Motivational speakers help Alberta non-profit promote resilience, fight domestic abuse
Lynne Jenkinson didn’t know it, but Ryan Laird was already singing her tune.
Jenkinson is the director of Flagstaff’s Initiative to Relationship and Spousal Abuse (FIRST), a registered charity and community organization in east-central Alberta. And when she approached the two-time Canadian Country Music Award-nominated singer to be part of a FIRST presentation in February, she got a bit of a surprise.
“I knew who Ryan was, but I didn’t know that he had the BiggerThanThat.org initiative,” says Jenkinson, referring to Laird’s youth empowerment and bullying prevention campaign.
“He played in four schools in Flagstaff County, and he talked to the students, and his message was: ‘It’s good to be unique. Don’t conform—don’t work within that little box someone has built for you.’ He was very, very good.”
FIRST, which saw Jenkinson take over as director in 2011, exists to promote healthy relationships, battle domestic and relationship abuse, and reduce risky behavior in youth in the Flagstaff region.
In addition to educational programming, FIRST also brings in speakers for school audiences in the communities of Daysland, Killam, Sedgewick, Forestburg and Hardisty—with themes of resilience, perseverance and self-confidence. Speakers have included:
- Author Liz Murray, whose book Breaking Night was made into the movie Homeless to Harvard;
- Mildred Muhammad, ex-wife of John Allen Muhammad, the “D.C. sniper”;
- Canadian rally car driver Peter Thomson; and
- David Chilton, Dragon’s Den star and author of The Wealthy Barber.
“In all of our programs, whether it’s training sessions, peer counselling or presentations, the message is to respect yourself—because if you do that, you truly will respect others,” says Jenkinson.
Enbridge is devoted to improving quality of life in the communities where we live and work.
In 2016, we invested more than $13.4 million in community-strengthening initiatives across North America—and that includes a recent $7,500 donation to FIRST.
“Enbridge has supported FIRST for a very long time. They provided us with funding for our Community Resource Officer program for years,” says Jenkinson. “They were one of our first corporate sponsors, many years ago, when people were figuring out what corporate sponsorship was.”
(TOP PHOTO: Ryan Laird, a two-time Canadian Country Music Award-nominated singer and songwriter, recently played in four schools in Flagstaff County, east-central Alberta, with a theme of youth empowerment, following an invitation from FIRST.)
