On February 14, 2019, Play-it-Forward Projects and The City of Calgary teamed up to host over 200 children at the Calgary Soccer Centre. With all the wonderful volunteers, we were able to run a full day of fun activities and promote sport and play. The Play-it-Forward volunteers worked closely with The City of Calgary volunteers to educate our vision and program.
We donated a large activity kit including all the materials needed to continue playing it forward with the children enrolled in The City of Calgary programs. We strive to make a difference in the live of children through sport and play and our event was a success. The children proudly wore their team shirts with beaming smiles on their faces. At the end of rotating through 8 different activities, they left exhausted and full of fun! We worked our hearts out preparing for this event, and they were left filled by the love we felt throughout our day of play. We cannot thank everyone who contributed to making this day possible!
" One participant asked me only half an hour into the event 'How much time is left until this is over?' I replied 'We still have lots of time left, like 5 more hours!' She replied back 'Thank goodness, because I don’t want it to end!' ”
A true shout-out to each of our sponsors, donors and volunteers who spent countless hours putting this amazing day into play! This project could not have been done without you!
" I had a participant who was super excited when they were handing out the medals and gift bags, he had said he had never received a medal for anything before, and that he was so proud to be receiving his first one. This was one of my favourite moments because seeing this participant’s face after receiving a medal for the first time and the impact it had on him was really special! "
We are proud to have made this event happen for over 200 children and our hope is that every child keeps Playing-it-Forward!
“ I really like the ladders because you get to be sneaky. 'My mom doesn’t let me climb things. It’s fun' (Referring to the obstacle course and being able to try new things.) "
" I have a participant at one of my programs who has a developmental delay and avoids recreation type activities at all costs! He dislikes playing active games or interacting with others as he prefers to engage in quiet, individual craft activities. I was concerned that he was not going to participate with the days activities and I specifically brought a craft/sensory bin specifically for him. To my surprise, this participant was not only engaged with every activity, he was seen smiling, laughing and seemed to have a great time! I kept an eye on him all day as I thought he would crash at some point but I was I think he was so distracted with all the fun games and activities that he really enjoyed himself. It was such a successful day ever all the participants in my group as the staff had minimal ‘instruction’ time, so the games were easy to grasp quickly and the transition between high and low energy games challenged the participants without exhausting or over stimulating them. "