Dufferin Park Youth Works: local fix-it, clean-it, dig-it help This past summer we experimented with a "youth works" program. It did not produce full-time work for any of the students but it was a start. We'll try again next summer.   Here's what we wrote up about this past summer's program: Seven young people (university and high school students, aged 16 to 21) from the neighbourhood have approached Friends of Dufferin Grove Park, wanting to hire themselves out for odd jobs. These are the things they can do: Indoor and outdoor painting (first floor level only) Cleaning windows, including those pesky old aluminum storm windows and screens Basements, garages cleaned out Patio preparation (digging, levelling out) Path making (including patio stones, wood chips, pebbles) Garden beds dug, pesky tree roots removed, basic garden cleanup, grass cut Dismantling of old porches, sheds, rickety stairs Digging out of leaky foundation walls to prepare for re-sealing Building of back stairs Labourers to assist with do-it-yourself projects Now is your chance to get your place fixed up AND help set up a local economy in non-MacDonald's summer jobs. These young people have both brawn and brains, they know the area (and the park: some of them have worked at the park in the past) and they'll deliver what they say. They charge between $10 and $15 an hour, wages to be negotiated depending on the job.   Besides the odd jobs, Dufferin Park Youth Works also offers: Babysitting of kids (at the park only, during wading pool hours, taking advantage of park programs like the sandpit, storytelling, wading pool, and pizza days) Operating the park bake oven for birthday parties, annual picnics, special gatherings (all the things we've said no to in the past few years, from having insufficient staff). For more information or to get a worker (or a crew), e-mail Dufferin Park Youth Works through our web site at dufferinpark@dufferinpark.ca or leave them a message at the park: 416 392-0913.   Back to the Bulletin Board