The Weyburn Wor-Kin Shop is asking residents to celebrate the New Year by donating a 12-pack to their new building fund.
The Wor-Kin Shop has launched their new building fund with a recycling bin outside of the SARCAN depot, requesting donations of bottles for refund, and they are planning to launch an even bigger fundraiser later this month.
"The support we've gotten so far has been great," said Executive Director of the Weyburn Wor-Kin Shop Andria Brady.
Brady said that the bin was put out during the Christmas holidays and residents have already begun making donations of recyclable cans and bottles.
The goal of the Wor-Kin Shop is to raise $500,000, which will cover some of the cost of constructing a new 10,000 to 12,000-square-foot day-program facility.
Currently, the Wor-Kin Shop shares a 14,000-square-foot building with the SARCAN recycling depot, which takes up about 3,000 square feet. The Wor-Kin Shop features a wood shop, which occupies 6,000 square feet and their activity centre is 2,500 square feet.
Brady said the extra space is needed to accommodate the future needs of both SARCAN and the Wor-Kin Shop.
"We provide service to about 30 individuals right now," said Brady. "We're expecting, in the next two to three years, an increase of 20 or more."
Brady said that many of these new participants will be leaving the school system or moving to Weyburn from out of town and will require the services that the Wor-Kin Shop provides to those with intellectual disabilities.
"Some of our people have been coming here for 20 years," said Brady. "The new people that will be coming here have different needs and dreams and are younger."
Because of this, Brady would like to be able to offer more programs and classes for the youth, including programs that allow them to work in the community.
"We want to be a community-based program, not just a centre-based program," said Brady.
Not only is lack of space an issue in the current building, which used to be a warehouse for the Saskatchewan Brewer's Association, but the facility itself is not accommodating to the individuals it serves. Inadequate heating and lighting conditions and washroom facilities are all on the list of things that need improvement. A larger personal care room is also required, with shower or bathing facilities.
Brady said that they would also like to have their own Snoezelen Room, one like which used to be at the Weyburn Comprehensive School and has now been moved to the third floor of The Family Place, making it inaccessible for wheelchair-bound clients.
A Snoezelen Room is a softly lit room full of calming sensory devices meant to relax a client who is having anxiety.
The wood shop and paper and cardboard recycling centre would not be moved into the new building. These programs will stay where they are and SARCAN will move into the space no longer occupied by the Wor-Kin Shop's activity centre.
In the wood shop, pallets, survey stakes, trailer pads and crates are built and document shredding is performed by those members who cannot read, to protect privacy. As for recycling, the Wor-Kin Shop has about 60 customers that bring in their cardboard and paper to be processed.
Most of the funding for the new building will come from the provincial government, which announced a $76.9 million investment plan for people with disabilities in 2008, including $27.8 million in funding for capital projects. An investment of about 30 percent is required from the local community in order to be eligible for the funding.
The Wor-Kin Shop has hired a fundraising consultant in order to try and raise the necessary funds.
"This is a significant venture and we know we don't have the resources to do it ourselves," said Brady.
Brady said she hopes that the generosity of the community and corporations will open up to the Weyburn Wor-Kin Shop and their clients in 2011 - their 40th year of operation.
