Max Pahtayken
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Daily Herald
Truth and Reconciliation can be seen throughout the country this Wednesday, and Prince Albert is no exception. Partnership between Lake Country Co-op and Prince Albert Indian Metis Friendship Centre presents Cupcakes for a Cause, in support of Orange Shirt Day and Truth and Reconciliation Day on Sept. 30.
Lake Country Co-op offered custom orange frosted-cupcakes from Sep. 17-30, with proceeds going directly back into the community, in the spirit of reconciliation, acknowledging the historical harms that have been perpetrated by governments against Canada’s Indigenous peoples.
“The whole goal of it is to open people’s eyes and give them understanding of what it means to us, it’s better that people understand it rather than being told it, told they need to be part of it, and to be there,” said Prince Albert Indian and Metis Friendship Centre Programs Director Warren Roberts.
“That’s what these organizations are doing, they’re coming to these events, they’re starting to be partnerships, and it’s awesome. It’s togetherness. It’s what our people are about, and it’s what the world is about.”
Roberts said the partnership is very meaningful to both him and the Friendship Centre because it shows togetherness, understanding, and the proceeds also help him to continue helping others.
Roberts said that because the Friendship Centre is a non-profit, they have to ask for funding for their program that helps a wide range of those in the community, like elders, youth, those experiencing homelessness and lower income families.
Lake Country Co-op offered Orange Shirt Day Cupcakes for a Cause with donations going towards the Prince Albert Indian and Metis Friendship Centre, representing understanding, community, togetherness, and reconciliation for September 30.
He said that the funds raised go towards every elder meal, every elder outing, every kids club, youth club, and every meal to the clients that are on the streets. It goes towards food and food assistance to less fortunate families, and towards helping those families with paperworks like mail, health, water, family services and more.
“We do it everyday, it’s not only once a month, it’s every day, that’s what we do,” Roberts said. “All the gatherings, all the powwows, all that money goes back into the community. We don’t do this job because of the pay, we do the job because of the inner greatness, and that beautiful feeling I get when I wake up in the morning, knowing I’m doing right.”
Roberts explained it makes him emotional to think about how his work helps others, and especially within the youth. He said that he is working at helping one person at a time, and when he helps them, they will help another, and that will continue in a ripple effect.
“To see it first-hand, from 20 years ago, from kids being seven or eight years old, to now they’re graduating and saying, ‘Hey, can you come to my grad?’,” Roberts explained. “They say, ‘Can you come to my wedding?’, ‘Can you be the godfather of my child?’, that’s from the work we do. That’s what I do it for, is the love of these kids and these youth and knowing that our future is in better hands by giving the little bit of knowledge I have, and passing it on. It means a lot to me.”
Roberts went on to say how the partnership also benefits not only the programming and services that the Friendship Centre provides, but also helps in benefiting the whole world, rooted in understanding and connection.
“It’s hard to put into words because it’s a feeling, it’s how you wake up in the morning, how you carry yourself throughout the day, feeling good knowing that you’re doing your part in the world,” Roberts said.
“I say the world because if everybody works together, stuff gets done. It’s a lot easier to do a big job with a thousand people rather than ten people, and more hands in is always easier.
“When you have people coming together to do this heavy work, and this is a heavy thing, it’s a touchy subject, and when we go at it head on, I think anything is possible.”
Roberts said that the main goal is to help community, and when the Friendship Centre partners with another business in the community, it is similar to the saying, ‘It takes a community to raise a child,” when everyone is doing their part, it takes a community to create and maintain a grounded place for us to grow and heal, and to help others heal.
He also said that this partnership shows initiative and shows that people do want to understand and want to change. He said that any attempt at reconciliation like wearing a pin, wearing an orange t-shirt, putting an orange shirt in your window, is an attempt at making things right.
Roberts acknowledged that it may not be possible to make everything right when talking about the harms done, but a better understanding of what Orange Shirt Day is and what it symbolizes, is togetherness, which is what Orange Shirt Day is all about.
“The whole point of Orange Shirt Day is to honour those that passed and that are lost, but at the centre of it is bringing people together,” Roberts said.
“That’s what the world was about before, we already had everything we wanted. We had food, we had shelter, we had togetherness, and we were kind to each other.”
“With these kinds of events and the showcasing of Orange Shirt day and Red Dress Day, it shows that people are trying to come back to a grounded place, and a grounded self-being. I think we lose that and quite often we lose it a lot without even knowing, so these are reminders and it keeps us in check.”
Roberts said although one day will never be enough to appease the loss of those who passed on, the partnership is a step towards reconciliation and coming together as a community, how it is supposed to be.
“It’s collaboration of community engagement for Orange Shirt Day and Truth and Reconciliation to show our support for how much we do care about our history,” Roberts said.
“By collaborating with other companies within the community, it shows that we’re working hard for that reconciliation and we want to be a part of it. We don’t only want to be a part of it, but to showcase it so that other businesses and organizations catch on, and it has caught on all around the world for Orange Shirt Day.”
