Greetings From Plenty Canada!

Welcome to the first issue of our new online newsletter, Contact.

We used to distribute a print newsletter under the same name many years ago and have decided to revive Contact digitally. This newsletter will be delivered to you four times a year (once every season) and will be focused on telling informative stories about our ongoing and future projects. While we're happy with the pace of our regular donor letters at this point, we'd like to go into more detail about the ways in which your donations are changing lives and safeguarding our planet's future.

And in my mind, there is no better time to revive a newsletter that's  focused on keeping you informed and engaged as an invaluable donor. Though it remains, of course, quite difficult for us to hold in-person events at the moment, we hope to use this newsletter to remind you that our operational efforts have continued at the same pace throughout 2020 and into 2021. In fact, you could almost say that we've become even busier this past year!

The stories that make up each newsletter will act as a window into our current and planned activities, a testament to the tireless efforts of our staff, valued partners, and volunteers. Articles featured in this issue provide insights into Plenty Canada’s raison d'être and address activities ranging from Truth and Reconciliation training for youth, to the healing nature of reforestation, to the preservation of ancient birchbark canoe making skills, to our emerging campus being designed in accordance with sustainable building principles identified by world-renowned Indigenous architect Douglas Cardinal (lodged within 500 acres of diverse Algonquin land, the campus will be used to provide Indigenous cultural and environmental education). These are all projects that fulfill our mandate in ways that we hope to continue in 2021 and beyond.

You will read about the past, present, and future of these projects, but most importantly you will be introduced to many of our long-time friends and partners. These friends of ours have always been essential to our continued success, for without the artistic skill of people like Chuck Commanda, the genius of Douglas Cardinal, or the generosity of organizations like South Nation Conservation, we simply wouldn't be able to improve lives in the way that we do.  

Though it might be some time yet before we can safely hold a lot of in-person events here at Plenty Canada, we are preparing. Thanks to our friends and partners (including you), our commitment has only grown stronger throughout this past year. I'm confident that 2021 will be a year of growth and change, a year filled with new stories and new accomplishments. It is our honour to be able to share some of these stories here, in Contact, with you.

Chi Miigwech. Niá:wen. Merci. Thank you.​

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Larry McDermott
Executive Director
Plenty Canada

(Plenty Canada executive director Larry McDermott. Photo by markzelinski.com)