The launch was attended by Olympic Snowboarder Alexa Loo, Korina Houghton, Chair of the Vancouver Park Board and Walter Schultz, Manager of Business Development for the TD Commercial Bank, who spoke of their support for program and joined with children and staff from local community centers to experience games from the Play it Fair! Toolkit.
Play it Fair! was initiated in 2004 in collaboration with the City of Montreal through its Direction de la diversité sociale and the Ministère de l'immigration et des communautés culturelles du Québec. Thanks to the TD Bank Financial Group, the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation and Canadian Heritage, the program was expanded to Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Dieppe, Fredericton and Moncton. In 2008, approximately 250 camps will participate in the program and up to 2,000 camp staff and 50,000 children are expected to be reached.
The Toolkit uses games adapted for the summer camp environment to promote values such as inclusion, respect and peaceful conflict resolution as well as to fight discrimination. Designed by Equitas and comprised of over 60 interactive activities and games for children aged 6-12, the Toolkit will be integrated into summer day camp programs offered by municipal and community based partners across Canada. The Toolkit will help camp staff and children to promote positive values and address issues such as racism, name calling, bullying and exclusion. |