My family and I would like to thank many people for encouraging, supporting and celebrating with our daughter Hayley during her recent endeavour.
It began with encouragement from her principal, to take the knowledge that she learned at Calgary Zoo Camp and do something with it. She came up with a plan and her school supported her in her new project of collecting 100 cellphones from parents and staff at Ecole Mountview School.
This small project soon took on the snowball effect when Paula Trotter from the Red Deer Advocate wrote an article about Hayley and her project. Todd Nivens from Kerry Wood Nature Centre was kind enough to support a child’s idea and made a public drop site available for all. Andrew from Z99 called and invited Hayley on the radio — every kid’s dream. The staff at Z99/CKGY have been incredibly supportive and kind to Hayley.
She has had local businesses want to support her with drop-off bin locations and phone donations. 360 Fitness, Communications Group and Cellutel have all put their support behind her. Greg from the Red Deer Rebels gave her the amazing opportunity to collect phones at a playoff game to help hit her goal of 1,000 phones for the Calgary Zoo Recycle program. She has collected over 1,200 phones and climbing.
This community has taught Hayley something that she couldn’t learn at camp. Hayley is aware that one child standing alone on the street corner could not collect 1,000 phones, but a child who has the support of many to make a positive change can do anything.
Thank you to all who have stood beside her and encouraged her.
Lori Craig and Hayley Cartwright
Red Deer