Do you feel that? That tugging sensation pulling on your heart strings? Don’t worry, that’s normal when reading about NUKO.

NUKO stands for Nanaimo Unique Kids Organization. It’s an amazing non-for-profit registered Canadian charity located in Nanaimo that has changed the lives of children between the ages 2 1/2 to 19 who face neurological differences such as autism, downs syndrome, FAS and others that impact learning.

Steve Marshall Ford Lincoln greatly supports NUKO and here’s why you should too…

What is NUKO?

NUKO’s story began in 2005 when a group of parents came together to create a learning centre where their children could be successful. NUKO opened the doors to a centre offering low student to adult ratios in a safe, accepting environment featuring small class sizes and a caring team of support staff. They provide support academically, recreationally, socially and behaviourally. They have seen their students obtain their adult graduation and gain the skills needed to transition back into the public system! NUKO maintains the standard set by those early families who see the importance of providing the very best for their unique kids.

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Making a difference

As you could imagine, this is not an easy field to work in. The team at NUKO is incredibly talented. Not only in their training but emotionally as well. This team never fails to put their students first. In fact, the centre manager at NUKO, Samantha Hayes, has actually fostered children in the program. Isn’t that incredible?

This team ranges from classroom supporters and leaders, behaviour analysts, interventionists, and even more support! NUKO offers coverage of school supplies that may be needed in the classroom as well as making sure they always have a big space for movement breaks. These kids have the best teachers, role models, and most importantly, the best life-long friends.

Making a difference

As you could imagine, this is not an easy field to work in. The team at NUKO is incredibly talented. Not only in their training but emotionally as well. This team never fails to put their students first. In fact, the centre manager at NUKO, Samantha Hayes, has actually fostered children in the program. Isn’t that incredible?

This team ranges from classroom supporters and leaders, behaviour analysts, interventionists, and even more support! NUKO offers coverage of school supplies that may be needed in the classroom as well as making sure they always have a big space for movement breaks. These kids have the best teachers, role models, and most importantly, the best life-long friends.

They put the U in NUKO

Unique is only one word of many that describe the children in the NUKO program. We visit NUKO quite often and have actually seen the change in the kid’s abilities each time with our own eyes. Though there are areas of struggle, these kids always rise above.

One of our favourite things about NUKO, is the way they teach the importance of making friendships and communicating effectively. Although they know the significance of one-on-one learning, the group activities/group learning is something that they prioritize just as high. This is something we feel every adolescent organization could learn from. Its not all about brain knowledge, its also about kindness, compassion, social skills and patience.

“NUKO’s fantastic. Ever since I came here, I’ve been much better with reading, writing and everything.” – Student attending NUKO.

Our Connection

We were honoured enough to develop an inside connection with NUKO from one of our Salesmen, Troy Harder. Troy is married to Masja Knol-Harder, staff supervisor at NUKO. Masja is an amazing woman who expressed her deep love for the kids in her program as well as certain things they needed more exposure/funds on. Troy was happy to pitch this to our Dealer Principle, Ann Marie! From there, she created a fundraiser for NUKO which included donating $100 from every vehicle sold for the entire months of December and January.

In the end, we ended up raising $12,700 for NUKO!

NUKO plans to use a portion of the raised funds to better equip the children’s movement break areas. With the Covid-19 outbreak, NUKO was unable to attend their usual gym centers and were enforced to build a free area within their own building.

We were so honoured to be a small part in NUKO’S story and we plan to continue working along side them for years to come.

“I cannot express in words the difference NUKO has made for my son. His learning, cognitive abilities, social skills, self awareness, self confidence, mindfulness, and overall joy has improved significantly since he has attended NUKO. He laughs, shares stories about his day, he talks about his friends at school, and he is learning! His printing has improved and I have noticed a significant increase in his vocabulary, sentence structure, and expressing himself.” – NUKO parent.

Learn more about NUKO here: About Us | NUKO

If you have any more questions about NUKO you can reach them directly at (250)-591-0102.

Is NUKO right for your unique child?

NUKO dials in closely on one-on-one learning and making sure that there is proper staff on standby ready to help with any needs your children may have. the intelligent and gentle staff makes sure your child has everything they need to have the best day and to keep progressing on their goals.