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Virtual Handbook November 2020

Eunice Oquialda October 22, 2020 No Comments

Passion to Purpose Virtual

Take action in the new normal

Saturday, November 14, 2020, 12:00 PM EST

Virtual Handbook

What to expect

Develop your project

Mentorship and guidance towards developing your Passion to Purpose Community Service Project.

Insightful Guests

Be inspired and feel renewed by our speakers who will talk about resiliency and taking care of your mental health in the new normal.

Collaborate across Canada

Breakout sessions will let you meet and network with like-minded individuals from all over the country!

Zoom

Make sure you have Zoom on your device, registration link and other downloadable files! See you online!

Zoom App

Zoom Registration Link

Zoom Backgrounds

Schedule

TIME

ACTIVITY

RESOURCES

11:30 AM

Registration begins

11:45 AM – 12:00 PM

Ice breaker / Meet group members

12:00 PM – 12:05 PM

Welcome

12:05 PM – 12:35 PM

Be Resilient
Sarah Wells, Olympian and Founder of Believe Initiative

12:35 PM – 1:00 PM

Grant Talk

Jeevana Rajkumar, Passion to Purpose Grant Manager

1:00 PM – 1:08 PM

P2P Success Story

Shelan Emre

1:08 PM – 1:15 PM

Grant Workshop

Jeevana Rajkumar, Passion to Purpose Grant Manager

1:15 PM – 2:00 PM

Grant Workshop Breakout Session

2:00 PM – 2:10 PM

Break

2:10 PM – 2:25 PM

Group Presentation

2:25 PM – 2:40 PM

Grant Q&A

2:40 PM – 3:27 PM

Mental Health Workshop by mindyourmind

Elora Watson

3:27 PM – 3:30 PM

Wrap up

3:30 PM – 4:00 PM

P2P to Gold Briefing (For Gold Participants who confirmed participation)

Speakers

Obstacles don’t scare Sarah Wells. As a 400m hurdler, this Olympian’s reputation was forged through overcoming challenges and achieving the incredible. Take her debut at the London Olympics in 2012, which came despite an injury that had sidelined her for months just the year before. Outside of competitive sports, this athlete is coaching people to pursue their goals through the Believe Initiative, an organization founded on—fittingly—a message of resilience. Most recently you would have seen Sarah pushing her limits on the latest season of the Amazing Race Canada, where she got to push her boundaries in a whole new kind of way! Evidently someone who understands the importance of self-belief and the power of purpose, you’ll want to listen-up when this Olympic semi-finalist and Pan Am Games silver medallist takes the virtual stage.

Jeevana Rajkumar is the current Grants Manager for the Award’s Passion To Purpose Community Service Grant Program. Coming from a immigrant family that fled from civil unrest, she understands how lived experiences, socioeconomic privilege and access to platforms can heavily influence the way young people interact with their environment. Believing firmly that no single approach is right for every young person, she works with each application to support their application through the process. Her background in grants administration and youth support roles guide her relationship with each young person that she works with. Her goal is to support each young person through their change journeys, in ways that best fit their needs.

Jeevana earned degrees in psychology and human resources, focusing on social interaction and social justice.

Elora Watson is a recent Bachelor of Social Work graduate from King’s University College at Western University. She is currently the Be Safe Coordinator for mindyourmind, a youth mental health program situated in London, ON and online at mindyourmind.ca. Elora is passionate about mental health advocacy and her lived experience allows her to bring a unique perspective to the work mindyourmind does.

Grant Resources

Community Action Guide

Download a digital copy of the workbook.

Grant Applications

Feeling inspired?
Apply for your grant today!

Grant Requirements

Learn about eligibility, requirements, and read about project examples.

Mentorship calls

Schedule a mentorship call with the us!

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Learn to plan your project effectively and efficiently!

P2P to Gold

Requirements how to turn your Passion to Purpose Project into your Gold Project

Partners

Canada Service Corps

Canada Service Corps is a federal program that is being developed by youth, for youth. The program aims to support young Canadians to get involved in their community through service opportunities, while at the same time gaining valuable skills that will benefit them in life and work.

Got questions?

Email: p2p@dukeofed.org

@dukeofedcanada

Email: p2p@dukeofed.org

@dukeofedcanada

Good luck with everyone!

