FirstAid2025
Emergency First Aid Training
Friday, April 25
or
Saturday, April 26
9am – 6pm at Hollyhock Lodge
OFA 1 CPR-C +AED / Emergency First Aid Certificate Training
Emergency First Aid is a comprehensive training and is equivalent to WorkSafeBC Occupational Level 1 and can be used in the workplace. Using hands-on training and practice, this basic first aid course will give you confidence to respond effectively in an emergency. You will learn lifesaving skills such as CPR/AED and obstructed airway procedures to respond to adult, child and infant emergencies. You will also learn to recognize and respond to respiratory and circulatory emergencies including asthma, allergic reactions, heart attack, stroke, and bleeding.
Temporary certification cards provided at course completion. Permanent cards issued by Lifesaving BC via email (1-2 weeks delay).
Requirements: 100% attendance is required along with one piece of valid ID*.
$140 incl. GST
To confirm your registration please send e-transfer of $140 to admin@corteshealth.com with your name and “First Aid” in the message. Or drop off your payment at the Cortes Clinic in an envelope marked “First Aid” including a note with your name.
Free for Cortes youth thanks to the generous support of TeenSzene.
Free for girls and women+ thanks to the Fund for Gender Equality as part of a partnership with Community Foundations of Canada and the Government of Canada. Contact cortesfsc@gmail.com
REGISTER HERE
*Candidates are required to produce one piece of acceptable, valid, photographic identification at the time of the course. Valid ID includes: CDN or US driver’s license, valid passport, Valid BC Student ID issued for the current school year, Employee picture ID card, Native status ID card, BC photo ID issued after Nov. 1996, or Canadian government-issued photo ID.
Gate Building Workshop for Women+

Free Community Pasta Night!
Sunflower Foods, Better at Home and CCHA Family Support Program present:
All You Can Eat FRESH Pasta Night – Free!
Including pasta, breadsticks, salad and dessert
Thursday, April 10
5:00-6:30pm at Manson’s Hall
Sunflower Foods will prepare three different pastas (including a gluten free option) fresh made on island by Trever Bass.
Come and join us for some social time and a delicious meal at the community hall. Take out available for those that cannot stay.
Kids coloring zone and play area.
This is a Better at Home Fundraiser dinner to raise the funds needed to provide low-income, isolated and frail seniors with a ready-to-eat, nutritious meal delivered to their door each week.
You don’t need to attend the dinner to donate, and you don’t need to donate to attend the dinner. Everyone is welcome.
For more info or to make a donation: sunflowercortes@gmail.com
(250) 504-0848
*Funded by the CCHA Family Support Program, Cortes Island Community Foundation, Community Foundations of Canada Gender Equity Fund and Better At Home Food Security Initiative, with space provided by Southern Cortes Community Association
Free Ferry Tickets for Campbell River Area Children’s Health Fair
The 2025 Campbell River Children’s Health Fair will take place on Wednesday, April 2!
Dental Screenings!
Developmental screenings!
Meet with service providers!
Learn about regional resources!
Free snacks and prizes!
Thanks to the generosity of BC Ferries, a limited number of free ferry tickets are available for families planning to attend the fair.
Wednesday, April 2
9am – 12pm at Campbell River Community Centre
401 11th Avenue, Campbell River
If you would like free ferry tickets to attend the fair, or would like to do an Ages & Stages Screening with your child here on Cortes, please contact cortesfsc@gmail.com
Holistic Dental Care Workshop

Introduction to Tools for Women
Join Izabelle Perry to learn how to safely use everyday tools for island living.
Sunday, March 2
1pm – 5pm at Gorge Hall
This fun, informative workshop is for all self-identified women along with two-spirit, non-binary and gender diverse individuals.
Light refreshments will be provided, so please register in advance.
Onsite child-minding is offered by RSVP only, please register in advance.
What are your tool questions? Send them in now so we can be sure to cover them during the workshop.
Register here.
Women’s Hands Rural Skills Workshop Series for Women+ is a project of the Cortes Community Health Association Family Support Program and is funded by the Fund for Gender Equality as part of a partnership with Community Foundations of Canada and the Government of Canada and dispersed locally through the Cortes Community Foundation. The fund was created to support women, Two-Spirit and gender diverse individuals in support of a future grounded in equity, inclusion and justice.
6 Must Have Convos Evening Presentation January 7, 2025
6 Must Have Conversations with Your (Pre) Teens
Tuesday, January 7
6 – 8pm at Cortes School
More so than ever before, parents/teachers need to keep up-to-date with current issues in sexual health education. This 2-hour workshop will provide parents, caregivers, counsellors, child and youth care workers and other interested community members a peek into the challenges many youth face today.
Specific topics will include:
- consent
- healthy relationships
- steps to safer sex
- the legal and social implications of sexting
- gender violence
- the impacts of pornography viewing
- gender & sexual orientation
This presentation is for adults – child/youth supervision will take place in a different room.
RSVP would be greatly appreciated.
