Welcome to Children At Risk Online

President's Message ...

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

It’s YOUR CHARITY and it NEEDS - YOU!
Children at Risk is now in its 31st year of operating in the Ottawa Region. The demands on the charity have never been so great with the ever increasing rate of diagnosis with no plateau in sight. Although there is much more available with the increase in non profit and private sector providers, requests for services continue to rise at a time when everyone is feeling the pinch from reduced support for fundraisers and donations due to the economic climate.
Children at Risk operates solely on the generosity and support from the Ottawa region community having no guaranteed forms of income and no Government financial support. As a charity that prides its self on making every penny count towards improving the lives of families living with Autism, it is becoming more and more challenging to raise those pennies. Increasingly, we feel the dilemma of higher operating costs to provide services and execute fundraisers.
Children at Risk is like WestJet - All members are owners and as owners you can assist your Charity in being the best it possibly can be, now and in the future! This can be as simple as renewing your membership and mentioning Children At Risk to all newly diagnosed families - to getting involved with our newly created Volunteer Executive positions – details of which are being fine tuned and more will be available at our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, June 8, where we also outline our future direction for a leaner, more focused Board of Directors.

Think not “what my Charity can do for me?” but “what I can do for my Charity?” There is so much that everyone can do to be instrumental in making Children at Risk a success:
1. Renew your Family Membership NOW ($20 per annum to June 30 - $25 July 1)
2. Donate used toys for our pick & pay table at the 13th June picnic or donate unwanted new gifts, toys, games, that we can use at our auctions - the September Blast Off to Kids auction or the 2011 Rockin‟ for Risk dance auction.
3. Mention Children at Risk as the charity of choice for a Fundraising event whether it be a school project or Corporate Sports fundraiser. Name Children at Risk as your designated charity in United Way Campaigns.
4. Promote and support by attending or volunteering at our fundraisers which include :
a. Rollin‟ for Risk Bowl-A-Thon (January)– Get your team bowling, gather pledges – kids teams, adult teams, corporate teams
b. Rockin‟ for Risk Dance (April) – It might be Oldies music but you don‟t need to be old to attend!
c. Annual Raffle (May/June) – Buy or sell tickets. Ask local businesses you know to donate gift certificates and/or merchandise.
d. Blast Off to Kids (September)– Attend, buy or sell raffle tickets, contribute to or bid in the auction
e. Celebrity-Carved Pumpkin Contest (October) – Not just for celebrities! - have your employer, local businesses or kids sports teams carve a pumpkin and provide a prize package. Mention it to your City Counsellor and MPP. Have your kids chose their favourite pumpkin by donating some loose change and check out the on-line auction and win some of those prize packages.
f. Santa Photos at Westgate Shopping Centre (December) – Volunteers are essential to this new fundraiser!
g. Selling 50/50 tickets at Ottawa Senators and Ottawa 67‟s games – we hope to continue this wonderful opportunity to raise funds by just showing up to sell!

As our members we welcome any ideas that you might have in helping Children at Risk raise funds to continue to Support your Autism Community. We realize that our families have a lot to deal with so we also invite extended family, friends and neighbours to also get involved and assist in making Children at Risk stronger and more successful.

Paul Lacroix,
President, Board of Directors

Upcoming Events ...

Health & Wellness Show

Annual General Meeting

Hip Hop

Autism Community Annual Family Picnic

Slaughter Daughters