YMCA Launches First Ever Online 50/50 Draw This Month
/With the cancellation of special events and in-person fundraisers, the YMCA of Central East Ontario is launching an online 50/50 draw.
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Peterborough Blogs
Loonies On The Street Aims To Raise $100,000 For Kawartha Food Share
/The 21st year of the Loonies on the Street Fundraiser in support of Kawartha Food Share will take place on Dec. 10 from 7-10 a.m.
File Photo.
In an effort to keep everyone safe and to properly enforce Covid-19 protocols, the ‘Loonies’ have moved off the street and into the warmth again this year, broadcasting the festivities live on FREQ 90.5 and OLDIES 96.7.
The bucket brigade will be collecting loose change up and down George Street, and the Lions Club will be collecting on the Hunter Street Bridge.
All buckets will be on 6-foot poles to remain socially distant. Online donations can also be made at https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/3-loonies-on-the-street.
This year the Loonies on the Street event is aiming to raise $100,000 for Kawartha Food Share (KFS).
Helping to feed more than 7,700 people a month – 35% of whom are children – KFS also provides nutritious snacks for area school breakfast programs helping over 17,000 children get a healthy start to their school day. Additionally, KFS partners with community meal programs, such as those provided by Brock Mission, One Roof Diner, the Salvation Army and others, to provide a well-rounded outreach for our hungry neighbours.
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The Boro Announces First Holiday Shopping Passport Early Bird Winner
/Derek Banville has won The Boro’s first Holiday Shopping Passport early bird draw of 2021.
Derek Baneville with Wild Rock Outfitters owner Scott Murison. Photo courtesy of Peterborough DBIA.
Banville’s completed Holiday Shopping Passport was drawn on Dec. 1 at The Pasta Shop located at 165 Sherbrooke St. in downtown Peterborough.
Banville’s winning passport came from Wild Rock Outfitters, where he purchased a new bike for his son’s November birthday. Derek was granted his $500 Boro gift card prize by shop owner Scott Murison at Wild Rock Outfitters on Dec. 2.
“My family loves shopping at Wild Rock. It’s our go-to place for camping gear. We are so grateful to win the first Holiday Shopping Passport draw of the year- and can’t wait to add a little more adventure under the tree this holiday season with our prize money,” said Banville.
Locals are encouraged to pick up a Holiday Shopping Passport at any one of the 150+ participating shops, boutiques, salons, restaurants, and cafes in downtown Peterborough. Each completed Holiday Shopping Passport increases the chance to win up to $1,500 in Boro gift cards.
With the holidays currently in full swing- there are still lots of opportunities to win BIG this festive season with two more $500 early bird draws coming up this December and the $1,500 grand prize in early January:
Early Bird #2 — $500, Dec. 8.
Early Bird #3 — $500, Dec. 15.
Grand Prize — $1,500, Jan. 12.
During Holiday Passport season shoppers receive a stamp every time they spend $10 at a participating downtown business. When a passport is filled (20 stamps), Passport holders simply complete the contact form located at the bottom of their passport and drop it off at a ballot box at any participating business.
Eager stamp collectors are welcome to collect free stamps at the Peterborough Public Library, Peterborough & the Kawarthas Visitors Centre, and the Boro Holiday Hub (located at 373 George St.)
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Lakefield Foodland To Provide Those In Need With Turkey For Christmas
/Lakefield Foodland will be brightening Christmas for local families by giving away free turkeys to those in need.
Sarah Blestoe at Lakefield Foodland. Photo courtesy of Lakefield Foodland.
“A lot of people can use a helping hand at this time of year especially now. We want to offer our assistance to the people in Lakefield and area,” said Ross Blestoe, co-owner. “Despite a significant shortage of turkeys available this holiday season, we have worked with our partners to secure enough Frozen Grade A turkeys to give away to those in need. We support a lot of local charities, non-profit organizations and sports groups, but this turkey give-away lets us put our assistance ‘right on the table’ for those who need it most.”
Turkeys will be given away, one per family, on Dec. 15 between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. while supplies last.
Recipients are asked to show I.D. with an address.
For further information contact Ross Bletsoe 705-652-3999, rbletsoe@lakefieldfoodland.com or Ian Bletsoe 705-652-8232 Ext. 317, ian@lakefieldfoodland.com.
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Local Man Completes Hiking the Bruce Trail End to End and is Now Raising Funds for Two Local Charities
/After hiking the Bruce Trail in its entirety, local man Jackson Parlevliet is raising money for HeadsupCAN and the Youth Emergency Shelter.
Jackson Parlevliet after completing the Bruce Trail. Photo courtesy of Jackson Parlevliet.
Parlevliet began hiking Canada's oldest and longest marked footpath that stretches 900 km from Niagara to Tobermory on Aug. 11 when he realized his mental and physical health were declining.
“I started doing the hike because I was feeling very depressed,” he said.
After hitting his head at work a few years ago and enduring a severe concussion and brain damage, he was struggling with his mental health.
“I wanted to do something healthy to get me on track. At the beginning it was really really hard, I couldn’t go very far and I was just feeling so out of shape. I stuck with it and kept going until it started to get easy, then it got hard again towards the end because I was just really tired.”
Over the course of the 58 day hike Jackson lost 30 lbs and found a love for hiking. Photo by Jackson Parlevliet.
“I just thought so much. There were certain days I just would be in the woods by myself and start crying,” he said. “But I genuinely feel like a different person now.”
