In January of 2013,
momstown Niagara opened to families across the Niagara Region to provide educational programming for children ages 0-6, as well as support for their moms.
We launched in February with a big
Family Fun Day event where we asked for non-perishable food donations or $1 per family for admission. We wanted to contribute to a charity where it would impact our local community and we quickly decided
Community Care was the best choice.
We were expecting to have about 500 people in attendance so we were excited to be able to fill a few of the many bins
Community Care provided. We had no idea we would fill them all.
We ended up with almost 2000 people at the event and the generosity shown by the residents of Niagara was very overwhelming! Many people stood in line to get in with
bags full of food to donate and also offered money on top of their food donations. Or instead of just paying the $1 they paid $5. When I stepped out of the event room to take a quick break I saw the bins that had been placed outside the doors and immediately had tears in my eyes - all 8 bins were full!
It was such a proud moment for us when we were told by
Community Care that we collected 1200 lbs of food. We never realized when we started planning our event that the most rewarding part of the entire thing would be those donations.
Later that week, Erin and I stopped in to
Community Care to visit with Nancy McIntosh and deliver the $300 that was also collected. It was very inspiring to listen to Nancy passionately speak about all of the programs that they run on a regular basis to help those in need in our community. We collected 1200 lbs of food however, they are going through 4000 lbs of food per day. That was shocking to us!
She also talked about an annual program called "
Snacks 'N Sneakers" where they give children a backpack filled with school supplies, snacks and shoes. We take for granted that our children have indoor and outdoor shoes when many other families can't even afford 1 pair. When Nancy told us that every year the bags run out and some children go without after standing in this line it nearly broke our hearts. The 3 of us stood in the hallway with tears in our eyes and we vowed to make sure that no one would be turned away this year.
Erin and I talked about that day many times and never found it any easier to get the story out without tearing up. It impacted us so deeply that we had to do something to help.
At
momstown Niagara we provide over 20 in person events per month which are all based on 6 pillars of education including Art and Music, Play and Social, Nutrition, Fitness and Adventure, Science and Discovery, and Literacy. All of our programs fit into one of those categories. One of our most popular programs is our Sip N' Stroll where we get together at a coffee shop and get our drinks to go and we go for a long walk. Often by the canal, Port Dalhousie, or the Pen Centre when the weather isn't co-operating.
As we were walking one day, one of our members asked if we could do more things for charity - "like a half marathon or something". It was a light bulb moment and we decided it was the perfect fit for the "
Snacks 'N Sneakers" program. We wanted people to get the kids involved as well so instead of a half marathon we thought we would make it a 5K walk and get everyone in the region to walk with us to make sure every child gets what they need for back to school in 2013.
When we mentioned it to Nancy she was supportive right away and excited to get started.
We are happy to announce the official First Annual momstown Niagara 5K Sip N`Stroll for Snacks and Sneakers. On Sunday, August 11th at 10:00 starting at the
St. Catharines Museum on Canal Rd. we will walk to Carlton St. and end again at the
St. Catharines Museum where there will be tons of treats and a celebration to top off a great day!
Niagara Inflatables will be providing carnival games and
Monkeynastix will be there to entertain the kids after the walk! There will also be a bbq after at the museum!
There will be great prizes announced soon for top sponsors! Hope to see you there to help this amazing cause! Please help us reach our goal and make sure no child is turned away!
