Free the Children is a wonderful charity program that lets children all over the world make a difference in society by joining together to help stop child labour and exploitation in other countries around the world.  It's a huge task that they have taken on and they have already brought more then 500 schools and water projects to places over seas.  With such a huge goal comes huge support from lots of sponsors such as the Me to We program.  These organizations have similar goals in which they work toward such as getting society involved in making the world a better place one step at a time.   Even though the goals are similar the way they achieve them are very different.  Me to We is an organization that supports the Free the Children but strives to get people to make everyday decisions that can help to change the world such as choosing environmental products and clothes that are sweat-shop free. They also help Free the Children by supplying a funding source to offset their administrative expenses. Throughout the work Free the Children and Me To We are known as best friends working together to change the world. There are boards of directors that review the agreements to ensure that Me to We is sticking to its mission of helping Free the Children to reach their goal.  Me to We has stuck to their goal of giving half of their net income to Free the Children for years now.  Their new goal is to bring Free the Children's administrative rate down to non existent in order to have 100% of all the donations able to go towards projects. Me to We was able to donated over $1 million dollars to Free the Children in just the last year as well as many hours of charitable work.  Me to We is a huge sponsor of Free the Children and is one of the reasons the organization is such a success.

If I could have my own television show, I would base it around a teenage girl living on a farm in Canada. It would be a half hour sitcom that leads into series. There are so many misconceptions about like in Canada, let alone a farm, that people need to see.  I want to show everyone all of the benefits from living on a farm in a small town as well as the way problems can differ here from big cities.  There is always work to be done and chores to finish which are great ways to prepare you for real life.  Living on a farm can give girls so many advantages to be ready for when they leave home and help them to understand the real world.  I would call the show "Simple Life of a Farm Girl"  and have it filmed around my home town.  Another thing I would like to show the viewers is how there is a lot more freedom when you live in the country.  At the same time, all of that freedom can lead to trouble as it does for the main character Lily in this show.  We could also show the girls living in other countries that Canada is not what others sometimes make it out to be.  We don't all ride to school on polar bears and have to wear parkas everyday.  This is a huge judgement that people infer about Canada all the time and I want to show everyone the real deal.  Another issue I would like to express in my show is that just because your a country girl, doesn't mean you have no fashion sense.  It doesn't matter where you are from, fashion is a universal language.  For this I would have Faze Magazine as one of my sponsors to credit them for the style they give to the show.  One other issue I would like to address in my show that applies to big cities as well is girl drama.  Being part of a small school means a strong community where everyone knows everyone and is always willing to lend a helping hand, but it also brings catty girl fights and easier ways for gossip to spread.  Lily will show girls everywhere that self confidence is a crucial part of life.  It's important during school and becomes even more needed when you leave.  I would also have SMOJOE as one of my sponsors to help advertise the message at new levels.  Both of our sponsors would get the benifiets of showing they are well rounded organizations that support the many different types of lifestyles.  

Hey Everyone!

I wanted to share with you more about my hometown since it's fairly small and rarely heard of!  I live in a town called Lemberg where we have 400-500 people living.  It's a great little community where lots of gatherings are held.  One of the advantages of such a small town is that you get to know the people personally.  Just last week I held a BBQ fundraiser and had a chance to catch up with everyone in the town as they came to support me.  We made a little over $700 from the event!

Even though Lemberg is small, it has a lot to offer.  We have many different facilities throughout our town including; a library, children's park, baseball diamonds, school grounds, complex, hotel, restaurants, and many different things.  More recently built was our complex building which contains a bowling alley, ping pong tables, pool tables, and air hockey games.  It's a great place for families to hold their events or just come together for celebrations.

My favorite place in my town would have to be our school yard. . For a small town we have a very nice school.  This is a picture of our high school we have here in Lemberg.  The elementary school is in the next town called Neudorf.  One of the main things we pride ourselves on at North Valley High is ours sports teams.  We have won numerous medals and banners for our athletic abilities and have one of the nicest gymnasiums you can find.  Just last year we even started a new football team here and have a football field underway.  The grass looked a little rough at the beginning of the year but with all the rain we have had out here there shouldn't be a problem soon!  Our school also has many clubs such as Car Club, Students Against Drinking and Driving (which I am president of), and our school's SLC group.  It's a great place for kids to grow up because everyone knows each other here as well! We have all grown up together and know each other very well.  If you are thinking of moving here bring your kids! I'm sure they will make a great addition.

We also have a great new hotel for visitors to stay at.  They bedrooms have been decorated nicely in older style looking rooms and your stay is right beside our best restaurant in town--Sweet Marie's.  Sweet Marie's is also a new place that we are lucky enough to have in our town where they have many varieties from french fries to Chinese food.  Make sure to stop in and ask to have a chicken stack from the menu!  It's my favorite item and is quickly becoming my favorite food! 

We also have many different churches around our town.  My church is on the outskirts of town and is called St. Michal's Roman Catholic church.  It's a great place to come when you need some where to turn because everyone is so cheerful and will welcome you with open arms.  The other churches consist of Pentecostal and Lutheran church. 

