Special Guests
Kate Eastman (Wilkinson) - Speaker
Kate Eastman (Wilkinson), is originally from Ottawa, Ontario but moved to Prince Edward Island in 2004. She is a graduate from the University of Prince Edward Island and holds a degree in Science (Family Science), with a focus on Family Violence and Law and Social Policy. She is a lifelong learner and continued her education with the University of Toronto and is currently preparing to take the LSAT exam. In 2017, Kate was honoured with one of the CAMH (The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) Difference Maker Awards. She is employed with the Federal Government of Canada and is a mom to a little one and two dogs. Between all of that, Kate also co-founded and is the standing Executive Director of Turn on the Lights.
Turn on the Lights is a local non-profit organization that was founded in 2015 after Kate came forward to the police about being a survivor of sexual abuse in 2012. She learned that there was not a lot of support available, and felt very isolated from other people as this was a topic not talked about at that time. Kate never wanted another human being to feel alone. It began as an organization in place to raise awareness of sexual abuse and offered to provide support and information to survivors. This included what supports and other organizations were in place to help them. Turn on the Lights became a non-profit organization in 2016. They are not government funded and solely rely on donations from individuals and organizations. Any funds that come into the organization are sent back out to help survivors on an emergency basis. If funds allow, the organization is able to help people long-term or others that may require it. Within the last year, they began having conversations with Ministers and other Government officials on legislative updates and changes to our system to better support survivors.
Carrie Lundy - Performer
Carrie Lundy is a school teacher and yoga instructor who leads with an open heart, something that comes through in her writing and teaching. She enjoys communing with nature, immersing herself in new places and people, and learning more about the mind-body-heart connection. Carrie mainly uses two therapies in order to stay well these days, her writing and her yoga practice, both of which merged together in her first published book of poetry, So Hum. She will be sharing from her collection, which journeys through love, loss, and life lessons to deepen our connections with ourselves and with each other.
Meaghan Grant - Speaker
Meaghan Grant is a Peer Support Worker at Canadian Mental Health Association PEI Division.
Meaghan will share her story of battling addiction, mental illness, and surviving a series of traumatic events, and how she found recovery through the love and support of her family and community and turned her life around. She is passionate about sharing her journey with others in hopes it will inspire them to heal and begin the recovery process themselves and to never ever give up.
Meaghan graduated from the Specialized Peer Support Worker Training Program in the Fall of 2021. The program equips individuals to use their personal stories of mental illness, addiction, and recovery to support those who might be struggling. Meaghan uses her story and personal journey to now guide, inspire and support others in their journies to recovery through the Peer Support Program.
Katie McGarry - Performer
Katie McGarry is an award winning singer/songwriter from Prince Edward Island. She has been writing and sharing her songs with audiences for over a decade. Her influences draw on classic country and folk to pop and blues. Her most recent work is her involvement in Charlottetown's folk-pop band, the Moneygoround, as keyboardist and vocalist.
Emily Wells - Chef
A graduate of the Culinary Institute of Canada, Emily has worked in restaurants in PEI and Ontario for the past three decades, including ten years as chef at The Dunes Cafe in Brackley. In 2014, Emily became chef and owner of The Mill in New Glasgow — formerly the Olde Glasgow Mill owned by Harvey and Rosemary Larkin.
Emily is passionate about local food, ethical food production and cooking and eating as a way to strengthen our ties to land, ancestry and culture. Emily has been a lead organizer and chef for the Fall Harvest Lunches in support of Farmers Helping Farmers for the past 15 years, raising over $25,000 in support of farmers and farming families in Kenya.
Emily is a co-founder of The River Clyde Pageant, with her brother Ker Wells and Megan Stewart. She is the chef and community liaison for the Pageant, organizing and preparing the outdoor meals that have concluded every performance since the Pageant began in 2016.
Emily was the winner of the 2015 Taste Our Island Award. In July 2016, she was named one of the top chefs in Canada by Matador Network.
Jessica Davis - Photographer
Jess, is the owner of Jessica Davis Photography. Born and raised here in Prince Edward Island. When she's not behind the camera she is busy with friends and family, reading a book, or out for a run. Jess is a lover of craft beer, coffee, and dogs. She enjoys meeting new people and being a part of a creative community.