On December 9th 2011, CanTYD’s Selvy’s Circle group went to the Nathan Phillips Square Rink in downtown. We started off our day by walking through downtown looking at the beautiful Christmas decorations, especially the ones outside of the Eaton Centre. When we arrived at Nathans Phillips Square everyone was excited to put on their skates and enter the rink even though many of us do not know how to skate. But eventually all of us got on to the ice and had the time of our lives! Although we kept falling numerous times, we got back up on our feet and kept going. We glided across the ice sometimes on our own and sometimes hand in hand with our friends. Everyone was disappointed when our skating fun came to an end but soon after we headed over to Tim Horton’s. It was freezing cold outside so we were all relieved to go inside and stay warm. While we were drinking our tasty hot chocolate, we realized how much fun we had and learned that there is nothing wrong in trying something new. By the time we finished our yummy hot chocolate we made our way to the Eaton Center. CanTYD staff provided us with pizza which we finished in a good 5 minutes. The special thing that happened at the mall was each CanTYD girl had the chance to realize who they really are by completing a questionnaire. We also stood in front of this gorgeous reindeer that was all ...

The winter outing I went on with the rest of the girls in Selvy’s Circle was awesome. I met many new people who are a part of CanTYD.  It was a lot of fun! We went skating down town and even took some pictures of all the winter fun. Later on, we warmed up at Tim Horton’s and  bonded a lot on the TTC ride back to Scarborough. Throughout our mini excursion I also talked to people about my future plans for education and my hobby. Discussing what I could do with it was really enlightening. The part of the trip I liked the most was when we got to learn how to skate since many of us didn’t know how. I didn’t how to skate well but after trying it that day, it wasn’t so difficult, and now I can say, I skate pretty well for someone who has never taken classes! I was falling and trying to get up many times, but it was fun to see us all mess up. The best part of the trip was that it brought us all together.

            On December 27th 2011, CanTYD’s youth and staff organized a Holiday food drive called CanTYD’s Little Helpers. The day started off at the CanTYD office then continued at various shelters located in downtown Toronto. The purpose of the initiative was to give back to the community and to remind the youth to be thankful for what they have, especially during the holiday season. The experience exposed youth to situations they have never witnessed and provided them with the opportunity to do charity work as a team.             The youth started coming into the office at 10a.m. where they were split into different teams. Each team worked diligently towards their designated task in an assembly line fashion to get the work done fast! One team sliced the buns into two halves; another team placed the meats, and transferred the sandwiches to the third team who added the condiments. The sandwiches equipped with meat, mustard and mayo were then sent to the final team to get wrapped.  Once the sandwiches were ready to go, the youth and staff made their way downtown to their first stop, Mary’s Home, a women’s’ shelter where only female youth and workers were allowed in. When they came back they explained how physically hurt and distressed the women in the shelter were. They mentioned that it was a very life changing experience for them. The next stop was at the Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre. All the youth were allowed to go in. They spoke ...

Help us create the new CanTYD logo! After 14 years, we’re opening up the door to new logo designs created by the community. If your’re an alumni, volunteer, youth, parent or even a fan, we invite you to take up this fun challenge. Logo submissions can be sent to: dm@cantyd.org.