February 1, 2017 Vol. 50

DANI Days

Letter from the Editor It is hard to believe how far the DANI Days newsletter has come, and we are very excited to reach our first big milestone – 50 biweekly volumes! Since the newsletter debuted in September 2014, we have seen some big changes. Our newsletters now average 2-3 pages longer than the first editions, with the vast majority of the content created by the participants themselves. Each week, a group meets to discuss what DANI activities and events they want to share in the newsletter. Our writers work with the staff to craft articles talking about DANI and their activities in their own words. Once again, we would also like to give a special thanks to Steven R. who helps type up the final copies of the articles. Moving forward, we would love to include more content by our friends, family and community members, alongside our current writers. If you have anything you would like to share in the newsletter, please feel free to send it in at any time to newsletter@dani-toronto.com Thank you again for all of your support!

DANI HOPES EVERYONE IS ENJOYING THE MILD WINTER SO FAR

DANI 501 Clark Avenue West Thornhill, ON, L4J 4E5

WWW.DANI-TORONTO.COM Phone: 905-889-3264

Email: info@dani-toronto.com

Contents Letter from the Editor………..……..1 Announcements………………...…….1 Coffee and Core……….……….………2 Boardwalk Café…..…....…...………..2 Pop-Up Lunch….……………….……….2 DANI Keeps Fit!.....………………….…3 Art Night Updates…….……………....3 “My Friend Clyde” on CTV…………3 My Sisters by Rafi…….………..……..4 Cutlery by Leiba…….....……………...4 Pop-Up Lunch by Terri.………………4 Variety Village by Carolyn..……..…5 Sunday Program by Josh….….…….5 Spa Day by Alex…………....…………..5 Girl’s Group by Guitti…………………6 My Scene in the Play by Talya……6 Yoga by Rita………………………………6 What We’re Working On……….….6 Cycles by Deborah………………..…..7

Announcements

A reminder to all families in our Day Program that there will be no program on Monday, February 20 due to Family Day. Please keep checking www.torontojdn.org for information about city-wide events in honour of Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month.

To find out more about all of the ways we keep active at DANI, see page 3 To find out more about our upcoming

Art Night, see page 3

February 1, 2017 Vol. 50

Our Pop-Up Lunch Partners

Our Pop-Up Lunch crew is now back to work after a few days off over the holidays! Last month, our crew visited Hillel at both York and Ryerson University. Our group had a great time selling our delicious lunch options, and even got to relax join students for a basketball challenge at Ryerson. Thanks to Hillel for all your support, and we look forward to seeing you again!

Our Pop-Up Lunch program provides COR dairy lunch options prepared by the DANI kitchen, and served at your location by a crew of our young adults. To find out more about our program, please visit our website at: http://dani-toronto.com/corporate-catering/the-pop-up-lunch/

Coffee and Core

DANI is very excited to offer a brand new, free exercise class. Please join us on Monday mornings at the DANI Centre starting at 11 am for a half-hour exercise class! We’ve already had our first few sessions, and they been very successful! We would like to thank Anne Klausner from Exercise with Care again for teaching us some simple techniques to improve our daily routines. We are already looking forward to our next session! All you need to do is bring your own yoga mat and some comfortable clothes. The DANI Café is a great place to meet up with friends and benefit from a free exercise session. Our Café is also open from 11 am – 2 pm to enjoy a delicious meal after your workout. The full menu can be found here: http://dani-toronto.com/dani-cafe/ Coffee and Core is a great way to jumpstart your day!

DANI’s Boardwalk Café DANI’s successful Boardwalk Café came back this year due to popular demand, for one night only! Our Boardwalk Café began last year as a chance for us all to have a fun way to spend the evening after Shabbat ends. We would like to thank everyone who joined us at the DANI Centre for another fun night of board games and snacks to enjoy with friends and family. We had a full house, and we know everyone had a great time! Look out for more news about other upcoming DANI events on our website, www.dani-toronto.com or by following our DANI Toronto Facebook page.

The DANI Pop-Up Crew at Hillel York

Thank you all for joining us at the Boardwalk Cafe!

February 1, 2017 Vol. 50

DANI Keeps Fit!

We are always looking for fun new ways to keep ourselves active, especially when the winter weather is so unpredictable! Our Music class has really enjoyed adding more movement to our weekly repertoire, with songs that encourage everyone to get up and dance. Last week, we also had a great game of Musical Chairs, which everyone really enjoyed! We have also really enjoyed visiting the Garnet Williams Community Centre to use their pool and gym. Each week, groups visit the facilities to swim laps and use the fitness machines.

