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The Dauphin Friendship Centre is gearing up for the Coldest Night of the Year walk on Saturday, and is looking for volunteers. But not just for that event: anyone is welcome to volunteer with the Friendship Centre.
"We will take absolutely anybody of any kind of skill level, and we train them to the job that first perfectly for them," said Jarri Thompson, Events Coordinator with the Dauphin Friendship Centre.
Thompson mentioned the centre can accommodate the needs of their volunteers as well, especially when it comes to students.
"Students are able to work around their schedule, they come in and some serve, some help with preparation of food," said Thompson.
The benefits don't just stop with students; anyone who volunteers can see social benefits of working with the Friendship Centre and their community.
"[Volunteers] get a chance to get out and create new friendships, or bond with the friendships that they already have," said Thompson.
The Coldest Night of the Year walk is on Saturday, but there are more events the Friendship Centre is planning. For volunteering information, call the Friendship Centre at 204-638-9022.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Today is Pink Shirt Day, a day observed by many countries to help the fight against bullying.
According to pinkshirtday.ca, 1 in 5 kids are affected by bullying. Thanks to Pink Shirt Day fundraisers, the CKNW Kid's Fund has distributed more than $3.2 million dollars to youth anti-bullying programs in western Canada.
The fundraising started in 2007 after the fund's creators were inspired by a story of a boy who was bullied for wearing a pink shirt in school. A group of his friends went out that night to buy 50 pink shirts, and gave them out at school the next day to show their support.
The Manitoba Métis Federation recently held a poster contest for the day. During CKDM NewsNow's interview with Frances Chartrand, Vice President of the Manitoba Métis Federation Northwest Council, she told us what Pink Shirt Day means to her.
"Pink Shirt Day serves as an important reminder that bullying has no place in our community. This year, our focus is not only on awareness, but action, encouraging people to show kindness and respect in everyday moments," said Chartrand.
For more information about Pink Shirt Day or how to get involved, visit their website.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
The Parkland Humane Society is trying a new approach to get people to adopt their animals; it's one you don't need a PhD to understand.
Jen Langlois, Office Manager and Fundraising Coordinator for the Humane Society, says the reason they're holding the Read to the Animals event at the Dauphin Library is simple.
"To get our animals out more and into more places, and our calm animals, see how they're good with children," said Langlois.
She also said that this is the first event of the type the Humane Society is holding, and she looks forward to seeing where it leads.
"We have not held any kind of event like this before, we're trying to spread our wings and see what else we can do to take our animals places," said Langlois.
If you read to the animals and end up falling in love, every animal there is up for adoption. Langlois said the process of adoption with the Human Society isn't hard to understand.
"To start the process it's just filling out an adoption application, so whether it be for a cat or a dog it's the same process. Then once you get your application going and approved, you can take one of the little critters home," said Langlois.
Read to the Animals takes place at the Dauphin Library this Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. For more details, visit the Parkland Humane Society website.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Indigenous teaching organization Red Road Compass is looking to expand an interesting sustainable harvest initiative.
"We have tried to come up with an initiative that would allow individuals to connect to the land, and to learn a marketable skill that would allow them to earn some cash so that they can improve their life...so what we do is we bring individuals out into the environment, and we educate them on plants that have value," said Shawn Charlebois, owner and operator of Red Road Compass.
Charlebois also didn't fail to stress the importance of sustainability to the initiative.
"We established a real great working relationship with Natural Resources, and so we've sat down with them, had converstaions with them about can we do this in a sustainable way that supports their mandate of sustainability in the bush," said Charlebois.
He also commented on the level of commitment to sutainability that the initiative's current harvesters have.
"The people that we've currently worked with have been wonderful and have done their best. Even those people who are struggling financially, and there's a gain there for them possibly, are the ones that have been coming forward and preaching sustainability," said Charlebois.
Though some First Nations frown upon the sale of medicines, Charlebois has focused more on the good that comes from the initiative.
"When we talk about medicines, we must take into consideration that when we think of healing, we must think of people who just don't have enough money in their pockets to live a comfortable life," said Charlebois.
If you're interested in learning more about the initiative at Red Road Compass, more details and contact information are available at their website.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
The Manitoba government is saying it's listening to its front-line nurses.
They've announced safety upgrades at hospitals across the province. In Prairie Mountain Health, 20 fully funded institutional safety officers have been added. These licensed officers receive specialized training in crisis intervention, de-escalation, and emergency response, providing enhanced on-site support and improving coordination during incidents.
Steve Geletchuk is the manager for emergency preparedness and security services for PMH.
"It's great news. We've been working with the province to help ensure PMH is providing a safe environment for staff and clients," he said. "Any news about funding, new positions, or positions we've been working hand-in-hand with them to implement them."
While PMH has received 20, none of them are outside of Brandon. Geletchuk says Dauphin was left off the list, as was every other community in the Parkland.
