Together, we take care of the new generation in Maskinongé

Together, we take care of the new generation in Maskinongé (2 min 14 s)

Added on December 26, 2015

Description
Pierre-Philippe Foucher describes how a prize-winning financial plan helped him start Les Petits Bâtisseurs, a cooperative which is more than just a daycare centre.

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Together, we take care of the new generation in Maskinongé (2 min 14 s)

Added on December 26, 2015 | Desjardins Group

Note: The information placed between brackets describes the visual and audio content of the video other than dialogue or narration.

[Text on the screen: Together, we take care of the new generation in Maskinongé.]

[Ambient music.]

[Text on the screen: Pierre-Philippe Foucher, founder of the Les Petits Bâtisseurs cooperative.]

[Pierre-Philippe speaks to the camera.]

Pierre-Philippe Foucher: When a community bands together to undertake a project, it can do amazing things.

[While Pierre-Philippe speaks, we see shots of the river, the municipality of Maskinongé and a church seen from a field, then a child on a bike behind the church, along the cemetery.]

Pierre-Philippe Foucher: In Maskinongé, there were 42 daycare spots for 96 children. There was after-school care. And regular day camps lasted 6 weeks.

[Shot of the daycare façade and its sign.]

Pierre-Philippe Foucher: So we considered all of this and asked ourselves what we could do to solve the problem. That’s how the cooperative began.

[Indoor shot of the daycare where children are playing, supervised by a daycare worker.]

Pierre-Philippe Foucher: Initially, Desjardins advisors helped us build our financial plan to ensure that it was compliant and could move forward.

[While he speaks, we see alternating shots of Pierre-Philippe on a bench in the yard of the daycare, and of children playing outside.]

Pierre-Philippe Foucher: Then we won the first provincial Ruralia-Desjardins prize, which enabled us to buy tricycles, little bikes, and equipment that’s normally very expensive. And that was very appreciated! A big advantage to being a cooperative group is the fact that any parent, anybody who benefits from the service, has a direct impact on the business. It’s not just a place to bring my child.

[Montage of children gathered around their teacher who is telling them a story, puppet in hand, on a mat on the ground, then leading them out of the cloakroom, single-file .]

Pierre-Philippe Foucher: It’s a place where I take my child, but at the same time, I want him to develop, I want to help him move forward, and I want to make sure he gets a good education.

[Night shots of a residential neighbourhood and a bungalow. Father and mother, children in their arms, are seated at the dining room table and speak to the camera.]

[Text on the screen: Auger family, member of the Coopérative Les Petits Bâtisseurs.]

[While the father and mother speak, we see shots of their daughter at the daycare, then of each child’s bedroom. Close-up of a photo of Méghane’s daycare group on the bedroom dresser.]

Mother: When we arrived in Maskinongé, the daycare was about to open so we’ve been there since the beginning. We are one of the pioneers. Then, we learned that Méghane had a physical condition. We weren’t sure we’d find a daycare that would take her and give her the care she needed. But Les Petits Bâtisseurs came to our rescue: they gave her the care she needed. We’re lucky that they take such good care of her.

Father: We’ve had a lot of appointments with Méghane in different hospitals, with specialists. Les Petits Bâtisseurs, always works with us. If we have exercises to do with Méghane, or whatever it may be, they do them with her too. We appreciate that so much!

Mother: We leave the house each morning, confident and at ease. For parents, that’s a great thing!

[The video ends with the family posed in front of their home.]

[Text on the screen: To the millions of Desjardins members, thank you.]

[Image on the screen: Desjardins logo desjardins.com/together]