Dear supporters and friends of ACCESS,

This past year has been one of major growth – both for our team and our projects. Our growing team is inspired and motivated to take action and create positive change both locally and globally.

We have been planning new campaigns, including an opportunity to provide a School Uniform to a child in Dominican Republic which returns to our organization’s roots. We have initiated our first Cell Phone Drive, and have begun selling Fair Trade Products. New international initiatives and local projects are being planned and will be announced throughout the coming year. Shortly, we will be releasing our 2010 and 2011 Annual Reports, to report on the organization’s ongoing progress – thanks to your continued support.

Moving forward, ACCESS is pleased to have received major grant funding for our operations and local programming. A detailed announcement will be made in January.

On behalf of all of ACCESS, I would like to wish a Merry Christmas to you and your family. We hope you have a happy holiday season – see you in 2012!

Thank you for your support!

Daniel Francavilla, President
ACCESS: Allowing Children a Chance at Education, Inc.

The products are provided through Nharo, a Canadian organization which travels to countries like Namibia and purchases goods from artisans directly. Captivated by Africa and its people, their passion and dedication allows Nharo to help marginalized producers and workers move from a position of susceptibility to security and economic independence.

ACCESS is currently offering the following new products, in addition to fairly traded sugar and chocolate:

Himba Recycled Waterpipe Bracelets are available from ACCESS for $10 each. They are produced by the Himba, indigenous nomadic pastorlists from the Kunene region of Namibia. The Himba have incorporated recycled water pipe bracelets into their traditional attires. Instead of ending up as clutter in the environment Himba artists collect and accept donations of old PVC piping. Cutting traditional designs into the pipe they create a unique fashion statement popular with everyone from children, teens and adults.

Soapstone Tonga Necklaces are available from ACCESS for only $5. Tonga artisians in Zimbabwe produce a range of fine soapstone pendants with designs such as elephants, zebras, giraffes and the mythical serpent, Nyami Nyami. The pendants are hung on a cord made from the inside of an old tire. The necklaces make great gifts and party favours, and can also be sold to raise funds for ACCESS within schools, for example.

If you are interested in ordering the above products individually or for a fundraiser sale, please email info@accesscharity.ca.

For information about these products, please visit www.accesscharity.ca/fairtrade or to learn about Fair Trade, click here.

ACCESS: Allowing Children a Chance at Education, Inc. is a youth-run, non-profit organization aiming to provide needy children in the developing world with school uniforms and necessary school supplies, enabling them with the opportunity to obtain an education for a successful life. ACCESS also aims to educate North American youth about related world issues, and to inspire them to make a difference globally. For more information and resources, please visit www.accesscharity.ca.

BRAMPTON – Kingdom Life Ministries (KLM) will be hosting a Praise and Worship Concert on December 17, 2011 and will be donating partial proceeds to ACCESS and Hope Coalition to support their local and international initiatives. The event is open to the public and admission is $15 per person.

There is no better time than the Christmas season to come together to support local inspired youth. Passion in Praise is a Gospel Music Ministry event. It is designed to create a platform for artists to express their gift in song, spoken word, dramatic arts and more. The event on December 17 begins at 6:30 pm, and will take place at 1166 Cardiff Blvd, Mississauga.

KLM Music Group Director Alrick Grange strongly believes in the power of coming together and moving people through music.

“Passion in Praise has been a staple Worship and Praise event in Toronto for the past 7 years. People from across the GTA come out to share in the experience, and Gospel groups from various ministries have been participating in creating an environment that points people to Christ. Come out and join in the praise,” encourages Grange.

ACCESS will make a presentation on their current projects, and offer ways to get involved. It will be a great opportunity to get inspired, and feel the passion.

Kingdom Life Ministries, ACCESS and the Hope Coalition are organizations with different missions, however they are all coming together in a shared value – uniting in the desire to give hope.

For ticket information, please visit the event page here. To learn about ACCESS initiatives, including Christmas features, please visit www.accesscharity.ca to take action this holiday!

Until October 30, ACCESS and Speak Up for Change are inviting youth to contribute to the blog and Panorama, a TakingITGlobal online publication, on the topic of Education and the Developing World.

Contribute an opinion piece, interview, short story, or poetry. There are word count requirements and other submission guidelines from Panorama available here.

Submissions will be published online at speakupforchange.ca and included in Panorama online magazine.

An Important Topic: Education and the Developing World

Education is the most powerful tool that people can have. Education can inspire and it can enable. Everyone has been student and a teacher in some way in their lives. We all learn and we all teach. But what is the importance of education? How crucial do you think it is to the development of young minds and to the state of the world in general? What impact does education have, personally or globally?

Many projects in the developing world, including those of ACCESS, are focused on education. Share your experiences working with any of these projects. Or personally, has education allowed you to go far in life? Do you greatly value your education? What has your education taught you about the developing world, poverty, globalization, and privilege? Has your education inspired and enabled you to help others?

In honour of literacy, teachers, and students, let’s join Speak Up for Change and Panorama to talk about the importance of education!

Questions and Submissions:
Naomi Leanage, Editor
Speak Up for Change
editor@accesscharity.ca

“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire” – William Butler Yeats

ACCESS is now offering the opportunity to support both education in developing countries and to protect the environment in a simple way. Schools, community centres and offices can contribute to this initiative by collecting used cell phones.

Cell phones contain over 8 hazardous materials including arsenic, and improper disposal pollutes our air, waste rand soil. These unwanted cell phones can instead be refurbished or safely recycled – and ACCESS receives funds for every phone donated.

