Josephine S.
5/5
My daughter Susie, who is a member of J.O.E. (Jobs, Opportunities , Enterprise), thoroughly enjoyed being part of the J.O.E. Postcard Project, with Justin Chan and The Community Company, in the spring/summer of 2021.
The Re-Connecting Ontario Postcard Project, provided Susie with an opportunity to co-create a Postcard, that was designed to spread happiness and joy to all people in the community, who were feeling socially isolated, due to the many restrictions imposed by the Global Pandemic.
Susie loves hearts and, was inspired by the words in a song that she learned in Elementary School..."Friends are like flowers, beautiful flowers. Friends are like flowers in the garden of life." The lyrics of this song helped Susie visualize an image of a heart surrounded by beautiful flowers. And, since all her friends are unique in their own special way, Susie wanted all of her flowers to be different, bright colours with emojie smiley faces. Susie hoped that this image on her postcard, with the message "You are Beautiful", inscripted in the centre of her heart design, would help to bring smiles to everyone who received her postcard.
Justin promoted the development of Susie's Postcard and worked diligently to co-ordinate zoom sessions, with the other three J.O.E. Collaborators, to launch the Re-Connecting Ontario Postcard Project in the community, in the spring/summer of 2021. He directly involved Susie and the other J.O.E. Collaborators, with the K-W News Reporters, to share their experiences in designing their postcards. What an amazing learning opportunity this was for each of the J.O.E. Collaborators!
In addition, Justin provided the four J.O.E. Collaborators with a box of the postcard each of them created, to distribute to a business of their choice in the Guelph Community. Susie shared her box of Postcards with The Elliott Community, where she has been volunteering for over 10 years, so that it could be given to the residents she supported, to help brighten their day and bring smiles to their faces.
To further promote the Postcard Project in the Guelph Community, Justin
organized with the Guelph Public Library, a plan to distribute the four Collaborator Postcards, to all of the libraries in Guelph, with the intent that each week in the month of August, a different Postcard would be given to each patron, along with their library sign-out materials. Susie was super thrilled to see that her "You are Beautiful" Postcard was distributed during the second week of August.
Through the use of social media and direct distribution of the J.O.E. Collaborators' Postcards in the Guelph Community, all of the four Collaborator Postcards, were highlighted. The Project culminated with a photo of the four J.O.E. Collaborators, proudly holding the Postcard they created, featured on the front page of the August 12th edition of the Guelph Mercury Tribune. Justin, is to be highly commended for the fantastic job he did, promoting the Re-Connecting Ontario Postcard Project, through social media and direct distribution of the postcards, in our local community. This initiative generated tremendous social impact, brightening the spirits and bringing joy and happiness to many people in Guelph and surrounding communities, who were feeling socially isolated during the global pandemic.
For Susie, being involved in this project, was a fantastic learning opportunity, that boosted her self-esteem and increased her self confidence. She was very proud that her Postcard helped to spread happiness and joy, to so many lonely and depressed people, during the pandemic. It is truly an experience that Susie will never forget!
Thank you Justin, for providing Susie with this enlightening experience.
