The Beau’s Oktoberfest charity bike ride through Centretown in early October raised more than $23,000 for Social Rec Connect, a Chinatown-based outreach program that is enriching children’s lives.
Social Rec Connect helps children from low-income families and high-risk youth from Centretown engage in social opportunities such as sports, arts programs and job skills training. The program runs out of the Dalhousie Community Centre on Somerset Street West.
Beau’s is a family-run brewery located in Vankleek Hill. This was Beau’s sixth annual Oktoberfest and it selected United Way Ottawa as the charity of choice. Together, they decided to donate the funds from the bike ride to this Centretown program.
The United Way Ottawa, Christie Lake Kids, Boys and Girls Club Ottawa, City of Ottawa, YMCA-YWCA and Trinity Development Foundation helped Social Rec Connect begin as a pilot program in 2011.
Today, Social Rec Connect is no longer a pilot, but it still works with those organizations to share resources. The program often connects children to recreational activities run by the City of Ottawa, the Boys and Girls Club afterschool program and YMCA gym memberships.
Derek deLouche, director of resource development with United Way Ottawa, says 140 cyclists from all over Ottawa, and as far away as Perth, participated in the ride. He says the Social Rec Connect and United Way Ottawa volunteers cheered the participants on and kept their spirits up despite the rainy weather. The cyclists biked a 100 or 133 kilometre route that went through Centretown and ended in Vankleek Hill at the Oktoberfest.
“They knew as they were riding their bikes, they’re helping children who may not have access to this same type of program in their community,” he says.
“The $23,000 that was raised will immediately go to work helping children in the Centretown west area enrol in programming specific to their interests and needs.”
Tara Howlett, program manager of Social Rec Connect, says the biggest barrier preventing children from social activities is the cost. Social Rec Connect helps families pay for registration, equipment and transportation so Centretown children can participate in extracurricular activities.
Social Rec Connect actively recruits children and youth who can benefit from the program. Howlett says getting children and youth involved in social activities for five hours each week decreases involvement in drugs, alcohol or gangs, and increases chances of graduation.
“What we want to do is really build a whole healthy community. We do that in partnership with everyone who works in the Centretown area,” says Howlett.
“We work with the local businesses, we work with the City of Ottawa and all our partners, we work with the community health centre, to really make sure everyone has their needs met and that this is a thriving community that people want to live in and say they are proud of.”
Van Vo’s two daughters have each been connected to 16 different programs with the help of Social Rec Connect. Some of these activities include Girl Guides, karate, skating, swimming and ballet.
“My first language is not English, but (Social Rec Connect) helps me a lot,” Vo says. “Everything that I need . . . they help me.” Vo moved to Canada from Vietnam in 2005.
She says soccer is her eldest daughter’s favourite sport. Soccer is one of five activities Social Rec Connect has connected Vo’s daughters to this fall.
Vo says she knows there are parents living outside of Centretown who need the support of a program like Social Rec Connect. But since Social Rec Connect is still relatively new, it only serves the Centretown west area.
“We’re very lucky we live in the community,” Vo says. “So very lucky.”
“The hope is that we can transition this model out either ourselves or we can train other people on the model,” Howlett says, “so that they can actively engage the people they serve and make sure the barriers are out of the way to make sure kids can grow up to be their best.”