ABRAM-VILLAGE – Feb. 15, 2019 – The partners of the new “Bienvenue / Welcome Évangéline” initiative are inviting all new residents of the Evangeline region to one or both of the “Meet Your Neighbor” type events they are planning for early March. And of course, people who already live in the area are urged to attend to help welcome these new residents.
“These free and bilingual activities are aimed at all new francophone and anglophone residents of the area – whether they are immigrants, are from other Canadian areas or are originally from here and are returning after several years,” says Nick Arsenault, executive director of the Conseil scolaire-communautaire Évangéline, the organization overseeing the “Bienvenue / Welcome Évangéline” initiative. “We want to give them an opportunity to develop connections with people from the local community and to establish contacts for everything they need to live and prosper in our beautiful area.”
“The objective of these gatherings is of course to help further integrate these people so that they’ll feel more at home in our community and stay here permanently so that they can benefit fully from everything that surrounds them and contribute to our community’s lifestyle.”
The first gathering, to be held Sunday, March 3, at 2 p.m. at the Vanier Centre in Wellington, will be a family activity. A few words of welcome will be given, snacks will be served, and popular musicians Dawson and Gilbert Arsenault will provide entertainment. Participants will also get to play a few games designed to encourage everyone (including children) to meet other people in the room. All local families are invited.
The second gathering, a “wine-and-cheese” type reception aimed at adults only, will be held Friday, March 8, at 5 p.m. at the Acadian Musical Village in Abram-Village. Once again, organizers will give a few words of welcome, hors d’oeuvres will be served, a cash bar service will be available and musical entertainment will be provided. A couple of activities designed to get people to mingle and to get to know one another will be organized. All adults from the area, including representatives of organizations and the business community, are urged to attend in large numbers.
“It is through chatting informally at events such as these that we’ll all get to know each other better and that we’ll learn who does what in the region and what types of activities take place in our community,” concludes Arsenault.
“Bienvenue / Welcome Évangéline” is a joint initiative led by the Conseil scolaire-communautaire Évangéline, the Coopérative d’intégration francophone de l’Î.-P.-É., RDÉE Prince Edward Island, the Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce of PEI, the Wellington Rural Action Centre and the Government of PEI.
These activities are funded by the Welcoming Communities Project, which in turn is funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada,
These activities are funded by the Welcoming Communities Project, which in turn is funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and by the PEI Department or Rural and Regional Development.
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CUTLINE: Members of the Bienvenue / Welcome Évangéline initiative steering committee are organizing two events to welcome new residents to the area. Among the committee members are, seated from left, Noëlla Richard from the Coopérative d’intégration francophone de l’Î.-P.-É., Velma Robichaud from the Wellington Rural Action Centre and Giselle Bernard from the Province of PEI; standing, from left, are Raymond J. Arsenault from RDÉE PEI and the Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce of PEI and Nick Arsenault from the Conseil scolaire-communautaire Évangéline.
For more information:
Nick Arsenault
Executive director
Conseil scolaire-communautaire Évangéline
902-854-2166
direction@cscevangeline.ca