The HELP Committee sponsored a “snack and learn” presentation regarding Mental Health on October 20th… This was presented via zoom by CMHA for Grades 8-12 (Burgeo Academy) & Grades 7-12 (Ramea) Students were treated to a paper bag recess and a game of dodge ball once the presentation was over.

Heart-filled chocolates and flowers are what comes to mind for most when one says February. But, for the Violence Prevention Southwest committee February brings images of pink Stand Up shirts, kind words and messages. Aptly named, the month of love is also Violence Prevention Month. Communities, schools and organizations are all encouraged to spread kindness to each other while promoting anti-bullying messages.

Local coordinating committees in Burgeo, Port aux Basques and Bay St. George host and support many events. Among these are municipality proclamation and flag-raising, Stand Up day in school, social media challenge, hot chocolate message campaigns, offering Violence Action Awareness Training and encouraging local residents and businesses to decorate their window fronts in pink. Whatever the event the message is the same…Spread the Kindness.

Although February has come and gone, the work for this organization continues for the next eleven months and each calendar year thereafter until the message is as expected and steady as the beat of each heart. Spread the Kindness every day, not just for 28 in February.

Check out our Facebook VPM photo album for pics of the many events, organizations, schools and individuals who have vowed to Stand Up against bullying and violence.

Members of BSG Coalition to End Violence, a local coordinating committee under Violence Prevention Southwest, gathered at the Stephenville Town Council on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019 to witness the proclamation of February being observed as Violence Prevention Month in Stephenville. A group of 32 youth, seniors, and various community organizations and government officials sat dressed in pink as Mayor Tom Rose charged each of us as responsible for ensuring the message for anti-violence moves forward with us as we go about our daily lives in ou

r respective communities.“We must make sure our voices are heard in society!”

Bernice Hancock, Chair, BSG Coalition to End Violence, thanked all for coming out. “We each have a role, every day let’s remember what we can do and help make our community, our schools and our workplaces violent-free.” Adding, she spoke to the students in the room. “You are the future generation that will help us end violence.” 

Janice Kennedy, Executive Director of the BSG Status of Women’s Council urged that “when someone says that something is not right, believe them! Take advantages of the resources in our community.” She spoke of the recent tragedy in Conne River and told how a red dress still hangs in the window of the Women’s Center in remembrance of all the missing and murdered indigenous women in our country.

Reading the proclamation, Mayor Rose added, “Violence does not just affect the individual but it moves outward with it’s ripple effect felt by many.”