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New mosaic helps celebrate Say Hi day
by Carrie Debrone
Kitchener Citizen
Family and Children’s Services of Waterloo Region (FCS) unveiled a mosaic created by local foster children as it joined with the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council in celebration of the 5th annual Say Hi campaign on September 29.
The new mosaic is mounted in the lobby at the new Waterloo Region Family Centre on Ardelt Avenue in Kitchener.
“Over the course of the summer, children attending camp programming at the centre were given a simple canvas tile,” explained FCS Executive Director, Alison Scott.
“On these tiles, our budding artisans were asked to create a greeting for people entering the Family Centre.
And their interpretations were as diverse as the children them-selves,” Scott said.
The result is a collection of a variety of colourful tiles, some depicting “hello” in the child’s native tongue, or paintings of hands, or slang greetings.
The tiles were collected and forwarded to local artist Pedro Mar, who assembled them into a mosaic.
The FCS Say Hi Mosaic is the next step in the school-based Say Hi Campaign created to bring people together and nurture a sense of belonging in our community through one small, but common, action.
“Our kids were incredibly proud to participate in this campaign,” says Scott, “and to raise awareness for the community of the difference a simple ‘hi’ can make.”
For more information about the Say Hi Campaign visit www.sayhi.ca or contact Tracy Jasmins, Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council, at 519-883-2316 or tjasmins@regionofwaterloo.ca
Local artist Pedro Mar stands beside the mosaic he created from art done by local foster children during programs offered by Family and Children’s Services of Waterloo Region this summer. The mosaic, mounted in the front lobby of the new FCS building on Ardelt Ave. in Kitchener, was officially unveiled at a special ceremony in conjunction with the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council’s Say Hi Day on September 29.