YESS Champion

Last year YESS was approached by a brand new organization called Level Up Gaming League. They wanted to share their love of tabletop gaming and all its fun and benefits with our youth. They were connected with the youth at Shanoa’s Place for their very first Dungeons & Dragons campaign with YESS youth!

Level Up Gaming League believes that tabletop gaming has the power to create positive change in our community, and that by harnessing the power of gaming people can be empowered to build better futures for themselves. They provide gaming opportunities for organizations that support at-risk populations. With the groups they work with they encourage the social development of youth and adults through intentional gaming and build a culture of inclusivity, acceptance, creativity, and honesty.

The campaign at Shanoa’s Place took about four months to complete, with sessions held every second week. A few youth were really engaged from the beginning, and a few more participated here and there. All of the youth who participated enjoyed this new and creative experience.

YESS Youth Worker Dolphin noticed a number of new skills the campaign got our youth to practice. Dungeons & Dragons proved to be a powerful tool for teaching the link between choices and consequences. Challenges and riddles were opportunities for the players to cooperate and collaborate on solutions. And for an age group that’s used to the immediacy of video games, the switch to tabletop taught players to be patient.

YESS youth Jared loved the experience: “The Dungeons & Dragons program through YESS has been an exciting experience for me. It allowed me an opportunity to meet like-minded individuals and, best of all, live vicariously through my character. My favourite part for sure is getting to experience new ideologies, cultures, and even behaviours through the game. Dungeons & Dragons is so much more than just a pen and paper game, really, and I thank YESS for coordinating such incredible play sessions with the talented Dungeon Master Bryan Sali and his artistic accomplice, James.”

“Working at Shanoa’s Place has been an extremely rewarding experience for us,” says Bryan Sali, President of Level Up Gaming League. “What surprised us was the level of involvement from the staff who joined us at the table and who have become part of a team with the youth who live there. The adventuring party that joins us at our gaming table every other week is an amazing group of people who have worked together to solve problems and build an incredible collaborative story; and we have all learned a few things about ourselves, each other, and how to work together.”

The team from Level Up Gaming League is currently kicking off their second Dungeons & Dragons campaign with YESS youth! This summer they’ll also host tabletop gaming days at our Armoury Resource Centre for youth in our daytime program. Let’s get rolling!

Learn more about Level Up Gaming League!

“Emma was always a giving, caring, wonderful friend.  She especially wanted to help children as much as she could.”

Shortly before the holidays, YESS received a generous gift in Memory of Emma J. Meharg, who passed in May 2017 at 94 years old. We were inspired to know more about the person behind the gift and Emma’s good friend, Brenda Peachey, shared a bit about this very special, strong, and loving woman.

I met Emma in 1989 in Edmonton and we became fast friends. She was one of the most giving and loving people I have ever known. Emma volunteered at many places such as the Edmonton Police, Meals on Wheels, the food bank, and helping new single mothers. She worked full time into her late 80’s in a job that helped people improve their well-being. Being close with God, she also delivered Communion to shut-ins. Emma was always there to help anyone who needed it. She came from extreme poverty and never forgot to pay it forward.

Emma’s most important concern was the need of children… Her greatest desire was to help benefit children with any monies left remaining when she passed. 

This gift that Emma extends to our youth is the gift of positive independence, which is what drives each of us in our work to help our youth build healthy, connected, and enriched lives.

Says Brenda, “Thank you so much for your lovely letter of thanks to my Emma—I know she would have been so proud and so very pleased knowing all the good that this gift will help facilitate for the youth. I know I am!”

Discover How You Can Help

At YESS, we have the privilege and pleasure of helping individuals, families, and organizations share their generosity and achieve their philanthropic wishes. Learn how you can support YESS and those we serve beyond your lifetime by contacting our Donor Relations team at 780-468-7070 or giving@ yess.org.  Eileen Papulkas or Jennifer Fuller would be happy to discuss the possibilities with you.

The Organic Box provides hundreds of dollars’ worth of produce to our kitchens every week. They have also shared their passion for helping our youth with their Food Family initiative, which has led to donations of over $13,000.

Our youth love to try new things–maybe you’re the same! If you’re looking for a fresh recipe full of spring flavours, try out this recipe from our friends at The Organic Box.

Brown Rice and Fresh Pea Frittata

Ingredients:

3/4 cup fresh peas (frozen works well here too in a pinch)
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 tbsp fresh parsley
1 cup cooked brown rice
7 eggs
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and Pepper

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a medium skillet and add the green onions and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes.
2. Add the peas and parsley and a splash of water. Cook until peas are bright green, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Beat the eggs and milk in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add the rice and then then pea mixture.
4. Heat remaining 1tTbsp oil in a nonstick pan. Pour in egg mixture, using a spatula to lift the eggs and tilt the pan to let eggs run underneath.
5. Cover and turn down to low, shaking the pan every few minutes to prevent burning. Cook for about 10 minutes or until eggs are just set.
6. Remove to a platter and let cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Meet long-time YESS Champions Jim and Elsa-Marie Frazer!

Tell us a bit about yourselves!

