Welcome to the LTBK Donkin Project blog. Please share your thoughts, your questions, and join in the discussions.
posted by Ian Hill at 11:40 PM
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
The Let Them Be Kids Initiative is a first of its kind, nation-wide program that helps communities build playgrounds in areas of need, while also building community capacity amongst citizens and laying a strong foundation for a brighter tomorrow.
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22 Comments:
Recently Peter Duffy wrote about Donkin in the Chronicle Herald “Try as I might, I can’t find the centre of this community. Other than a scattering of houses, all I see is a small school and a lonely branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.” He is right of course, we do not have a commercial centre to speak of, one of the perks of rural living. It is unfortunate that Mr. Duffy wasn’t here on Sat, 21 Oct when 300 volunteers participated in the building of a new playground. This is the start of a new centre for our village, one focused on community spirit. Volunteers built the playground for the young children next to their school. Volunteers will add a community park next to the playground to encourage adults to take their children to play rather than sending them. The park will sit next to the sports field and hopefully one day a community centre will sit nearby to support community-oriented events. We do not have a commercial centre but if Mr. Duffy saw the overwhelming participation by all ages in our playground installation he would understand the centre of our village can be found in our community spirit. Ian Hill of the Let Them Be Kids Program had the opportunity to experience the best of what this community has to offer and we thank him for not only helping us in the installation of our new playground but in allowing us to demonstrate that with some help and a team effort small communities like ours can do great things.
Hi Hugh,
Thank you for your comments and I think you are right, the centre of your community is really the heart of your community...I'll never forget it...thank you for pride and efforts-Ian
Ian
Great ideaa to use a blog but people are having problems signing in. Maybe a link to printable instructions would help or a different login procedure.
Keep up the great work
George White
Thanks for your comments...our IT man Stan White is on it and will post instructions...thanks and Happy holidays-Ian
I have always lived in the community of Donkin and through the community build playground project have experienced the busiest and happiest of days.It was overwhelming to have 300 volunteers come and participate in the project. They represented every group, church and organization in the area. As well,some university students and visitors from outside the province came home to give their support.Contributions were received from the business sector and companies were represented by their owners and employees. Ian Hill of LTBK gave our community the opportunity to come together in a collaborative effort with our partners to make the childrens dream become a reality and for that we are truly greatful.Since then the community has identified other projects and feel encouraged by the possibilities of further development.The LTBK program has reinforced community capacity and strengthened our beliefs in the future.Thank-You LTBK for helping us to help ourselves!
Thank you so much for your comment and thoughts....It is great to hear that other projects will be a reality as a result of the playground project...Thanks for sharing with all and thanks for your hard work-Ian
This has been the greatset project that has had the most valuable impact on our community. Everyone is still talking about it and will remember it for a very long time.Thank-you to all those who helped our community and made abetter place for the children to live. They love it! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
It's funny that you website is splattered with the Little Tikes Commercial Play Systems logo and yet in your Donkin project you used another company who is not even identified as a LTBK supporter? As your foundation is part of (or arose out of) CDC Recreation, which is Little Tikes representative for Alberta, why would you supply someone else's product?
Thank you for your question, The LTBK corporate partner is Belair Recreational Products, a leader among Canadian playground equipment manufacturers. This position was achieved by constantly providing high quality, innovative play equipment for children. BELAIR is a family owned business with a strong commitment to the community and to manufacturing in Canada.
Without Belair and its commitment to community based projects such as this, there would be no projects of this kind...
we had used another playground supplier for our first projects, but that company was not own and operated in Canada...
since LTBK in Canada is a grassroot effort with one of its stated objectives to "promote a hands across Canada community spirit" it would only make sense to partner with a Company that has its roots and home in Canada.
thank you for your question I hope that helps...Thank you also to Belair and it deep commitment to communities all across Canada!
Well Ian, you still haven't answered the question. Little Tikes logo is all over your webpage, and Belair's is no where to be found? Previous projects have been done using Little Tikes equipment, and on Gary Debney, the owner of CDC Recreation, "Canada's Largest Distributor of Little Tikes equipment" is part of the board of LTBK. Doesn't this seem a little strange?
Why are you attacking these people?
They are all volunteers and just trying to help!.
I was there that day,were you? it was very special and I just want to say thank you Mr Hill and all your board members...it was one of the best days of my life...GET OFF HIS BACK!
Thank You "Anonymous" for your support, and to our friend the first Anonymous...As I said Canadian owned Belair is our partner in Canada and beyond, we are proud to have them as such...
You are sadly misinformed, uninformed, and I even think ill-informed...And frankly I'm having a little trouble understanding where you are going with all of this...
