(Click HERE to SingTao site article)
(English Translation)
October 29, 2012
Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver, Sunday, organized a number of activities including Featherhack, paper cutting and erhu in support to the ongoing festivities running from Oct 24-Nov 4, 2012.
Many parents brought their children to participate and experience traditional Chinese culture.
From Chinese descent immigrant parents who grew up in Vancouver Chinatown (Tan Xiao Hong) Bob Tam, three years ago to started learning (and instructing) Featherhacking, he began to actively promote this activity. He said: “Many people think that kicking the shuttlecock is an outdated activity, (Featherhacking is an all-around activity which combines both hands and feet and is not limited to restrictions; Featherhacking is a non-competitive, inexpensive, indoor or outdoor, all-around activity which promotes healthy physical activities for all ages.”
Bob Tam had to promote this activity, because his mother’s side is deeply troubled by the epidemic of obesity (and diabetes). He said: “And now there are many children suffering from obesity and I hope to see more young people (a chance to over obstacles and have fun stay healthy) let’s play some Featherhacking”
By Gerry Bellett, Vancouver Sun June 23, 2012
A successful after-school program for Downtown Eastside aboriginal and disabled youth is shutting down because the Treasury Board has frozen a $22-million grant to Cultural Connections for Aboriginal Youth — a national program designed to enhance the economic, social, cultural and personal prospects for off-reserve youth.
RedFox Healthy Living Society, a non-profit group that was counting on a $85,000 grant to keep its programs going though the year, is closing down after six years, said executive director Emma Sutherland.
“We’re a healthy-living skills and employment training program for aboriginal youth and youth with disabilities. We operate on an absolute shoestring and we serve over 200 kids a month, and with the special events we do throughout Metro Vancouver each year we reach over 15,000 children and their families,†she said.
The program has won a number of awards and is considered “a best practice†by the provincial government, said Sutherland.
RedFox is active in 10 schools and community centres in East Vancouver and was planning a number of events that would have involved aboriginal youth during the summer holidays — the most important time of the year for the program.
The freeze on releasing the funds to the various Cultural Connections for Aboriginal Youth (CCAY) centres across Canada is incomprehensible, said Vancouver East NDP MP Libby Davies.
B.C. organizations have received about $3 million in funding with half being spent in Metro Vancouver.
“This is going to have a drastic impact on aboriginal youth. This is a critically needed, front-line service that has been wiped out,†said Davies. “We’re hoping that a quick response will put enough pressure on the minister to have the decision reversed.â€
In parliament Thursday, Jean Crowder, NDP MP for Nanaimo-Cowichan, asked Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Minister John Duncan to explain why the Treasury Board froze the funding when he had earlier stated that the cultural connections program would be safe from cuts.
Duncan said he had just met with the national president of the organization and “we are concerned about this issue.â€
He said the government wanted to realign the program to “meet our current needs for skills training development and job readiness.â€
Crowder reminded the minister that Thursday was National Aboriginal Day. “These are programs that keep kids off the streets and keep them going to school. Staff have been laid off, doors closed and uncertainty has grown around the cultural connections. This is a blow to the great work that friendship centres do across the country,†she said.
Sutherland said cancellation came after RedFox had already spent $25,000 in anticipation of the grant being renewed.
“We’ve been operating on an agreement that our program was accepted for funding on April 1. That has been the way the government has forced us to operate. We had to deliver programs but they made us wait for the money.
“We have spent $25,000 and expected that money to come in but now they’ve told us they’re cancelling the whole program. We’re shutting down almost immediately,†she said.
The federal grant of $85,000 accounted for 70 per cent of the society’s operating budget.
One of the programs planned for the summer was a geocaching project in partnership with Telus, which was designed to get inner-city kids out of their neighbourhoods and into regional parks.
“It would teach them about technology and get them out of the city but the program was contingent on getting CCAY funding. We were at the point where we were going to take Strathcona students and give them something to do in the summer and now we’re scrambling,†said Sutherland.
Paul Lacerte, executive director of the B.C. Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, said the loss of programs would have a devastating effect on at-risk aboriginal youth.
“At the worst it means we are going to lose some youth. These are very vulnerable young people. We have people who are struggling with drug and alcohol addiction and we are keeping them from conditions where they are going to overdose. We also have a massive problem with young people in terms of self-harm.
