Easter Seals (Canada)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In Canada, Easter Seals is a group of charitable organizations which provide opportunities for children with physical and/or mental disabilities. Founded in 1922 by a group of ten Rotary Clubs, it sought to emulate the success of the American Easter Seals program. In 1945, the first Canadian Easter Seals was introduced in Alberta. Today, licensed agencies work across Canada to provide programs and services to over 40,000 children and their families. IEaster Seals Canada is considered to be well-funded and more known than their American counterpart.
The most well known services are the camp programs. There are 12 camps across Canada providing camp opportunities to over 4600 kids with physical and/or mental disabilities. These camps provide children with opportunities to do activities such as: sledge hockey, archery, arts & crafts, music & drama, campfires, accessible high ropes, camping in a tent, other fun sports, swimming, pottery, and much more. Camps are provided to children at little or no cost to the families. Easter Seals camps are a chance for children with disabilities to be in a fun, safe, accessible camp environment, without being a minority! Easter Seals also provides services such as mobility aids, adaptive computers, communication aids, and wheelchair-accessibility modifications to vehicles and homes.
Common disabilities that Easter Seals helps are cerebral palsy, autism, muscular dystrophy, and spina bifida, among many others.
[edit] Canadian Easter Seal organizations
- British Columbia: The BC Lions Society for Children with Disabilities www.lionsbc.ca
- Alberta: Alberta Easter Seals (Including Easter Seals Camp Horizon)
- Saskatchewan: Saskatchewan Abilities Council
- Manitoba: SMD Foundation
- Ontario: Easter Seal Society
- Nova Scotia: Abilities Foundation of Nova Scotia