Even though I love all the places right in town, my favorite part of where I live is the country side!  Since I don't live right in town, I get to see the beauty of the prairies almost everyday!  I live on a farm about 7 miles from Lemberg where we are grain farmers.  My brother is also in 4-h and uses my uncles cattle which is what you see in the picture.  I love living on a farm because you have so much privacy and free space to do what ever you want!  The only down side?  You have a lot more grass to cut! Although I think that the positive parts definitely make up for that minor set back.  All of my family on my dad's side are farmers, so I get a lot of it.  If you have lived in a city your whole life then I suggest you come out and test out the farm for a few days!  You might be surprised at what you think.  The typical stereo type of a "hillbilly" is not what farming is all about.  It's also a very peaceful time without all the cars, people shouting, and trains going through all the time.

Here are some of my local sponsors:

Wolf Equipment

Lemberg Hotel

Conexus Credit Union

Now that you have heard all about how wonderful Lemberg is I hope you come to visit or even come to stay! It's a great place to visit and and even greater place to live!

 Niki<3

Hey Everyone,

First I have exciting news that sponsorship is still coming along nicely!  I have four new sponsors: Valley Pumps, Dr. Lynn Kozicki, Wardale Equipment and Michael Autobody.  Thank you very much to them companies. Next, these past few weekends have been none stop action.  Monday night we had our dress rehearsal for our gymnastics home recital, Tuesday we had a baseball game in Langenberg, Wednesday we had our home recital.  It went very well! All of our groups of girls nailed their routines!  Even though Brooke and I had just finished putting the finishing touches on our routine on Monday, we still managed to pull off a great performance.  Every group had their own costumes for their songs.  Our theme was "Dancing Through the Decades."  The Rubies had the seventies. They did Rokin' Robin and got to dress up with feathers!  That was sure a mess to clean up afterwards.  We also had the eighties, nineties, two thousands, and also twenty ten.  The performance had great feedback and we arre hoping to out do ourselves next year.  

.      The next day our class went to Regina to visit a career fair.  There was alot of interesting booths but the one that caught my attention most was the R.C.M.P. booth.  I had so many questions to ask the officers.  That night was another late night beacasue I had to stay up late to pack for the S.A.D.D. conference that was the next day!  The conference was very enthusiactic. We got to listen to speakers from all over the world.  My personal favorites were Cara Filler and Kevin Brooks.  They are on tour together on what they call The Drive To Save Lives.  After their speech I was able to meet them personally.  I couldn't believe how down to earth and friendly they were.

 Another activity we got to participate in was a visit to the R.C.M.P. depot.  Once again I was filled with questions and learned alot of amazing facts.  Did you know that when your a cadet your not aloud to walk on the sidewalks in the training facilities? Our whole S.A.D.D. chapter loved the experience and now has many exciting ideas to bring back to share with our school! I can't wait to start the new year. We are very lucky to have 40 students out of a school of 115 participate in our group. 

Niki <3

Hey everyone!

So far I am receiving some positive outcome for sponsorship! I have Valley Portraits, Lions Club, Marjoy Agencies, Wolf Equipment, Mary McTaggart, South View Seed Farm and Melville Motors.  When I went to pick up my cheque from Melville Motors we even took pictures which will now be in the "Fred News Letter."  On the left is a picture of me with the  two Melville Motor reps.  A small community can really come together when the time is needed.  Everyone has also been sharing with me their wonderful ideas to help fundraise for "Free The Children."  I have a feeling that we will really be able to raise some money for the charity.  I have also had the chance to be publicized by our local newspaper.  Word must travel fast because before I even had the chance to make sponsorship packages, they were contacting me asking to do an interview.  I can't wait to start looking for a dress!  I already have so many ideas of how I want it to look and what style I want.  My auntie has also offered to take me shoe shopping in her closet! She has every type and style of shoe you could imagine.  To top it all off, her feet are the same size as mine! That takes care of one item.

                   As for an update on the rest of my life, everything is finally seeming to become organized.  Scott and I didn't make it into the regional playoffs but we did have an adventure on the way there.  We got lost and thought we were going to miss the whole thing! On the upside, our schools drama production was a success.  We had compliments left and right from everyone in our community.  They really enjoyed the fact that we switched things up this year and decided to go with a musical.  My character was Miss Farrah Moneysworth, the spoiled little brat who got "Daddykins" to do everything for her.  It was alot of fun dressing for the eighties.  My normal hairstyle is a pouf on the top of my head because I enjoy volume, so the eighties was a change!  They had big volume also, but all of their volume was out to the sides and none on top.  Our costumes were also very interesting.  I borrowed one from the local dress up strore and it was titled Asian Dancer.  I was suppose to go for the Farrah Faucet look.  How do you think I did?

Niki <3

Hello Everyone!

I can't believe everything is happening so fast.  I officially have the title of Miss Teen Eastern Saskatchewan-Worlds 2010 and now the fun begins.I already have a few great ideas for fundraising and sponsorship.  I'm really looking forward to the experiences to come because I had such a great time at Saskatoon! The girls you meet are amazing. On to of all this fundraising I also have badminton districts this weekend that my partner Scott and I are starting to prepare for.

Another great event I have planned coming up is our national S.A.D.D. conference!  We are taking almost our whole chapter this year-that's almost 33 students!  We are really going to be able to show the country that small towns can do just as good as the big ones. I was also able to get a wonderful speaker named Cara Filler to come speak at our school this  year.  She is coming up right before the conference and I am already preparing for this as well.

It's a very busy time right now but everything seems to be turning out alright so far.  Here is one of the speakers we had come to our school for our S.A.D.D. chapter.

Nicole <3