Homelessness Benefit Concert Returns With 'Peterborough Performs IV' For United Way at Showplace On March 7

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Sixteen acts are taking the stage at Showplace Performance Centre for United Way’s ‘Peterborough Performs IV: Musicians United to End Homelessness’ to fundraise for homelessness initiatives announced Thursday morning.

Musician Dan Hicks is one of 16 acts joining ‘Peterborough Performs IV."‘ Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The one-night event takes place on March 7 at Showplace (290 George St. N.) at 7 p.m. with tickets for $50.

The campaign is in its fourth year with the ultimate fundraising goal $1.45 million. The concert has raised over $84,000 to date, with 95 per cent of the proceeds going to local shelters according to Paul Rellinger, event organizer.

“We all feel homelessness is a big issue that we can't as individuals do anything about,” he said. “You can make a difference with this event.”

While the event averages over $28,000 annually in raised funds, Rellinger adds that no goal is set for this campaign's fourth edition.

“The first goal is to do better than the year before,” he said. “What I'm really excited about is the event is going to well pass $100,000 in money raised over four events and that's pretty good for something that was just an idea four years ago.”

Tiffany Arcari from ‘The Tiffany Show’ is the emcee for the event.

The following are the acts performing at this year’s concert:

  • The Weber Brothers Band

  • Emily Burgess

  • SJ Riley

  • The Austin Carson Band

  • The Peterborough All-Star Band (featuring Rick and Gailie Young)

  • The Cheryl Casselman Trio

  • Irish Millie

  • Tom Eastland

  • Chris Collins

  • Bread & Soul

  • Phil Stephenson/Glen Cardus/Ron Kervin

  • Jacques Graveline

  • The Hippie Chicks

  • Michaela Hetherington

  • Dan Hick

  • Tim Burnie (stand-up comedian)

An online auction with over 50 items runs until March 7 at 10 p.m. Local businesses, sponsors and organizations have donated all the lots for the auction.

Tickets to Peterborough Performs are available for purchase at the Showplace Box Office. The discount code ‘LoveLocal’ is available to purchase two tickets for $40 until next week Thursday.

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'Peterborough Performs III' Hitting Showplace Fundraising For United Way's Homeless Initiatives

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Fifteen acts encompassing 43 musicians are taking the stage at Showplace Performance Centre for United Way’s ‘Peterborough Performs III: Musicians Against Homelessness’ to fundraise for homelessness initiatives announced on Thursday.

Jacques Graveline (pictured) has performed in the past two ‘Peterborough Performs’ and is playing again for a third consequtive year. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The one-night event takes place on March 2 at Showplace (290 George St. N.) at 7 p.m. with tickets for $50. There are roughly 600 tickets available for the event.

“A $50 ticket breaks down to just a little more than $3 per performance,” said Paul Rellinger, event organizer. “You can't beat that, no way no how. Being general admission, ticket holders can wander Showplace as they please, taking in the main stage acts or hanging out in the more intimate Nexicom Studio or, ideally, do a combination of both.”

All acts for the third edition of the concert are local artists with several new and returning performers taking the stage. The 15 acts are performed on two stages simultaneously. Jordan Mercier is returning as this year’s emcee.

The following are the acts performing at this year’s concert:

  • The Weber Brothers Band

  • Michaela Hetherington

  • Jacques Graveline

  • The Peterborough All-Star Band (featuring Rick and Gailie Young)

  • Nicholas Campbell and the Two-Metre Cheaters

  • Nick Ferrio and Evangeline Gentle

  • Groove Authority

  • Tom Eastland

  • Wylie Harold

  • Jericho’s Wall (featuring Charlotte Melby)

  • The Receivers (Irish Millie, Fern and Willow Marwood)

  • Phil Stephenson and Glen Caradus

  • Benj Rowland

  • The Hippie Chicks

  • Chris Collins

An online auction with over 45 items valued at over $10,000 is being run, starting on Feb. 16 at 5 p.m. and closing on March 2. All lots have been donated by local businesses and organizations according to Mabby Mwanangonze, United Way donor engagement officer.

A link on United Way’s website will be available to view the auction once it is active. Bidders do not have to be present at the event in order to claim their won auction lots.

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Trent University Raises Record-Breaking $132,000 For United Way Of Peterborough

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Trent University’s faculty, staff and retirees came together to exceed the University’s previous records for both fundraising goal and total funds raised for the annual United Way campaign, raising a whopping $132,028 for those in need locally.

“This year, the Trent United Way committee set an ambitious fundraising goal of $125,000—our largest yet by far,” says Alison Scholl, manager, Community Relations and United Way campaign coordinator. “I’m overjoyed by the Trent community’s response to our campaign. I’m always impressed by the commitment our retirees, faculty and staff show to the Peterborough region, and I’m proud of the role Trent plays in supporting our community.”

Trent’s campaign launched in October with a kick-off BBQ, and was supported by many employee-led special events—including a chili cook-off, white elephant tables, and a gift basket raffle before the holidays.

These special events were paired with donations from retirees and employees, the Trent University Faculty Union, CUPE 3908 and OPSEU Local 365.

“Trent set an inspiring goal this year and that they blew past it is amazing,” says Jim Russell, CEO, United Way of Peterborough & District. “We are thrilled with the dedication and leadership provided by the employees at Trent. We are so grateful to the Trent University community.”

Trent’s campaign committee is made up of Linda Smith, retiree co-chair, Dr. Susan Wurtele and Marcus Harvey, faculty co-chairs, Adele Devlin and Debbie Lietz, staff co-chairs.