Art Night Updates We can’t wait for this year’s Art Night, with our Around the World theme, exploring our own cultural backgrounds with artwork representing our countries of origins. Recently, we have been working on artwork representing a variety of countries, including Iran, Korea and Russia. This year, our Art Night will be on Tuesday, March 28 at 7 pm at the DANI Centre. It will be just before Pesach, so it is a great opportunity to find a beautiful and unique gift for the holidays. Please invite your family and friends to see our amazing show. You won’t want to miss it! As part of a special surprise for our Art Night, we are looking for recipes from Around the World! If you have any authentic family recipes that are Kosher dairy or parve, please send them to Anna at arozet@dani-toronto.com by February 28. Baking or light cooking recipes only.

Playing Musical Chairs in Music Class

Our Art class hard at work on some of their projects

“My Friend Clyde” on CTV

Last week, as part of a feature on Bell’s Let’s Talk initiative to help end the stigma around mental illness, CTV aired an interview with our own Jacquelyn, who works in the DANI Café. Jacquelyn is the spokesperson for “My Friend Clyde,” a children’s picture book written by her brother, that discusses the importance of treating others with respect. Since it was released, Jacquelyn has read the book to over 950 children in various schools! For more information or to book a reading, please visit www.myfriendclyde.com We would also like to give a big congratulations to Jacquelyn for her appearance on CTV, which can be found by clicking on this link: http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.3256661

Jacquelyn shares My Friend Clyde with Dana Levenson from CTV

February 1, 2017 Vol. 50

My Sisters by Rafi

I have two sisters. Their names are Ketzia and Simona. I am the oldest. Ketzia is older than Simona. I like to play with my sisters. We play games. We play Battleship and Angry Birds. We play Just Dance. They take me out to restaurants. We go out for burgers. I eat a veggie burger with pickles, mustard and onions. We go out for sushi. I like the teriyaki rolls, California rolls, cucumber rolls, tsunami rolls and hand rolls. We go to Subway. I eat whole wheat, cucumbers, chipotle, lettuce, tomatoes and honey mustard. It is a big sandwich. I go on trips with my sisters. I went with them to Florida. We went to see my grandma. I love my sisters. They take me to the park. They take me out for frozen Yogurt. My sisters are the best sisters. They take me sledding. My favourite thing to do with my sisters is going to movies.

Rafi with his sisters

Cutlery By Leiba

I do cutlery with Anna and Rafi. I put forks, knives, spoons and napkins for sick people so they can eat at the hospital. I put on a hairnet and gloves. I do it in the skills room. I do cutlery on Tuesdays in the morning and afternoon. I do cutlery for Bikur Cholim. I put the fork, spoon and knife in a bag. Then I close the bag. I like to do cutlery because it makes me happy.

Leiba packaging cutlery for Bikur Cholim

Pop-Up Lunch By Terri

Pop-Up Lunch is a restaurant that goes to different schools and companies. We got a lot of companies like CHAT, the doctor’s office at Promenade, Cornerstone and Northspace. On Wednesdays, we get stuff out of Ash’s cupboard and put it on the table. First, we put the milk crate on the table. Then, we take out the tablecloth, aprons, cutlery, plates, and tongs. We check on the list if we have it or not. Next, Ash brings the car up to the front and then we put the food in the milk crate. Finally, I help Eli put food out on the tables and we do lots of jobs. My job is giving soup, chilli, pizza, wraps and salad. I talk to people about what food we have for lunch and Alex is the cashier. This is my first year at Pop-Up, and me and Eli help as a team. I like to work with people to get a job. I want a cooking job. I like to cook. Pop-Up is so amazing

Terri with her Pop-Up Lunch team

February 1, 2017 Vol. 50

Variety Village by Carolyn

Last Sunday, we went to Variety Village. I was in group C and we group went by with the van. The other group went on the DANI bus. When we got there, the boys went to the men’s change room and the girls went to the women’s change room. I changed my shoes and wore my running shoes. Me and Josh walked around the track to warm up. Next Terri and I walked to do cardio. First, we stretched and then did bicycle, for something like 30 min. The other group played Basketball. After that we changed back and went back to DANI. I like Variety Village because its is fun to exercise there and because it’s big and has a lot of equipment.

