In harmony with the UN International Day of Disabilities, Astonished! is hosting its 6^th Annual Walk & Roll. It will be a virtual event, for the first time ever, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Walk & Roll is a family-friendly pledge event that aims to raise funds to support the work of Astonished! We invite you to create a team or join a team and come walk and roll with us. December 3^rd at 7:00 via Zoom. To learn more, create a team, or support someone, click here.

We hosted our first Walk and Roll in 2015. Students in Dr. Brenda Rossow Kimball’s Kinesiology 342 (Developmental Disability and Well Being), at the University of Regina, had the opportunity to put their learning into practice. Student groups partnered with community groups to recognize the International Day of Persons With DisAbilities. It was a steep learning curve for all of us; but together we carried out a successful event. Since then we have hosted four more Walk and Rolls and they have been getting bigger and better.  BUT, now it is 2020 and the pandemic creates some new challenges for us. We hope you are up for a challenge!

On December 14th, 2019, Astonished! hosted our annual Holiday Feast. A! Core Members, families, friends, volunteers, and staff all joined in the festivities. With the Core Members, we began the event with a craft activity by decorating ornaments with paint and lots of glitter. When that was occurring, staff and volunteers were hard at work preparing the food. There was lots of food including turkey, mash potatoes, cabbage rolls, meatballs and to end the night, ice cream for dessert. We had fun coming together and catching up with one another over good food. Thank-you City of Regina for the Social Development Grant, which partially funds our monthly Astonished! Social Club event! Check out our Face Book post for more photos from the evening.

For many people using digital technology is as familiar as the air they breathe, but for others it is another place of exclusion. Astonished! is delighted to partner with Inclusion Regina in the fall of 2018 to introduce six A! Core Members to online safety and the basics of using an iPad. The program, called Let’s Connect Technologies, enables participants to acquire their own iPads at a minimal price, and introduces participants to a variety of programs, apps, and online safety. Some of the participants were already familiar with the iPad but for others it was their first opportunity to have their own iPad and begin to access the world that is possible with this tool. The pride in the room was palpable. Thanks Inclusion Regina for partnering with us. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Lorne and Evelyn Johnson Foundation at South Saskatchewan Community Foundation. To see photos from one of the evening sessions please click here.

Kelly Schnurr is one of the astonishing people we are highlighting in our November 2017 e-newsletter. Kelly is currently completing prerequisite courses for a degree in Social Work at the University of Regina. He is also volunteering with Astonished! To read more about Kelly and some of the other astonishing people in the Astonished! community click here……

Did you know the chicken dance was composed in the 1950’s in Switzerland? And even more surprising, did you know many of the Astonished! community can rock the chicken dance? Under the guidance of teacher and choreographer, MacKenzie Drumm, Astonished! hosts the A! Dance Project several times a year. On Thursday evening, July 27th,  we rocked it in the dance studio at the Riddell Centre, University of Regina.  The chicken dance was a surprise introduction, in the midst of pop, country, hip-hop and other music.  Thanks MacKenzie for leading the A! Dance Project in an evening of dance fun, and thanks to the  Community Initiatives Fund for your support of the A! Dance Project. And of course the chicken dance must be followed by late-lunch! To see more photos from the evening………