Wasaga
Beach, ON: Multiple Births Canada
(MBC) is pleased to provide ongoing updates to its members, chapters and
colleagues. Your commitment to
Supporting Multiple Births
Together is of great importance to Canada’s multiple-birth
community.
Chapter
Representatives: Please forward the information below to
your Chapter Executive and members.
1.
Twins
Day at Blue Jays Home Opener – The
multiple-birth community has been invited to attend Twins Day at the Rogers
Centre in Toronto. This home opener
between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Minnesota Twins takes place on April 4th. Heather Scher of Newmarket POMBA is
coordinating Twins Day in partnership with TPOMBA. Tickets are only 30 dollars including
all taxes and fees. For those who
traveled to the game last year, the seats are in the same area – level 200,
first base line. Heather is also
working on providing more ticket opportunities for some weekend afternoon games
in the summer. If you have a
preference for a certain game she will try to make arrangements
accordingly. Heather can be reached
at 905-727-9315 or email shrfamily@aol.com.
2.
Mount
Sinai Symposium
–
Donna Launslager and Diane Myers will be representing the interests of MBC at
the 14th
Annual Symposium
New
Developments in Prenatal Diagnosis and Medical
Genetics
hosted by Mount
Sinai Hospital and the University of Toronto on May 17th. An internationally renowned faculty will
cover diverse topics in their areas of expertise. The overall objective for the
day is to provide useful, up-to-date information for health care professionals
on current issues related to fetal assessment and new technologies in prenatal
diagnosis and medical genetics. Click
here for more details.
3.
Early
Bird Deadline for National MBC Conference 2006 – March 15th
–
Plowing thru Parenthood is the theme and the early bird deadline is just days
away! Hosted by Chatham-Kent
Multiple Births Association, this four-day event, May 25-28, promises to be an
exceptional opportunity to learn, network, rejuvenate and meet other delegates
from across Canada. The Keynote
Address is entitled “Controversies in the Diagnosis of Zygosity in Multiples”
hosted by monozygotic twins, Donald Keith and Louis Keith, M.D., founders of the
Center for the Study of Multiple Birth. Dr. Louis Keith is a member of the MBC
Advisory Board. Save $25 per delegate by registering NOW. The all-inclusive cost before March
15th is just $150 per person. MBC Reps/Chapter Executives - please
forward on the information about this conference to your membership. This is a
wonderful opportunity for parents of multiples, volunteers and professionals who
work with multiples. For details see the registration form online at http://www.multiplebirthscanada.org/english/conference2006.php
4.
National
Multiple Births Awareness Day 2006 Update –
The theme is “Raising awareness of the
unique risks of multiple-birth pregnancies and the post-natal issues faced by
parents and multiples.”
The press kit in the new event planner package will support this message,
and will include appropriate collateral material as well as media clippings
highlighting last year’s events.
Other new additions will be a sample proclamation, a sample letter of
invitation to your MP and MPP, and National Multiple Births Awareness Day
stickers/labels to be worn by members (and kids!) attending the local
celebration or to be affixed to appropriate documents. The cost of the kit for MBC member
chapters is $30; non-member clubs pay $50.
Order deadline is April 1, 2006 and packages will be shipped by April
15th.
5.
MBC
2006 Annual General Meeting Update –
The Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday, May 27th at 8
a.m. at the Wheels Inn in Chatham, Ontario. All MBC member voices are welcome! Please consider
exercising your voting rights even if you can't attend the AGM. This is your
organization and your voice counts a great deal. The 2006 Proxy Form (which
includes the Notice of Meeting) is attached to this Information Circular (IC).
Chapter Executive Members, please circulate by any reasonable means among your
members and be sure to mail in or send the forms with your chapter designate on
or before the deadline. The
Chairperson of the Board must receive all motions for advance posting for member
consideration no later than May 12, 2005, fifteen (15) days prior to the Annual
General Meeting. (AGM Agenda to follow).
If you have any questions about Proxy votes or completing these forms,
please don't hesitate to contact the Business
Office.
6.
EI
Survey Results –
A quick review of the results indicates that we had 70 completed surveys. The top rated options included increase
parental leave, increase benefit maximum from the current 55% and increase
maternity leave. The January
federal election has affected our efforts, but only to the extent that we will
need to re-introduce our agenda to the new minister responsible for the EI
portfolio, The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Social
Development representing the riding of Haldimand-Norfolk. This will be done before MBC’s AGM in
May.
