A local group is offering a safe and caring community to girls in the area for another year.
The Bonnyville Empowerment and Education Café, also known as the BEE Café, held their first meeting of the 2018/19 winter season on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at the Bonnyville Boys and Girls Club.
The program takes place every Tuesday from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. with this session wrapping up Dec. 18.
Executive director of the Boys and Girls Club Patty Cowden noted there was a little change to the program this time around, as it previously ran throughout the school year.
“I think it would be beneficial to make it shorter. Then, the goal is clearer. We want to try to have kids give back to the community, it would be the kids who come up with what charities they would be interested in and what type of things they see themselves giving back in the community to,” Cowden explained.
This year, BEE Café is available to girls aged 10 to 17-years-old.
The Bonnyville Child and Adolescent Mental Health Clinic, among other local organizations, is also involved in the program.
Mental health navigator Alena Thompson said, “We’re getting the girls together to form our little community, as one of the girls called it, to become more empowered and educate girls in that age group to try to work on increasing life skills and self-esteem.”
The first meeting focused on breaking the ice between the girls, while encouraging brainstorming to see what activities they’d like to do this year.
Megan Kwiatkowski (left) asks Emma Fox (right) a question during an icebreaker activity.
BEE Café member Emma Fox, 12, came back for another year because of her previous positive experience with the group.
“I really liked it. It really built up my confidence. Last year, I didn’t have any friends and I was really depressed about it and I just hated myself. After BEE Café, I made friends with... a bunch of people, and I’m really happy with myself,” she expressed.
After a few rough months, Fox knew BEE Café was the place to go when her friend Victoria Lenton was also struggling.
“When (Victoria) started feeling self-conscious, I immediately knew that it was time for us both to come here because we both feel safer and better with each other to work through it,” Fox explained.
Tuesday’s meeting was Lenton’s first. She has high hopes for the program.
“I was told that it would help girls my age, especially if they have self-esteem and self-confidence issues and I have a lack of self-confidence. I saw it as something that could help me feel happier,” Lenton detailed.
Offering a group for girls that are looking for something different is one of the reasons the café was started.
Eleven-year-old Zoe Demore (left) asks Victoria Lanton, 12, (right) if she’s the one that wrote the answer on her paper during an icebreaker activity.
“There’s always a group of girls that aren’t into dance, or aren’t able to dance, or don’t play piano but they’re still looking for something to develop themselves and learn about themselves,” Thompson said.
Registration for the café is free. For more information, visit BEE Café on social media or call 780-826-3037.
