Newsletter,
Volume 10
inspire…
instill…
impact!!!
Keeping you…
What is City Kidz?
Up to speed with what is happening!
City Kidz began in Hamilton, ON in 1991 to
transform lives of children living in
under-privileged communities. In September
2010, a City Kidz Branch was started in Regina.
We exist to transform the lives of children living
in under-privilege communities, break the cycle
of hopelessness, and end child poverty by
providing faith, hope and love for these children. Saturday afternoon children are
transported to the Playhouse Theatre for a ninety minute, high-energy, fully
interactive program of songs, games, skits, memory moments, and lunch. All this is
followed up with a weekly visit to every child registered with City Kidz Regina. City
Kidz is about building relationships—one child at a time.

Big Dream Banquet—
November 19, 2015.
Celebration Church. Come
out and hear some
testimonies from the children
and youth

Weekly visiting 75 homes; 145
children with an average of 85
kids attending every Saturday.

Reached a one day record
breaking attendance of 98
children - March 2015

Summer To Remember
2015—40 children got to
experience the excitement of
camp life at various camps
around the city and province

Getting lots of interest for
new routes in Eastview,
Rosemont, and many other
areas—the kids are asking for
your help
City Kidz Mission:
Increase resiliency and inspire big dreams for Canadian children living in low-income
communities.

Inspire Hope: City Kidz kids believe they can achieve!

Instill Resilience: From survive to thrive. City Kidz kids rise above their
circumstances!

