Chestermere RCMP are on the lookout this summer for teens doing good deeds as the Positive Ticketing initiative was kicked off July 1, 2015. All summer members of the Chestermere RCMP will be rewarding teens who are showing positive youth contributions to the community. It can be as little as coming to a full stop at a stop sign, driving the speed limit through a playground zone, wearing their helmet at the bike park or picking up garbage. It can be as big as organizing a fundraiser for a worthy cause to volunteering at local events to helping someone in need.
This initiative came about when Danielle Fermin (formerly of Stepping Stones to Mental Health), Steven Sedley (Chestermere Addictions and Mental Health Services, and Christy Redl (Synergy) got together and wanted to find a way to commend youth in the community for doing awesome things.
“We all serve youth through our organizations and were looking for ways to reach a larger population and make a bigger impact with youth in Chestermere. We immediately approached the RCMP St. Sgt. Glenn Henry about it and he thought it was a great idea. Our team did some research and put together the funding and the tickets and were proud to hand them over to the RCMP early last week. The RCMP will now take the helm and use those tickets to foster relationships with youth in the community”, said Redl.
The initial gift cards were purchased through funding from Stepping Stones to Mental Health. They provided funds for 195 $5 gift cards to local businesses around the community. Chestermere FCSS has now also provided funding to extend the program and purchase an additional 195 cards as well as other expenses, including prizes for major draws. The first major draw will happen at the end of August which is 2 tickets to the Sunday show of X-fest. Information on how to enter the draws are provided with the tickets. This set of funding will take the program to the end of 2015.
The goals for the initiative are:
To recognize the positive contributions youth are making to our community and thus:
– improve self-esteem
– build confidence
– empower youth
– create healthy relationships with adult role models
– validate, acknowledge, and reinforce positive and healthy choices
– create a safer and more caring community environment for youth
Chestermere RCMP St. Sgt. Glenn Henry said, “The Chestermere RCMP were involved in the early stages of this program and fully support this initiative which is designed to recognize positive acts by local youths. The target range of this program is 13-18 years of age. Chestermere RCMP recognize the importance of positive youth contact as a means to create positive police youth relations. This program is a simple but effective means the police can reach out to our youth and thank them on behalf of our community for the good they often do but is seldom noticed. Chestermere RCMP police officers will over the summer identify positive youth actions and issue the positive tickets to the youth. The positive acts will be identified by each RCMP officer during their day to day duties. It is felt the positive acts will vary widely and may include examples of good driving, of youth assisting others or simply our young people role modeling great behavior”.
In the future, it is the hope of the organizers that this project will continue on a volunteer and donation basis. They would love to see local businesses donate the gift cards or coupons and to see the big ticket items donated as well. If some community members really believe in this project they welcome them to come on board and take on some of the coordination.
Redl continued, “The RCMP have been awesome in taking over this project and coming out to be a positive presence in the community. Cst. Harper joined us on Canada Day to help promote the project”.
If you would like to get involved or would like more information, please email chestermerepositiveticketing@ gmail.com
