B NEWS OFFICERS PASSIONATE ABOUT PROACTION, SAYS MILLEN Cogtinued from page 13 da." A ProAction Halton 4 ~ Council made up of local community members has* been established to oversee the Halton chapter of ProAction Cops & Kids. So far this council has succeeded in fundraising $40,000 to pay for Halton programs throughout the year. Council chair and Bur- lington resident David Mil- len said the real strength of ProAction is the passion of the officers involved. . He said in Ontario the charity has reached more than 410,000 people and es- tablished 2,100 programs. Currently three ProAc- tion programs designed by local police officers have been established in Halton including: «Geared Up, a cycling program, which is teach- ing 15 Burlington youth the importance of cycling skills and safety. «Girls with Confidence, a program in which female officers work to prepare around 15 girls to run De- cember's five kilometre . Santa Claus Run' in Bur- lington. The program is intend- ed to help female youths bond and develop relation- . ships with female officers in an effort to build youth confidence and give them ..someone they can talk to Saturday, L 4 Halton Police Chief Stephen Tanner speaks during launch of ProAction Cops & Kids Halton Chapter. when confronted by diffi- cult issues. , «A program involving a" partnership with the Hal- ton Fetal Alcohol Spec- trum Disorder (FASD) sup- port group in which offi- cers spend five weeks with youths who .have FASD, engaging in various activi- ties like horseback riding and mini-putting. Patrol Const. Matt Bak- er talked about Geared Up. He noted some of the ac- tivities carried out so far have included demonstrat- ing the ability of helmets to October 27, 2018 ow 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. TREATS, CHARACTERS, GAMES, SCAVENGER HUNT, ACTIVITIES 8 MORE! ¥ save lives through an egg drop and teaching younger children how to ride a bike. One child named Ryan, who is originally from Syr- ia, was initially afraid of Baker and authority fig- ures in general, but even- tually accepted cycling les- 4 sons from him. By the end of the lesson Ryan was' able to cycle on his own without support. "Ryan had abig smile on his face. I think I had a big- ger smile. I went home that night beaming and told my wife and kids. It takes you NS In support of the Milton District Hospital. ~= downtownmilton.com =~ ] right back to teaching your .own kids and to when you learned to do that," said Baker. ¥ "To be able to give back to the community and do that in this role is amazing. I wish more officers could experience this because we do unfortunately see some of the worst things that are out there and it is nice to balance things every now and then and remember why we got into this profes- sion." The participating youths are found through David Lea/Metroland Media photo the outreach efforts of local officers. Theaudience also heard the story of Courtney, an at-risk Durham youth who was helped by that area's ProAction chapter. "Before I got into all this I was skipping school, I was experimenting with drugs I guess you could say, I was partying. - : "I had my set group of friends and everyone else could just go away. I was just really close minded from the world and the re- ality of things. I wasn't the MEDICAL [051 SOLUTIONS We Have Moved! Ay an SLAM) id me to look into the JETOEWY tion program. She oy get Logo on a white rafting trip trip and ag dding with a g of officers and.other its. | didn't lidn'twanttogoona & th a bunch of police ~ want to | didn't think it % oing to be fun, but I % xed to her a little bit and : ided the whitewater rafting. aspect would bes ol." Courtney described that first ProAction trip as the best thing she ever did and stuck with the program. She eventually signed on to become a team leader with the program and is currently looking forward to attending college so she can become a health in- spector. Courtney talked about where she thinks: her life would bé if she didn't gd®™ involved with ProAction. "Not ina good spot; she said. "I was getting into some pretty scary drugs. I might not even be here today. I definitely wouldn't be go- ing to college. That was not in my mindset of the things I wanted to do." For more information about the Halton ProAc- tion Chapter or to donate contact Sgt. Dave Tutte at 905-825-4747 ext. 8992 or Dave.tutte@haltonpo- lice.ca - or . https:// www.copsandkids.ca/ chapters/halton/. te New Patients Welcome Our New Location: 450 Bronte St South, Unit 101- 289-878-7334 medicalfootsolutions.com = wos uojeyepisul i