Marcus Harvey, executive director of the Trent University Faculty Association, also served as the United Way campaign cabinet’s Labour representative.

Trent University has been a long-time supporter of the United Way dating back to 1965, has raised more than $2 million for the organization, and is currently the largest corporate sponsor in the region.

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Throwdown: Peterborough Police United Way Team Issues Cheeseburger Food Court Eating Challenge

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Move over Joey Chestnut, there is a new local food eating challenge on the horizon and it’s all about squads.

The Peterborough Police United Way team have issued an open challenge to all City of Peterborough services, including Peterborough Fire Services and Peterborough Paramedics, to a cheeseburger eating contest at the Lansdowne Place McDonald’s location in the food court on Tuesday, December 4th.

Image courtesy Peterborough Police

Starting at 11:30 a.m. on December 4th when the cheeseburgers will be fresh off the grill, teams will pack away as many as possible all for a good cause—and bragging rights of course. All proceeds from this fun event are going to the United Way Peterborough and District.

The challenge is capped at 10 teams, and this year they must be City of Peterborough services with plans to expand the event next year already being discussed. To sign up your City of Peterborough services team, simply contact the Police Services United Way Co-Chair here with your team info. Each team is asked to make an initial $100 donation to the United Way Peterborough District and anything on top of that is a bonus.

Learn more about the burger throwdown in this video Peterborough Police put out…

—post by Aaron Elliott

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City of Peterborough Kicks off United Way Campaign By Announcing Goal Of $75,075

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The City of Peterborough launched its 2016 United Way campaign at Sherbrooke Fire Hall with an employee BBQ this week. Attendees dressed their yummy hamburgers as Chief Snetsinger welcomed the crowd.

The City’s goal for this campaign was announced as $75,075 in honour of United Way’s overall theme of 75 Years of Caring.

Chief Snetsinger

Campaign Chair Gwyneth James thanked the City for their unwavering support throughout United Way Peterborough and District’s 75 years in the community:

“The folks here really understand that a strong city benefits everybody," she says, adding "Building up an individual in need of short-term relief by having their basic needs met allows them to move towards finding that job, which in turn helps Peterborough’s economy as a whole.”

Campaign Chair Gwyneth James

United Way CEO, Jim Russell also emphasized the impact the City’s campaign has had: “The City of Peterborough always shows up in a big way to support our community. The $71 million invested over the last 75 years could not have happened without this type of support, so thank you all!”

To learn more about the United Way of Peterborough and all they do in the community, go here.

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50 Volunteers Took To Peterborough's Streets To Find Out About Homelessness: Here Are Their Findings

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For 14 hours on March 22nd, 2016, 50 volunteers set out in teams to conduct surveys on the street, in shelters, and at meal programs across the city.

They asked questions such as this:

Where are you staying tonight?
How many different times have you experienced homelessness?
What do you think is preventing you from finding and keeping long term stable housing?

Photo via @UnitedPtbo launch event introducing Giving Voice to the Homeless

What emerged from those questions was a story of individuals young and old, educated and working—some suffering from addiction, some fleeing abusive relationships, some agonizing over family breakdown, and most wanting to have their story told and understood.

The United Way Peterborough and District just released to the community more specific results from that night on the streets in their first ever "Point in Time Count" of homelessness in Peterborough. This city was one of 31 communities across the country that took part in conducting this ground-breaking research through the Homelessness Partnering Strategy.

Photo via @UnitedWayPtbo

The 60 page report titled “Giving Voice”—available on the United Way of Peterborough's website—is a detailed snapshot of people who were homeless on March 22nd of this year.

Here are some highlights from the report...

-> A minimum of 120 people were homeless in Peterborough on March 22nd, 2016
-> 54% were chronically homeless, having spent over 6 months homeless in the past year
-> 64% experienced homelessness for the 1st time before their 26th birthday
-> 20% have attended post-secondary school
-> 98% have some form of income
-> The top 3 reasons for homeless among participants were: family breakdown, addiction/substance abuse, and unsafe housing.

The public is encouraged to review the full report here and to reflect on next steps in our community to have a strategic focus on ending the reality of homelessness.

You can also give to an Indiegogo campaign to help a documentary being made on the Warming Room's guests.

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United Way Of Peterborough Issues Urgent Call For Help To Community

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The United Way of Peterborough has issued an urgent call for help to the community, as they are way behind where they were last year at this time with fundraising.

A key indicator for the organization—which provides essential services for so many in the community—is the comparison to last year’s results to date. In 2014, at this same time, United Way campaign results totaled $1.34 million compared to this year’s results of $840,000—a difference of about half a million dollars.

Using historical data, campaign officials are projecting a significant shortfall by the end of campaign if donations remain in decline.

Indeed, the entire Campaign Team is working hard to reach their goal of $2.2 million but are not optimistic the goal will be reached when comparing year-to-date results.

“This situation is unprecedented, dire even, and we are redoubling our efforts and asking the community to redouble their efforts to ensure the needs identified as critical in our community can be addressed now and in the future,” says Jim Russell, CEO of United Way of Peterborough.

The United Way provides vital services in the community (see infographic below), and many are in jeopardy if they don't reach their goal.

You are encouraged to donate online or by calling 705.742.8839 to give by Visa or MasterCard. You can also visit the United Way office at 277 Stewart Street to make a donation in person.

Also, spread the word on your social media channels, workplaces, schools, everywhere.

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