(On February 29, 2024, the Stittsville Youth Centre officially opened its doors. Proud to bring this youth centre to Stittsville were Kiwanis members Ron Barr, past-president Glynn Kneebone, and President Spencer Radford. Photos: Stittsville Central and KSKC)
Throughout the years, the Kanata-Stittsville Kiwanis (KSKC) have supported youth in our community. They have donated books to the Stittsville Food Bank so children also receive a gift in the food hampers through the Club’s Kiwanis Books for Kids; held their annual Start to Smart School Drive in partnership with Staples to provide school supplies to children; raise funds to purchase Chromebooks to donate to children in need through our local schools; and, have hosted along with their community partners, Movie Night in the Park at Village Square Park for families. They also host an annual talent showcase for youth – the Kids4Kids Talent Showcase – that is not a competition, but an opportunity for youth to highlight their talents with our community. It has been a long-time coming, but the Kiwanis can now proudly add to their list the opening of the Stittsville Youth Centre.
A youth centre located in Stittsville has been a long-time vision of past-president, Glynn Kneebone and other Kiwanis members. This is a project that is close to Glynn’s heart knowing that youth don’t have an outlet to share their energy in a safe space and have a lot of fun while making new friends.
In January of 2020, the KSKC announced they wanted to help the youth of Stittsville with a place at which that they could feel safe and have fun. With this project in mind, Glynn Kneebone told us, “we held a meeting with Councillor Glen Gower and staff from the West-Ottawa Resource Centre (WORC) to start our vision of finding a dedicated building with a link to the WORC that could accommodate a local youth centre.”
As it turns out, Glynn stated, “the Kiwanis were able to form a collaboration with the Ottawa Carleton District School Board for the use of the second floor at Frederick Banting Alternative High School for the youth centre. We are very grateful that this has worked out for the youth.” The centre is fully equipped with ping-pong tables, foosball, Wii, arcade games, board games, and so much much. There will be movie nights offered and other entertainment.
When we dropped in on February 29th, all of the Kiwanis members present and volunteers were a truly happy crowd, with Glynn being quick to take us on a tour of the new youth centre. Glynn told us that “we bought the arcade machine and foosball table from want ads, although a bit costly, we are happy to be able to provide these for the kids.” And, they certainly were a hit!
The centre is clean and well-organized. It is a place where kids can study, play some cards or a board game or two. With so many options, youth are going to be returning every Tuesday and Thursday to have some fun with their friends. Parents won’t have to worry, as there are always adult volunteers on hand to ensure that everyone has fun in a safe environment.
The Kiwanis are passionate about making our community a better place for children so they can thrive through their unique and innovative service projects. The Stittsville Community Youth Centre is another project that ensures our youth have a local and safe outlet to enjoy a few hours twice a week.
The Stittsville Youth Centre is open from 4:00pm to 8:00pm on Tuesday and Thursday for youth in Grades 9 to 12. Drop-in and check it out!
Visit the Kanata-Stittsville Kiwanis website at http://www.kanata-stittsvillekiwanis.org to learn more or email glynn.Kneebone@kiwanis-kanatastittsville.ca. You can also email Glynn if you would like to volunteer a few hours at the youth centre.
THANK YOU AND CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL KIWANIS INVOLVED. WHAT A GREAT ADDITION TO A GREAT COMMUNITYY.