Jim and I have been married 55 years and have lived in the Kenilworth district 54 of those years! Jim is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants and still does work at home for clients as well as volunteering. I am a former teacher, bridal consultant, and was involved in retail. For the last 16 years I have also spent many hours volunteering at SEESA (Southeast Edmonton Seniors Association) and last year received the honour of a life membership for outstanding service.

How did you first get involved with YESS?

Jim and I got involved years ago with YESS when our daughter (now 50) volunteered there and enjoyed it so very much. We have 2 children, Shelly and David, and 4 very precious grandsons ranging in age from 20-25. Our children and grandchildren are our most prized possessions in life and therefore we cared about the youth at YESS who didn’t have a home. We have donated many different items including food, clothing, bedding, toiletries, as well as monetary donations over the years, even giving donations to YESS as Christmas gifts.

What would you say are some of your strongest beliefs about YESS?

Children are our future world and most of them have not caused the situations they are in. YESS gives them that security in their lives so they can succeed in school, music, art, or whatever their interests are and that feeling of self-worth that they don’t have when they come to YESS. At YESS they feel loved and wanted.

YESS is making such a difference in many children’s lives and needs to grow larger with our help and the government’s help. Many youth are involved in drugs and have mental illness problems due to the stress of life and perhaps home situations, but YESS gives them a great haven to help them through their issues.

What inspired you to join the Champions League and become a monthly funder?

In the present economic conditions, grants and other funding are not easy to come by, so we decided to donate monthly instead of giving at different times of the year. This way YESS knows the exact amount they will have to work with. We still will donate at other times too, just to give their budget a little boost!

We chose YESS as one of our charitable agencies as we see and know where the money goes and what great accomplishments are made with the youth who take shelter there. More funding helps to get more staff, which allows YESS to offer more programs for the youth. Donating time as well as money to help our youth—our future world—is so rewarding in your own heart.

We wish all the staff and youth at YESS the very best always. To others who find it in their hearts to donate time and/or money, please do and reap the rewards of helping our future world, our children, to fulfill their dreams and succeed in life.

This guest post comes from the Grade 6A Class from St. Boniface Elementary School and their teacher, Mr. Charrois. During their visit, the students wrote encouraging notes for our youth that were left on the beds in our shelter and posted on the walls in our residential program.

In anticipation for our IB PYP Exhibition and to ignite social change, the Grade 6 students from St. Boniface visited YESS (Youth Empowerment & Support Services) this month. We were served a delicious lunch from Red Seal Chef Tiffany and her amazing kitchen staff. Then we were given a tour of the building by Jen and Mo. Finally, we completed an activity for Edmonton’s youth in need that we left on their beds.

After returning to school, we reflected on the experience and here is what a few of us thought:

 When we went in, it made me feel sad and made me feel way more privileged than before and made me want to be more thankful for things that they don’t have and I do. Now I have a different perspective on homeless youth throughout the city and the world. (Jacob)

I felt glad that we could learn more about youth homelessness so that we can take action and help make a positive change in our community to help kids who are affected by homelessness. I feel so disappointed that parents would abandon their children as soon as they weren’t their responsibility. (Student)

When I went to bed last night, I was happy to know someone will get my letter, and I hoped that it would make an impact on whoever that person was. (Sophie)

We cannot wait to see what actions we can take to help YESS be a safe and caring place for our youth!

Chris Thombs of is a familiar face at every YESS event, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find him in any photos. That’s because Chris is always the pro behind the camera capturing every smile, laugh, and crazy moment at YESS events over the past 6 years! You can check them all out at onestepbeyond.ca.

Thank you so much, Chris, for all of your hard work! We can’t wait to smile for the camera at the YESS Gala for Youth!

Tell us a bit about yourself!

Where to start? Today I am a working photographer that specializes in “making you look good” by creating imagery of you, or of what you care about, for any professional or personal use. Before the career change in 2009 to becoming a full time professional creative I was in the Army with the Princess Patrica’s Canadian Light Infantry for 21 years. That service made me care more about my adoptive city of Edmonton and to put down roots here.

How did you first get involved with YESS?

Back in 2010 I finally had the opportunity to finally get to go out for “Homeless For A Night” and participate instead of just donating money and stuff to YESS. So a couple of friends and I went down to participate bringing our donations and spent the night. And since I am a working photographer I had my camera in tow as always I documented the night, and handed off the images to Shelly. Two months later Shelly called me and asked me what I knew about golf, and if I would be interested in volunteering to cover the Charity Golf Tournament with photography, and I responded HECK YAH! Tell me when and where! So ever since myself and One Step Beyond has covered YESS’s marquee events doing event photography, photo booth, video productions, and even some executive portraits.

Why are you passionate about supporting youth facing difficult realities?

I have friends that went to YESS for help when they were in need, I have seen the good work they do, and my experience working over seas makes me want to help our own youth in Edmonton.

What are some favourite moments you’ve experienced at YESS events?

There are so many great moments and
memories I have from YESS events (I have photographic proof of that). But for me it is hard to distill down to finite moments, but I can share what I feel; touched in the heart, joy, and hope at every event.

Why is in important for you to give back to your community?

Every one deserves a chance at anything, and everything.