Lloydminster residents can pick up their pink shirts and stand with those affected by bullying this February.
Lloyd Co-op launched their annual Kindness Wins campaign on February 1st with several newly designed shirts, crewnecks and hoodies from local artist Brandi Hofer and produced locally through the Flagship Clothing Company. A portion of the proceeds from the sales will be given to Beyond Borders Circle of Change and their anti-bullying work in both Lloydminster school divisions.
Melissa Plamondon, Chairperson for Beyond Borders Circle of Change, says the committee met a few months back to discuss whether they should continue the initiative this year and they all came up with the same conclusion.
“Challenging times like these is a call for us to act with extra kindness and compassion towards ourselves and others. There was no question that we really wanted to continue with this grant program.”
She adds it hasn’t been the easiest process finding new ways to celebrate kindness while following all the provincial health guidelines but they’ve received several out of the box ideas.
“There are more challenges to it, however I feel if we focus on what we can do then there is no end to that. It’s inspired us to dig a little deeper, be a little more creative and come up with some new ideas. I’m sure we’ll see more of that as the month unfolds.”
“People have been coming up with some great ideas. For instance, we have a school who has a project called Project Joy and they’ve been writing letters and drawing pictures for seniors in the community and dropping them off at different locations. With the grant, they are looking to add to that by sending them crosswords and word searches.”
As part of the campaign this year, staff across both school divisions will be getting a self-care package in recognition of their resilience and commitment in educating students throughout the pandemic.
“We wanted to create these little self-care, self-compassion kits for all staff members of both LPSD and LCSD to just say we appreciate you, we notice you and thanks for all that you’ve done.”
The Kindness Wins campaign is modeled after nation Pink Shirt Day which is held on February 24th. Since the campaign launched 11 years ago, over $30,000 has been raised to help fund kindness initiatives in Lloydminster schools.