Cell Phone Drives consist of collecting old, damaged or no-longer needed cell phones from family, friends, students and co-workers. This provides the satisfaction of being both eco-friendly and contributing to the quality of children’s lives in developing countries – all while getting rid of unused devices.

The average household has 3 cell phones collecting dust in drawers, boxes or closets! Any handset or PDA can be safely recycled through this program. There are no purchases required and ACCESS assists in getting started with this simple, earth-friendly initiative. ACCESS will accept working and broken devices (note that ACCESS receives a larger credit for phones that are useable).

ACCESS and the youth it benefits depend on motivated groups of youth or businesses willing to unite for the common cause. ACCESS invites you to consider hosting a Cell Phone Drive this fall – opening up your community to positive change.

For more details, please visit the Cell Phone Drive page on the ACCESS website at accesscharity.ca/takeaction/fundraising/cellphonedrive.

These senior volunteers are passionate about the mission and vision of ACCESS, and are committed to seeing its ambitions achieved. Through the culmination of the board’s diverse collective experiences, the following six members are dedicated to steering ACCESS forward into the future:

Each of the directors possess unique skills and experience relevant to ACCESS. Brief bios of each member are provided below:

Louroz Mercader | Chairperson
Louroz is a community leader and communications strategist devoted to civic entrepreneurship and volunteering. His creativity and hard work are evident in spearheading projects such as the Mississauga Youth Games (MY Games), a grassroots non-profit that provides free sporting and artistic programs to young people. He also serves as a director on the boards of United Way of Peel Region, Safe City Mississauga, and GO Transit Customer Service Advisory Committee, as well as on the Steering Committee of CivicAction. He is also the founder of the Institute for Youth Citizenship; which hosts Local Democracy Week annually at Queen’s Park. Louroz will run in the 2014 municipal elections for Ward 7 Mississauga City Councilor, after placing second in 2010.

Michael Onabolu | Vice-Chairperson
Michael is studying Business Administration at Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, where he has served on the Students’ Union Board of Directors. He joined ACCESS in 2006 and has been inspired to help children overseas, influenced by his two exposure trips to the Dominican Republic. Ever since returning from the Dominican in 2006, Michael knew that education was one of the greatest gifts that could be given to a child, and in turn, a nation. He believes ACCESS stands to send that gift. Previously, Michael held the title of Vice President of Strategic Planning with ACCESS’ Senior Management team.

Rosemary Francavilla | Treasurer
Rosemary has been actively involved in ACCESS since its formation in 2006 and believes that it is important for youth to help those in need from an early age. She is a firm believer in the value and importance of an education. Rosemary has a background in Business Administration and property management. She is a supporter of a variety of local and international social justice causes, leading an example for her three children.

Arthur Kong | Director of International Projects
Arthur is a civil engineer and community development specialist for the Mining and Metallurgy division for Canada’s largest engineering consulting firm, SNC-Lavalin Inc. Arthur has also devoted his life to international development/aid sector and to the issues of poverty-reduction in sub-Saharan Africa. He was an overseas-consultant with Engineers Without Borders Canada in the southern African countries of Zambia and Malawi from 2009 to 2011. In Africa he worked with local rural communities and provided management consulting services to local NGO’s that were attempting to execute business and market development projects on the ground. In 2011, Arthur was appointed by Engineers Without Borders Canada and social-investors to co-lead a feasibility study to manufacturing fairly-traded/socially responsible hockey pucks in Canada using rubber from Liberia. Arthur has co-founded the SNC-Lavalin Toastmasters Association and the OUTpolitics initiative. Arthur is a recipient of the Ontario Medal for Young Volunteers from the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

Annalisa Sodhi | Director of Local Projects
Annalisa has 16 years teaching experience with the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board. She has been a strong advocate for social justice work in elementary schools, encouraging students to live their faith in actions and words. She has supported ACCESS from its beginning and has been instrumental in coordinating conferences in collaboration with ACCESS and Dufferin Peel for local youth. Her heroes are Mother Teresa and Jean Vanier, who dedicated their lives ensuring the most marginalized of humanity had a voice, a face, and a purpose in life. Annalisa’s hope is that she is a role model to the students she teaches and her own two children, inspiring them to give without expecting anything in return and to look at life beyond their own.

Alrick A. Grange | Community Representative
Alrick works at the City of Mississauga’s City Manager’s Office, where he is a management consultant for corporate strategy and innovation. He has years of Management Consulting experience, along with fourteen years of Client Services and Intercontinental Contact Centre leadership experience. He specializes in relationship management, project management and advising, and has transformed businesses and executed change management within both the public and private sectors. Alrick holds a post-secondary education in Business Administration and a post-graduate executive designation in CRM (Customer Relationship Management). As a volunteer, he has served as the Director of Marketing & Public Relations and Music & Youth at Kingdom Life Ministries in Mississauga and is also a Board Member for the Hope Coalition. Alrick believes that the most effective leaders cultivate leaders.

ACCESS: Allowing Children a Chance at Education, Inc. is a youth-run, non-profit organization aiming to provide needy children in the developing world with school uniforms and necessary school supplies, enabling them with the opportunity to obtain an education for a successful life. ACCESS also aims to educate North American youth about related world issues, and to inspire them to make a difference globally. For more information and resources, please visit www.accesscharity.ca.

Media Inquiries Contact:
Nathalie Atanda, Community Relations Manager
nathalie@accesscharity.ca