7.
Final
call for Making a Difference
Awards nominations – DEADLINE
IS MARCH 30TH! Do your part and nominate someone today! There
are five awards available for consideration this year,
including:
To see details on past
winners and to download the latest MADA Nomination Forms click here, or check out the
Multiple Births Canada website at www.multiplebirthscanada.org and
select Volunteering then Making A Difference.
Please submit your
nomination for consideration by March 30, 2006. Your submissions or questions
can be sent by email to Katherine Romain at makingadifference@multiplebirthscanada.org,
by fax to (705) 429-9809, or by mail at Making
a Difference, Attention:
Chairperson, 28 Tom Edwards Drive, Whitby, Ontario, L1R
2R4.
Would
you like to be part of the decision-making for the MADA
awards? We would like to hear from anyone who
would like to be part of the committee this year. If you are interested in helping out
with the decision-making, speeches or obtaining small gifts for our winners,
please contact us through email, fax, or mail as
above.
8.
Looking
for National Volunteers – Fundraising
Coordinator(s) and MBC Resources Translators and
Sponsors
Do
you have a few hours a week or month that you could spare to help at the
national level? Do you have
experience managing fundraisers—either for your chapter or another organization
you have been involved with? MBC
has recently taken on two fundraisers at the national level which could use a
volunteer or two to coordinate the programs and ensure that information is
distributed to our membership, chapters and to the general public to help raise
funds for our programs and initiatives.
Does this
sound like you? Please email Lori MacEwan to express your interest at mbcvolunteers@multiplebirthscanada.org.
She will forward your interest to Kim Weatherall, who has made the arrangements
for the programs to get started, but simply does not have the time to coordinate
the fundraisers on an on-going basis.
MBC
Resources Translators
Can
YOU or your CHAPTER make a difference?
We are looking for individuals, groups of individuals, families or
Chapters who have an excellent working knowledge of French/English translation
and who would be willing to take on the rewarding challenge
of:
1)
Translating
one, two or more MBC Fact Sheets or other MBC resources;
or
2)
Sponsor
the cost of hiring a professional translator to translate an MBC resource; or
3)
Assist/sponsor
with the costs of printing the item once translated.
If
you have excellent translation skills, and previous translation experience, this
could be the job for you. Or, if your Chapter would like to sponsor a
translation, please email Lori MacEwan at mbcvolunteers@multiplebirthscanada.org,
and she will connect you with Vicki Riley to determine the next priority in the
translation of MBC’s materials.
9.
Conference
2006 Local/National Fundraiser –
Chatham-Kent Multiple Births Association is excited to share their local
fundraising event with the rest of Canada!
On March 4th, Chatham-Kent MBA volunteers will be hosting a
Scrapbook Day Fundraiser but even if you can’t attend, you can still place an
order and you have until March 27th to do it! Attached is a flyer outlining the
details and showing 6 great scrapbooking offers. This fundraiser is sponsored by Treasured Times Scrapbook
Co. To download the flyer from
the MBC website, go to http://www.multiplebirthscanada.org/english/conference2006.php.
Help make this year’s conference a huge success!
To
place your order, or for further details, call Sheri at 519-825-9075 or email conference2006@multiplebirthscanada.org. Payments can be made by cheque or
PayPal. Please forward this fundraising information to your
friends and family. Thank you for
your support!
Multiple
Births Canada/Naissances multiples Canada
PO
Box 432
Wasaga
Beach, Ontario L9Z
1A4
Toll-free
(in Canada): 1-866-228-8824
Tel:
705-429-0901
Fax:
705-429-9809
mailto:office@multiplebirthscanada.org
http://www.multiplebirthscanada.org/
National
Multiple Births Awareness Day
– May 28th, 2006
The
content of this email is not intended to be a substitute for professional
medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health
provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical
condition.
Multiple
Births Canada Information Circulars (ICs) are a mass email service managed by
the Board of Directors of Multiple Births Canada and is for information sharing
purposes only. Opinions and
conclusions expressed through this service do not necessarily reflect the views
of either the Board of Directors or the caring volunteers of Multiple Births
Canada. If you wish to be removed
or added to this list, please contact the Business Office.