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What’s New ?


Grants Received

We received a grant from the Comox Valley Community Foundation for our ‘Reconnecting After COVID’ request.

This grant of $5000 (for two consecutive years) will go towards our Parent & Tot, Teen Night and School Garden programs.

 DICES will create opportunities for Denman Island residents to mend the social fabric in the community through the following programs:

  •  Parent & Tot invites children ages 0-5 and their caregivers to  a fun-filled morning with games in the gym, stories, crafts and snacks. This is a great way for the children to socialize, to be introduced to the community school and for parents to meet other parents. This is an ongoing program that will be expanded.
  • Teen Night  is a weekly evening drop-in opportunity for  youth to meet-up and hang-out in a relaxed environment. The program is facilitated by DICES staff and activities are organized in collaboration with the youth. This is an ongoing program that will be expanded to facilitate field trips such as movie nights or bowling in town. 
  • Garden Parties is a monthly program where the community is invited to the school garden to help with maintenance and learn new skills in a festive environment. Garden parties would feature local musicians, provide snacks and workshops that are facilitated by  knowledgeable community members who will share their farming, gardening and crafting expertise. This is a new program that will support and expand other DICES programs such as the School Lunch, Full Circle Foods, Food Bank and Gardening After-School Programs. 

December Holiday Hamper Donations

We are very grateful to have received lots of donations for our Holiday Hampers already! 

At this point, we are close to $4000 and are hoping to get more in order to supply everyone who applied with a festive surprise 🙂

To everyone who donated already – thank you so much for your generosity – it really means a lot and makes a huge difference !

-Your DICES Team 

DICES Updates And New Projects

The year is coming to a close and despite staffing changes and recent cancellations of our After-School program due to snow, illness and staffing issues, we are looking back at the year with a smile on our faces.

The previous DICES team (Emily, Teesh and Katarina) did some wonderful work and set the path for the new team (Sadie, Jessi and Taina).

The transition was not easy, we have some big shoes to fill and a lot to learn and catch up to, but I think we managed to build a solid foundation for the year to come.

As for the last quarter of this year, a lot of admin time was taken up by sorting through issues that came with the switch of Union Bay Credit Union to First Credit Union. A big ‘THANKS’ goes to our board members, who were always quick and reliable to take action and help out!

We applied for- and received new grants in order to better support and expand our Teen Night, Parent & Tot and School Garden programs. Each of them could use some more supplies, backup staff and volunteers. 

The ‘Covered Recreation Space’ is still in need of funding and we have a long way to go in order to reach the amount needed to finish the project. However, we are optimistic and are already working on finding more funds. This project is an important part of bringing the community together, offering a safe space and facilitating various activities from sports to music.

Last but not least, our CAP site will be moving soon. The new place is called ‘Hub’ (close to the back room of the community hall) and will feature a kitchen, storage for food bank, supplies for Teen Night and maybe even office space!

Everyone involved is working hard to make the relocation possible at some point early January.

Overall, thanks to the support of our board, donors and amazing community, we have managed to maintain what DICES stands for and are hoping to expand what we have to offer next year. 

Feel free to contact us if you would like to help, connect or leave feedback.

dices.communityprograms@gmail.com

-Your DICES Team 

Canada Dental Benefits

The Liberal government’s new dental care benefit for children is open for applications, which will help qualifying families get help for their children’s dental costs.

As of December 1, 2022, Canadian Families can apply for the Interim Federal Dental Benefit. The first benefit period is for children under 12 years old as of December 1, 2022 who receive dental care between October 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023 and meet the eligibility criteria.

Information on who is eligible can be found here: Canada Dental Benefit – Canada.ca and the link to apply through CRA will be active as of December 1, 2022.

Here are some helpful tools and resources to answer questions about the interim Canada Dental Benefit and to better equip you to help families understand and access the benefit (includes printable infographics):

January After-School, Youth and Early Years Program

Here is our new schedule January- March. Have a look and sign up now:

Handout Winter 2023 After School Programs_FINAL