The professional affiliations of a singular Board Member do not effect who we partner with (by the way CDC recreation also distributes Belair products)...This is not the forum to discuss why we made the change, but you are correct we did and our reasons are in-line with the values that this effort stands for.
This is a volunteer effort in which all of us on the Board freely give our time, talent and treasure to make the world a little bit better.
In that spirit, I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have just call my cell phone anytime 775-443-9494...I look forward to the call. Happy New Year
I concur,leave him alone.
All I can think from reading all this is that the writer who keeps asking all the challanging questions must be with that Little Tikes company.
Poor form, very Poor form!
Happy New Year Ian. Just a few words to express my view about the community playground project. The whole idea of such a project was quite overwhelming, however, you were always right there with encouragment and to help us see the potential in all of us and the great resource we had in our residents. Thank you for the confidence you had in us as a Development Association and as a Community. The work you do around the world in this regard is exceptional and you and your team are to be commended for helping those at the grassroots level believe in themselves and as a result, accomplish what they thought to be "impossible".
To those communities who may be thinking they could never carry out such a project - think again. Look to your residents for they are your greatest resource. It only takes one person with the conviction that it can be done - and it will be done.
Again, thank you so much Ian. You helped give our residents a sense of community again.
Doreen Dillon
Secretary
Donkin - Port Caledonia
Rural DevelopmentAssoc.
Hi Doreen, thank you for the kind words...
It was the commitment of the of the Development Association, volunteers, and community that is an inspiration to all of us...
Your community is a shining example what can be done when we "come together"...
I'm glad that LTBK could play a role,but it was all of you that showed what can happen when a group of people who are properly motivated and focused on a common goal, each not caring who gets the credit and who are willing to give their all, can do...
You proved that the impossible is very possible and not only possible, but actually was done!
All the best Ian
The new community playground has been up and running for several months and I am very fortunate to be able to see the benefits of such a wonderful addition to our community and our school on a daily basis. As the principal of the school, I get to see the children use and enjoy the playground every day. Their smiles are never ending and they really do appreciate what has been given to them. I still get a great feeling when I drive down South street and see the bright colours of the playground standing out against the backdrop of the school. It brings back a lot of great memories of that very special day when the playground was built.
The advantages of the playground are being seen at the school in a number of different ways. The students are far more active when they are outside, grounds supervision by the staff is easier to monitor and discipline issues on the playground are almost non-existent. The students are very proud of their new playgound and treat it with respect.
On behalf of all the students, staff, and parents of Donkin-Gowrie Complex, I would like to thank the Donkin-Port Caledonia Development Association, Ian Hill and Let Them Be Kids and all the community groups, businesses and individuals who were able to make this happen. Your efforts are being rewarded in childrens' smiles every day!!
Dear Mr. Hill,
As a teacher at the Donkin-Gowrie Complex I have the opportunity to see how the new playground impacted the school and community. Our children use the equipment not only at break times but teachers take them out to the playground to give them extra physical activity when the students are restless or because it's a just a nice day to go outside for a while. The result is happier and healthier children. We also use the playground equipment after school hours to give our own "kids" a chance to become more active. They absolutely love using the playground!! I just wanted to let everyone know how fortunate we are at the Donkin school site to have a dream come true. Thank you to every person that was involved in this project. Thank you Ian. A special thank you to the children for enjoying and respecting the playground.
My nephew Ryland loves the new playground he is only 19 months old but he still enjoys using it! Thanks... pearl
is there anyway an Ice Rink could be constructed for the kids. Not much for them to do in the winter. They try to skate on the frog pond, but it is way too bumpy. Its a thought.
I have lived in Donkin for 54 years and have never been so proud of our community. This playground has showed many just how proud we are. I think we can accomplish just about anything with this group working as hard as they are. Keep up the great work guys!!!
I remember when I was a teenager having a rink near the ballfield. The firemen flooded it every night for us. It had lights all around it for us to see and a little building for us to go put on our skates and get warm. Maybe the old gym could be set up for that in the winter and skate boarding in the summer. Just a thought!
Just to add to the comments I added here as anonymous about the rink the firemen had for us years ago I really think this would be a great addition to the school health program. As we all know kids need activity to stay healthy and adults to for that matter just maybe the school board could help make this happen and have the gym teacher set aside a day for skating to help keep the children active in away they like. As we as kids in the school days we had our winter carnival we just loved to get outside and have fun. You could use this for alot of things, like skating parties where you could sell hot chocolate, hotdogs etc. Let everyone enjoy it. Just a thought!!!
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