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stouffviue suntriburiem thursday nov 152007 21 digital memories help youth deal with death by adam mclean discussing the agony of losing a loved one is painful for anyone but a local hospice is hoping a hightech approach makes the process easier evergreen hospice which serves whitchurchstouffville and markham is aiming its digital memories program at youths but all ages are welcome to check it out most kids come because it is a non- talking group bereavement counsellor shafana dhanani said they dont want to talk about their grief because it is too difficult so the digital memories program offers them a way to express themselves through art pictures or a dvd participants are given access to com puters video equipment photo scan ners and cameras in order to create a digital scrapbook projects often feature home video footage slide shows set to music and family members being interviewed by the participant who asks them to recall memories of the deceased exchange how we feel ms dhanani visits schools through- out york region offering the program to teenagers who have lost a loved one we are always looking for kids to participate they are usually reluctant and afraid of disclosing more than they are able to she said in many cases teens can be grief- isolated and they feel no one under stands them but this is a safe environ ment to be expressive with people the same age grieving a similar loss the next workshop runs this month and next so projects are complete in time for the holidays the group meets from 6 to 730 pm wednesdays at the hospice 6060 hwy 7 just east of hwy 48 the program is free and there are still openings for more information inquire at infoevergreen while the digital memories program is aimed at teenag ers anyone can use it said shafana dhanani of ever green hospice which serves whitchurchstouffville photoadam mc lean they dont want to talk about their grief because it is too difficult so the program offers them a way to express themselves through art pictures or a dvd participants act as director produc er and editor they have creative con trol which according to ms dhanani surprises them at first but helps the them express themselves without being coaxed i made a dvd of my dad it was fun said andrew 13 who participated in digital memories last summer after his father died i did some interviews with my family members asking them what they thought of my dad and what kind of person they thought he was andrews family credits the project with not only helping him deal with the loss but helping the family we were afraid to bring up the topic with him and for a long time he wouldnt talk about it his aunt kim said the program gave us a good opportunity to registration introducing 6 to 8 students per teacher music and movement individualized programs warm and caring environment interactive classroom setting basic skill development financing flex payments available oac call us today 2 itw oxfordiearningcom qjjjfolffo sixteenth ave markham rd 9052012700 ookforour biggest sales of the year flyer in todays paper only in selected areas see in store for complete details our most recent contest winner is in a million rick darche won two gold tickets to a toronto hall of fame game sat nov 10 by registering for yorkregion corns new pop calendar watch the website for more chances to win jorkreg pop calendar allows you to choose the events and communities in york region you want to know about get email alerts when events are added to your area of interest rick darche of markham gets his tick ets from john futhey of yorkregioncom a limousine courtesy of three amigos took him and his son downtown and back home as part of the prize yorkregioncom celebrated one million page views in october join the crowd and get the local information you need when you want it job real estate business and community listings 247 local news attractions videos photos com bbjgwmffl ul your community