• Make some positive difference in the community. 
  These projects do not have to be huge undertakings. Even cleaning up the garbage around a playground makes the entire neighbourhood look better. And if just one playground becomes better, it makes the "whole community" that much better. If we have a lot of groups doing a lot of small things we will collectively accomplish a lot for our efforts.
     
• Make some positive difference in the life of an individual in the community. 
  You may want to pick one or two home owners and offer to take care of their yard. If their yard looks better, it will improve their quality of life and make them feel better about their community. If you improve the quality of life for even just one person in the community, you have made the community that much better. If we have a lot of groups doing a lot of small things to improve the quality of life of individuals living in the community, then collectively we will have a huge impact on the quality of life in Greater Sudbury and on how people feel about their community..
     
• Make some positive difference in the life of a group or organization. 
  You may want to send cards, organize luncheons, make visits to talk or sing or enjoy crafts, etc. to a group or organization who would appreciate your gesture as a sign that you care about them. If just one group or organization experiences your love, they will have a better feeling about themselves and about their community. If we have a lot of students doing a lot of small things to help a lot of these groups or organizations, then collectively we will have a tremendous impact on the way people feel about their community.
     
• Directly involve young people. 
  There must be adult supervision and direction, but most of the actual work must be done by the young people in the group or class. Our whole purpose is to show young people how much they can do for the community if they all contribute just a tiny bit. This is their community. We want them to take ownership of this community and make it a place in which they can feel proud. We want them to experience a sense of satisfaction as a result of their accomplishments. We want them to demonstrate to the adult world that they are willing to work for their community and do what they can to make it a better place in which to live.
   
• Make a positive difference in the development and growth of students involved in the project.
  Even if a project or activity is confined to the "school community", we will try to find funding if it is something that will clearly be of benefit to the participating students or the school in general. We want to encourage students to take part in activities that will help them develop and grow in to contributing members of society.

• Even if your project won't cost much money, please let us know about it so that we can give the young people involved the recognition they deserve. We feel that by publicly and permanently recognizing their accomplishments and achievements in this program we will be adding to the community spirit and image of the City of Greater Sudbury and we will also be providing others with examples of what can be done. This will provide the inspiration for many others to follow in your footsteps.

Send your proposal to Robert Kirwan:

• By email to rkirwan@infocomcanada.com
    
• By mail to:
  Robert Kirwan
  4456 Noel Crescent
  Val Therese ON P3P 1S8
    
• Drop the written proposal off at his office at The Greater Sudbury Learning Clinic in the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre
    
• By phone:  (705) 969-7215   or   (705) 524-7006

Once we have all of the necessary details, we will send this information to prospective corporate sponsors in the area to determine if there is interest in sponsoring the project.

When we find a sponsor, we will put that sponsor in touch with the coordinator of the project.

The following is a very general overview that may be incorporated by a classroom teacher at any grade level:

1. Introduce the Young Community Builders Program to your class so they understand this is a program that will eventually involve students from across all parts of the City of Greater Sudbury. Explain that it is being sponsored by businesses in the area that are confident our youth have the power to make our community a better place in which to live. You may want to discuss the principle of getting as many people as possible involved in doing a lot of small things to improve the community and that if enough of us do our part we will see a “huge” improvement overall
    
2. You may wish to go facilitate a “brainstorming session” in your class to identify some of the real needs of the community. Ask them to come up with things that could be done to make our neighbourhood and indeed our whole community a better place in which to live. The ideas the students will come up with will range from cleaning ditches to building a new arena and fixing roads. Remind the students that even things that can be done for needy groups and individuals will improve the overall spirit and quality of life of the entire community. For example they may just want to send cards and letters to groups and individuals who need to know that others do care about them. In that case we will provide funding for paper, envelopes and stamps, etc.
    
3. You may then examine the entire list and explain that some of the things will have to be done by the government because of the costs involved. You can also classify the rest of the list into things that are very expensive and other things that are not so expensive. This process might include a ranking of the suggestions where you examine some of the cost and other challenges of some of the suggestions presented.
    
4. What you should end up with is a final list that includes a number of things that could be done for a relatively low cost as long as there were people willing to put in volunteer time and effort.
     
5. The next step is to identify the items on the list that your particular class might be capable of doing. There are obvious limitations to what you can do, but what our sponsors have tried to eliminate is the financial limitation. 
    
6. Once you have arrived at a list of possible projects that your class is capable of doing, I would suggest that you have the students write down the ideas from that list and take it home to discuss with their parents. Parents may be able to add some suggestions of their own that the class did not think of. They may also be able to provide other assistance for some of the projects that will enable you to expand your parameters without increasing your expenses.
    
7. Once the students return from discussing the list with their parents, you can add new items to the list of possible projects. This is the list from which you and your class might select a project to submit to the Young Community Builders Program.
     
8. You must then come up with a plan of action that includes some of the things that must be done to accomplish the objectives of your project and also identify the expenses that must be covered in order for you to do the project. Keep in mind that you will be responsible for obtaining all of the necessary permissions and approvals to do your project. You will also be responsible for all supervision of the project. Once you have the plan completed, you will simply send the proposal via email to Robert Kirwan of the Young Community Builders Program to see if it qualifies for funding.
    
9. Once the proposal is received and reviewed, Robert Kirwan will contact the teacher in charge and discuss the various elements of the project. It is quite possible that he may have some suggestions on enhancing the project with some additional funding in order to give the students an even more enriching experience. Alternatively the project may be just fine as is and we will make arrangements to present the funding to the class and begin implementing the plan of action.

 
Serving The Entire Greater Sudbury Area
Head Office: Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre
Hwy 69 North, Hanmer, Ontario

Office Phone: (705) 524-7006
Home Phone: (705) 969-7215

 
Mailing Address
4456 Noel Crescent,
Val Therese ON, P3P 1S8

Copyright © 2007 All Rights Reserved
The Greater Sudbury Learning Clinic
is a subsidiary of
Infocom Canada Business Consultants Inc.