Thursday 24 November 2016

Secret Path


Secret Path tells the story of Chanie Wenjack, a twelve-year old boy who died while trying to flee the residential school he'd been sent to. He was trying to return to his family. Gord Downie's poems and songs tell the story of Chanie's journey.

The video and songs are available for free online. Our Lambton College library will hold a special screening of the film on Thursday, December 1 at 11:30. 

Watch the full video here: Secret Path 

Monday 17 October 2016

Chew on This!

Today is celebrated as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Here at Lambton College, we’ve chosen to mark the day by participating in the Chew on This campaign. The campaign is organized by Dignity for All, a Canadian anti-poverty group.


Please visit our table outside reception in A-hall between 11 and 1 today: volunteers will be distributing apples and information about poverty.


Thanks for your support!

Wednesday 28 September 2016

Friday: Orange Shirt Day

Friday, September 30 is orange shirt day, a day to remember the generations of aboriginal students forced away from their families and into residential schools. 

If you haven't yet purchased your orange shirt, you can stop by the Aboriginal Cultural & Learning Centre, where shirts will be on sale for $20. Orange ribbons will also be sold.

All proceeds from these sales will help to fund this year's Round Dance and Pow Wow. 

You can read more about the orange shirt project here: http://www.orangeshirtday.org/

Tuesday 27 September 2016

This Thursday: Learn about Electoral Reform!

This Thursday, the Centre for Social Justice will host two information sessions on electoral reform: once from 11:30-12:30 in P111 and again at 7pm in A223. (The content for the sessions will be the same.)

The sessions have been researched and planned by a group of local citizens working collaboratively. Their goal is to share a clear and non-partisan overview of the various options under consideration: they’ll provide a 30-minute presentation, which will be followed by a question and answer period.

The sessions are open to all, and we’re hoping for a packed room. Please join us if you’re free.

Monday 19 September 2016

Thank you Mariatu!

Mariatu Kamara shared her story with us on Friday. She spoke of her time in Sierra Leone before the war, of her memories of living in fear as the fighting moved closer to her village, of her horrific attack, and of her survival in the days afterwards. She also spoke of her hopes for change: she's a UNICEF spokesperson working to end the atrocities committed against women and children during war, and she's in the process of establishing the Mariatu Foundation, one of the goals of which to help women and children in Sierra Leone.

Paul Wiersma, Deve Persad, Mariatu Kamara, Chantelle Butterfield, Erica Kelly, and Susan Chamberlain
Mariatu's novel, The Bite of the Mango, tells her story of survival and hope; it's available for sale at The Book Keeper.

Mariatu's courage and resilience are inspirational. Thank you to everyone who collaborated to bring Mariatu to town, and thank you, Mariatu, for being here!

Tuesday 13 September 2016

Smile Cookies for the Women's Interval Home

Tim Horton's smile cookies are on sale now, and every smile cookie sold in Sarnia helps the Women's Interval Home of Sarnia-Lambton. 

The cookies are on sale from September 12-18 this year.
The cookies are $1, and the full proceeds from their sale are donated to programming at the Women's Interval Home. These are the programs that aren't funded by the Ministry of Community and Social Services and wouldn't otherwise be covered--programs like the Youth Relationship Program, Community Education and Awareness, Creative Kids Club, Life Skills, and Youth Life Skills.

Last year, the cookie sales raised $12,000 locally.  

 Visit www.timhortons.com to learn more.

Friday 9 September 2016

Guest Speaker: Mariatu Kamara

We're excited to announce that Mariatu Kamara, who is a survivor of the civil war in Sierra Leone and a UNICEF spokesperson, will visit Lambton College to share her story. 
Mariatu Kamara, photo from Annick Press

Mariatu’s talk takes place on Friday, September 16 at 6:30 in A223. The event is free, and all are welcome.

The event has been arranged and sponsored by The Bookkeeper, the Sarnia Lambton Committee Against the Trafficking of Women and Children, the Centre for Social Justice, and LInC. 

Thursday 16 June 2016

LC Pride

Our library at Lambton College is celebrating pride this month. Check out their wonderful display:

Our library staff is fantastic, so if you're looking for something specific, let them know and they'll definitely help.

Friday 3 June 2016

This Weekend: Art Walk!

Head to downtown Sarnia this weekend to check out Art Walk!

