Mingle and Learn with CDAR Event

The Canadian Diabetes Association-Ryerson hosted its comprehensive 'Mingle and Learn' event on Thursday, November 13, 2014. The event had both a social mixer portion in the beginning consisting of Q&A-type icebreaker games and two speakers' presentations in the latter portion of the evening. With World Diabetes Day (Nov 14) happening just a day after, it was a very successful night to bring awareness to a disease that affects many Canadians.

2014 -2015 CDAR Executives and Volunteers

Photos courtesy of Senia S.

The first presenter, Dr. Jeremy Gilbert, an endocrinology specialist and physician at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, presented the Ryerson community with an enticing presentation providing an overview of diabetes such as the different ways of diagnosing diabetes and current health trends. 

Following Dr. Gilbert's presentation was Certified Diabetes Educator and Registered Dietitian, Shivon Sanduja from Taddle Creek Family Health Team in Toronto. Shivon's presentation focused on her role in lifestyle management counseling with her clients and some practical tips to prevent type 2 diabetes. Our guests also were given the opportunity to ask questions from these leading experts afterwards. 

We were honoured to have both of these knowledgeable health professionals come to our campus and share their experiences working in healthcare in their respective workplaces. 

During the night, the importance about the diabetes epidemic in Canada was highlighted throughout, which makes raising awareness about this multifactorial disease on the Ryerson campus more critical than ever. Our goal this year is to continue providing support services and resources to students in order to meet the needs of the community. 

We offered popcorn as a high-fiber snack option with healthy popcorn seasonings

Thank you to our guest speakers and everyone who helped out at our event, including volunteers and executive members. We also appreciate those who attended the event out of pure interest or curiosity about the diabetes topics that were presented.

One of our guests, Kristin, said "The Mix and Mingle was great! I enjoyed meeting new people that were interested in diabetes and learned a lot about support for those living with diabetes from the speakers." 

Meera Bismuth, a fellow Nutrition student, also commented, "Overall, the event was very well planned, the activities were interactive, and I liked the speakers. They were enthusiastic about the subject and they kept the group engaged. The popcorn bags was very clever and fun."
  
Want to know more about our event? It was featured on the Ryersonian by Health Reporter Dillon Li, who also attended our event.

As a team, we're looking forward to hosting more informative events in 2015. Please check out our Facebook page for the latest updates about our upcoming events and fundraisers.

-CDAR Team 

 

Past CDAR Events (A Look Back...)

CARAVAN - Campus Groups Day at Ryerson (September 2013)

Portion of our Executive Team (2013-2014)

We had a great time meeting other students and campus groups during the Caravan day.
The weather was fantastic and most importantly, students became more familiar with our group and signed up
as volunteers and wanted to help out. Questions were welcomed by Ryerson students and the general public!

  

MEET 'N GREET EVENT - September 23,  2013

We welcomed our guests to join us at our orientation 101 where we were lucky enough to have a guest speaker, Joan Patch, from the Canadian Diabetes Association, present on various topics. Topics that were discussed include what diabetes is, ways to raise awareness, and some healthy habits that can reduce the risk of this condition. It was a very memorable night because our guests had fun with the interactive games and ice-breakers like the Human Word game!

CDAR Executives (2013-2014)

Jennifer (Founder of CDAR) giving a prize to our guest!

 

 

Human Word Game - CDAR

WORLD DIABETES DAY

The World Diabetes Day logo is the blue circle - the global symbol for diabetes.
Our social media campaign at Ryerson involves wearing blue to
show support for this important cause!

 Executives and friends are raising awareness on World Diabetes Day at Ryerson

SPEAKERS' EVENT - New Year’s Resolution Ideas/Diabetes Prevention (Jan 23, 2014)

The first event of the brand new year was very successful! We had two informative presentations from the
research team at the Canadian Diabetes Association of the University of Toronto (CDAUT), which is also
another affiliated student group, and Culinary Nutritionist, Andria Barret. Our guests provided positive feedback
and we were so glad to hear that many of them enjoyed the different perspectives and approaches that were presented.

Executives (2013-2014)

CLOTHESLINE DONATION - NOV-DEC 2013

The donation box period was extended until mid December. We were very pleased to offer this
donation box to the Ryerson community, especially near Christmas - the season of giving!

HEALTHY BAKE SALE FUNDRAISER (March 6, 2014)

Our baked goods were diabetic friendly, vegan, gluten free, or kosher items and all of them were 100% delicious! Some of
these items included banana oat chocolate chip cookies, walnut biscotti, and beetroot brownies, to name a few.
We raised a few hundred dollars which went towards research for CDA. It was a blast baking up a storm at the school lab with other execs and volunteers as well! Great and amazing team work from everyone!

Our VP, Anita, welcoming students to buy our handmade baked goods!

About Us

What is CDAR?

CDAR is the acronym used for Canadian Diabetes Association Ryerson. We are an affiliated student group of the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) in Toronto, Canada that was founded in 2013.

What is our mission?

Our mission is to raise the awareness of diabetes and to promote sustainable ways to lead a healthy lifestyle in the Ryerson community.

What do we do at CDAR?

We deliver our mission by providing education and services about diabetes to the members of the Ryerson community supporting research and translating research into practical applications. 

Where do we want to take CDAR?

• Assessing the needs of the Ryerson community
• Spreading the awareness and educating
• Continuing our focus on prevention
• Inviting leading health professionals to give informative diabetes presentations
  

Introducing the CDAR Team for 2015-2016!

Co-Chairs: Lizah Reyes & Carmen El-Khazen

 Volunteer Recruitment Director: Saara Muhaseen

Treasurer: Ravnit Dhak

Engagement Facilitator: Rakel Byrnes

Communications Officer: Melissa Wong

Marketing Director: Ahmed Ayyash

Marketing Committee Member: Calla Fong

Marketing Committee Member: Kristin Phong

Social Media Specialist: Courtney South

Public Relations Director: Senia Sheikh

Event Directors: Virginia Wong & Silvana Kalliny

Events Committee Member: Rachel Shim

Events Committee Member: Jeroselle Bulanadi

Events Committee Member: Katie Poolman

External Liaisons: Benish Syed &  Kazeera Aliar

Senior Consultants: Gurneet Dhami & Avalon Li