“So all the indications are that this will mean lives, for sure,†said Lacerte.
“For at-risk youth, trust is hard-earned and easily lost. Now their support worker has lost his job and has bills to pay and needs to find another job the kid will say ‘yeah that’s what everyone in my life has done — given me the illusion of a relationship then have it all disappear.’â€
gbellett@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
(Read Vancouver Sun Article click HERE)
By: ctvbc.ca
Date: Monday Jun. 25, 2012 4:09 PM PT
Another federal funding freeze is putting a Vancouver program for aboriginal and disabled youth in jeopardy.
The Red Fox Healthy Living Society encourages children to get active, learn leadership skills and get in touch with cultural traditions. Red Fox’s Emma Sutherland told CTV News that the program can make a big difference in young people’s futures.
“Youth that started in our program are working full time, they’ve gone to college to get training in recreation and food security, they have great relationships with their friends and family, they’re graduating from high school, they’re resolving conflict,” she said.
But a federal grant that makes up 60 per cent of Red Fox’s funding has been put on hold, putting the entire program at risk.
“This came as a huge shock. We were told that it had been approved by the federal budget, had passed the review process, and then when it went to the Treasury Board, all of a sudden the story changed,” Sutherland said.
“I believe if the federal government were to actually look closely at what’s happening across Canada, they would applaud what we’re doing and not take away our funding.”
Red Fox has already spent $25,000 in anticipation of the funding, which normally comes in around this time of year. The funding freeze means that summer programs have now been cancelled.
The money used to come through a national program called Cultural Connections, which also supports similar programs across the country. Vancouver East NDP MP Libby Davies described the sudden uncertainty for those groups as “reprehensible.”
“These organizations are small organizations. They need to know what their funding future is; they have to pay people every month,” she said.
Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan faced questions about the funding freeze last week in the House of Commons.
“We will be realigning the program to meet our current needs for skills training, development and job readiness for aboriginal youth, so we’re putting the train back on the tracks,” he told MPs.
Duncan wasn’t available to answer questions Monday, but his press secretary issued a similar statement about the program for aboriginal youth, saying, “We are concerned that it is not currently meeting their most pressing needs.”
With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Maria Weisgarber
Wow, it’s been a long time updating Featherhack news but with the luck of Year of Rabbit, Featherhack made its debut in a bilingual school–Kilmer Elementary (Port Coquitlam).
Two classes participated in the fun workshop and we learned the history of Featherhacking, the advantages of using two hands and feet for sports, and we all got a chance to play with all the activities–everyone did their part and had an awesome time!
There’s something brewing in the air…and it’s our first foray into getting more children trying out a new activity which aims at improving the quality of physical exercise through using an age old toy.
Featherhacking 101 @Strathcona Community Centre:
From April 17- June 26 Every Thursday from 3:30-5pm Get out and learn and play Featherhacking! We’d like to start a World Record for everybody who participates!! There will be secret arts and crafts days where we will be making our own toys that we can use to keep ourselves in shape ~ and most of all have fun meeting new friends!
PARENTS! Good News!:~ You will receive a tax receipt for income tax purposes for joining this program!!
We’re also searching for Sponsors and Donors willing to help out in getting kids to play for free!! Please contact Bob 778-858-3486. Strathcona Community Centre Association is a registered charity. Your donation to our program will be gratefully accepted and an official receipt for income tax purposes will be given.
Video of some of us outside a cafe Featherhacking Check out the stall action!
It’s like 30min. to the Belonging Institute’s Big Contest~ and Hit-Fit is entering in the contest to introduce Art, Sports, and Music to the audience.
Video Post of more Featherhacking!
Here’s a video of Featherhacking on an Ice skating rink with a fellow hacker. (Helmets recommended)
Featherhacking on Water Here’s a video of me and my mom playing some hacking on the pool, you can see folks working out to hit tunes next to us.
I’ve got butterflies in my stomach thinking about tonight, I’m just getting things prepped up and boy are we gonna have some fun times tonight! Birthday shoutouts to Miki -Happy Birthday!- Hope to see you later on!-
This is a start for me tonight into the foray of interactive entertainment, hope it all goes well (I’m crossing my fingers for good weather, and a warm crowd to play some FeatherHacking!)