DASH is playing a proactive role by reaching out to teachers and administrators from Indigenous and remote British Columbia communities to ask how we can help support them in keeping their students healthy, active and connected during this time of school closures due to COVID-19.
According to the BC Government website, only 33% of rural BC communities and 35% of rural BC Indigenous communities have access to recommended broadband internet speeds. Therefore we estimate that around 144 rural communities and 86 Indigenous Schools or about 49,668 rural students and 3,300 Indigenous students may not able to take advantage of the multiple online resources.
DASH aims to help source quality resources such as books, printed activity sheets, games, videos and other relevant materials to support students without adequate access to the internet in staying healthy, building family connections, and developing resiliency during stressful times.
Do you know of communities, schools or families that may not have adequate access to the internet and may benefit from receiving healthy living resources as described above? If so, please contact us at: info@dashbc.ca
Thanks to your donations, as of May 1, 2020, we have reached an estimated 10% of the Indigenous Schools or 330 students requiring assistance.