Artist Frank Vandermey just completed a beautiful wood sculpture on our main campus.  Some of his creations will be available in a silent auction at the Tread 6-Hour Trail Run Relay for Pine River on May 27th.

Thank you Frank!!

Join clinical director Dr. Victoria Creighton and founder Dr. Karen Minden on Monday, May 14th at 6:30 pm for this session, held at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto.  

Our clinical director Dr. Victoria Creighton was interviewed by Andrea Gordon for an article in the Toronto Star. Follow the link to read:  “Teens Facing Addiction and Mental Illness Need Services That Treat Both.”

We’re looking for a Residential Youth Counselor to join our team.  32 hours/Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.  Check out the career opportunity details on our website here: http://www.pineriverinstitute.com/Residential_Youth_Counselor_-_Weekend.html

At Pine River Institute we are working to create our own local food system. We have a garden just outside the school that produces vegetables for the kitchen.  Students can enroll in an experiential high school course called “Forests and Farms” that focuses on sustainable food production. 

The garden season is well under way here. The garden has been tilled and students planted pea, carrot, radish, beet, and kale seeds.  Also, many of our perennial plants have sprung up, including rhubarb pictured here.

When running for periods longer than an hour, it is essential to have a fuel plan. A fuel plan helps ensure that you don’t make mistakes as fatigue sets in and keeps you running strongly. You should start the race properly fueled and then take in about 150 calories every 45 minutes until you are done running. Sports gels are a popular option. However, you should try sports gels during your training to find what works for you. 

Also remember that eating too much before a race can lead to cramping. Try to avoid fatty foods and high protein foods, as these both take longer to digest and use water in the body to break them down.

Keep Moving!

Coach Paul

Yesterday students from the Pine River Institute attended a play entitled “The Spirit of Harriet Tubman”. Hosted by the Wellington County Museum, the play features Leslie McCurdy who recreates the familiar and rarely told stories of the famous Underground Railway “conductor”.  This one-woman show used Harriet’s own words in telling the story of her life from her earliest experiences as a slave, through her work on the underground railroad, to her continued commitment to others in her later years.  The play taught PRI students to follow your dreams and not let other people’s fears get in your way.

Tonight on The Agenda with Steve Paikin, tune in for a discussion on the Roots of Addiction.  This is part of The Agenda’s Mental Health Matters series. It will air on TVO tonight at 8pm and 11pm, and will also livestream at 8 pm here with a livechat component.

Each week leading up to the TREAD 6 Hour Trail Run Relay for Pine River Coach Paul will be offering a training tip on our facebook event page.  The event page is also a great place to connect with other participants!  

Here’s last week’s tip:

We have a saying in the running world: “cotton is rotten”.

Cotton can hold up to 30 times its weight in water as well as taking forever to dry. You should be picking your gear for race day as early as you can to make sure you are comfortable. This applies to all your running gear, but socks and under garments are most important, as they will help prevent blisters and chaffing. Trying new clothes as early as possible, during training runs, will give you ample time to find what works and what doesn’t. Dri-fit and technical athletic wear is highly recommended. 

Keep Moving.
Paul

Incredible – we’ve reached our preliminary $10,000 fundraising goal already!  The challenge is on now to raise another $10,000 by event day – for a total of $20,000 towards the Help Make A Home campaign. 

We have an urgent need to secure our home, upgrade our facilities, and expand our capacity to meet the growing demand for Pine River Institute’s expert care.  We need to raise $3.5 million to do just that.  We are currently about half way towards our campaign goal, thanks to a handful of committed individuals and foundations.  Raising a total of $20,000 through the TREAD 6 Hour Trail Run Relay for Pine River will be a great contribution to this campaign – and to the many youth and families who will have access to Pine River Institute’s care.

Your incredible support – as fundraisers, sponsors, and volunteers – inspires others to be a part of this Pine River Institute community coming together to Help Make A Home.  Many thanks.

More than $4000 raised for the TREAD 6-Hour Trail Run Relay for Pine River!  Paul Brazeau takes the lead for top individual fundraiser, and the Camp Arowhon Team is still in the lead for top team fundraiser.  If you haven’t signed up to participate yet - go to our website www.PineRiverInstitute.com and put together a team for May 27th, 2012.  Our AWESOME volunteers are working hard to organize amazing entertainment, food, and prizes, to be announced soon.  Stay tuned.

Karen Minden, Pine River founder and now CEO of Pine River Foundation will be a panelist at this upcoming Institute of Corporate Directors event on performance measurement and accountability for Not-For-Profit organizations.  Accountability is a core value at PRI, and we are pleased to be participating in this initiative!  

Is It All Heart? Performance Measurement for NFPs

Institute of Corporate Directors, Ontario Chapter
Afternoon Session - Thursday, March 29, 2012

Directors are familiar with the range of performance metrics in profit-based organizations, but performance measurement and accountability in Not-for-Profit Organizations is a challenging area. This panel discussion will address some of the issues faced by NFPs in developing and applying performance metrics and propose suggestions to improve sector performance.

Attendees will also be guided in facilitated discussion to frame key questions which need to be addressed, and to the possible formation of an independent advisory task force which will report back on its deliberations in the coming months.

The learning goals of this session include:

• Provide a better understanding of the changing landscape of NFP performance assessment

• Discuss the development and application of performance metrics for NFPs

• Share experiences with thought leaders and assess alternative approaches

• Propose ideas and suggestions to improve sector performance and comparability

Moderator:

• Eileen Mercier, FICB, MBA, F.ICD, Chair, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board

Panelists:

• Don McCreesh, C.Dir, Chair, Imagine Canada

• Karen Minden, C.M., PhD, CEO, Pine River Institute Foundation

• Greg Thomson, Director of Research, Charity Intelligence Canada

We’ve reached $2000 raised for the TREAD 6-Hour Trail Run Relay for Pine River!  After only two weeks we’re well on our way to reaching our $10,000 goal. The Camp Arowhon Team is in the lead! 

Co-Founder and Founding Research Director of Pine River SAMANTHA YAMADA will be speaking at TEDxYorkU Saturday, March 10.  We’re so excited to watch her presentation, streamed live on this website: http://www.tedxyorku.ca/.  The series begins at 10 am, and Sam’s talk is scheduled for 2:11pm.

As per the TEDxYorkU site, the series theme:

Impact.

It creates a momentum in any given direction; changes everything in it’s path as it expands. Life shifts, paradigms are challenged, movements spread, regimes fall.

Every day, York’s community touches the world in a wide variety of ways; through activism, research, community service, performance, leadership, ideas; the list goes on.

TEDxYorkU 2012 is a celebration of the many ways in which we affect our world.

Congratulations Sam!

Mr. David Tilson, MP for our Dufferin-Caledon riding recently visited the school.  Here he is with Victoria, Vaughan and John.