You'll be able to support the Lambton College students' fundraising efforts for Haiti by purchasing something from their display:

Handmade Haitian art -- the items have been purchased from Haitian artists, and further profits
are directed to future student awareness trips.
You can also visit "The Gift Box," an interactive display that aims to teach participants about the realities of human trafficking. The display, sponsored by the Sarnia-Lambton Committee Against the Trafficking of Women and Children, was built by students at the Ontario College of Art and Design.

"The Gift Box" will be set up outside of Sarnia's city hall until June 7.
Art Walk runs from Friday, June 3 until Sunday, June 5. Admission is free. Visit their website to learn more: http://www.sarniaartwalk.com/

Monday 30 May 2016

Lambton College Students Supporting Syria

This past year at Lambton College, many of our student leaders worked together to create "Students Supporting Syria." Together, these students organized fundraisers and events to support Syrian families arriving in Sarnia as refugees. 

The group has just released their grand total...
together, they raised more than $7500!

 Gio Lopez of the Lambton College Student Administrative Council, on behalf of the Students Supporting Syria committee, presents cheques to Paul Cooper of the Lambton Presbytery of United Churches and Emily Fortney of the North Zone Catholic Churches. Photo by Bisi Alawode.
Thank you to the many generous donations from the community. And thank you to our student leaders, who are always donating their time and energy to causes they believe in!

Wednesday 4 May 2016

Lambton College students in Haiti

Each spring, Lambton College students visit Haiti: students from Ruth Geurts' International Community Development course visit Port au Prince, and students from our BScN program visit Cap Hatien. They donate the supplies they bring with them and their time while they're there, but their primary goals are to listen and learn. 

You can learn more about their projects and intentions here
This year's Lambton College BScN students in Haiti.

The International Community Development course runs again in September. If you'd like the chance to be part of this life-changing trip, visit lambtoncollege.ca

Wednesday 27 April 2016

Empty Bowls 2016

Thank you to all who participated in Sarnia's Empty Bowls earlier this month, both as volunteers and as attendees. This year's event raised over $9000! 

The funds will help to provide food to those in need, both at the Inn of the Good Shepherd and at the Lambton College food bank.

These are just some of the beautiful bowls hand made by local potters
and donated to this year's Empty Bowls event. 

The need continues: the college's shelves are emptying, and there are still many hungry students trying to feed themselves and their families. If you can, please donate. If you'd like to learn more, please contact the counselling department or the Centre for Social Justice here at Lambton College.

Tuesday 19 April 2016

Saturday: Madina's Dream

The Sarnia Justice Film Festival will screen Madina's Dream: The Story of Rebels and Refugees Fighting to Survive in Sudan's Nuba Mountains on Saturday, April 23, 2016  at 7pm at the Sarnia Library Theatre.

To  learn more about the film and the fundraising efforts, visit http://www.madinasdream.com/

Here's the film description from the SJFF: "Madina’s Dream is an unflinching and poetic glimpse into a forgotten war.  After decades of civil war, South Sudan achieved its independence from Sudan in 2011. But inside Sudan, the conflict continues. Sudan’s government employs aerial bombings and starvation warfare against the inhabitants of the Nuba Mountains. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled to refugee camps in South Sudan or remain trapped in the war zone. Eleven-year-old Madina and countless others dream of a brighter future for their people."

Conversation after the film wll be led by Allyson Larkin, assistant professor in the Social Justice and Peace Studies program at King’s University College at the University of Western Ontario. 

The Sarnia Justice Film Festival will be back next year! Follow them on Facebook (www.facebook.com/SarniaJusticeFilmFestivaland Twitter (@SarniaJusticeFF) to learn about the 2016-2017 line up.

Friday 8 April 2016

Blanket Exercise


Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Report challenges each of us to take action towards reconciliation, and that action must begin with education. The Blanket Exercise, created by Kairos Canada, leads participants through an overview of the history of Canadian colonization. It's a powerful experience, and it isn't easy, but it can be transformative. 

A Windsor branch of the Catholic Women's League (at Our Lady of the Atonement Parish) will host the exercise later this month.

Saturday, April 23, 2016
1:30 - 3:30

OUR LADY OF THE ATONEMENT PARISH HALL

2940 Forest Glade Drive
Windsor, Ontario



This event is free, but space is limited. For details on registration, please email erica.kelly@lambtoncollege.ca


Monday 21 March 2016

Blues Day Tomorrow

March is a busy month for college students, and things can get stressful. Tomorrow's Blues Day provides a great opportunity for stress relief.