Creating a Culture of Child Safety Evening Presentation January 8, 2025
Wednesday, January 8
1. Why we need to teach sexual health education early
2. What schools should be offering our primary aged children in terms of sexual abuse prevention
3. Common myths of sexual abuse
4. Types of sexual abuse
5. Statistics of sexual abuse
6. Who commits sexual abuse?
7. Incidences of reporting
8. The difference between a pedophile and molester
9. The profile of a predator
10. Stages of grooming a child
11. What transfer of responsibility looks like
12. Patterns of disclosure
13. Why kids don’t disclose
14. Normal sexual behaviour for preschool and primary aged kids.
15. Signs and symptoms of child sexual abuse
About the Power Up Education approach to sexual health:
At Power Up Education, we believe “sexual health” includes the social, emotional, spiritual and physical aspects of sexuality and relationships.
Curiosity is king, and we know that young people have a strong interest and natural inclination to develop their understanding and seek information about sex and sexual health. We believe that we should choose to feed and foster this curiosity in an intentional way to balance and address what children may experience through their online access and social interactions. Our vision at Power Up Education is to create a world where sexual health education is as natural and habitual as brushing your teeth and combing your hair. We are here to positively impact families and educators, leaving each and every one of you feeling knowledgeable, empowered, and inspired.
Community Lantern Walk 2024
Families and Community Members are warmly invited to our Community Lantern Walk preceded by a Lantern Making Afternoon.
An Autumn Lantern Walk is a traditional celebration for children that inspires connection to the rhythms of nature, community and the light within.
Join in one and all for an evening of beauty and wonder! Let’s let our little lights shine together as the daylight wanes and we move into the darkest time of the year. We will walk in reverence and song and arrive at a bonfire to share in more song. Songs and lyrics below.
Lantern Making Afternoon
Saturday, Nov. 23 10:00am – 12:00pm
Pioneer Room, Mansons Hall
Bring your own jars if you have them. +/- 500ml is a good size. Everything else is provided. Come make a lantern and learn the songs we will be singing at the walk. Lyrics and links for songs are below.
Here is a link to make your lantern at home: https://youtu.be/gRh6M4Z9NKA
Autumn Lantern Walk
Tuesday, Nov.26th 4:30 – 6:00pm
Smelt Bay Park
We’ll begin near the farthest parking lot and our lantern walk will lead us to a bonfire.
Our intention is for a quiet reverent evening. Please make sure your little ones stay right with you.
Weather permitting.
Everyone and all lanterns welcome.
Contact cortesfsc@gmail.com if you would like to help out.
Lantern Songs
***We especially hope you’ll learn the songs asterisked in red.
***LANTERN WALK SONG MELODY / VIDEO
*****LANTERN WALK SONG LYRICS
I go with my bright little lantern,
My lantern is going with me.
In heaven the stars will be shining,
On earth shines my lantern for me.The lights grow dim as we go in
La-bimba-la-bomba-la-boom
The lights grow dim as we go in
La-bimba-la-bomba-la-boom.
AUDIO – Lantern Songs: 0:00 Down with Darkness, 0:32 *****My Lantern, 1:00 Fire’s Burning
DOWN WITH DARKNESS -Hebrew chant
Down with darkness
up with light
up with sunshine
down with night
each of us is one small light
but together we shine bright
go away darkest, blackest night
go away, give way to light
*****MY LANTERN, trad.
My lantern, my lantern
sun and moon and starlight
through the darkest night we go
glow my little lantern glow
FIRE’S BURNING – trad campfire song
Fire’s burning , fire’s burning
draw nearer, draw nearer
in the gloaming
in the gloaming
come sing and be merry
GLIMMER LANTERN GLIMMER MELODY / VIDEO
GLIMMER LANTERN GLIMMER LYRICS- trad
Glimmer, lantern, glimmer,
Little stars a-shimmer,
Over meadow, moor and dale,
Flitter, flutter elfin veil,
Pee-witt, pee-witt, tick-a-tick-a-tick,
Rou-cou, rou-cou.Glimmer, lantern, glimmer,
Little stars a-shimmer,
Over rock and stock and stone,
Wander tripping little gnome,
Pee-witt, pee-witt, tick-a-tick-a-tick,
Rou-cou, rou-cou.
AUDIO – Let Your Little Light Shine – Ysaye Barnwell arrangement
LET YOUR LITTLE LIGHT SHINE LYRICS Trad Gospel
Let your little light shine, shine, shine
let your little light shine , oh my Lord
’cause there may be , someone down in the valley
tryin’ to get home
Well it could be me or it could be you
could be your brother or your sister too
yes there may be, someone down in the valley
tryin’ to get home
2024 Campbell River Children’s Health Fair
The 2024 Campbell River Children’s Health Fair will take place on Friday, April 12!
Meet with service providers, enjoy the cultural events, health and developmental screenings, free snacks, scavenger hunt and more.
Thanks to the generosity of BC Ferries, a limited number of free ferry tickets are available for families planning to attend the fair.
Friday, April 12
10am – 1pm at Robron Centre
740 Robron Road, Campbell River
If you would like free ferry tickets to attend the fair,
or would like to do an Ages & Stages Screening with your child here on Cortes,
please contact cortesfsc at gmail.
We are grateful to be living and offering these programs in the ancestral and unceded territories of the Klahoose, Tla'amin, and Homalco nations.