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BUILDING A BETTER COMMUNITY

ONE KID AT A TIME

1997

Year Established

20+

Schools Supported

23

Mentor Companies

5,000+

Students Impacted

Annually

OUR MISSION

OUR MISSION

To ensure all children have an opportunity to develop all of their potential: in sports, in school, in culture and in recreation.

OUR VISION

To build a better community, one kid at a time. Most of all, we work to put smiles on these children’s faces and give them pride in what they do. This confidence and support is what will motivate them to achieve in the future.

OUR GOAL

To connect Saskatoon’s businesses, schools, and the community to give less fortunate children the same opportunities, education, dignity, hope, and role models, that every child deserves.

5,000+

Turkey Dinners Served Each Year

1,800

Hours of 1 on 1 Reading

2,000+

Coats and boots for Kids

225

Babysitters Trained

PROGRAMS

dignity

The Dignity Fund was established in 1998 to maintain and enhance the self-esteem of children in community schools. School Coordinators are given gift cards, enabling them to immediately attend to any daily living needs for their students, such as hygiene products, winter clothing, shoes, etc. The Dignity Fund is unique to Care & Share and is one of our cornerstones.

Holiday Lunch Program

In 1997, Care & Share with the help of Canadian Progress Club Saskatoon Downtown provided a Christmas lunch for all the students and staff at St. Michael School. It was then decided that every child in Saskatoon’s community schools, regardless of their religious or ethnic background, should be entitled to a holiday feast at least once a year. With the help of sponsors, major hotels and local restaurants we now serve over 5000 hot turkey dinners in 20 schools.

KICS (Kids Indoor CO-ED Soccer)

The KICS program began as an indoor soccer league at the Soccer Centre for community school children in grades 3, 4 and 5. In 2014, the program moved to the schools and was incorporated into the Phys.Ed curriculum. The U of S Huskies send two players to each of the schools to teach a 4-week program complete with drills and scrimmages.

Enhanced Literacy

Care & Share partnered with Saskatchewan Polytechnic 1st year nursing students who complete 40 hours of one-on-one reading with students in four schools. The program ensures literacy remains a priority and students reach their full potential.

Bikes for Kids

Each year, families from across Saskatoon donate new and gently used bikes to Rock 102's Bikes for Kids. In 2003, Care & Share became the “charity of choice” for ROCK 102. Since then, ROCK 102 has raised a significant amount of money and heightened awareness of our programs. Bikes for Kids is a pillar in this partnership, and the program continues to allow students to have their own bikes each spring.

Babysitter Program

In 2005, at the request of the community school coordinators, Care & Share hired St. John Ambulance to provide 150 kids with the opportunity to become certified through the Babysitter Program. In many instances, these youth are often placed in the position of caregiver for their family. Each year, this program prepares 225 young people to deal with emergency situations; it helps develop their work ethic allowing them to earn some money and enhances their self esteem.

Yoga

Once a week for 8 weeks, students practice yoga and learn about the benefits of increased focus, concentration, flexibility, and strength. The program has received tremendous feedback and is expanding every year as both schools and students are seeing the benefits. Yoga is taught by Vinyasa Yoga for Youth.

Bike Safety

Established in 2005 by the Law Enforcement Guardians. 30 bikes, helmets, safety vests & repair kits were purchased as well as a trailer for storage and transport. In 2019 Davis Machine became the title sponsor which besides the financial contribution, they haul the trailer to the 20 schools each spring and fall. SportChek repairs and tunes the bikes.
Students are taught how to properly operate a bike safely and legally. Older classrooms are able to book the bikes for longer day trips.

School Supplies Program

Many children attending community schools do not arrive at school with the required tools to assist in learning. Care & Share helps provide these school supplies so all the kids have an equal opportunity for success. With help from the Saskatoon Community Foundation – Nutrien Partnership grant, cases of supplies are given to 20 community school coordinators in September and January for distribution as needed.

Shaw Toy Tree

Each year, 2-3 schools are chosen to receive the hundreds of toys that are donated by the people of Saskatoon during the holiday season. Shaw TV provides a Toy Tree for use through November and December every year.
Western Development Museum places the Toy Tree at the centre of the museum and collects the toys.

Learn To Bowl

Care & Share and the Saskatoon Sports Council partnered in 2003 to run a bowling program at Fairhaven Bowl for students in Grades 3, 4 and 5. With assistance in funding from KidSport and City of Saskatoon, now 600 school children are able to learn the sport of bowling. Classes from each of the 17 community schools take part in 4 weeks of instruction and play.

Coats for Kids

Rock 102 is partnered with Care & Share to deliver winter coats, boots, toques and mitts to the children in Saskatoon's community schools. Often, when it’s cold and students don’t have the proper winter wear, then they don’t go to school. The goal of this program is to make sure all are safe and warm enough to go to school.

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ABOUT

The early concept of Care & Share was initiated in 1997 by Ted Merriman and Sid Katzman, local businessmen and community volunteers who believed there was a need to help bring some joy to the lives of less-fortunate children in Saskatoon. Mr. Merriman, a member of the Saskatoon Men's Chapter of the Canadian Progress Club, and Sid Katzman, President of the B’nai Brith, along with a small group of friends and associates, arrived at St. Michael School just before Christmas. With them they had a few cooked turkeys and all the fixings and they served up a great meal to 160 eager elementary school kids.

The reception these gentlemen received so touched their hearts they thought there must be more that they can do. Ted brought the idea forward to the Canadian Progress Club who jumped on board immediately. This marked the start of the Holiday Lunch Program. In year two, with the support of the Canadian Progress Club, the program was expanded and over 5,000 hot meals were served to kids (Kindergarten to Grade 8) in their schools in Saskatoon's inner-city.

This marked the birth of Care & Share Saskatoon Inc. which has evolved into a multi-dimensional charitable organization meeting countless needs of Saskatoon's community school children. Care & Share now funds programs and makes them available to all 17 Saskatoon community schools by partnering with various organizations in Saskatoon to facilitate our programs and services. All programs and goods and services are provided to the schools at no cost.

OUR PARTNERS

CONTACT

Inquiries

If you have any questions or would like to help, contact any one of our volunteer board members or Sandi Meldrum, Executive Director at 306-220-9230.

Donations

To make a donation, click the link below.

Care & Share Saskatoon Inc.
Charitable Tax Number: 86647 7763 RR0001

Mailing Address

PO Box 31025 Broadway

Saskatoon, SK

S7H 5S8

Contact Us: 306-220-9230

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Coats for Kids

Rock 102 is partnered with Care & Share to deliver winter coats, boots, toques and mitts to the children in Saskatoon's community schools. Often, when it’s cold and students don’t have the proper winter wear, then they don’t go to school. The goal of this program is to make sure all are safe and warm enough to go to school.