Dear Friends of Shader Kids,
It has been an adventurous and milestone year for Shader Kids. It was 5 years ago that some of Tim’s friends and family decided to find a way to create a legacy that would honour Tim’s passion in life, namely developing leadership skills in an outdoor environment.
The Shader Kids fund, which is administered under the umbrella of the Taylor Statten Camping Bursary Fund, has reached the critical mass and milestone of earning enough return on its investment to be able to create two ongoing annual sponsorships.
One,in partnership with Kilcoo Camp, allowed Shader Kids to send a child to
camp. This will become an annual event as we shall support that individual each year that he goes to camp until he is 18.
Two, Shader Kids created an annual scholarship in partnership with the Rocky Mountain YMCA. It will allow the camp to retain an outstanding summer staff member who requires financial support to pursue outdoor orientated leadership education.
The early days of Shader Kids were spent determining the vehicle that would meet the desires of the original group to honour Tim and then make it into a reality. Getting set up and finding ways to create a self sustaining fund were some of the challenges the team faced.
The initial ball hockey tournament has become a much anticipated annual event rotating from one year in the west and the next year in the east. We offer up huge thanks to the 2 camps that have made this possible, YMCA Camp Chief Hector , in Seebee, Alberta, and Kilcoo Camp plus the Latimer family in Minden Ontario. This in addition to other fund raising efforts as well as many donations have made the initial dream a reality and our thanks go out all of you who have, and continue, to support this worthy venture.
Of course the many volunteers that help annually, plus the dedicated team who run the foundation as well as plan the activities, deserve much of the credit for making it all possible.
We are all looking forward to the 5th Annual Shader Kids Ball Hockey tournament to be held over the weekend of May 14-16, 2010 at Kilcoo Camp. Please mark it in your calendar and we invite all to come out to enjoy the surrounding on Gull Lake and either play, support the players, participate in the other activities and enjoy the dinner, silent and live auction and the evening’s entertainment.
We wish you a very happy holiday and an amazing new year. Much Love,
The Ross’s and the Shader Kids Team
Shader Kids is a charitable foundation that was established in the memory of Tim “Shader” Ross. The mission of the foundation is to develop youth leadership through outdoor experiences.