Thanks to funding provided by the Fergus – Elora Rotary Club, the Power of Positive (POP) Project has launched, providing craft kits at no cost to ANY youth in the community who would like to participate.

People in our community are looking for ways to make a positive impact and the youth are no exception. The POP project provides art-based projects, to empower youth to make an everlasting positive impression in our community, having lots of fun along the way.

“I am super excited for our youth to create, inspire, and motivate using handmade art, videos and positive messaging designed to uplift others in our community,” shares Barb Evoy, project founder. “I think one of the many highlights for me personally was listening to teenagers, from our local Interact Club, share their reasons for being a part of the project, including ‘helping others will help me to feel better about myself’ and ‘I’ve learned enough about my own mental health to know that giving to people in need will help me too,’” adds Evoy.

There are five ways for youth to express their creativity and provide a positive message that the organizing team will then share inside the community. Kits include painted rocks, canvas pictures, decorated frames, paper flower bouquets, and fun videos. The goal is to provide opportunities for a wide range of young people to participate.

After launching on Monday May 11, the emails to reserve kits have been flooding in. Kits will be available for pick up in both the Fergus and Elora communities. If you would like to register to receive a kit, please reach out via email. Once children receive and complete their activity, it is our hope that they will then return it for the committee to deliver throughout the community.

“We live in a community that thrives on being able to support one another, and the POP Project CW gives the amazing youth of our community a way to feel included in giving back,” says Katie Giddy, project volunteer and Director of Hospitality Sales and Marketing at Grand River Agricultural Society (GRAS). “We at GRAS we were overwhelmed by the community support and participation in The Helping Hungry Heroes Initiative and we are thrilled to work in collaboration with The Fergus Elora Rotary Club to help deliver another ‘pass it forward’ community project.”

The POP Project Team is also looking for recipients to receive these thoughtful and inspiring gifts of creativity. If you know somebody who would enjoy one of these beautiful creations of positivity, please nominate them via email at POPprojectCW@gmail.com, including their name and delivery location.

For kit lists or updates on how this project is evolving, follow us @POPPROJECTCW (Facebook) or @CW_Pop_Project (Instagram)