MCRs Being Social in the Winter

MCRs braved the cold to attend the 2013 MCR Winter Social with their friends and family. Thank you for the good company and the inspiration to make a difference in our communities.

Alyson, Rodney, and Kathy Cottee think about recycling

As an added treat we invited Kathy Cottee, manager of Quality One Training & Support Inc. Quality One manages staff who sort waste in the Integrated Processing & Transfer Facility (IPTF) and the Construction & Demolition Recycling Facility. Kathy aims to provide meaningful work for people who are hard to employ and help them develop work skills. She helped us understand that this has not been an easy task for her and her team. Quality One and the City of Edmonton try to give the sorters what they need to get the job done. By striving to find common ground, many Quality One employees achieve a higher level of accomplishment than they've ever felt.

Kathy captured the attention of us all

Kathy mentioned the 3 biggest problems for her staff. Here's how to help them out:

1. Medical Waste - Can be safely disposed of at any local pharmacy.
2. Pantyhose - Gets stretched and jams the machinery. Cut them up. 
3. VHS Tape - Gets caught up in conveyor belts and jams up machinery. Movies can be donated to many charities (see edmonton.ca/reusedirectory). Throw VHS tapes that can't be reused in the garbage, but you can tape them up. This helps make sure that they don't unroll. 

Evening at a Glance

As always, we can count on a delicious spread . Luckily, many MCRs also happen to be skilled in the kitchen 

Some dishes are extra creative, Laurie Taylor put peas in her muffins. Surprisingly scrumptious

Kathy accepts a few Fruits of Sherbrook jams as a thank you 

Two Karen's in the audience; Karen Kennedy on the left with her daughter, and Karen Lewis-Caron on the right 

Rodney leads us through a few activities 

Trudy, Mary-Jo, Alessandra, Elsie, and Will rack their brains as part of the challenge 

Garry checking out MCR highlights of 2012

A BIG thank you to

• Alyson, Herb, Christine, Cathie, Andrew, and Su for helping with set-up and clean-up. 
• Kathy Cottee for telling her story with Quality One and the people who sort our waste. 
• Cloverdale Community League for a great space to have our potluck.
• Monique for suggesting Cloverdale Community Hall on the MCR facebook group. 
• (Brenda, Jayne, Megan, Laurie, Karen, Hannah, and Pamela for suggesting other great venues.)
• Edmonton Valley Zoo, John Janzen Nature Centre, Community Services, The Reuse Centre, and Waste Management Services, and Mark (our favourite Compost Education Coordinator) for donating door prizes.