Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue - Garage Sale

Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue is a non-profit charitable organization who strives to take stray cats off the streets and place them into forever homes. They also practice trap-neuter-return for the wild or feral cats to decrease the cat population and help minimize unwanted fighting and disease among these cats.

To help with funding of medical costs, Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue is having a Garage Sale (the second annual) on the June 7-8th weekend pending the weather, and would be grateful for any donations of items (with the exception of large furniture, clothes, electronics and mattresses). Pick up can be arranged! Come on by to see the treasures and help fund the spay/neuter stray cats! Location to be announced!

This is a great cause, and donating/supporting them requires little to no effort. I highly recommend checking out their social media:

Website - http://www.oscatr.ca/

Twitter - @OttawaCatRescue

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ottawa-Stray-Cat-Rescue/161752790585752

Or contact Katie Jones - katie@oscatr.ca

The Dream Catchers - Dare to Dream

Click to check out their website

I have had the great pleasure to work with one of the founding members, Osman Naqvi, at the Boys and Girls Club in Ottawa at the Britannia location. He is a dedicated, hard working, and philanthropic individual that will certainly do a great many things. Further, I also had the opportunity to work with Kevin Nguyen, another one of their members, also at the Boys and Girls Club. In the last bit I have also begun to converse with some of their other members, such as Lena Boyd. I hope that I will continue to work with these ambitious and inspirational young adults as they move forward in the world. Keep a close eye for these go-getters, they will do great things!

I highly recommend you check them out on Facebook:

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Follow them on Twitter:

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Check out their website by clicking on the image at the top

So, who are The Dream Catchers?

The Dream Catchers (TDC), is a Not For Profit founded by two university students, Osman Naqvi and Moses Otim. Enlisting the help of a few of their friends, this organization has grown to include 8 more executive members; Nicole Dédier as Chair of Marketing, Sumeet Dubb as the Chair of the Steering Committee, Neetika Chopra as Director of Administrative, Kevin Nguyen as Director of Promotions, Jevaughn Newman as the Treasurer, Jaipaul Dubb as Volunteer Director, Pieter Oliver as Director of Outreach, and Lena Boyd as Director of the Citizens of the Capital Committee. With the combined efforts of these individuals, as well as many loyal supporters and volunteers, their dreams are in action. 

The Dream Catchers was initiated to accomplish a simple goal; to help youth in Ottawa accomplish their dreams. To do this, TDC has adopted a multifaceted approach, the first of which is to ensure all youth are equal in having their basic needs met. This is why TDC runs their unique clothing drive called Wardrobe on Wheels and canned food drives throughout the year. Creativity and self-expression is just as important to a child’s development, thus TDC also runs more inspired initiatives, such as the Halloween Costume Drive; both efforts unique to the Dream Catchers, and to wrap up each year is a toy drive during holiday time in December.

The Dream Catchers has many ambitious aims; which also includes fostering a more pronounced sense of community in the Ottawa area. The Citizens of the Capital, a sub-organization of TDC, aspires to “put the unity in community.” Our photographers, under the direction of Lena Boyd, take snapshots of individuals from all walks of life, all around the city. Usually captioned by a quote from the individual, their profiles -which are posted on the website and social media pages- create a sense of familiarity and openness. They help attach the label of ‘friends’ to people who would otherwise be considered strangers. 

Why Kids Quit Sports

Something I shared recently about the reasons for kids quitting sport permanently, and at a very young age (typically before 13), was featured on Little League Dad’s Twitter News this morning:

Click on the image for a link to the website it was shared. Click on this link for the actual article - http://activeforlife.com/why-kids-quit-sports/

Please take a minute to read the article, and then here is my response to it:

It’s very true. I have had the real pleasure of being able to discuss the aspects of internal vs. external motivation with Olympic rower and now elite trainer of rowers, and his talk on “Carrot or the Stick” reinforces that we need to create an environment and culture of internal motivation, rather than the dominant culture of external motivation, or outcome based. This isn’t to say that results aren’t important, but it’s how we frame the issue, treat our children (athletes), and place the focus.

Children are not miniature adults. They learn, move, and play in fundamentally (and wonderful) way. In fact, we could truly learn from them. We need to follow models like Canadian Sport for Life’s (CS4L) Long Term Athlete Development; whereby, 0-6 years old is the Active Start and focuses on the ABCs (Agility, Balance, Coordination) through unstructured play. Yes, PLAY! For the first six years kids should be playing. And heck, let them create their own play. We as parents/coaches often believe we need to give a structured environment. We really don’t. Kids are amazing, and will find incredible ways to move in all sorts of ways.

From here, the 6-8/9 (slightly different for boys/girls), we move to the FUNdamental Stage. This is when “skills” are first introduced, but once again, in an unstructured, informal setting. That is, create games or activities that produce a given movement, but do not run 7 year olds through circuit training as you may a young adult. As well, kids should be playing 2-3 sports/activities, and not specializing until potentially later in the Train to Compete/Win Stages. A disclaimer, even the CS4L acknowledges that a few sports do require early specialization, such as gymnastics, diving, and I believe the other is figure skating.

Finally, it is paramount children learn the 12 Fundamental Movement Skills, as put forth by Physical & Health Education Canada, and more so before puberty. It has been shown that children that does not learn these, object manipulation, stability, and mobility skills have significant barriers later in adulthood to entering or remaining physically active.

Great article. We need to promote age/developmentally appropriate learning and teaching for our children, and we have many great models to follow and help guide us. We need to create a FUN environment for our children. Let them play, and let them create their own play