Thank you for taking your time to join us today! Hope everyone was inspired to go out in their communities and start the change!

Feeling inspired? Apply for your
Passion to Purpose Community Grant today!

Community Projects

#communityprojects

Shelan Emre: Care-packages for newcomer families

Eunice Oquialda October 20, 2020

Shelan Emre provides care packages for newcomer families during COVID

What was the goal of your project?

After my project was adapted the goal was to provide summer essentials for 50 newcomer families in Winnipeg. I wanted to provide toys, games, snacks, toiletries, school supplies, and information about the city for newcomer families. I have accomplished my goal and I think by providing the families these baskets of goodies, they were able to explore the city and ease the financial stress that comes with having fun in the summer especially during this pandemic.

How many people were directly impacted by your project?

The response from my project has been overwhelmingly positive, not only from the families directly impacted but by my team and my families and friends. I made 50 baskets and provided them to 50 families. Those 50 families consisted of 98 adults and 205 youth.
All the families were gracious of the packages, but some showed it more than others. Roza was a 4-year-old girl and she was so excited to see the ABC Canada Book and couldn’t wait to learn how to read it! There was another family who received a rainbow loom kit and the 11-year old girl said, “thank you so much, I have always wanted a rainbow loom!”. Ali was a 6-year-old boy who was over the moon excited when he saw the giant colouring book and the plethora of Crayola supplies, he couldn’t wait to colour! Zachary was a 4-year-old boy who received a golf set and when he saw it he couldn’t help but immediately open it up and start playing! Seeing the excitement from the kids was so amazing and unlike anything, I had ever seen. Seeing the excitement the families showed was so rewarding, I could visually see myself making a difference in the community. These families have gone through so many struggles since being in a new country I was so glad I was able to provide them with these care packages.

How did the community receive your project?

My community has provided positive feedback and has shared my project on their website and there will be an article in the next newsletter, this is very exciting. I posted the project on my personal FaceBook and Instagram accounts and only got positive comments and messages about the impact I am making and encouragement to keep going on my path of making change.

What did you learn as you planned your project? Were there any changes you did not plan for?

I learned so much from this project. My original project was a full day event with newcomer youth and that was adapted due to the Coronavirus and the social distancing percasuions. Once I made my new plan of care packages for newcomer families, I had only minor hiccups. One of the hardest challenges I faced was regarding the shopping. Once I had my shopping lists ready with quantities and price-matches noted it and I went to the store most times I wasn’t able to purchase all the quantities I needed. I was able to get around this by ordering online, visiting multiple stores for the same items and returning to the same stores once they had more stock. Another challenge I faced was the language barrier, but I was able to overcome that by working with volunteers who spoke multiple languages as well as talking slowly. For safety reasons I didn’t want to delivery, the packages to the families by myself so I had to rely on others to come with me, coordinating times was a challenge that was easily overcome by first coordinating with the families followed by the volunteers.

What went well with your project?

I am so proud to say I learned so much about myself, my community and non-profit work from this project. I had so many successes and they have only motivated me more to continue making community impacts. My most successful accomplishment and moment from the project was delivering the baskets to the families and seeing the kids so excited and the parents so gracious!

If you could do things differently, what would you do?

Overall, I think my project was very successful and was executed smoothly. If I was to do this project again, I would have like to allow for more time to get to know the families on a personal level. I learned about the struggles specific families faced and the reasons they came to Canada, this was extremely sad in some cases and only makes me proud to be Canadian. I would have liked to hear from more families about their journey, and how they came to Canada. This was the biggest project I have been the lead for, and I continued to develop my skills as a delegator, leader and team member. I was able to use my problem solving skills during times of challenge.

Do you have any suggestion or advice you would like us to share with other youth who are accessing the grant program?

I am so proud of all the success and support the Award has provided and I am so grateful for the opportunity. My advice for anyone who is considering the grant would be to just go for it, although it can seem daunting and scary it is important to remember this is your passion and the impact that is made from the use of the grant is incredible. I would remind those who are accessing the grant program there is so much support all around you. For me, I had all my friends from the award as well as the staff who had amazing recommendations and were always there to help when I had questions.

