e-newsletter 1: New Year, new projects, new information, and new format!

Welcome to 2009!

PCPC is in the process of working on several new projects for the upcoming year which you will see and hear about in the newly formatted e-newsletter, as well on the constantly updated website, www.pcpcontario.org – please continue to check in with us to see all of the exciting changes!

Information Corner –

January is the time of year to start thinking about completing evaluations for the Centre, its programs and its staff. You might be wondering, why do we need to complete evaluations?

• Evaluations are a way of checking your progress against your plans and visions
• It provides the members of the Centre and the Board with a chance to reflect on and assess its areas of strengths and weaknesses
• It may provide the Centre with an invaluable yardstick by which it can prioritize its activities for the future
• Being a responsible member of the Board is hard work and is often a thankless job. An evaluation which points up strengths as well as weaknesses can give a Board a sense of its own competence and accomplishment as a group. This is a great foundation on which to build positive change.
• Staff evaluations are a positive method to help assist the Personnel Committees with contracts and professional development

To assist your Centre with the evaluation process, the PCPC Evaluation handbook has formats for assessing:

• the Board
• the Centre
• the staff, including self-evaluation for staff

Please visit the PCPC website www.pcpcontario.org and click on the Member’s Only section to download free copies of this valuable handbook for your Centre.

What’s happening in… your Centre? your Community? your Province? your Country? your World?

If your Centre is hosting an event, celebrating a milestone, or has some interesting information to share with all of the other members of PCPC, this is where you will find it! To have your information included in our e-newsletter, please email the details and contact information to info@pcpcontario.org at least two weeks in advance.

January 27th, 2009 is Family Literacy Day!

In preparation for Family Literacy Day on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009, ABC Canada is attempting to organize a group to participate in reading sessions to break the Guinness World Record in the ‘Most Children Reading with an Adult, Multiple Locations’ category. The current record to beat is 78,791 people. Let’s see what we can do to help break this world record and make reading fun for our children and families! For more information please visit: http://abc-canada.org/en/fldworldrecord
(Please note: the deadline to register for this event is January 22nd; the event will take place January 23rd and 24th)

Fundraising Ideas

This new section of the e-newsletter will promote at least one fundraising idea each time, in hopes to expand the list that your Centre already has!

Look to the PCPC website www.pcpcontario.org for a full list of fundraising ideas!

Click on the Member’s Only section, followed by the Governance Series full menu, to find the Fundraising Ideas presentation.

Anniversary and Birthday Celebrations: How about celebrating your Centre’s opening day?

Although this event is not a big money-maker, it is a great excuse to get your members together and let everyone know what you’ve accomplished over the year, and how you’ve grown, and to renew old acquaintances (be sure to invite past members to any events that you plan!)

Get to know potential funders!

Another new section: here you will receive the contact information (and any additional information) for some of the foundations/organizations in Canada (and beyond) that donate their funding dollars to interests involving children and their development.

PCPC is currently working on compiling all of this funding information into a format that will be available on the website in the near future!

Alterna Savings
Address: 400 Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 5B2
Telephone: (877) 560-0100
Website: http://www.alterna.ca
Funding Interest: Children
Granting Region: Toronto, Ottawa, Kingston, Pembroke and North Bay Areas
Grant Information: Online Application

Avonlea Trust
Address: P.O. Box 98, Uxbridge, Ontario, L9P 1M6
Contact: Gordon A. Simmonds
Funding Interest: Child Development
Granting Region: Ontario

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Address: P.O. Box 23350, Seattle, Washington, 98102
Contact: Grants Inquiry Administrator
Telephone/Fax: (206) 709-3100 (telephone); (206) 709-3180 (fax)
Email/Website: info@gatesfoundation.org and http://www.gatesfoundation.org
Funding Interest: Early Childhood Education and Development
Granting Region: Canada-wide
Grant Information: Granting information available online; Proposals should not be submitted without invitation

Did you know? (fun facts and quotes)

On average, a 4-year old child asks 437 questions a day!

Going Green!

Look for appliances with the worthwhile Energy Star label, and remember this: Be sure to go a step further and check how much energy your desired appliance will use compared to other Energy Star-rated options – there can be a wide range of energy use, even though they all meet the Energy Star standards. A home fully equipped with Energy Star products will operate on about 30 percent less energy than a house equipped with standard products!

PCPC member schools

List of centres »
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New and recommended

e-news: Hellmanns Supporting Real Food grants · May 1
e-news: Quarterly HR newsletter · April 13
e-news: 10 Scientific Tips for Raising Happy Kids · March 21
enews: Who wants a GREAT work environment? · February 28
enews: Winter 2012 updates · February 8

Going Green!

All 'Going Green' articles on one page »

Going Green 23 · January 15
Going Green 22 · December 17
Going Green 21 · December 4
Going Green 20 · November 20
Going Green 19: A Brief Overview of “Green IT for Dummies” · October 27

Backgrounders

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