www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, February 26, 2016 | 12 Volunteers of all stripes give Safetynet a makeover by Nathan Howes Special to the Beaver While many people spent the recent Family Day weekend with their loved ones, some were helping an Oakville charity renovate its premises. With support from a.b. design, the Professional Organizers in Canada (POC) Halton-Peel chapter and other local businesses, about 25 volunteers spent three days (Feb. 1315) at Safetynet Children and Youth Charities, 226 Randall St., working on a site makeover. The organization, which provides an array of services and clothing to struggling children, youths and their families, has helped more than 1,900 Oakville families since its formation in 2007. "We have a lot of people coming through here. Lately, it's getting a little run-down. Just for someone to come in and provide this for free... is huge for us. Just to brighten this place up and make it look good," said Bill Shields, Safetynet executive director, who spoke with the Oakville Beaver the day before renovations got underway. "Because we give out so much clothing and the rest is used for tutoring and music lessons, we have to really make good use of the space. So, someone coming in and showing us how we can use our space is very important to us." The makeover included painting the tutoring Nearly two dozen volunteers spent time over the Family Day weekend earlier this month giving the Safetynet Children and Youth Charities' Randall Street headquarters a makeover. Pictured hard at work, from left, are: Riley Anne Shields, 7, Sue Heddle and Angie Macdonald, as they work as a team to add some colour to a lower level room. | photo by Graham Paine Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) room, main entrance and parts of the clothing bank, as well as erecting new signs. Shields noted some of the volunteers were students from Appleby College and Oakville Trafalgar High School (OTHS). "We rely on the community to come in and offer to help. I started this charity in 2007 and we see it growing every year. We have to add more resources, especially with clothing," said Shields. The idea for the project came from POC Halton-Peel and a.b. design, which reached out to Safetynet because they wanted to help the group by volunteering time, Shields said. "The place needed brightening up. When you have children and youths getting music and tutoring, you want to make it look as nice as possible. It even helps with the learning experience," said Shields. Some of the students, who helped with the renovation are regular volunteers at Safetynet, providing music lessons or one-on-one tutoring. "We rely on volunteers in the community to assist with that. A lot of them are students in Grades 10, 11 and 12. We need quite a few because it is provided one-on-one. We really need a lot of that help. They offered their time," said Shields. In addition to free tutoring and lessons for piano, guitar, violin and vocals, Safetynet has a see Children's on p.15 EMILLE SHOES BURLINGTON Factory Shoe outlet CREATE YOUR DREAM h t a B r o n e Kitch with the purchase of $5,000 or more of cabinetry before taxes. Some restrictions apply. Please visit showroom for details. FREE INSTALLATION NEw ARRIvALS! 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE | QUALITY CRAFTSMANSHIP | CUSTOM DESIGNS 905-632-9688 FAMILY OWNED FOR 59 YEARS! 2394 Fairview Street, Burlington www.factoryshoeoutlet.ca Call for a Free Estimate 2015 Diamond Award 905-844-3332 Visit our showroom: 333 Wyecroft Rd. Unit 3, Oakville www.aromakitchens.ca Hours: Monday-Friday 9am to 9pm, Saturday 9am to 6pm, Sunday 10am to 6pm #1 SHOE STORE #1 CHILDREN'S SHOE STORE