Mêkiwin Legacy helps Regina families make memories
- EFN Staff | December 21, 2017
Aboriginal Family Services in Regina hosted a special family event this month for families and their children by giving them life experiences. The Mêkiwin Legacy, which is Cree for ‘let's give’, gave families an opportunity to build memories and do something together such as going to a restaurant, going out for family haircuts, leisure passes, Dino Bouncers and Get Air to name a few.
Delora Parisian, the executive director of Aboriginal Family Services, said the event took place on December 5th where they were able to provide for 60 families and about 120 children. Parisian and her staff did the cooking for the event drawing a huge turnout.
“We invited all the families and we spent the night giving out the life experiences to each family and presented them personally,” said Parisian. “It turned out to be a really positive experience for all of us.”
The event stemmed when Aboriginal Family Services celebrated its 20th year anniversary this past March. The agency added the Mêkiwin Legacy to the anniversary celebration where they fundraised with various donors donating to the project and also by holding an auction. They raised over $4,000 and the agency went out to buy the life experiences for families at the recent holiday event. Weeks ago, the Regina Police Service partnered with Aboriginal Family Services to help with the cause by donating some life experiences as well.
Sixty donors donated to the cause and an appreciation dinner was held specifically for them where they had the opportunity to watch videos of the families receiving the life experiences at the family event.
Parisian wanted to do something around Christmas aside from their annual toys and candies give-outs.
Parisian reflected back on her childhood Christmases and remembered the things her family did together and she wanted other families to build memories during the holidays to reflect back on.
“We had memories of fiddle music, visiting other families, sledding, and skating,” she said. “I thought maybe that’s what we can give to our families is an opportunity for them to have a life experience that they can’t afford on a budget they get from social assistance.”
Parisian is also one of the founding members of the Aboriginal Family Services which first opened 20 years ago. The organization works with families and children in the community. They run one of the biggest Head Start programs in Canada where there’s 15 in the province. Parisian said there are stresses that come along with the job but creating projects such as the Mêkiwin Legacy is a way to help strengthen the families they work with.
“The work that we do is very intense sometimes and it’s really challenging to see so many of our children in care,” she said. “I tell our staff ‘don’t give up, we got to keep on. If we’re not here, where are these families going to go.’ We keep encouraging one another.”
Aboriginal Family Services will soon be renamed to Eagle Heart Centre to represent their logo of an eagle logo with a family inside.
“We chose the eagle of the vision an eagle has. It flies close to the Creator, it mates for life and it looks after its young,” said Parisian.