Exciting news! The Porter family has generously offered ThINC a building at 'The Portal' (our current name for the former Camp Columbia) to use as a nature house in support of our summer nature education program. In collaboration with the Cowichan Land Trust, the Canada Summer Jobs program and the Thetis Island Community Fund, we've hired Danny Osborne, a 3rd year biology student from VIU to run the nature house and deliver activities and programs 3 days a week in July and August for the benefit of Thetis Islanders.
We've been busy cleaning and painting to get the nature house ready for the summer. With the help of Coastal Community Credit Union and a private donor, we've ordered a Seaquarium (salt water aquarium and touch tank) to enhance marine education. An islander has donated 5 boxes of natural history books for the beginnings of a nature library. We're collecting furniture and program materials to make the nature house a positive and enriching experience for children and adults alike.
If you have any of the following items you would be willing to donate or lend for the summer, please contact Ann at 250-246-8176 or email ThINC@thetisisland.net and we'll arrange to pick them up.
Here's our wish list:
Leftover acrylic latex paint (preferably light bright colours - blues, greens yellows etc...)
Book shelves (4 1/2 ft high or less to fit under windows)
Nature related books
Comfortable reading chairs
Floor and desk lamps
Art and craft supplies
Microscopes
Binoculars
3 in 1 colour printer/scanner/copier
Magnifying glasses
Collecting nets and jars
Cork Bulletin board
Anything else you think might be useful
We will also need funds to purchase supplies, so if you'd like to contribute financially to this exciting community opportunity, you can donate, for a charitable tax receipt, online or by cheque through the Cowichan Community Land Trust (www.cowichanlandtrust.ca, click Donate Now and specify Thetis Island Nature Conservancy) or if you don't require a tax receipt, directly by cheque to the Thetis Island Nature Conservancy at Box 18-2, Thetis Island, V0R 2Y0.
THANK YOU! We hope to see you and your guests at the Nature House this summer!
The ThINC board
Friday, May 19, 2017 at 12:41PM 
