELCE information booth where I worked with Marlene for an hour. I got to talk to a lot of neighbourhood residents about NELCE and learned about their interests/concerns in the community , All too soon 4pm came, and I headed over to the food tent.
I noticed people were starting to get bored waiting for their food, so I started dancing to the music to make some fun with my rubber gloves and they started doing what I was doing – having fun again till the food came. After all, isn’t this what it is all about – people having fun together?
We had a flew people donate money to help the hungry people of the world. I think that is fantastic – people helping other people in this way.
When we had finished feeding the crowd, all the volunteers in the food tent helped clean up the food stations and pack everything away as the equipment, tables and serveware had to be transported back to the various community agency offices from which they were borrowed. By the time we were finished, it was 8 pm and the festivities were coming to a close.
From my perspective, it was a great day overall. I just love seeing people having a great time. That’s why I like volunteering at these kind of events because I get a great sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, and gratitude that I can make a difference in a person’s day/life.
Here we are in the spring of 2011 and embarking on yet another session of ‘Walk with NELCE.’ We are grateful once again to have the privilege of using one of the Library’s meeting rooms to go over attendance, possible routes for the evenings’ walk and discussing any issues that may arise with the participants. Everyone has a voice and all input is welcome. We have changed it up a bit this year. Warm-ups are done partway into the walk as it is more beneficial for our bodies to stretch at this point during the exercise routine.
John lead the group and also lead the warm-ups in the local school yard near-by. Our walking group will not be cancelled due to low attendance. If, however, the city has issued a weather advisory or perhaps it is really storming, then this is when we would have to wait to join together the following week.
The positive atmosphere continues on from previous years as the group expands . We are hoping for more members to join us and welcome anyone. There is no pre-requisites or required fitness levels. I, personally am so very proud of each and every person who has come out and participated ! We are a happy, care-free bunch which makes it all that more fulfilling!!
On May 9th, the NELCE Cards Games & Crafts Clubs held its 1st friendly Euchre Tournament during the weekly Club meeting at the London InterCommunity Health Centre.
Our beginner level players, however, decided to turn their tournament into a Yahtzee competition instead as some of the players could not remember the Euchre game rules! 
Anyway, it was a good two-hour tournament and our winners were: Darlene W. who had the top score in Euchre, and Joe L. who is a Yahtzee maestro! Both winners won a $15 gift card. As tournament convenor, I had fun putting this together, especially since it is the first time I have organized such an event.
Congratulations to our winners, and I hope those who participated enjoyed themselves.
On May 4th and 5th , NELCE had the privilege of attending two wonderful celebrations of multiculturalism right in our own neighbourhoods. Chippewa Public and Lord Elgin Public Schools both put on fine evenings of entertainment, food and fellowship.
Both schools provided amazing entertainment which also included their very own students. Guests seemed to thoroughly enjoy the music, watching the dancing and performances.
Jacqueline Fraser, our Communications Coordinator , came up with the idea to develop a word making game for the “North East London Community Engagement” ….spell as many words as you can from the letters that make up our group’s name, and win a prize . She also put together word search puzzles, customized to each school and location, that we placed on the wall near our display table, where the kids could try and find words related to their school or street names. I cannot express totally the frenzy this created!! It was wonderful to see !!
The sense of community and belonging is what really sticks with me when I think back to both nights. Meeting new people at Lord Elgin and feeling so very welcome !! Vice- Principal ‘Pete’ was entertainment in himself . As you can see in the picture , his hat is hilarious yet his smile says it all! I chatted with him briefly and I could tell how proud he is of the school and his community!
