Let Them Be Kids

Let Them Be Kids is an all volunteer, non-profit organization created to build community capacity on the grassroots level, while building playgrounds, skate parks and fitness parks across Canada. These projects leave a legacy of community members who are inspired and better equipped to lay a strong foundation for a brighter tomorrow.

St. John Catholic Elementary School in Perth is a proud recipient of a 2010 Let Them Be Kids "Believe" Award! Every dollar raised by our community will be matched by Let Them Be Kids
to build a much needed playground at St. John's!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Where to Shop in PERTH, Ontario!

St. John's has been very fortunate to have received monetary donations from about 30 local businesses in Perth, as well as fabulous silent auction donations for our upcoming fundraising dance. It is thanks in part to the generosity of these local companies that St. John's will be able to build a new playground in our school yard on May 29th of this year!

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank these generous businesses for being community leaders and for helping make dreams come true!

We also hope that, in turn, the Perth community and St. John's families, teachers and parishioners, will show their support for these businesses!  

Next time you do your shopping... think about all the fun our school children will have at recess on their new playground! For a great list of places to shop, check out our donor list on the RIGHT!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Local Family "Ups the Stakes" to Help Build St. John's Playground!

Former St. John's Elementary School Teacher, Miss Shirley Kindellan, maintains a strong connection to her former workplace. Miss Kindellan taught at St. John's for many years and is now enjoying retirement, and she continues to be an active member of our parish community. When she heard that St. John's Elementary was raising funds to transform our school yard, she got involved! 

After making her own generous $500 donation to the playground fund, Miss Kindellan challenged her own father, Don Kindellan, to contribute $100 for each great-grandchild who currently attends (or will attend) St. John's. You see, Mr. Kindellan's two great-grandchildren, Ben and Rylin Kilpatrick, are current SJ students. His younger great-grandchildren, Lauren Kilpatrick and Will White, along with Will's younger sibling, who is due this coming August,  will also attend St. John's when they become school age. This makes a total of five great-grandchildren, and thanks to his daughter's challenge, Mr. Kindellan matched his daughter's donation and generously gave $500, which will create a fun recess time for all students at St. John's!

In addition to the Kindellans' big-hearted gifts, other family members including Joan and Robert Harvey and Joe and Jessica Kilpatrick, have also contributed generously to our playground fund. St. John's thanks the charitable actions of the Kindellan-Harvey-Kilpatrick clan!




 Smiling family members from the Kindellan, Kilpatrick and White families!: Teacher Megan White (holding son, William), former St. John's teacher Shirley Kindellan, Rylin Kilpatrick, Playground Committee member Donna Poole and Benjamin Kilpatrick
 

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Thank You Home Depot Canada Foundation!

St. John's Catholic Elementary School students are thrilled to announce that the Home Depot Canada Foundation will be donating $5,000 as well as the support of "Team Depot"(the Home Depot's associate volunteer force) to help build our new school playground on BUILD DAY, May 29th! This is the most generous size donation granted to our playground build project, and the kindness of the Home Depot Canada Foundation is truly remarkable!

The Home Depot Canada Foundation was established in 2008 to expand The Home Depot Canada's commitment to giving back to the communities it serves. It is a private, Canadian charitable organization, which brings together volunteerism, do-it-yourself expertise, product donation and monetary grants to meet community needs.


Its mission is "dedicated to using our skills, knowledge and resources to develop sustainable home and communities for Canadians." 

St. John's is fortunate to be able to count on The Home Depot Canada Foundation as well as 10 Home Depot associate volunteers. The volunteers will be available to help build, clean, plant, create, develop, and improve our school yard on our school's BUILD DAY, scheduled for May 29, 2010. 

We thank you Home Depot Canada Foundation for your amazing support and commitment to supporting the development of healthy neighbourhoods!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Local Realtor Makes Big Donation!

Local real estate agent and former St. John's elementary student, Michelle Fournier (nee Lee), has made a generous $500 contribution to our school's playground fund!  Michelle is a Royal Lepage realtor in Perth and has been helping St. John's families sell their homes and buy new ones in the area for a number of years. 

As a St. John's mom now and busy real estate agent, she has been helpful to the Playground Committee offering fundraising ideas and support, and now her financial donation will further assist the students at St. John's in having a recess full of fun, once the playground is built this coming May 29th! Michelle was happy to donate and says, "It's about giving back to my roots and my community." The St. John's community thanks you, Michelle!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Local Perth Businesses & Families Continue to Support St. John's!

This was an exciting week for the students at St. John's Catholic Elementary School! Large donations have been received recently by generous families and businesses in the Perth community, which will help build our playground on May 29th of this year! 

After about six weeks of fundraising, we are thrilled to announce that we are about halfway towards our overall fundraising goal! 

The Perth Community has been amazing in supporting St. John's students!

We pray for continued success as we countdown to May 29 Build Day - only 86 days to go! Our students at St. John's say, from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU to the follow donors: 

 
 Photo Courtesy of The Perth Courier
Dr. Karen Mowbray of the Eye Vision Clinic in Perth generously provided a $1,000 donation to St. John's recently to help build a new school yard for our excited students, including, from left: Madison Miernik, Andrew Noonan, James Poole, Carter Bron and Kyle Bron. Playground Committee member, Louise Bron, accepts the cheque from Dr. Mowbray. The Eye Vision Clinic in Perth is owned by Drs. Mowbray, Bain and Zabel, and our students thank you all! 

