The Blog

Follow along as we work towards systems change and help create better outcomes for kids in our community.

Volunteer Appreciation Dinner

March 24, 2016

One of the strongest assets that the North End of Winnipeg maintains is without a doubt the community togetherness and sense of pride within its residents. Ask anyone that you meet who lives or has lived in the North End about their feelings towards the community and more often than not they’ll tell you how important it has been in their life and just how much they love the neighbourhood.

This is especially obvious when attending the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner, an annual event hosted by the North End Community Helpers Network (NECHN) where countless community organizations can come together to honour their dedicated volunteers with a dinner, entertainment, and gifts.

The past few years have featured the recurring theme of ‘I Heart North End,’ a slogan that NECHN has coined and printed on shirts, mugs, and t-shirts to sell as fundraiser items. This is a theme that many carry very dear to their hearts, as it signifies for them the true spirit of the neighbourhood.

The Winnipeg Boldness Project participated in the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner for the second time this year on March 15, 2016, by taking part in the planning committee and honouring 14 members of our Parent Guide Group. We feel very strongly that volunteers are vital to the success of an organization, and we are grateful for the feedback and guidance that our Parent Guide Group provides for us throughout the year. The Volunteer Appreciation Dinner is our way of thanking them for contributing their time and effort throughout the year.

Land Acknowledgement

The Winnipeg Boldness Project resides in and works on the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary lands of the Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe), Anishinabewaki (Oji-Cree), Dené, Michif Piyii (Métis), Nêhiyawak (Cree), and Očhéthi Sakowin (Dakota). We recognize that we have benefited from and continue to benefit from colonization on the Treaty 1, Treaty 3, and Treaty 5 Territories.

It is important to also acknowledge how we benefit in this territory at the cost to Indigenous Peoples. Winnipeg has been drinking clean water for over a century via an aqueduct from Shoal Lake. In 1917, 3000 acres of Treaty 3 was declared property of the city of Winnipeg to build the aqueduct. This aqueduct was built over ancestral burial ground, to build these structures, the ancestors were disinterred and reburied. Construction of the aqueduct changed the waters significantly, causing the peninsula to become a man-made island. This now isolated Nation faced many challenges as a direct result from this aqueduct; Necessities like water, groceries, schools, and mail were only accessible via the dangerous trek to the mainland. Lives of adults and children were lost crossing to and from the mainland. Freedom Road, an all-weather road access finally opened summer 2019, over a century after displacement. This road, a testament to the success of Indigenous-led solutions, helps bring materials to build schools and a water treatment plant.

“I always think of it, even when I turn on the tap I’m like this comes from our community and this water probably contains our ancestors and the spirits of our ancestor. I think about the hardships of the people from Shoal Lake 40 who have gone through so many things for the benefit of Winnipeg’s drinking water,” says Angelina McLeod.1

Another benefit we reap in Winnipeg at a cost to Indigenous Peoples and land is the Hydro Electricity Development in Treaty 5. To optimize water movement for greatest power production the Province of Manitoba increased waterflow by creating the Churchill River Diversion in 1976. The modification of the waterflow caused flooding, shoreline erosion, and changes to water quality. This destruction of habitat has caused disruption to waterway travel, fishing, and hunting.

  1. https://www.aptnnews.ca/facetoface/spirits-of-our-ancestor-shoal-lake-40-is-rectifying-a-century-of-hardships/