(L-R) Graham Parsons - chair, Sylvan Lake Yuletide Committee, major sponsors Scott and Julie Townsend from Townsend Electrical, and Mark Jones - CEO, Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre.

By Sheldon Spackman

Helping The Vulnerable

Child Advocacy Centre partners with Sylvan Lake Yuletide to help abused children

Oct 22, 2019 | 2:59 PM

Young victims of sexual abuse in central Alberta stand to benefit from a new partnership between the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre (CACAC) on Tuesday.

Sylvan Lake Yuletide will see its inaugural Yuletide SPIRIT Night take place Nov. 28 at the NexSource Centre. The ticketed, evening cocktail event will feature local entertainment, wine and craft beer sampling, as well as tasty samples from local restaurants.

In addition, there will be raffles, a silent auction and CACAC-supporting celebrities in the crowd to tell the Advocacy story.

Officials say proceeds raised will go into the Spirit of Sylvan Yuletide Festival coffers to be split with several recipients, including the CACAC, Sylvan Lake Advanced Ambulatory Care Society, Sylvan Lake Food Bank, Sylvan Lake Christmas Bureau and Sylvan Lake Community Partners Association.

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Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre CEO Mark Jones says the new partnership is a great opportunity for them.

“We’ve had a number of children that we’ve worked with in Sylvan Lake and all of our other areas around central Alberta,” explains Jones. “But what we’re trying to do is let those small town cities and communities to understand that this is also their Child Advocacy Centre, it’s not just Red Deer’s.”

Jones hopes other central Alberta communities take note of Sylvan Lake’s lead and recognize the opportunities available to help vulnerable children in our region.

“Yesterday, our client load, we worked with our 72^nd community, came on board where we’ve worked with at least one child or family from that community,” says Jones. “We just continue every day to have more and more opportunities to work throughout central Alberta and we celebrate that. And we celebrate the fact that yesterday I believe we had out 752^nd case come through our door since Dec. 14, 2017.”

Graham Parsons, chair for the Sylvan Yuletide Committee, says the initial idea for the partnership came from wanting to grow the festival.

“Digging into it and going into it more, it’s something that I’m shocked more people don’t know about what the Advocacy Centre does,” says Parsons. “The more I see that, the more I think this is important for both parties, the fact that we want to get the word out on CAC and what it does, and that it is a central Alberta initiative and a very heart rendering and very important one. We’re truly excited on how to grow the Festival and how to make a difference in central Alberta.”

With plans to build a new CACAC just south of the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre at RDC, Jones says they’ve been meeting with provincial ministers and officials to ensure the capital project stays on track.

“Through working with them and continuing working with them, we’re hoping within the next month to hopefully be able to nail down exactly what’s happening and what everything looks like,” explains Jones. “We’ve continued to have our meetings with potential builders and funders, so we’re still hopeful that in 2020, we’ll be in the ground and building our structure.”

With the province set to unveil its budget on Thursday, Jones says he remains optimistic.

“We’re not sure how that will affect us, but we’ve had a great relationship with the Government and they’ve been very open to working with us and making the connections, and inviting us up for opportunities for conversation,” says Jones. “So we’re optimistic, I don’t know how when it’s working with children and families, to make good things possible for people who have had bad things happen. People get on board and help out.”