On hand for the Kemptville Blossoms funding announcement were, left to right, North Grenville Mayor Bill Gooch, Leeds-Grenville MP Gord Brown, CAST Director St. Lawrence College, David McFadden and Ferguson Forest Centre COO, Ed Patchell.

Ottawa – Gord Brown, Member of Parliament for Leeds-Grenville, announced funding for Kemptville Blossoms, a joint effort of St. Lawrence College, the Ferguson Forest Centre and the town of Kemptville at noon on Tuesday, March 11. The announcement took place at the North Grenville Municipal Centre.

This Skills Link proposal, funded by Service Canada and presented by St. Lawrence College, will be the 12th in a series of successful Blossoms program offerings in the riding and is aimed at youth who face greater barriers to entering the labor market and are not yet ready for a work experience with an employer. The Blossoms programs have been in existence since 2000 and have resulted in many successes for both the participants and their communities.

St. Lawrence College will be the lead on the project, in conjunction with the community-based partner the town of Kemptville. Other community-based partners include: the Ferguson Forest Centre and the Grenville County Land Stewardship Council.

The program will have an intake of 12 participants who will acquire life and employability skills through community service while working in teams. All project work will occur in or around of Kemptville.

The program is scheduled to start on Monday, March 17th and will finish on Friday, June 6. The service activities that will be performed by the Kemptville Blossoms 2008 participants will include:

• The Kemptville Blossoms, in partnership with the Ferguson Forest Centre, will plan, build and install new signage for Ferguson Forest Centre nursery;
• Working with the Grenville County Land Stewardship Council the Blossoms will assist with building and maintaining walking trails and will build and install signage for existing trails;
• While working with the Ferguson Forest Centre employees, the Blossoms will plan, install/repair access controls (fencing) on the Ferguson Forest Centre property;
• Working with Ed Patchell, COO Ferguson Forest Centre, Blossom program participants will learn how to update the interior of their large meeting room by removing carpet, painting and installing new flooring;
• While working with Ferguson Forest Centre employees and Ed Patchell, Blossoms program participants will work on the maintenance of the 15+ kilometers of hedgerows located on the Centre;
• Working with the City of Kemptville, Blossoms participants will work on the parks and green spaces located in Kemptville, making them more inviting for use by tourists and by town residents; and
• Assist the City of Kemptville with planting, painting and cleanup of the designated historical section the City of Kemptville.