Purple hats made a statement for National Child Day
By Contributor
On November 19th 60 adults and 48 children celebrated National Child Day at the Perley school gym. A fun time was had by all with toys, games and a children’s drumming circle, as well as a free delicious supper of lasagna, salads and dessert. This open-to-the-public multigenerational event was made possible thanks to donations from the community and service providers. National Child Day takes place annually on November 20th in recognition of Canada’s adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. If you would like to learn more about children’s rights, visit www.rightsofchildren.ca or the Public Health Agency of Canada’s website.
At the National Child Day celebration children also donned purple caps, generously knitted by women from the Gospel Chapel and grandmothers from the Baby’s Best Chance group in order to raise awareness about the Period of PURPLE Crying Prevention Program. This program, implemented in BC in 2009, works to inform parents and caregivers about the period of PURPLE crying, during which their baby may cry inconsolably for as many as five hours at a time. While this is normal it can be difficult to cope, as efforts to soothe the baby are often ineffective. The purpose of the program is to let parents and caregivers know that this is normal and the most important thing is never to shake or harm the baby. If you would like more information about the PURPLE Crying campaign, go to www.dontshake.org or visit the PURPLE Tears information display at Boundary Child Care Resource and Referral.
Thanks go to the Gospel Chapel, Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy, Boundary Child Care Resource and Referral, Success By Six, School Distirict 51, Baby’s Best Chance, Parents of Young Children, Aboriginal Family Support, Just Call Me Dad, Sunshine Valley Little People’s Centre, Extra Foods, Overwaitea, Buy-Low for their donations to the National Child Day event on November 19th. We also want to thank Greg, an Aboriginal Elder, for his guidance with the children’s drumming circle and the women from the Gospel Chapel and Randi Delisle knit all the purple caps for our Purple Crying Initiative.