Tomorrow morning (from 9-12) visit the Lambton College Event Centre to learn about “How to Overcome Obstacles.” It's fun and free for Lambton students and staff, and it's a chance to learn strategies for coping with difficulty.

Monday 29 February 2016

Welcoming Syrian Refugees to Sarnia

Our panel discussion on Thursday, which focused on Welcoming Syrian Refugees to Sarnia, was interesting and memorable. Many community members braved the cold and snow to join us.


Lambton College graduate and former refugee William Moshe shared his story of arrival
 in Canada. Roxanne Gilroy-Machado, of the YMCA Newcomer Services, described the
services offered to new arrivals and the many challenges of culture shock.
Photo credit: Barbara Simpson
Thank you to our presenters: William Moshe, Roxanne Gilroy-Machado, Emily Fortney-Blunt, Art deGroot, and Nikki McVitti. The stories and information that you shared helped us all to realize our connections to the issue.

Thank you to Barbara Simpson from the Observer for the story on the event:
http://www.theobserver.ca/2016/02/25/lambton-college-hosts-panel-discussion-on-welcoming-syrians-to-sarnia-lambton


To learn more about how you can help, visit the 

or find them on Facebook.



Thursday 18 February 2016

Welcoming Syrian Refugees to Sarnia

On Thursday, February 25, the Centre for Social Justice at Lambton College will hold an event called "Welcoming Syrian Refugees to Sarnia." We'll be joined by a panel of local experts, and we'll have the chance to learn and to ask questions. Here are some of the topics we hope to address:

  • What services are offered to refugees in the Sarnia area?
  • What challenges do newcomers face?
  • What history does Sarnia have with welcoming immigrants and refugees?
  • What plans are in place to help refugees arriving from Syria?
  • How can we help newcomers to feel at home in our community?

The event is open to everyone, and we'd love to have you join us. We'll meet in A223 (in the South Building) from 11:30-1 on February 25. While this session won't provide all of the answers, we hope it will be the beginning of a conversation.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me: Erica.Kelly@lambtoncollege.ca

Wednesday 10 February 2016

Sarnia Justice Film Festival

The next film in the Sarnia Justice Film Festival is The Clean Bin Project: Trying to Live a Waste-Free Life. It plays on Saturday, February 20 at 7pm.

This series runs at the Sarnia Library, and it's free of charge. 

Here's a brief description of the film: 

"Is it possible to live completely waste free? In this multi-award winning film partners Jen and Grant go head to head in a competition to see who can swear off consumerism and produce the least garbage.  Their light-hearted competition is set against a darker examination of the problem waste.  Even as Grant and Jen start to garner interest in their project, they struggle to find meaning in their minuscule influence on the large-scale environmental impacts of our “throw-away society”.  This film will prove to be a fun and inspiring call to individual action to deal with the waste we produce."

Dr. Kate Parizeau (Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Guelph) and Mary Jean O’Donnell (President of MJ Waste Solutions) will lead a conversation afterwards about waste in our everyday lives. 

The Sarnia Justice Film Festival has two more films scheduled after this one:

March 12- Oil and Water: A film about searching for a more just future for all people around the world born with oil beneath their feet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTeAAJgDNb4

April 23- Madina's Dream: A film about rebels and refugees fighting to survive in Sudan's Nuba Mountains https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_MD9gg2WRw

Follow the Film Festival on Twitter: @SarniaJusticeFF


Friday 22 January 2016

Upcoming Conference


Sarnia's LGBTQ+ Youth Forum



On Wednesday, February 17, the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity (CCGSD) will hold a full-day conference around discussions of gender and sexual identity. Workshops feature such topics as language awareness, healthy relationships, two-spirited identity, feminism, and running a GSA. The conference takes place at Rebound. You can register here or by contacting Rebound at (519) 344-2841. 


Wednesday, February 17 2016, 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM [EST]
1457 London Road, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada

Thursday 14 January 2016

Unity in Diversity at Lambton College

Today, Lambton College's International Department created a wonderful fundraiser. 

For a $2 donation, members of our Lambton College community could add a pin to our world map to show us where they're from. Here's the finished result: a map that's increasingly full--a symbol of all we have to learn from one another.
The Unity in Diversity project, which encouraged all of us to add pins to the world map to demonstrate where we're from, raised more than $500 for the Students for Syria project at Lambton College. The results will be on display in our hallways in the future as a celebration of our increasing diversity.

Check back for further updates on what our amazing students are doing to support this cause. There's more to come!