**COLLEGE BOREAL NEWS RELEASE**

Collège Boréal presented on Monday, November 26, 2018, the program and the team members of its humanitarian project in Guatemala in partnership with the non-denominational organization The GOD’S CHILD Project.

Collège Boréal is developing this institutional humanitarian initiative for a second consecutive year. The project has two phases: volunteer community work throughout the year with local not-for-profit organizations, and a ten-day humanitarian experience in Guatemala at the end of the school year.

A team of 18 Collège Boréal students and professors is involved in this year’s project.

Initially, all of the volunteers pursue activities in their home communities for a minimum of 400 hours cumulative. Teams in Timmins and Kapuskasing are organizing a holiday season supper for the less fortunate in partnership with the company YO! Mobile, while the Sudbury team is involved in the Bundle Up in Red Campaign in partnership with Réseau Access Network during HIV Awareness Week. These activities allow students to experience volunteer work, to better understand social realities at the local level and to realize the importance of contributing to the community.

Later in the year, from April 26 to May 6, 2019, the team will travel to Guatemala, in particular in a small village of near the city of Antigua in the Panchoy Valley. During their mission, participants will help to build three concrete-block houses destined to very poor families.

Debriefing from the first project in the spring 2018 confirmed that the initiative is worthwhile.

On the one hand, the volunteers’ efforts delivered concrete results that provided decent lodging to many less fortunate families. On the other hand, the project provides participants with opportunities for personal growth, human experience, immersion in a foreign language and increased awareness of international cultural and socio-economic realities in a very enriching intercultural context.

The Boréal community and the general public are invited to support the project during the “Donation Tuesday” fund-raising activity, which will help to purchase building materials. Project participants pay a portion of the costs of their travel and lodging.

Team Members

? Jessica Adamo – student, Sudbury
? Kelly-Anne Bennett – student, Timmins
? Éric Bizier – student, Kapuskasing
? Chanelle Caron – student, Kapuskasing
? Danika Courchesne student, Sudbury
? Amy Desbiens – student, Kapuskasing
? Josée Desrochers – student, Timmins
? Mélanie Dufresne – head of post-secondary programs, Timmins
? Michelle Girard – student, Timmins
? Jazmyn Labelle – student, Sudbury
? Lise Ross-Lalande – professor, Sudbury
? Francis Lalonde – student, Sudbury
? Angèle Larue – professor, Timmins
? Annick Mainville – student, Sudbury
? Michel Mainville – professor, Timmins
? André Meloche – professor, Timmins
? Ernest Plante – professor, Timmins
? Patrick Therrien – student, Sudbury

Quotes

“Collège Boréal is an active player on many fronts and I am very proud to see that humanitarian work and community volunteerism are being pursued with such passion and sense of service. These team members are active on a daily basis in our communities and they will benefit from a very enriching personal growth experience in Guatemala. They truly are ambassadors of the values of our institutions, both locally and internationally.” Daniel Giroux, president, Collège Boréal

“Collège Boréal is the first and only group from Canada that The GOD’S CHILD Project has ever worked with. We were delighted to receive the help of a dedicated and cheerful team of hard workers that completed its mission quickly. We are looking forward to continuing this partnership with the next cohort and to get more work done for the children and families who need it the most.” The God’s Child Project

About Collège Boréal

Established in 1995, Collège Boréal is a French language post-secondary training and learning institution dedicated to the development and growth of communities throughout Ontario.

Collège Boréal offers comprehensive programs and services in 7 campuses and 38 access centres in 27 communities throughout the province. Since 1995, approximately 120,000 clients across Ontario have benefited from Collège Boréal’s expertise relating to post-secondary education, training programs, immigration and settlement services, and employment services. Collège Boréal has established over 120 articulation agreements with other post-secondary institutions.

According to the Key Performance Indicators recognized by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, Collège Boréal holds the top rank in three of the five areas surveyed: graduation rate, graduate satisfaction and, for the third consecutive year, student satisfaction. These results show that Boreal’s strengths lie in its investment in human capital.

About the GOD’S CHILD Project

Founded in Bismarck, North Dakota in 1991, The GOD’S CHILD Project is a non-denominational organization that reaches out to children and families in extreme poverty. GCP provides essential care to thousands of children, widows, single mothers and families in Guatemala, El Salvador, India, Malawi and the United States. In addition, GCP’s Institute for Trafficked, Exploited and Missing Persons prevents abuse and rescues victims.

GCP is dedicated to sustainable and permanent change and has established an international presence in these poverty-stricken countries by providing education, healthcare, basic needs, emergency disaster relief, human rights services and family care. Through its efforts, GCP brings stability and growth to broken areas of the world.

For further information

To learn more about Collège Boréal’s programs and services, visit our website at www.collegeboreal.ca, Facebook page or Twitter account.

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