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Helping to build school in Nicaragua Special to the News
SchoolBOX for providing us with an opportunity to help make education possible for these children.” The funds raised are sponsoring five regional soccer tournaments in Nicaragua as well as providing educational supplies for hundreds of children. While in Nicaragua, the group helped with building a school, playing soccer every day with youngsters and worked with four school teams. The team spent five days in a Nicaraguan community, helping to build a school. This involved everything from digging trenches to mixing cement. “It was the most incredible experience of my life and I’ll never forger the time I spent with the children and all the nice people from the community,” said Gabriele Donnelly, 14, one of the six West Ottawa Soccer Club players on the trip. The players participated in a local soccer tournament, leading the warm-ups and playing a friendly match against the winning team at the end of the tournament. “I had so much fun watching these young athletes compete against each other and cheering them on,” said Tiffany Ingram, 14, another of the West Ottawa Soccer Club players. “I won’t ever forget my time in Nicaragua.” “I thought it would be very good for people to know that these people don’t have access to education, clean water or a strong roof over their
heads, and they have very little money,” said Talia Laroche, 13, another of the West Ottawa Soccer Club players on the trip. “Looking at this made me feel very lucky to be Canadian and it even changed my way of looking at things.” The Amazing People Gala at the Ottawa Convention Centre last October raised over $50,000 for SchoolBOX which made it possible to this West Ottawa Soccer Club trip to Nicaragua. In addition, gift cards and prizes were donated by numerous community patrons that were raffle off before the trip or were used to purchase soccer equipment. These community patrons included True Sport, Purewater, Zak’s Diner, Mojo Fresh, Hurley’s Grill, Wild Wing, Graffiti’s, Just Curious, Blue Bamboo Yoga, Kunstadt Sports, Dave’s Auto Detailing, Colonnade Pizza, Gabriel Pizza, Zola’s Restaurant, heavenly Day’s Spa, Art & Aprons, 62 South Hair Studio, Home Hardware, Joanne Murawsky, Total Home Leisure, York Downs Golf & Country Club, Starspec Associates Inc., Stittsville Carp Road Physiotherapy, Texture Hair Salon, Shoppers Drug Mart, Home & Garden Accessories & Gifts, Lone Star Texas Grill, Farm Boy, Laura’s Your Independent Grocer, Real Canadian Superstore, Second Cup, Starbucks Coffee, Peter Chisholm (Mackenzie Financial) and Heather Philliben (Massage Therapist).
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Director of Education Award Meghan Poulin, centre, receives the Director of Education Award from St. Stephen Catholic School principal Bob Santos, right, and Ottawa Catholic School Board trustee John Curry, left, at the school’s grade six leaving ceremony on Wednesday, June 26 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Stittsville. The Director of Education Award is presented to a grade six student who is considered to best exemplify the gospel values in his or her daily life at the school.
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News - Six players and five others from the West Ottawa Soccer Club spent ten days in Nicaragua earlier this month helping to build a school on behalf of SchoolBOX, a Canadian charity dedicated to making education possible for all children in Nicaragua. The West Ottawa Soccer Club draws is players from Stittsville, Richmond, Goulbourn, Kanata and West Carleton. The six West Ottawa Soccer Club athletes were Gabriele Donnelly, Kathleen Carson, Priya Nagpal, Tiffany Ingram, Jessica Aiello and Talia Laroche. They travelled to Nicaragua along with Peter Donnelly, Lynn Aiello, Karri Dawson, John Carson and Dina Bell-Laroche, a West Ottawa Soccer Club coach. The group called themselves Team Nicaragua Bound, raising over $18,000 before departing thanks to sponsorships, donations and raffle tickets. The funds are providing financial assistance to support the building of a school and to provide the children with the supplies needed to study and learn. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere where only half of the children even reach the fifth grade. “I can safely say that this experience was life changing for the entire team,” coach Bell-Laroche said. “We received so much more than we gave, and we are deeply grateful to
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