It all started with 6 weeks

8/11/20263 min read

It all started with 6 weeks

Is that not where all good stories start? That’s where ours did. Dove Program Cape Breton Started with a curriculum. Dove Canada provides a curriculum focused on body confidence, helping girls believe in themselves and develop the skills that can help them thrive in today’s world. This curriculum is designed for 6 lessons, my plan was to deliver these lessons over a period of six weeks.

At the end of the period I had allotted for the program, I told the girls, "Okay, that's it, this is our last session." But what happened next completely changed everything for the program. The whole group of girls looked at me and shouted, "NO!" in perfect unison. I told them, "Alright, Miss Paige has some research to do," and that's how it all began. This is the story of my wonderfully frustrating, brilliantly powerful little group.

Now what?

Keeping with the original themes within the dove curriculum the continuation of the program and the pillars that this program was created around. The continuation of this curriculum is built around empowering young people to recognize their strengths, embrace their potential, and contribute to the world around them. One way that they have been able to do this is through their community projects.


Community projects

In the beginning when we started our project I put together a list of ideas. The youth then voted and chose their first community project: making bags of toys for the pediatric unit at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital. The special things about these bags they provided their own prizes to make the bags they put together forty bags which they then donated. This led to our second community project: a fundraiser for the Cape Breton Cancer Center. They fund raised and donated just over $1000. The biggest part of that fundraiser was a lemonade stand they ran themselves, where they also sold bracelets, painted rocks, and anything else they could find.

The importance of small things:

The group has also completed a number of small projects some of the examples of the things they’ve done are as follows.

  • Christmas Cards for Seniors

  • Kindness bags

  • Thank you cards for those who supported us

Through these small projects the youth are able to truly learn the big importance behind small things. Youth from this program have also been able to take the skills they have learned and use them to do amazing things in the community! 8-year-old Octavia started her own business selling wax melts and has already sold about three thousand dollars worth through driveway sales and local craft markets. Then there's 10-year-old Carol, who created "Carol Cares" to fundraise by collecting and returning bottles. As of now, Carol has filled 75 mugs for individuals in need. Small packages were provided to these organizations, which allowed their clients access to hygiene products they may not otherwise have. She has also created 105 winter care packages for individuals to help them through the harsh winters experienced on Cape Breton Island. Over the last number of years, she has made donations to the Autism Society and Alzheimer's Society—80 books to the book and PJ program

Community Connections

Our girls have also been fortunate enough to win many awards and receive national recognition from various organizations. They've also formed partnerships with numerous organizations

across Canada to do different projects both within the community and nationally, including but not limited to:

  1. Frayme (Ontario)

  2. Plan Canada (National)

  3. Pediatric Unit – Cape Breton Regional Hospital

  4. Cape Breton Cancer Center

  5. Young Canadian Roundtable for Health (National)

  6. Canadian Human Connection Conference – Vancouver, BC

  7. GenWell (National)

  8. Atlantic Summer Institute – PEI

  9. 562 Cabot Squadron Air Cadets

  10. Motivate Canada – Ontario

  11. National Alliance of Children and Youth

  12. Sparks – Cape Breton

  13. Clansman Motel – Cape Breton

  14. MacRae Home Hardware – Cape Breton

  15. Bell Let’s Talk

  16. The Max 98.3 Radio Day – Cape Breton Regional Hospital

  17. NEADS Canada

  18. Nourish Nova Scotia

  19. Nova Scotia Child and Youth Care Workers Association

  20. CBC Radio

  21. Teal to Heal Cape Breton.

  22. Canadian Catholic Students Conference

  23. Generation Mental Health Conference

  24. Community Cares Youth Outreach

  25. Northside Hospital Foundation

  26. Northside Guest home

  27. North Sydney Legion

  28. Mgill University Cellphilm Festival

  29. Sunday Letter Project

  30. Mainstreet Cape Breton- Radio

doveprogramcb@gmail.com

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