Nelley Letourneau, a student in Ottawa, ON, has been very active in her community!

She recently received the certificate of recognition signed by Dr. Jane for completing three projects revolving around people, animals and the environment.

Since then, she has cleaned the Arboretum Inlet for the 2009 TD Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, collected 80 t-shirts for a women's shelter and coordinated a cell-phone drive to raise awareness about the effects of coltan mining on endangered species in the DRC.

Nelly reading to a group at "Stories and Art," a program to help young students demonstrate their understanding of literacy links via art, one of the projects for which she received her certificate in May 2009.

Students at York House School

For its inaugural project in December 2008, York House School (YHS) Roots & Shoots in Vancouver participated in the Leading Light Initiative.

YHS raised funds (matched by Canadian Hydro) for 22 solar powered LED lanterns to be sent to Africa to help teachers, health care workers and conservation professionals.

In addition to raising funds, YHS also built the lanterns themselves.

Kudos to YHS for being the first Roots & Shoots group to take part in this initiative!

Read more about YHS's project.

In April 2009, Elbow Park Elementary in Calgary also took part in the Leading Light Initiative.

Elbow Park raised funds (matched by Canadian Hydro) for 30 lanterns!

The entire school participated in building the lanterns, which will be shipped to JGI offices in Africa shortly.

Students at Elbow Park School

Ednah Byabali

Ednah Byabali, who runs the Boomu Women’s Group in Masindi District, Entebbe, is the first recipient of a leading light lantern!

Her group has a small community tourism development project near a JGI ecotourism site. It was created as a basket weaving group but now also offers accommodation and food for passing tourists. 

Read on to find out how Ednah plans to use her lantern.

Learn more about the Leading Light Initiative.

For the 4th year, The Trinity Environmental Action Club (TEAC) organized a cleanup of the Ganaraska River in Port Hope, ON as part of the 2008 TD Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.

Twenty people braved the rain to improve the river-side habitat.

The group covered 4 km of shoreline, and collected 10 bags of trash and 7 bags of recycling!

Several other Roots & Shoots groups participated in the cleanup this year, including the Echo Footprint Club at St. Thomas Aquinas School in BC.

Oceanside Preschoolers in Vancouver, BC wanted to learn where their food comes from and how to grow it.

They planted potatoes in May, harvested them in September and turned them into yummy homemade french fries.

Then in October they planted a grapevine. After shoveling composted soil around the vine, they bought some local grapes and enjoyed eating them!

Students presenting a cheque to the Listowel Memorial Hospital

The Roots & Shoots club at Wallace Public School has had a very busy year! In spring the group began their "10 Weeks to Change the World" initiative.

This campaign involved students designing and implementing numerous projects, including a bake sale and pet food drive that raised $500 for the Kitchener- Waterloo Humane Society!

Other projects included a blanket collection for Out of the Cold and a "Green Up and Clean Up team" that offered a prize to the class producing the least amount of garbage and led a schoolyard clean-up.

After preparing scrumptious organic baked goods and gathering used items from around each member’s household, Etobicoke West Roots & Shoots (EWRS) was organized and ready to participate in the annual Markland Wood Community Garage Sale on May 24, 2008. 

A community event hosted by the Markland Wood Homes Association, EWRS saw this as the perfect opportunity to raise funds for the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Sanctuary located in the Republic of Congo, Africa. 

Read more...