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Nova’s Ark began as a dream by former special education facilitator and recently retired elementary school Principal Mary-Ann Nova. Nova’s Ark is a registered charity (85916 1176 RR0001) providing social and communication opportunities for people of all ages and abilities involving a wide range of exotic and gentle animals. The volunteer peer mentors are a key factor in the successful integration of our visitors with the animals, allowing for unique, positive and memorable experiences. The animals bring people together, but it is our amazing youth volunteers who keep people coming. Supported by private, corporate and service donations, Nova’s Ark provides programs and activities that benefit the community in various ways. Nova’s Ark has created many customized day visits, spring and summer camp opportunities and off site presentations for service organizations, group home facilities, education centers and special event functions.

TWO WHEEL VIEW believes that all youth should have the opportunity to expand their physical and cultural boundaries. There are many youth, due to financial or social limitations, that are never exposed to what may provide the greatest source of learning – real life experiences that bring home valuable insights and logical steps for positive change. By exposing young people to new challenges, other cultures and diverse environments through an intense hands-on experience, TWO WHEEL VIEW believes we can open young people's eyes to new ways of thinking and positively impact them to create positive change in their own lives and communities for the future. TWO WHEEL VIEW offers a range of programs from local after-school programs to international bicycle expeditions. All programs are free for youth and are supported through individual donations, grants, and volunteer support.

One of Canada’s finest and last remaining grand estates, featuring architectural, landscape and interior designs of the 1920’s and 1930’s, Parkwood was home, from 1917-1972, to auto baron R. Samuel McLaughlin (founder of General Motors Canada)and his family. Parkwood is praised by Canada’s Historic Site and Monuments Board as “a rare surviving example of the type of estate developed in Canada during the inter-war years, and is rarer still by its essentially intact condition, furnished and run to illustrate as it was lived within.” The majestic estate that was once a private enclave experienced by a select few is now a National Historic Site, open year-round, to be enjoyed by all. The Parkwood Foundation has successfully raised $5 million to date, for conservation and preservation of this magnificent estate. Your support will help us continue to preserve this important heritage site, for th education and enjoyment of all.

The Vancouver Chamber Choir is one of Canada’s national treasures, an outstanding professional vocal ensemble noted for its diverse repertoire and performing excellence. The Choir has been performing to audiences at home in Vancouver and on tour across Canada since it was formed in 1971 by conductor Jon Washburn. International excursions have taken the Vancouver Chamber Choir to the USA, Mexico, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Finland, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine. Honoured with the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence by Chorus America, the Vancouver Chamber Choir has to its credit countless performances, 30 recordings, hundreds of radio broadcasts and numerous awards. Recognized by the Canadian League of Composers as foremost supporters of Canadian music, Jon Washburn and the Choir have commissioned and premiered nearly 250 Canadian choral compositions.

Puppetmongers was established in 1974 by the sister and brother team of Ann Powell and David Powell. Between 1974 and 1989, we toured our shows for family audiences extensively to most major Canadian and US centres as well as in the UK, France, Belgium, Germany and Iran. Since 1990 we have focused on working nearer home, with the addition of short tours to festivals and theatre runs further afield. We create larger, more theatrical shows, involving many artists and self-produce our works in theatres. We have ventured into puppetry for adult audiences with several productions and work with other artists, such as on in composer R. Murray Schafer's Palace of the Cinnabar Phoenix. Most recently we mounted Charles Dickens’ Hard Times. We founded The School of Puppetry in 1996 with courses for adults, as a vehicle for disseminating our vision. This season the course is being incorporated into Humber College’s new Puppet Intensive Program.

Naturopathic medicine is a distinct system of primary care that addresses the root cause of illness or disease and promotes health and healing using natural therapies. Naturopathic doctors (NDs) are highly educated primary care providers who integrate standard medical diagnostics with a broad range of natural therapies. A pioneer in Canadian naturopathic education, CCNM first opened its doors in 1978 (as the Ontario College of Naturopathic Medicine in Kitchener). In 1984 CCNM relocated to Toronto, where it has continued to grow, educating students from across Canada and around the world. Today, CCNM is Canada's premier institute for education and research in naturopathic medicine, offering a rigorous four-year, full-time doctor of naturopathic medicine program. CCNM is also home to the Robert Schad Naturopathic Clinic, a dynamic naturopathic teaching clinic where senior clinicians and ND supervisors conduct more than 25,000 patient visits per year.