  
 Photo Courtesy of The Perth Courier
 St. John's Kindergarten teacher and Playground Committee member, Mrs. Melanie O'Neill, is thrilled about the big-hearted contribution from the MacMillan family of Perth. The MacMillan boys, Rory and Thomas, hold the cheque, which will help our school build a new playground on May 29, 2010, while parents Dr. Siobham Muldowney and George MacMillan look on. Thank you MacMillan family!

 
Photo Courtesy of The Perth Courier
St. John Catholic Elementary School principal, Mrs. Terri Brady, gratefully accepted a generous donation to the playground fund from McNamee Plumbing.  Owners Cara and Brad McNamee look on, while their children, Lucy and Carter, hand Mrs. Brady the cheque. A big thank you to the McNamee's!



Monday, February 22, 2010

WOW! Thank you Silent Auction Donors!

Attention All Shoppers and Dancers!

St. John's Elementary will host a fundraiser dance at Farrell Hall on Sat., April 10 at 8pm! The dance will be one huge event with great music provided by the popular band, Tailgate, and an amazing Silent Auction!
 
$15 tickets available at Shadowfax, K&M Automotive and at the school! Get them now tickets are expected to sell out! 

The Silent Auction will feature an array of goodies! We are very grateful to many local companies, which have already generously donated silent auction gifts, including: 

Balderson Fine Foods
Balderson Village Cheese
Clement Printing
K&M Automotive
Perth Brewing Co.
Tay River Reflections
Mark's Work Warehouse
Giant Tiger
Cotta Pot Cookies 
First Choice Haircutters
Fiddleheads Bar & Grill
McDonald's Restaurant

Thank you to all! 
Buy your tickets and get your dancing shoes ready!
 

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Generous New Donors - Canadian Tire and Shadowfax!

This week, we would like to acknowledge the generous donations made by Canadian Tire in Perth and Shadowfax in Perth! Both businesses have helped to bolster our aim of building a new playground for the excited students of St. John's! A big thank you from all of us at St. John's, especially the kids!

Canadian Tire generously gave a $1,500 contribution to the St. John's Playground Fund!



Photo courtesy of The Perth Courier
Dave Hall of Canadian Tire, Perth, hands a cheque to St. John's Playground Committee member, Julie Barr-Dowdall, while SJ students Sydney Trollope, Spencer Atkinson-Smith, Coral Burke, Ethan Hofstatter and Malcolm Ford wait patiently for their new playground to be built on May 29th of this year!

Funky local store, Shadowfax, which sells jewellery, clothing, CD's and much more, generously gave a $500 contribution to the St. John's Playground Fund! 
 Photo courtesy of The Perth Courier
SJ Kindergarten Teacher and Playground Committee Member, Lana Nolan, gratefully accepts a generous donation from Shadowfax owner, Angie Gilchrist. 
St. John's students, Devyn Gilchrist, Jayden Gilchrist, Sierra Peskett and Oliver Patterson, watch the action, knowing they are getting closer to having a grand time at recess soon!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Save the Date: It's an SJ Dance Party!

St. John's Playground Committee is hosting a major fundraiser dance featuring great live music from Tailgate!

SAVE THE DATE!  Friday, April 10, 2010
Farrell Hall, Perth
Dance from 8pm
Silent Auction from 8-10pm
Tickets $15 (in advance or at the door)

Put some "spring" in your step, and party the night away with 350 of your closest (or newest!) friends!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

St. John's Movie Night Fundraiser!

St. John's Parent Council held Movie Night tonight, and students and their families enjoyed a collective viewing of the flick, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!  Special thanks to the parents who organized this great event, which was a fundraiser for the St. John Playground Build.

At Movie Night, a few St. John's students were asked, "What do you think about the new school playground that will be built on May 29?" Here's what they had to say:

St. John's Grade 3 student, Zachary McCracken: " I think it's pretty good!"
St. John's Grade 3 student, Matthew Copp: "It's time for a change. It's the same equipment that was here when my Aunt Andrea went to the school here!"
St. John's Grade 3 student, Emily Poole: "It's very cool! I can't wait to play on the new playground!"


Excited students, Zachary McCracken, Matthew Copp and Emily Poole, share their views!

Senior Kindergarten student, James Poole, gets ready for the movie!

All eyes on the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movie!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Register Now for Build Day!

People in the Perth community have started to register for St. John's Playground BUILD DAY!

We need to plan who will help us on May 29, 2010, when in ONE FABULOUS DAY, we as a community will transform the school yard at St. John's Catholic Elementary School.

Click on the "JOIN THE EFFORT - Volunteer Now" registration button on the right hand side of this web page to sign up!

On our online registration form, you can choose which activity you are interested in joining on BUILD DAY, to let us know if you'd rather cook food, help paint a mural, or get down in the dirt to help create our community garden! Please join us!