Caring for our Environment – Manitoba holds four events

by Mhaolene Leana B. Palevino

Caring for our Environment – Manitoba (CEM) Inc., a registered non-profit organization, celebrated its fifth anniversary alongside the observance of World Environment Day 2022 on June 4, at Assiniboine Park. CEM held fun-filled and meaningful events aimed at promoting environmental awareness and inculcating sustainability values in members of the community. Highlights of the celebration included a flag raising ceremony, a park litter clean-up, and the launching of CEM’s website.

In the early morning of June 4, CEM participated in the annual Flag Raising Ceremony of the Philippine Heritage Council of Manitoba, Inc. This event was held at the Philippine Canadian Centre in Manitoba (PCCM) as part of the launching of the month-long Filipino Heritage Month celebration in Canada that takes place every June. CEM president, Ramon Faustino M. Sales, Information and Communication Committee Head, Dario Cidro, and External Relations Committee Head, Allan Pamplona and family, attended the ceremony.

The celebration then kicked off with a Litter Clean-up, the launching of CEM website and a get-together with food and music to celebrate the fifth anniversary of CEM.

Following this memorable celebration, CEM also took part in the two-day Manitoba Filipino Festival held last June 18-19.

Attendees of the CEM Anniversary celebration	Clean-up participants gather at the Assiniboine Park special events entrance

Litter clean-up

In partnership with the Assiniboine Park Conservancy, Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association (CBCRA) – Recycle Everywhere, and Knights of Columbus, CEM marked its World Environment Day with a Litter Clean-up, which included 47 volunteers, consisting of small children, youth, other volunteers, and members of the organization. The staff of the Assiniboine Park Conservancy warmly welcomed the group and provided them with litter pickers. Clean-up kits and clear plastic bags for recyclables, which were donated by the CBCRA-Recycle Everywhere, along with promotional items from Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba, were also distributed by CEM. The participants were accompanied by the presence of a lot of Canadian geese around the park. It was a good sign that there was not much litter around.

Kids participated in the clean-up	CEM Raffle Fundraiser

CEM’s fifth anniversary

After the clean-up, members and volunteers headed out to celebrate the anniversary of CEM through a short program with good food and music. The CEM president graced everyone with his inspiring introduction. He shared how five years ago, six like-minded friends with a passion for environmental conservation, formed the organization. Now, the group has grown to over thirty regular members and with an expanding network of volunteer and friends. In line with World Environment Day, he also talked about our role in environmental conservation and challenged everyone to join the global call for effective transformative changes in policies and choices that will help humanity address the interconnected issues of climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution.

Volunteers and other guests from Knights of Columbus, Ms. Galaxy Winnipeg, Ms. PreTeen Galaxy Winnipeg, also joined the program and shared their advocacies about environmental protection.

Another highlight of the celebration was the launching of CEM’s website. This supplements CEM’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, which serve as platforms for fostering public environmental awareness and knowledge sharing. Through its CEM website, the organization aims to expand its reach and to amplify its advocacies on environment and sustainability issues. With the valuable assistance of Jullie Quijano, the CEM Information and Communication Committee led the creation of this website, which features information about the organization’s vision and mission, its members, activities, and advocacies, published news articles, and ways to connect with the organization and help to promote the environment as well. The CEM website can be accessed at www.ceminc.org.

As part of CEM’s fundraising event, plant and other vegetable seedlings were also sold during the event.

Friends from Knights of Columbus - St. Edwards Council helped in disposal of recyclables	Recycle Everywhere recycling bins

Manitoba Filipino Street Festival 2022

On June 18-19, CEM also participated in this year’s Manitoba Filipino Street Festival (MFSF). This was the third year the organization took part in this largest Filipino community event in Manitoba with over 40 community associations participating in this annual event. At this event, CEM partnered with MFSF, CBCRA-Recycle Everywhere, GFL Environmental, Knights of Columbus-St. Edwards Council and MMSM to promote public awareness on waste recycling and reduction through deployment of regular and large recycling bins within the event site and the collection and proper disposal of recyclables.

The diversion of these recyclables away from our landfills will help lengthen their lifespan and conserve scarce natural resources. Landfills emit methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that causes climate change. Methane traps heat in the atmosphere 25 times more powerfully than carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas.

CEM also held a raffle and seedling fundraiser to support its activities this year. Raffle prize donors were Abigail Lagus, Alma May Sales, Realtor Gina Gabriel, Norman Garcia of MR. PEG, Linda Christine “Ting” Mallari of Utmost Financial, Rizalina Cortez, Teody Leano, Jeepney Restaurant, Mariciel Nuyda and Ramon Sales.

The success of these events would not have been possible without the continuous support of CEM’s key partner organizations, donors, and the members themselves who organized, attended, and volunteered for these events. Individuals who are interested in joining CEM as volunteers or members can send an e-mail to caring4environment@gmail.com.

Mhaolene Leana B. Palevino, is a member of the CEM Information and Communication Committee.