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Want to see a great example of how University of Victoria ingenuity is directly improving lives in the community?
Then plan to do your grocery shopping at the Fort and Foul Bay Safeway store on Feb. 16 and March 8.
Between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on both Saturdays, members of UVic’s CanAssist team will be on hand at the store to greet shoppers and demonstrate some of their many achievements. The team is a partner in the store’s 2008 Safeway We Care campaign, which has chosen children and families living with physical and developmental disabilities as this year’s community fundraising theme.
CanAssist, formerly known as UVATT, works with individuals, families and organizations to develop customized devices and technologies for people with special needs. The team involves students, faculty and staff from more than 20 departments and programs across campus, as well as community volunteers such as physicians, occupational therapists, retired engineers, seamstresses and machinists.
CanAssist projects include tricycles for children with physical and visual impairments, high-tech wheelchair modifications and eye-tracking communication systems. Clients range from visually impaired children to adults with advanced neuromuscular degenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis and ALS.
Unique in North America, CanAssist responds to community requests from across Greater Victoria and around the world. A significant portion of its funding comes from donations, which are used to develop and deliver assistive technologies that aren’t available from any other source.
The Feb. 16 event is “Charity Checkout Day” in which Safeway customers who donate to CanAssist by topping up their grocery bill will receive coupons for Eating Right products. On March 8, customers can purchase coupon books worth more than $100 in savings, with all proceeds going to CanAssist.
In addition, from now until March 31, money collected in donation boxes at the Fort and Foul Bay store’s check-out counters will go to CanAssist.
“This partnership is a tremendous opportunity for the CanAssist team to raise its profile in the community,” says Doug Tolson, CanAssist’s associate director. “With this exposure, we hope to increase our donor and volunteer base and create greater awareness that CanAssist is available to help families in need. We’re very grateful to the staff at the Fort and Foul Bay Safeway store for their wonderful support of our program.”
For more information on CanAssist, or to volunteer or donate, call 721-7300, email info@canassist.ca or visit www.canassist.ca.
Did you know?
- Nearly one in eight Canadians, or 3.8 million people, has a disability. In BC, 570,000 people, or almost one in seven, live with a disability.
- Since it was created in 1999, CanAssist has developed over 75 new technologies and provided direct assistance to more than 600 clients—infants, children, adults and seniors.
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