| Hello, Thank you for all you do to support the work of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society. I’d like to share with you today what we have done so far to assist Canadians dealing with the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last few weeks, our education team worked around the clock to launch the Canadian Geographic Education #OnlineClassroom. It debuted on March 31st. With schools across the country now closed for the foreseeable future, the new #OnlineClassroom is a place where resources and activities are freely available to teachers, parents and students to continue, and expand, learning from home. As you know, geography deals with people, places, events and the relationship between them, and is particularly relevant in these times. If there are teachers, parents or older students in your circle of family and friends, please make them aware of this amazing new resource available at: onlineclassroom.cangeoeducation.ca. We have already linked this initiative with those of ministries of education across the country.  In the first week after our launch, more than 11,000 new community members â teachers, parents, grandparents and students â have visited the site to learn about: the power of backyard biodiversity; how human activity impacts the natural world; using new technology such as virtual reality to explore the planet; the power of storytelling to learn about communities across Canada; and hundreds of other similarly exciting lessons that expand geographical knowledge. New learning resources will be updated every week! Meanwhile, the federal government has asked a number of organizations, including The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, to mobilize their expertise in sharing COVID-19 prevention messaging to Canadians. As a trusted, 90 year-old, national non-profit dedicated to informing Canadians about topics of importance to our country, the RCGS was happy to respond. We are finalizing our specific role in this endeavour at this moment. There are no extra dollars in our budget for these extraordinary measures. But the Society is committed to getting Canadian families the educational resources they need to get through this difficult period. Note: the RCGS takes its responsibility to the health and safety of its staff seriously. In this period of self-isolation, we have temporarily closed the doors to our headquarters at 50 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, and our staff is working remotely. We appreciate your understanding and patience under these new circumstances. Please consider a special donation today. Click here or mail cheques to: The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, 50 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON KIM 2K1. Please contact Sarah Legault, national director of development at legault@rcgs.org if you would like immediate assistance making a donation. John Geiger, CEO P.S. Because of the important nature of this special appeal to the future health of the society and Canada’s fight against COVID-19, we’ve arranged to do something special. If you donate before June 30th, the society will provide you with a free, one-year digital subscription (six issues) to our flagship publication, Canadian Geographic, as a way of saying thank you! |