There are not enough thank you's in the world to convey my gratitude to the good people who support this work. Since 2013 I am very proud to say that Art for Aid is entirely volunteer driven and we do not charge the schools for our services. I love my volunteers - like really love them. When the phone rings or the email dings, they're on it, and I couldn't ask for a more sincere and dedicated group. (and we always have room for more)
In the spirit of reconcilation, Art for Aid works to create opportunities for bridge building between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. We invite people to donate new and gently used art supplies from September to May annually, and to donate to our program through our host agency, Soaring Circle, to support our art supply shipments and our land based learning supply programs. (For the land based learning programs, we only purchase new equipment to ensure the schools are receiving the items they need most for a successful program)
Our Shopify store along with our brick and mortar stores that carry our beautiful products, help to keep the wheels turning, but your generous donations make up the largest part of what we are able do. And that means the world to us, it truly does! This year we hope to secure materials support from sporting goods stores and manufacturers to help bolster our land based support program and increase opportunities for schools to obtain greater access to both art supplies as well as ice fishing and quality winter land based learning gear.
We have a small warehouse in Carleton Place, Ontario where we collect, sort (test) and ship the supplies. We work hard to ensure that what we send is useful and that it's what schools need for their programs.
If you are an Educator or Administrator in a remote community in need of art supplies or materials for a special project, we encourage you to reach out to us even if you've received a shipment in the past.
Schools interested in doing an art supply collection, please reach out to coordinate the collection. Youth helping youth is the greatest way to educate youth on the needs of remote community students. If your school holds a collection, be sure to your students to understand what a fly-in community is and why so many of these schools are resources challenged. Informed youth become informed adults who can influence the future of access to abundant resources. I would be happy to do a Zoom meeting or an in-person talk about Art for Aid at your school.
(A modest honourarium would be most appreciated for in-person talks to cover travel and resources)
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