A struggle I faced during this project was finding myself comparing my project and my abilities to others. While I was happy and proud of the change my friends were making in their communities, sometimes I felt like I wasn’t doing enough. My recommendation to others starting projects would be to remember comparison is the thief of joy, we don’t need to compare ourselves to be happy for others or encourage others but rather be motivated by the success we are surrounded with. No change is too small, and our impacts are only going to get greater!

Shelan Emre, Award Participant, Passion to Purpose Scaleup Participant

Feeling inspired? Apply for your
Passion to Purpose Community Grant today!

Community Projects

#communityprojects

Lauren Wong: Ice Skate Workshops

Eunice Oquialda October 20, 2020

Lauren Wong provide free ice skate workshop for disadvantaged children

What was the goal of your project?

Our goal was to provide an opportunity for disadvantaged children to learn to skate for free. The program was very successful! All of the participants exhibited incredible growth in their skating skills and confidence on the ice.

How many people were directly impacted by your project?

We had 6 participants this session, and all of the children were very excited about the program and the opportunity to try skating. Most of them had never been on ice before, and although they were nervous at first, they improved over the weeks and became more confident and independent on the ice.

How did the community receive your project?

Most of these families did not have the resources or financial support to provide their kids with skating lessons. Because we received sponsorship to cover the cost of skating equipment and ice, each family was really grateful for this free program. Parents were amazed at how much their kids learned, and the participants were eager to come to each session.

What did you learn as you planned your project? Were there any changes you did not plan for?

I found it difficult to find ice and book a venue. In the planning stage I had to call all the ice rinks in Calgary, only to be left with one that had availability. Due to COVID and the new social distancing restrictions, it was a challenge to find appropriate ice times and ensure that all participants followed the regulations. I persisted in checking the ice times and directly calling the rink to secure ice time. The skating rink also did not allow spectators, so we had to adjust and have parents watch the sessions online. We made sure to communicate effectively with parents so they felt reassured that their children were safe.

What went well with your project?

We successfully equipped all participants with skates, helmets and gloves from our partner, Professional Skate. By the end of the sessions, all of the participants were able to move on skates by themselves, including skating forward, backwards, turning, stopping and jumping on the spot. It was so rewarding to see how each child improved! They are eager to continue skating, and I aim to run another session in the Fall to offer previous participants to return and build on their skills while expanding our reach to new participants.

If you could do things differently, what would you do? What were the opportunities for learning you experienced?

I would have recruited more participants. I think I could have taken on more participants and it would have been fun to do group activities with more people to allow the children to benefit more socially. I learned how to manage the administrative aspects of the program, including coordinating the budget, communicating with sponsors and families, and securing ice. I also became more comfortable working with children and taking leadership on the ice to help them develop skating skills.

Do you have any suggestion or advice you would like us to share with other youth who are accessing the grant program?

I would advise others to take advantage of resources and connections they have. It can be very helpful to have support or alternate opinions as you go through your project, and you can learn from others.

Lauren Wong, Passion to Purpose Participant

Feeling inspired? Apply for your
Passion to Purpose Community Grant today!

Community Projects

#communityprojects

Hanna Wang: Zero Waste Packages

Eunice Oquialda October 20, 2020

Hannah Wang encourages community to use zero waste products

What was the goal of your project?

The goal of my project was to provide zero waste packages to my community to encourage and help support people in my community to live a more sustainable lifestyle along with education on sustainability. I was able to provide the packages and resource brochures to Ecosource, and in doing so I believe this can help more people in the community start their journey towards an eco-friendly lifestyle.

How many people were directly impacted by your project?

At least 100 people were directly impacted by my project through ZWP’s Instagram account which serves as the education and resource platform for the project. The number will increase by at least 50 people and (potentially more) when the resource brochures and zero waste packages are distributed in the community.

How did the community receive your project?

The community will receive my project through the zero waste packages I put together from Ecosource. Ecosource has provided positive feedback of the eco-friendly kits, and I hope to hear more feedback from the people who will use the actual packages.

What did you learn as you planned your project? Were there any changes you did not plan for?