Impact Futures: City Kidz kids have what it takes to break the cycle of poverty!
Youth are empowered to be role models and to help out in the program. This in
turn impacts the Community.
City Kidz Vision: To restore hope to 100,000 Canadian children each week by 2040.
Regina is committed to reaching this dream by
impacting 225 children in our own city by 2015,
In order to reach this dream, we need your
help. Together we can make Regina the best
city to live.
At City Kidz Regina we teach the kids:
1. That God Loves Them!
2. That City Kidz loves Them!
3. That it’s great to be a child!
4. Always try to do the right thing!
Faith, Hope, Love
5 Years And Going Strong
June 2010, City Kidz Regina rented a small
warehouse/office space and spent the
Waiting for the first
next two months transforming it into
bus to arrive to fill the
the Playhouse Theatre
Playhouse Theatre—
September 11, 2010
Beginning the exciting of impacting
lives through songs, games, and skits
35 children attend
the first City KidzRegina
During the 2012 Season it was
becoming obvious we were outgrowing our current facility and we
partnered with Souls Harbour Rescue
Mission. September 2013 we moved
into our current location—Zeike’s
Place
March 2015 we set a one day
attendance record with 98 children
June 13, 2015 we had our five year celebration.
At this time we recognized six children and
three youth that have been a part of the
program since September 2010
Faith, Hope, Love
What inspired City Kidz Regina to become a reality?
Since the age of five, Donna had always had a dream to become a teacher. There
were many reasons why this dream did not transpire, but it was always in her heart
to be working with children, and she always seemed to be drawn to that one child
that everyone else considered “unlovable”. After 30 years of working in the business
community, Donna did get to see this dream transpire.
In May 1999, Donna began attending a church in North Central Regina . Driving
through the community and seeing the neighborhood children drew her attention to
the need to provide something more for them, but what can one person do? In April
2004 she began volunteering at a local program in North Central providing
Saturday afternoon outings for these children. In 2006, she was asked to take over
Donna West, Branch Manager
the leadership of this program. Donna always knew that God was calling her to
provide more for these children and youth. At the time 15 –20 children would be picked up each Saturday and taken to various parks around
the city, where they played for awhile, were given Biblical stories and had lunch in the park, but that was not enough. By the time these
children were reaching 10/ 11 years of age there were leaving the program. They had become conditioned to believe that they come from a
community in which “you do not graduate from High School, or continue on in post secondary”. These lies were becoming who they were.
Children as young as 10 years old were being enticed to join gangs and begin the life of drugs, alcohol and theft, following the paths of family
and peers– many leaving school when they reached the age of 16 or even earlier.
October 2007 North Central Regina was rated as the worst community in Canada by McLean’s Magazine, with the highest crime rate, gang
life, prostitution, and drug use. More needed to be done to give the hope back to the children and to the community. As a single mom,
Donna knew the adversity of single parenting, something many of these families were facing —the financial hardships it can cause and the
emotional drain. If it had not been for the support of her parents, and extended family she would have given up many times. After months
of research and asking what one person can do, God provided the answer. A phone call and eventually a visit from Todd Bender, Founder
and Executive Director of City Kidz started the process of building City Kidz Regina.
September 2010, City Kidz Regina began operations with Donna continuing to work full-time in the business community and building a
program that inspires hope, instills resiliency, and impacts futures. At City Kidz every child is encouraged to dream big dreams, and given the
hope needed to pursue that dream. The first Saturday saw 35 children and 1 youth being transported to the Playhouse Theatre to begin the
journey of making their dreams become a reality. City Kidz Regina has seen many changes over these five years, but they are still helping
children and youth make their dreams a reality.
September 2013, Donna was able to pursue her dream full time, thanks to a grant with World Vision. After 30 years of working in the
business community, including 12 years with the Provincial Government, she walked away from all that to provide the hope needed to the
children of North Central, and one day, all communities of Regina. Through the Saturday program and weekly home visits, Donna is
encouraging these children not to wait 30 years to fulfill their dreams.
Today 145 children are visited weekly, by volunteers that give of their time and energy. These visits are just one of the many steps to
building healthy relationships and encouraging the community to rise above their circumstances. Every Saturday ninety children and nine
youth enter the Playhouse Theatre (a.k.a. Zeike’s Place) and through songs, games, life-value lessons and skits of hope, faith and love children
are being taught to dream big dreams and given the tools needed to pursue these dreams.
Donna will continue to search for that one child that needs to know that God has a plan for their life, needs to know they are loved, needs to
know they can rise above their circumstance. Back to the question: What can one person do? One person can start the process to building a
vision to see every child’s dream fulfilled. But it takes a community to continue the dream. Together we can remove child poverty—one
child at a time—and build our next generation of leaders.
For more information in becoming a volunteer or to financially support City Kidz, contact Donna West, Branch Manager:
email: [email protected]; call/text 306-529-8656
June 2015, City Kidz Regina celebrated the first graduate from City Kidz and from Grade 12.
Haley began as a junior youth September 2010, after being involved in the previous program for
three years. It was an up and down ride for Haley as she struggled with the life of North Central.
But she kept her focus on her dream of becoming a Youth Guidance Councillor and never lost
hope. As a resident of a community in which the high school dropout rate is 41%, almost three
times higher than the rate for the City of Regina, Haley was determined not to become another
statistic of the community.
During her grade 8 year, Haley had been expelled from school three times due to anger issues and
fighting. As Haley continued to be a team member for City Kidz, she realized how her influence
was impacting the children, many of them seeing her daily at school. As children would come up
to her saying “you work at City Kidz” she knew she wanted to be a positive impact in their life.
September 2013, Haley shared with Donna, her mentor and City Kidz Branch Manager, her experience at the Regina
Exhibition that summer and how she handled it. A girl she had know from elementary school had approached her and
wanted to fight, knowing who Haley had been during her elementary school years. Haley had said that she knew she wanted
to fight, but also knew that she was no longer that person. Haley just turned and walked away—an incident that may have
been a turning point for Haley’s life.
November 2013 as Donna and Haley were discussing what the future would hold, Haley said “one thing she knows is that she
wants to be a better person”. Haley from the time I have met you in 2008, I can honestly say you have become a better
person. A person that would turn the other cheek, a person that pursues her dream, and steps over all barriers.
In May we received the following note from Haley’s Mom. “...thanks for being in Haley’s life, you have improved it for the
better. Without your guidance I don’t think we would have gotten this far with her and her goals”.
Haley, on behalf of City Kidz Regina I wish to congratulate you on your success in graduating from Grade 12. I know you put in
many hours of hard work and determination to make this first step of your dream come true. I wish you all the best and know
you will succeed as you continue your dream towards being a Youth Guidance Councillor at Medicine Hat University. Your life
experiences will only help make you a better Youth Councillor, you understand how to rise above your circumstances.
Donna West, Branch Manager
City Kidz Regina wishes to thank our current sponsors and partners:
Churches:
Harvest City Church
Pathway Community Church (Pathway Plowing For People)
Special thank you to Rotary Regina South Club
for a grant the helps continue providing
nutritional lunches for the children
Community Partners:
Soul’s Harbour Rescue Mission
(Zeike’s Place)
2-4-1 Pizza—1925 Albert St
Subway—2525 Broad St
First Bus Canada
Printing Provided By:
Corporations:
Donna West, Branch Manager
[email protected] . 306-529-8656
www.citykidz.ca/regina
http://youtu.be/0TeXL_IjTog
City Kidz Regina Promo Video