Volume 34 Issue 11 November 2014 www.cosmoindustries.com

Calendar of Events Fri. Dec 5th-Participant Christmas Party

Tues. Dec 9th-Pathways Craft and Bake Sale Wed. Dec 24th-early closure

Thurs. Dec 25th-Cosmo closed Fri. Dec 26th-Cosmo closed Wed. Dec 31st-early closure Thurs. Jan 1st-Cosmo closed

Congratulations to Regan Good who was the proud winner of last month’s

Halloween treat basket! The basket generated $166 towards our donation to

TeleMiracle 39.

TeleMiracle Fundraisers

WHAT MURR MEANS TO COSMO

Brenda Wallace of the City of Saskatoon launches MURR program at Cosmo

In the past few issues, we’ve given an update on the roll-out of the Multi-Unit Residential Recycling program (MURR). This month we would like to focus on what the MURR program means to Cosmo. As an organization, the MURR program continues our leg-acy as the pioneers of recycling and our partnership with the City of Saska-toon. During the term of our new con-tract, our partnership with the City will surpass 50 years of collaboration, environmental action and inclusion. The program provides direct benefits for our participants. By recycling more materials than just paper, there will be an increase in sorting, pre-processing and manually preparing these addi-tional materials for market. In short, there will be more training and our participants will be learning new skills. With these new skills, partici-pants are better prepared for suppor-tive employment opportunities.

The MURR program gives our participants an identifiable role and fosters inclusion in the community. Participants will be featured in our promotion and educational materials and in our community events to promote recycling. During the launch, they have already delivered more than 20,000 brochures, door to door, to residents of apartments and condos. Our participants will be involved in providing recycling services to over 35,000 residents of Saskatoon for, at least, the next 9 years. Participants will be included in a significant way in the community to a greater extent than ever before. Cosmo is a social enterprise which provides the opportunity for adults with intellectual disabilities to participate and benefit from the economic life of the city. We are able to continue to provide paper to our long-term customers and now are able to market additional materials to new customers. Cosmo has made a major investment in upgrading our Material Recovery Facility (MRF). Not only have we increased our ability to recycle additional materials, we have increased our or-ganization’s capacity through the hiring of additional staff. In the next decade hundreds, if not thousands, of on-site person-nel, property managers, condo representatives, landlords and residents will tour Cosmo to learn about recycling and be introduced to our other programs as well. At every phase of the MURR program, we are developing new partnerships which is a positive development for the future of Cosmo and the supports we can provide for all our participants.

November—Date Night basket $1.00 each or 10 for $5.00

Draw date: Wed. Nov 26th

(Winner will be announced in next’s

month Communicator)

December—Christmas themed basket Ticket sales begin Mon. Dec 1st

$1.00 each or 10 for $5.00 Draw date: Fri. Dec 19th

The Cosmo Communicator Page 3 2

Since their inception in 1959, the United Way of Saskatoon and Area has invested more than $80 million back into the community. The United Way thrives on bettering communities and many lives by focus-ing on three areas: “From poverty to possibility”, “Healthy people, strong communities” and “All that kids can be”. The United Way builds strong partnerships that engage members of the community to offer resources that are sustainable for those in need. Cosmo has benefitted from this in-vestment as we are one of the many United Way funded agencies with one position being funded full time by this opportunity. The United Way hosts

their annual Campaign in the fall , and as a thank you, Cosmo participates in the Campaign by asking staff members for a donation of their choice. In 2013, Cosmo raised $4,610.08 and this year, we didn’t quite reach our goal of $4,000 however, we still raised $2,251. The Campaign is the largest fundraiser for the United Way and last year, the Campaign raised $5.2 million to generously give back to the commu-nity. Thank you to all donors who made a donation towards this year’s United Way Community Campaign! Chantal Gosselin Coordinator of Volunteer Services

PLEDGE FORM CAMPAIGN RESULTS

Staff from Galon Insurance spent one whole week setting up for our highly anticipated Galon Haunted House. As the days came closer to Halloween, we watched our fitness room slowly turn into a dark and creepy room. This year, we invited Cosmo’s family & friends, along with several businesses to join us on Thursday, October 30th to walk through our Galon Haunted House. Approximately 60 people were in attendance between 1-3 pm. Galon provided a photo booth along with several props for our visitors to take photos with our participants to add excitement to the day. Life Skills baked cookies and McDonald’s donated a large dispenser full of orange juice as refreshments. Bayani J. Trinidad, one of our practicum students, organized a break dance group that practiced for weeks to provide entertainment to those waiting in line for the Haunted House. The crowd watched in awe and

luckily CTV and Global TV arrived at Cosmo just in time to capture the show! Staff member Sheri Lowe and participants Terry Boulding and Cindy Toews were interviewed by both sta-tions on the day’s events. They did awesome! On Halloween day, the Haunted House was open for partici-pants. St-Michael’s School paid us a visit as they were unavailable the day before. Everyone going through the Haunted House clung onto each other as they braved their way through the dark and spooky Haunted House. Some jumped and screamed as Galon staff enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks again to Galon Insurance for taking the time to organize the much anticipated event. We look forward to growing the event! Chantal Gosselin Coordinator of Volunteer Services

PUBLIC COMES TO COSMO FOR HAUNTED HOUSE

New Staff

Euselyn Hordista-Recycling

Division

Paterno Valmores-Recycling

Division

Taylor Haubrich-Recycling

Division

Camille Golding-Pathways Division

Becky Small-Community Enriched

Support, Program Division

Elvie Andal-Pathways Division

Staff Changes

Dallas Lynch-Assistant

Manager,Recycling Division

Blair Turner-Term, Recreation

Coordinator, Life Enrichment

Division

Jordan Doepker-Casual

Leaving

Will Grant

We are in need of

Volunteers To help with the

participant Christmas party

Friday, December 5th

*shifts are available all day*

Recruiting for the following positions: Lunch assistants Photographer

Activity supervisor Set up

Contact Chantal at 306-664-3158 or volunteers@cosmoindustries.com

Thank you to all the grade 9 students who chose to come and volunteer at Cosmo for “Bring Your Child to Work Day” on Wednesday, November 5th!