Founded in 1964, the Victoria Conservatory of Music (VCM) has an outstanding reputation for quality in education, performance and music therapy. As a music school for the whole community, the VCM has 137 faculty members & welcomes over 2,000 students of all ages and musical abilities. This multiple emphasis gives the VCM the unique ability to touch a broad range of people in our community: from pre-school aged children to seniors, beginning students to those who aspire to a professional career, the musically gifted as well as those with developmental or physical challenges. Housed in a magnificent heritage building in downtown Victoria, the VCM is considered an artistic jewel of the city and is one of Canada’s most unique musical spaces. It boasts three incredible performance venues for students, faculty and guest artists. The Alix Goolden Performance Hall (AGPH) seats 800 and is home to the new VCM Presents Concert Series; Wood Hall and Metro Theatre seat 115 and 225 respectively.

ONE TO ONE is a unique children’s literacy program that provides one-to-one tutoring to children in elementary schools during regular school hours. Our trained volunteer tutors work with students who are identified by their teachers as needing a boost in their literacy skills. Typically, each student spends approximately 30 minutes twice a week with a volunteer tutor. Children chosen for the program often receive little or no literacy support at home. ONE TO ONE provides these children with an opportunity to practice their reading in an environment where it is okay to take risks, make mistakes, and learn at their own pace. The ONE TO ONE program is available for free to any student in one of our program schools, and is completely funded by grants and private donations. ONE TO ONE's 300 volunteer tutors support over 800 students in Vancouver and North Vancouver. Support us and provide a child with the opportunity to develop literacy skills for life.

Daytrippers is a registered charity led by a volunteer group of young professionals dedicated to giving back to the community. Daytrippers-sponsored trips are often the only vehicle through which underprivileged children can explore the world beyond their neighbourhoods and gain new perspectives on the world. Thanks to funds raised by Daytrippers, inner-city children have visited conservation areas, gone camping, and walked through a forest for the first time. And children from rural areas have visited Parliament in Ottawa, the Royal Ontario Museum, and many other cultural institutions that are inaccessible in their home environment. We cannot run these trips without your help. With your donation, everybody wins: STUDENTS get an educational and fun experience that they will remember for a lifetime, TEACHERS get to take their classes to a whole new learning environment like nothing they can offer in school, and YOU get to make a difference - and get a tax receipt.

We achieve our mission through four major program areas, targeting youth and educators – in both official languages: 1. Science projects and science fairs – science projects in schools and homes; regional science fairs in every province and territory; the weeklong Canada-Wide Science Fair (CWSF); and Team Canada representing the country at Intel ISEF, MILSET, and other international youth science competitions and events. 2. Smarter Science – a framework, resources, and workshops for teaching and learning science through inquiry for teachers in grades 1-12. 3. SMARTS – our online community for youth and the adults who support them. 4. School Campaigns – Invent the Future and Youth Science Month – national campaigns that provide teachers in 11,000 schools (every school in the country with grades 7-12/Cégep) with information on inquiry, project-based science, science fairs, and the achievements of Canada’s young scientists.

HOW CAN I HELP? Every day you hear of poverty and social injustice at home and abroad. People sometimes find it easier to ignore this reality, not from a cold heart but believing they can be of little or no significance. But our work has shown that it is ordinary people who can and do make an extraordinary difference. No one person or group can solve all the problems, but we can support the suffering and stand with them in solidarity, helping them make the necessary changes to improve their lives. What may seem very little, like a fund drive in a school, community, or church, a donation, or giving your time and service, together is a whole lot. Since most poverty and injustices are human-made, they can be unmade. Relieving poverty and injustice can and will be achieved with the good will and involvement of large numbers of people. Every support is a "Rainbow of Hope". You can choose to be part of the solution.

Rainbow Literacy Society (RLS) is a non-profit organization that provides free family literacy programs. These programs include Books for Babies, Time for Rhymes, Building Blocks Family Literacy Program, Homegrown: Stories for Life, Pillowslip Stories and Building Adolescent Skills in School. RLS also delivers the Write Break Adult Literacy one-on-on volunteer tutor program. RLS was formed in 1993 by a group of Vulcan County volunteers who wanted to develop preventative programs, based on the belief that language, literacy and communication skills are critical factors in the lives of every citizen in our community. Staff and volunteers from RLS developed the Building Blocks Family Literacy Program in 1997. Staff are trained to work in-home with families on literacy skills. This model is now used by various programs in Western Canada. In 2004 Rainbow Literacy Society was recognized by Literacy Alberta and received the Award of Excellence for an organization.