"I think the region would benefit from having additional ISOs," he added. "We do have a model where we can deploy our ISOs to any facility in the region. I think it would be great to have additional ISO support in some key facilities."
At the Swan Valley Health Centre, amnesty lockers were installed.
The lockers provide secure storage at entry points to reduce the risk of prohibited items entering hospitals, alongside strengthened monitored access points, expanded surveillance systems and enhanced emergency communication tools as part of a layered safety strategy.
In November, the RCMP responded to the Health Centre after a man locked himself in the washroom with a knife. He was not a patient at the facility.
"And they've had very favourable results from the public and the staff," added Geletchuk. "Clients coming into the building can put their bags in the locker or have their bags searched. Everyone has been very positive about them so far."
The government says it will continue working with health authorities, unions, and front-line teams to expand safety initiatives, monitor progress, and ensure measures remain responsive to the evolving needs of health-care workers and patients.
"It shows some of the work that has been done to help improve safety in our health facilities," ended Geletchuk. "I wish we didn't have to rely on security, but it's a measure that seems to be necessary to ensure safety for everyone."
Around PMH, safety enhancements include improved visitor registration and expanded security patrols. Violence prevention programming has also been implemented.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
All four schools in Swan River were placed on hold and secure on Tuesday morning.
The Swan River RCMP received concerning information about an individual's well-being. Out of an abundance of caution, the schools opted for a brief hold and secure for all students and staff while the RCMP located the individual.
The individual was located and transported to the hospital for assessment.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
UPDATE:
The RCMP announced that St. Paul has been arrested.
They thank the public for its assistance.
The Ste. Rose RCMP are looking for a 37-year-old who assaulted a dog that later died.
On February 9 at 12:30 p.m., officers responded to a home on the Ebb and Flow First Nation and located a dead dog in the yard.
The male had been seen brandishing an edged weapon in the yard just before the dog was found with stab wounds. 37-year-old Daniel St. Paul also threatened a resident at a second address in the community.
St. Paul is charged with uttering threats and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
The search for St. Paul has begun. If you know where he is, call the Ste. Rose RCMP at 447-2513.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
The Dauphin Friendship Centre is hosting their first Family Feud Night tomorrow, and it's hopefully the first of many.
Jarri Thompson, events coordinator at the Friendship Centre, said they're eyeing the expansion of family based programming.
"In bringing back our adult programming, we've found that there's a great need for family programming as well," said Thompson.
The familes that will be competing have been selected. Many at the Friendship Centre are getting excited for the event, especially Thompson.
"I'm very excited because [the families] are super excited," said Thompson.
She also made sure to stress that even though the competing families have already been chosen, the event is open to the public to attend. In fact, it's encouraged.
"We will have seating, there will be some drinks and some snacks, and it's free. It's free to the public, we have had a lot of questions about that," said Thompson.
The event will take place tomorrow at 6:00 p.m.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
The Shoal Lake Community Drop-In Centre is hosting a tax credit presentation, organized by Accent Chartered Professional Accountants.
Howard Wirch, managing partner at Accent, says any taxpayer would benefit from the presentation.
"The primary audience would be seniors, however it is a presentation that would be applicable to any taxpayer," said Wirch.
Wirch has been a Chartered Professional Accountant for 25 years. With that experience, he said he still sees people struggle with tax credits from time to time.
"Quite a few people still don't know some of the details about tax credits and what they involve. Of course they change from time to time, the government announces various program changes each year, so staying on top of that is usually the challenge," said Wirch.
He also went over some of the topics that attendees can expect at the presentation.
"We're gonna talk about what is a tax credit, the differences between refundable and non-refundable credits," Wirch said.
The presentation will take place on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. For more information, visit the Shoal Lake Community Drop-In Centre's Facebook page.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Portage la Prairie RCMP are investigating the stabbing of two males inside a moving vehicle near Sandy Bay First Nation Sunday night.
A 20 year old and a 22 year old male had an argument in the back seat of the vehicle that escalated, leading to both men suffering stab wounds.
Both men are reportred to be in stable condition as RCMP continue to investigate.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The Manitoba Agricultural Crown Lands leases and permits online auction begins today.
It will be taking place on Garton's Auction Services website.
Larry Garton describes how the registration process works.
"You do have to be accepted by the province to be able to bid. So once you have registered and received the verifying email back, you go in to the auction website, and you have to click on a button that says "get approved to bid". That will send me an email, and I will then send you some forms and declarations to say that there is no conflict of interest, that you do not have a close relative working for crown lands or that type of thing."
Once those forms are completed, Garton then sends them off to the province for approval.
There are a total of 11 pieces of land up for auction, including two in the Parkland - one in the R-M of Mountain and the other in Gilbert Plains Municipality.
You must register before noon on Friday in order to take part.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
