Dealing with grief is challenging for people of any age, but for children it can be particularly difficult.
For the past 13 years, Rainbows Prince George has been helping young people deal with different types of loss, ranging from the death of a loved one, parental divorce or moving into foster care.
The volunteer-run group helps children find ways to express their feelings during tumultuous times by encouraging discussion in peer support networks.
"We teach kids the words for feelings and then allow them an opportunity to express those feelings," Rainbows Prince George co-ordinator Ursula Morris said. "When they go home, they're more able to tell their parents or caregiver how they feel about things."
The children are grouped by age and two adult facilitators help guide the conversation of each small group. Morris said the key skill for the facilitators is that they are good listeners.
"We teach them that feelings are neither right nor wrong, they just are," she said. "As long as you're talking about how you feel, that's perfectly fine."
Averaging 25 to 35 children per session, Morris said the group receives most of its referrals through word of mouth. It's run free of charge for participants, but needs to raise money to help cover the cost of supplies as well as training for facilitators.
"It's totally dependent on fundraising," Morris said. "We don't have any funding from government."
To that end, the group is hosting an Atlantic kitchen party fundraiser on Saturday evening at the Knights of Columbus Hall complete with a lobster dinner and entertainment.
"We have several local groups who are going to sing and play music," Morris said. "What we're hoping for is that it becomes like an Atlantic kitchen party - everyone singing along with the music and dancing."
Brought to Prince George by former St. Mary's principal Sister Margaret Quinn, Rainbows is run twice a year out of the school with sessions beginning in September and January. Since its inception, other Rainbows groups have been started at Ron Brent and Carney Hill elementary schools with a new program starting up earlier this year at Kelly Road secondary school. It's also offered in Burns Lake, Fort St. John and Dawson Creek.
The program is open to all school-age children - in Prince George it has served students from kindergarten to Grade 10.
"It's amazing what the kindergarten kids can do," Morris said. "The journals are laid out in a way that there's a little story and then the children talk about their experience with, for example, step parents or fears."
In addition to running the Rainbows group, Morris has helped train facilitators for the Kaleidoscope program, which helps inmates at the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre deal with their own unresolved childhood loss. Although that program is not currently running, she's hoping it will be started up again soon.
Morris is also looking to develop a new Rainbows program specifically for children whose parents are in jail.
"We've had those children in our program, but it's hard for them to talk about their feelings about that because it's something you don't talk about," she said.
Morris said the talks are still in preliminary stages, but the idea is to enrich existing material and then get it approved by the Rainbows international office in Chicago.
Tickets for Saturday's fundraiser cost $40 and are available at Nancy O's or by calling Morris at 563-5584 or Terry Fedorkiw at 562-3209.