There were definitely changes that I did not plan for. Initially I planned on doing a workshop to educate the community on sustainability, provide resources and hand out the zero waste packages. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and public health concerns, I was unable to hold a workshop. I adapted to these changes by donating the packages and resources directly to Ecosource. They will distribute the packages on my behalf once it becomes safe enough to do so. Since Ecosource is a non-profit organization focused on the environment and being eco-friendly, I am confident in their ability to provide education of the packages and resources to the community.

If you could do things differently, what would you do? What were the opportunities for learning you experienced?

The zero waste packages are the biggest success of this project as they provide sustainable alternatives to the everyday items we use, and I am also very pleased with the resource brochures as they are easy to access and I believe they can help the community with finding easy ways to live a sustainable lifestyle.

If I could do things differently, I would have planned an online workshop for my project due to current circumstances. I am very pleased with how the packages turned out and I am confident they will make a positive impact in the community. I believe this experience taught me a lot about communication, planning, and research.

Hannah Wang’s Zero Waste Package

Feeling inspired? Apply for your
Passion to Purpose Community Grant today!

Community Projects

#communityprojects

Leah Davidson: Online career workshops

Eunice Oquialda October 20, 2020

Leah Davidson organizes online career workshops for underprivileged high school and university students during COVID

What was the goal of your project?

The goal of the project was to help provide career exposure and guidance to underprivileged high school and university students through talks, online resources, mentorship, etc. We were able to achieve a lot of the goals and expand a website focused on project-based learning to add additional features/tools for students (video conferencing, project management tools, job search coaching, etc.) and we are still continuing to work on the project and expand to reach a wider audience. We are hoping to raise additional funding and recruit more volunteers moving forward to meet the needs of high schools and universities continuing with remote work-integrated learning.

How did the community receive your project?

The community was very receptive and interested in participating. At first, high schools and universities were going mostly virtual, which made it hard to reach students, as the schools were so overwhelmed with the transition. We started then reaching out to students directly through social media and forming a Facebook group to keep in touch. The students gave us input on what kind of topics they were most interested in hearing about and we were able to directly learn about their needs through online surveys.

What did you learn as you planned your project? Were there any changes you did not plan for?

We had to adapt to COVID in the middle of everything, so we transitioned everything online, offering webinars and virtual panels instead of going directly into the schools. We had to transition our budget in order to hire a developer to build the website to host the projects and webinars, and we had to move quickly to get resources up-and-running for students who had lost summer jobs/internships.

If you could do things differently, what would you do? What were the opportunities for learning you experienced?

I think I would have leveraged social media and digital marketing earlier. There are new emerging channels to communicate with youth like Tiktok, Instagram Stories, etc. to spread messages and build communities that I had never thought of exploring, but would be open to looking into in the future, for other social projects.

Do you have any suggestion or advice you would like us to share with other youth who are accessing the grant program?

I would highly recommend giving it a shot. The P2P team is always eager to help and the process is straightforward and well-organized!

Leah Davidson, Passion to Purpose Participant

Feeling inspired? Apply for your
Passion to Purpose Community Grant today!

Resources

P2P Frequently Asked Questions

Eunice Oquialda September 30, 2020 No Comments

Passion to Purpose
Frequently asked questions

You have questions, we have answers!

Would music classes be a good idea for a conventional thing that I could apply for grants?

Yes, that would be a great idea! If the classes are free, accessible and open to all interested community members, music classes are definitely an initiative our grant program would love to support as a grant project!

Will we have a chance to participate in a P2P Bootcamp?

Most definitely! Your attendance at the Virtual Session places you on the priority list for attending the in person bootcamps.

How long will it take the P2P team to respond to our grant (let us know whether or not we are approved) after we have applied?

A member of the team will respond to your application within thirty (30) calendar days of you submitting your application. Updates and follow ups will be sent to the email that you used when applying. Sometimes, our emails can get stuck in your spam inbox so please look in your spam folders.

Does the grant idea we develop today have to be our actual project that we apply for?

Not at all! This workshop was to help you ideate and talk to other like-minded young people with shared interests. If the idea you worked on today inspired you, go ahead and use it! If not, you are free to apply for whatever initiative makes sense for your abilities and interests.

Does the grant idea we develop today have to be our actual project that we apply for?

Are we able to apply for a second grant once we compete our first project?