Baby Announcement Bouncing Baby Boy!!!

Proud parents Caitlin and Kent

welcomed Thomas

Born: October 17th, 2014

7 lbs, 15 oz.

CONGRATULATIONS ON

YOUR BUNDLE OF JOY!

The Cosmo Communicator Page 3

Annual Craft &

Bake Sale

Tuesday, Dec 9th

10 am—3 pm

In Pathways

Participant art auction

Card sale

Crafts

Baking goods

Silent Auction

We will be accepting baking donations and gently used Christmas

decorations to be part of our sale. Baking donations can be dropped off

at Cosmo in the morning.

Remembrance Day is celebrated on November 11 in Canada. The first Remembrance Day was observed on November 11, 1931 in Canada, after the Bill was passed by the House of Commons. On this day, Ca-nadians offer their respect by observing a minute of silence, and honoring those soldiers who took a bul-let for the country. The poppy symbolizes Remem-brance Day. John Diefenbaker I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind. Lyn Morales Personal Supports

We remember...

"If I Won a Million Dollars, What Would I Do?" Reflecting on a question such as this is, and putting it out there for others to give you feed back on, is a great way to strike up a creative conversation. I approached at total number of 28 staff and participants in Life Skills Division at Cosmo and received some very interesting feedback. With the answers compiled, I made a "Family Feud" game show type ques-tion and answer to this article in which the reader can try to guess the most popular answers from the following: Buy a home, pay student loans or debt, travel around the world or a big trip, buy a nice vehicle, build an orphan-age or support a charity, family support, build a garage, find a companion, buy lots of stuff, buy $1 million dollars of chips, pop and/or wagon wheels, and a dream wedding. Top answers included support the family and travel the world, includ-ing visits to such places such as Australia, Switzerland, and even a Harley motorcycle trip across Canada! Sponsoring various charities such as Cosmo, the Children's Hospital, Cancer society, and paying off debts were also very popular answers from this survey. Keith Fisher Life Skills Training Division

Cory and Kristin from Pathways had a wonderful time

watching the Blades beat the Ice team with a 5 to 3 win on October

22nd 2014. A big THANK YOU to the Top of The Rock fund for purchasing

season tickets to the Saskatoon Blades!

It’s time to give back!

Pathways Division is collecting dona-

tions of the following: winter jackets,

gloves, toques and scarves for children

and adults, in good condition.

All donations will be going to a local

school in our community. Drop offs

can be given to Debbie C or Spencer in

Pathways by December 1st.

Together we can help keep our neighbours warm!

NOTICE TO PARENTS &

CAREGIVERS

Our annual Christmas Party for participants only will be on Friday December 5th.

Combo/Wheelchair Bus passengers will be picked up 1.5 hours later than usual and

drop off time will be 30 minutes later than usual.

Buses will pick up passengers 2.5 hours later than usual, no change in drop off time.

City bus travelers plan to arrive at Cosmo for 11:30 am.

Private travelers plan to arrive at Cosmo for 11:30 am.

*Please be sure to dress up!

If you have any questions, please call Helen at 664-3158.

The Cosmo Communicator Page 3 4

TRANSPORTATION FOR

EXTREME WEATHER

With the cold weather fast approach-ing, this is a reminder about transpor-tation for extreme weather. When the actual temperature reaches –30 C, or the windchill factor reaches –48 C, all wheelchair runs will be cancelled. This includes Cosmo wheelchair vans and First Student will not operate the lift on its wheelchair and Combo buses. First Student will operate their am-bulatory buses during these tempera-tures. Cosmo will continue to remain open and participants may choose not to attend if they feel the weather is too cold. Denise Young Program Director

Dear parents & caregivers:

As the holiday season gets near, we would like to ask parents and

care givers to notify Cosmo about any time off our participants are planning, so we may plan our transportation accord-

ingly.

Thank you & Happy Holidays!

Helen

Yvonne

“Yvonne’s Shake ‘N Bake

Wieners” Ingredients: 2% Milk Original or spicy Shake ‘N

Bake (1 pkg) 6 regular wieners

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 F Pour 1-2 cups of milk into a bowl Yvonne’s tip: use a fork so your fingers don’t get wet Open your bag of Shake ‘N Bake and put one wiener at a time into bag Shake lightly for 2 minutes Lay battered wieners on pie plate or cookie sheet and bake for 15-30 minutes Prepare as you like Yvonne’s suggestion: use hot dog buns or a slice or bread with serving.

Meet your

chef, Yvonne!

Participant Christmas Party

Gingerbread theme

Friday, December 5th

Activities include: catered lunch, dance in the gym, movie in Seniors, gingerbread cookie

decorating.

Please dress formal.

Transportation will be late on this day. Please see page 3 of the Communicator for more

information.