Sunday Program by Josh

At Sunday Program, we stayed in DANI and made art had activities for “Under the Sea”. We watched a movie about life in the ocean. There were plenty of different animals: fish, octopus, sharks. We learned that there are plants growing under the water. I didn’t see any people under the water because you can’t eat and eat under the water.I know that there are divers diving in the ocean but they have masks and air attached to them. Later that day, we used Mason jars to make the ocean. We used small marbles, pebbles, seashells and then we added some blue water. We used food colouring to colour the water. At the end, we closed the jar with a lid. Later, we got worksheets. I did a word search. The topic was “under the sea”, so the words were related to the ocean. At the end of the day we had Zumba with Malka. I love Zumba because I like to exercise and I like the music. This past Sunday, I went to Variety Village. We played basketball and walked around the track. We saw a lot of people running and working out. My favourite part was playing basketball with my friends and lifting weights. I also liked seeing the guide dogs who were helping their owners at Variety Village. I liked that it was a big place and it was good exercise. I want to go back soon.

The Under the Sea art project

Spa Day By Alex

Carina, Rebecca, Roy, Jenny and I did Spa Day. Spa Day was at DANI in the program room. Carina massaged my hands with cream. I did not put on nail polish. The girls put nail polish on their nails. We put lotion on our face. It makes my skin soft. We did Spa Day from 2 to 4:30. Rebecca liked it because she put on nail polish. I liked the cream. It smelled good like flowers. Yoga was my favourite part because I got to lie down. I like the spa. I like Variety Village better because of basketball. I like to pass the ball. We ate quiche for lunch. Rebecca and Melanie show off their nail polish

February 1, 2017 Vol. 50

Girl’s Group by Guitti

Every Monday we have a girl's group program. DANI organizes this group and Ashleigh and Anna run the program. We go to Second Cup, Starbucks, or the mall. We shop and buy drinks. Ashleigh and Anna decide where to go and Ashleigh drives us in the van. The reason for this program is to help us be independent and comfortable in the community. We also talk. We make plans to see each other on the weekends, and learn to get along. I want to learn how to take transportation like the TTC.

My Scene in the Play by Talya

There are a lot of characters in this scene. Simba, Nala, Zazu, the hyenas, Mufasa and Scar are in the scene. Rachelle is my partner in the scene. We are hyenas. The hyenas are mean and are planning to kill the young lions. I have a few lines in the scene and my favourite part is the dance at the end of the scene. The hyenas are mean. They want to eat the lions. I don’t like being a mean character. The scene happens in the middle of the play. I like the scene because it’s fun and because there are a lot of things going on in it.

The hyenas in the Lion King

Yoga by Rita

I will talk about yoga. I do it on Tuesday nights. We have a yoga teacher named Caroline. I like to do yoga to stretch your body and your mind. My mom takes me there by car. My friends do yoga with me. We like our teacher. She is the best at yoga. We relax and we have fun. We do yoga moves like dog and tree and child pose, and some hard ones too. My favourite thing to do at yoga is the poses. I love doing yoga to relax on the yoga mat. Everyone enjoys it and has fun at yoga.

Rita demonstrates one of her yoga poses

What We’re Working On

Our Cooking class has been making some great new recipes. Last week, we all really enjoyed a simple, yet delicious Rice Krispie squares. It was one of our favourite treats so far! Our Internet Safety and Social Media class has been learning about the importance of using good etiquette when we communicate on social media, and some examples of how to be respectful. Last week, we held some extra play rehearsals to get more practice with our upcoming production of The Lion King. We are all so excited for the show!

Steven and Miri help make Rice Krispie squares

February 1, 2017 Vol. 50

CYCLES

By Deborah

Cycles. It is a part of our daily life. Whether it be the cycle of our four Seasons, or the celebration of our many Holidays, both secular and religious. Even life itself is cyclical, family members are born, birthdays are celebrated and unfortunately people we know pass. These cycles are something which is beyond our control. It is going to happen no matter what we do or say. There is one cycle which I feel need not be cyclical, if together we work really hard. This is educating individuals about all the various types of disabilities. Please allow me to explain. I do not have an education in the different types and levels associated with disabilities. But I do know what it is like to have mental health illnesses. I have made it known to you, my dear readers, that I have B.P.D, as well as depression, anxiety and O.C.D. Every January there is one day designated as Bell Let's Talk. This day is designed to help break the stigma of mental health illness, and to help raise money for various mental health programmes, something which is very much needed. But, why does this event have to be cyclical? Why does it have to be a one day a year event? Why can't we, as individuals, as well as a community, unite and educate our fellow members of society, on a monthly basis, what it actually means to live with a disability, no matter what that disability may be? Maybe breaking the cycle of how often we educate society, will help break the stigma associated with living and having any type of disability.