Every young person eligible for a grant can apply to receive up to 2 separate grants for different projects. However, you must submit your grant project report from the first grant before applying for a second grant. Please also keep in mind that the second grant may be limited to either Tier 1 or Tier 2 if you have already received a Tier 3 grant. Unfortunately, we’re not able to support multiple Tier 3 grants for each young person.

Can we get grants for projects that have already started, or that will last longer than 6 months?

Of course! As long as the grant is being used towards future costs and future stages of the project, you are more than welcome to apply to support an ongoing initiative.

We love that young people are thinking long term in their community service initiatives! You can have a grant project run longer than 6 months, however at this time, we do ask that your grant report for approved grant activities be submitted before March 20th, 2021.

Is the funding just for Duke of Ed projects? 

No! The #PassionToPurpose Digital Grants are open to all young people between the ages of 14 and 30, who have permanent legal status in Canada.

Are we able to change the timeline after being approved for the grant if need be?

We understand that projects change and evolve as the project planning starts. You can make changes to your grant timeline – we ask that you first submit this change request to our team for review and receive approval before moving forward with a new timeline.

Can we recruit non-delegates to our projects?

YES! You can work with whomever makes the most sense for what you would like to do.

Can you use the grant to hold a conference to bring awareness to things such as mental health and have yourself speak if you have experienced such things, as well as have a professional?

Yes and yes! Conferences that raise awareness to important topics like mental health have always been supported by our program, as long they have been run free of charge as well as being open and accessible to all community members.

You can speak at your own events and invite relevant professionals to speak as well. Please keep in mind that your speaking engagement must be on a volunteer basis – you are not able to give yourself any payment from the grant for being a speaker.

If it’s in a group, for the real project, would I be able to work with people that are in my scouts Canada group?

YES! You can work with whomever makes the most sense for what you would like to do.

How much is the grant?

Grants are available in 3 Tiers, up to $2000. You can pick the amount and tier that makes the most sense for your project.

If I apply for a tier 3 grant, I can’t apply for another one that’s tier 3?

Unfortunately, we are not able to support more than one Tier 3 grant per young person.

Is there a specific application period, or is the P2P grant available as and when needed throughout the year?

#PassionToPurpose accepts grant applications on a rolling bases up until February 2021.

Due to the pandemic right now what would things like masks and hand sanitizers etc. fall under because they are relatively expensive?

Typically, items like masks and hand sanitizers, can go under Supplies. If you are purchasing these items as part of care kits to give away to marginalized communities, our team may waive the expense limits.

Do you allow us to partner with other organizations or pre-existing clubs? For example, my idea involves the members of my school’s best buddies club and neurodivergent students. It wouldn’t be a fundraising venture, but it would be with the group already assembled under that group at my school.

Yes, of course! You are more than welcome to partner with school clubs or organizations whose role will be to help you in your initiative as you see fit. Please keep in mind, the initiative must be your idea – an organization’s involvement should be to support you to the project.

School clubs are eligible to apply for grant funds to run their initiatives as long as these are youth led volunteer clubs.

How do you imagine P2P will change over the years?

We envision the P2P grant program expanding its reach throughout Canada to truly support young people from all communities across Canada. Our goal is to continue growing P2P to adapt to the changing needs of young people and to evolve to ensure we are helping young people build the leadership skills that will help better prepare for their future. The goal is to enhance the in-person Passion to Purpose Forum and look to hosting more than one a year.

How can we travel to where they are being held?

If you have been selected to attend the P2P Bootcamp or P2P Forum, all costs are covered by The Award Canada, through the #PassionToPurpose program.

I was wondering where the money for grants and like the travel costs come for? Are there fundraisers from your ends or donations?

The #PassionToPurpose program, including the forum and grants, are funded by the Government of Canada.

Does the in-person forum typically run during a school year or near/during typical school breaks (ex. reading week/march break/summer)?

Our forums are always held during the summer. The smaller bootcamps are typically held over a weekend, during either reading weeks or March break.

Feeling confident? Apply for your
Passion to Purpose Community Grant today!

Uncategorized

Recap 2020

Eunice Oquialda September 29, 2020 No Comments

Passion to Purpose Virtual

Take action in the new normal

Post-Event Resources

Grant Resources