I’m sure many of us have been hearing about COVID19 daily and the recent steps to minimize the spread of the virus – many workplaces and organizations are cancelling/postponing all non-essential gatherings. Given the recent news of COVID19 and the number of folks that may be immuno-compromised in our networks, we have made the hard decision to postpone Craftathon.
YouthLine’s staff team sat together earlier today to discuss how we can center our values and our communities in some hard decisions. We recognize the importance of building community in present time and wanted to balance that with a desire to ensure that we did not create situations where those most vulnerable in our communities felt the pressure to opt out of community gatherings.
We want to take a moment to recognize the hard work the volunteer committee puts into organizing this event, along with Craft Table Leads, and sponsors all of whom generously lend their time, skill, and resources to support YL. We also recognize all the work Crafters have done to raise much needed funds for YL and how many of you look forward to this event each year.
As a team, we are discussing when to reschedule Craftathon, as we still want to foster community and crafting, even more so in times like this when folks may be experiencing heightened anxiety and fear. We encourage everyone to continue to make choices about social gatherings that feel good for them and encourage increased hand hygiene.
More information about the rescheduled date will come shortly. As you know, Craftathon is YouthLine’s annual fundraiser that contributes much needed funds for us to continue our work – we will continue to leave the fundraising platform open for donations for the time being and re-open it closer to the rescheduled date. Once the event is rescheduled, we will aim to make sure that every Crafter that is signed up is able to participate in the event in some way.
Thank you for your understanding and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach us directly at craftathon@youthline.ca.
You can also find up to date information for COVID-19 at this link.
Wishing you well,
From all of us at YouthLine
PS – No service interruptions are anticipated for our Peer Support HelpLine – we may have one-off closures due to staffing gaps but currently expect service to run interrupted otherwise.