THUNDER BAY – Aviva Canada is giving away $1 million and the Thunder Bay and Region Protective and Emergency Services Training Centre is looking for a piece of the action. The training centre has announced that the timing is right to commence Phase III of their project – a Children’s Safety Village.
The Children’s Safety Village is a unique venture where people come together to make a difference and leave a positive impact on the city of Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario.
This is all about community and safety for our children. There is no such facility here. The Safety Village will give children from grades 1-6 the opportunity to learn about the importance of safety in the community in an attempt to eliminate preventable injuries and fatalities in a creative, fun and interactive environment.
The safety village will replicate several real life situations in order to provide children with realistic learning experiences. Everything from traffic/pedestrian lights; street/traffic signs; painted roadways and walkways; a kitchen, bedroom, railway, school bus, hydro station, police station, fire hall and various commercial buildings will be used to create interactive learning experiences which children will be sure to remember.
Knowing that this will have a lasting impact on the community, we want to do it right. Our main concern at this point is with obtaining financial support for the infrastructure of this facility.
The estimated $200,000 cost for infrastructure would provide our committee with a start to this project and get others on board to make our community a safer place to live for all youth. Being chosen an Aviva Community Fund Recipient will allow us to be one step closer to being providers of community safety excellence.
Similar types of Children’s Safety Villages are located in Belleville, Durham, Halton, London, Niagara, Ottawa, Peel, Sarnia, Waterloo, York, Calgary, Chilliwack and Halifax.
Deputy Chief of Police J.P. Levesque says that, “This is one more example of inter-agency cooperation to advance the safety of our community. The ability to access funding would ensure that this project gets started in a timely manner”.
We need the public support for this to happen. You can help by going to Aviva Canada Community Fund at http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf9809.
Click on ‘To Submit an Idea or Vote Register Now’ and then register to vote. Find Children’s Safety Village then click on ‘Vote Now’. Voting ends November 26th, so vote now!!!! You can vote up to 10x – once every 12 hours.
For more information please contact Larry Price, President at 684-3100.
Photo courtesy of Lori Fox-Rossi.
