SFRRS Newsletter

June 2010

Newsletter Highlights

You’re Invited to our AGM June 30th

Come and learn about our many Programs!

Everyone is invited to attend our Annual General Meeting on Wed. June 30th at 5:00. This is a wonderful chance for the community to meet our Board of Directors and hear about our employees and volunteers and the many programs and resources our centre is offering to our community.

This year our support to families and our community has included the following programs:

· Adoption Resource and Support

· Backpack School Supplies Program

· Child and Youth Mental Health Outreach

· Community Volunteer Program

· Family Development

· Intensive Family Preservation

· Nobody’s Perfect Parenting

· Pregnancy Outreach

· Young Parent Support

· Community Kitchen

· Sexual Abuse Intervention

· Youth Alcohol and Drug Prevention

· Family to Family Christmas Gifts

· Our community resource library

This has proven to be a challenging year as we have worked hard to adapt our budgets to many increasing needs, particularly for the children in our community. We have responded to increased requests for our school supply backpacks as well as our Christmas gift hamper program. Our thanks go to those in the community who have supported us in so many valuable ways whether through volunteer work or financial contribution.

Cooking with Kids! By Candice Lucey

Eve's Fruit Patties

One would think that I would never do certain things in the kitchen, just out of common sense. For example, telling six-year-old Eve to crush some raspberries, then handing her a potato masher! (Did I ever mention that Sunlight Soap gets out virtually anything?)

This recipe was Eve’s idea, and she was very happy to be the boss of me. She chose the fruits, mashed and shaped. We came up with different combinations, but whatever you try, make the oil very hot before cooking, and use a wide spatula to place the patties in the oil and take them out again. Our aim was to use mostly fruit grown in the region, so they will be brittle.

Here is the recipe for Eve’s Fruit Patties:

1 cup mixed chopped or mashed fruit (nectarines, raspberries, blueberries etc.)

1/2 cup dry mix: cocoa, graham cracker crumbs, or half and half.

1 egg (optional; or, use a bit of honey)

vegetable oil or butter

Combine fruit with egg (if using) and slightly more than half of the dry mixture, adding more if necessary to form four patties. Chill for one hour (1/4 hour if in the freezer). Spread the rest of the dry mix on a plate and gently coat the chilled patties.

Heat oil or butter in a frying pan on medium heat, then reduce slightly when a drop of water fizzes in the oil. (Safety Caution: Parent needs to be responsible for the hot oil when cooking with younger children

Fry the patties on each side, turning carefully (or grill the top to save turning and potentially breaking). Serve and eat immediately.

Eve likes these with lots of cocoa, no egg, but an egg helps keep the mixture together. Faye and I preferred less cocoa or just graham cracker crumbs. If trying to reduce sugar still further and omit gluten, substitute crushed cornflake crumbs for the graham cracker crumbs.. Reprinted with permission

Welcome to Candice, a former Board member. She has two school-aged youngsters and loves the challenge of cooking with them!

You’re invited to cook in

OUR Community Kitchen

3rd Friday of every month ~ 4-7 pm

At our Resource Centre

For more info call Jen: 250 517-9721 ( $1 per portion)

Come out and meet new people, learn new recipes and eat GREAT FOOD

Counting what Counts!

In our work supporting families and our community we’ve counted LOTS!

Number of School Supply Back-Packs: 25 (many more requests for this year!)

Number of Christmas Gifts distributed: over 640

Number of Silent Auction Items for our New Years fundraiser: 45

Number of Bus to the Beach kits distributed: 52 Number of Books in our library: over 2,000

Number of Staff members: 13 Number of Board Members: 6

Number of Volunteer hours last year: over 1,081

Number of walk-ins from the street over the past year 2,226

Number of Phone calls to our centre: 7, 041

Most important of all: Number of families accessing programs at the Centre: 960

Number of community members supported: 3, 186

Thanks for helping us with what really counts!

Focus on our Volunteers!

Introducing: Ricky Lee

We are fortunate to have close to thirty individuals who help us on both a regular or “as needed” basis. We are so grateful for their help!

Someone who has been a valuable volunteer resource with general maintenance and clean-up of the centre is Ricky Lee. Originally from Ontario, he has been in B.C. for the past ten years and in our community for most of that time.

He has been volunteering at the Family Centre over the past year and faithfully shows up four days a week to help out with clean-up and the extras that need “doing” from changing light bulbs to taking out the garbage! He says that he has been helped out in many ways and this is his way of “giving back” to what he says is an agency that is providing such valuable service to families in our community. Ricky very much enjoys his volunteer work and says he feels really cared-about by our staff.

Thanks Ricky for all that you do!

Community Contacts

BC Access Centre 250 832-1611

City of Salmon Arm 250 832-6021

Downtown Activity Centre 250 832-0108

HandiDart 250 832-3000

Kids Help Line 250 310-1234

Meals on Wheels 250 833-3636

Okanagan Regional Library Salmon Arm 250 832-6161

School District #83 250 832-2157

Second Harvest 250 833-4011

Shuswap Child Care Resource and Referral 250 832-4191

Shuswap Children’s Association 250 833-0164

Shuswap Community Care 250 832-6643

Sunwave Centre 250 832-3856

Women’s Shelter 250 832-9616