The chicken and the egg
It’s no secret that we’ve been working hard to obtain charitable status, in order to begin fundraising for our school in earnest. We knew this massive project would require the support of many donors throughout our communities, especially until such time as we could secure funding from the government. We first applied for charitable status in January of this year, and kept hoping and hoping and… yep… hoping to have the status in time that we could launch a big fundraising campaign and open the school this fall. Of course, our plans are not God’s plans, and that wasn’t the way the story unfolded.
In fact, we’ve encountered a sort of “chicken and egg” situation where we cannot become a charity without operating our school and fulfilling our stated charitable activities (namely religious education), and we cannot operate our school without already being a charity that can fundraise and issue tax receipts. We’ve been brought to a crossroads where we really have to take a hard look at where we are (where God has placed us), and where we want to be (where God intends for us to be).
Our HKOA team met in September and discerned that acting charitably through our homeschooling co-op is the best way for us to serve our pan-Orthodox community, along with continuing to host events through the year to gather us all together. This is in full alignment with our vision (to create a joyful learning environment, rooted in Orthodox values, that engages the mind and illuminates the heart) and mission (to work alongside the family and the Church, educating the whole child within a Christ-centred environment, serving the pan-Orthodox community of Winnipeg and its surrounding areas). In fact, it is so much in alignment, that we probably should have acknowledged this sooner!
Educating children in the home is a true and precious gift. There have been more and more Orthodox families choosing this option as the years go by. In fact, our homeschooling co-op has grown more than twice in size since our start-up last year! Heavenly King’s primary mandate is now to support the Orthodox homeschooling community in Winnipeg, helping source curriculum and other resources, and facilitating a bi-weekly co-op graciously hosted at St George Orthodox Church. More info on our website here!
Of course, we realize that homeschooling is not an option for all families, so we still hold in our hearts a long-term goal of also establishing an Orthodox day school in Winnipeg. Once our charitable status is approved, we can apply for special permission to accumulate funds with this project in mind. May it be blessed!
As mentioned before, HKOA will also host events for the larger community to bring all families together, homeschooling or not. There was such a great response to our Spirit Days at Kid City, our games night and our school picnic, and we want to keep that momentum going. Stay tuned for those events!
We’ve updated our website with a calendar of events that shows our HKOA co-op dates, as well as extra pan-Orthodox events/activities that we plan to host or attend as a group. On that events page we also intend to share events that are being hosted by other Orthodox groups. If you would like to invite the pan-Orthodox community to an event, please send us the information and we will add it to our page! Whether it’s a patronal feast day, a barbecue, a workshop or a study group, one time only or reoccurring, please let us know. Currently we have posted an All Saints Day event at St Mark on October 31st, which is an option for families who are looking for an alternative to trick-or-treating. Please register with them in advance if you would like to attend!
We always appreciate hearing your thoughts on our journey, so please reply to this email if you’d like to share. We’re in this together!
With love in Christ,
The HKOA Team