Initially this hike was only meant to better Parlevliet’s health, though as he walked alone he began to think there was potential for something more.
After he completed the trail end-to-end on Nov. 8, 58 days after starting, Parlevliet created a GoFundMe.
50 per cent of all the money raised will be going to HeadsupCAN, a local charity that aims to help those suffering from post-concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) symptoms.
“I picked HeadsUP because it’s personal to me. I’ve been struggling with concussion related brain trauma since I was in high school, and also because I trust where the money is going. The founder Ryan Sutton is from Ennismore.”
The other 50 per cent will be going to the Youth Emergency Shelter.
“I wanted to do something nice at Christmas - I love Christmas. Gifts aren’t what Christmas is about to me, but I still think that kids should be able to have some gifts and have some food and feel like they’re loved at Christmas.”
According to the Bruce Trail website, the trail can be hiked one way in 30 days. Jackson completed his hike (end-to-end and back again) in 58 days. Photo by Jackson Parlevliet.
Parlevliet says it was a tough trek,hiking around 40 km a day, and there were many times he wanted to quit. Now that it’s done he hopes to hike more in the future.
“I’ve wanted to do this Bruce Trail thing for a while. I started thinking about the idea in 2015 or 2015. I didn’t really know anything about it. If you have anything you want to do, just do it. Just make it happen.”
He says he hopes anyone interested in hiking the Bruce Trail will reach out to him on Instagram with any questions.
“I didn’t have fancy gear, I didn’t have poles, I didn’t have good shit - I just did it. It was really uncomfortable at times it rained for like 15 days straight, my feet were soaking, it was really miserable but I made it through and then got to good weather. If there’s anything you want to do, don’t wait for other people - just make it happen. I’m so glad I did it. There were times I thought ‘I can’t do this anymore I want to quit’ but I just kept going and it felt so good to be done.”
To donate to the Bruce Trail End to End Charity Hike click here.
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Completely Canadian 24 Good Deeds Charity Advent Calendar is Launched Out of Lakefield
/After selling out quickly in 2020, 24 GOOD DEEDS Charity Advent Calendar is back for the 2021 holiday season, this time with a completely Canadian edition.
Bob Gainey displays an advent calendar. Photo Courtesy of 24 GOOD DEEDS.
Much like a tradidional Advent Calendar, each day gives the opportunity to reveal something new. Though instead of a toy or a treat the calendar offers the opportunity to give back in a meaningful way, as well as an educational opportunity for donors to learn about various charities and their initiatives both locally and globally.
Behind every door, there is a different charity and cause that donors have supported with the charitable donation to 24 GOOD DEEDS.
24 GOOD DEEDS was launched in Europe in 2011, though it was just this year that a Canadian edition was launched in Lakefield by Ute Shaw, and spouse Carlos Daniel. The idea came to them while staying at their cottage on Katchewanooka Lake.
“The good thing is that with one donation you’re giving to 24 different charities, but the important thing is you’re not just giving to charities - you’re giving to specific projects within those charities. The money can not go to administration, or paying bills. It has to go to a direct cost of a project,” said Daniel, co-founder. “Charities report back to us next year so we can really see that the money went towards completing a project.”
The calendar is available in English and French, and all 24 Charities are from Canada with projects nationally and internationally.
Bob Gainey, who played for the Montreal Canadians from 1973 until 1989 is a big supporter of 24 GOOD DEEDS and also plays the voice of Santa Claus in the television. commercial.
To order a calendar click here.
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Operation Catnip Peterborough is on a Mission to Spay and Neuter All Feral Cats in the City
/Operation Catnip Peterborough is looking for a warm space to house feral cats post-operation this winter.
Photo courtesy of Operation Catnip Peterborough.
Operation Catnip Peterborough is a non-profit organization working to reduce suffering of and to control the population of feral cats in the community.
Since the organization began in 2013 they have spayed/neutered over 1450 cats through their Trap, Neuter, Return program (TNR).
With the TNR program, Operation Catnip responds to calls around the community regarding feral cats. They set live traps, bring cats to the vet to get fixed then return the cats to the wild.
“If they’re truly feral, really wild, we return them to their colonies - with someone providing them food and monitoring them,” said Kristen Mommertz, a volunteer with Operation Catnip. “If they’re friendly we work with rescue partners to try to find homes for them.”
According to Mommertz, Peterborough has a lot of colonies of feral cats.
“We’ve noticed recently a huge increase of developing cat colonies in rural areas,” she said. “The biggest one we service has just passed it’s 100th cat. They can get out of hand really quickly. Cats can get pregnant three or four times a year and have a litter of four to six kittens and as soon as those kittens are four or five months old they can start getting pregnant.”
The Operation Catnip Logo was created by volunteer and Graphic Designer Kim Russell.
Operation Catnip works in partnership with veterinarians to lessen the costs associate with spaying/neutering a cat and pays for surgeries through fundraising and a grant from the City of Peterborough.
“In a perfect world we wouldn’t need to exist. If everyone got their cats spayed and neutered, if people cared more for animals, we wouldn’t need to be here.”
Mommertz notes that cost is a large barrier for some when considering getting their cats spayed or neutered. A new low-cost spay and neuter clinic is set to open in Peterborough in the next five years, Mommertz hopes that that will encourage more people to get their animals spayed and neutered.
As winter weather approaches Operation Catnip Peterborough is looking for a place to house cats for a few days while they recover from their surgeries.
Due to COVID, Operation Catnip has a long waitlist of cats needing to get fixed. In order to keep up with demand, they hope to find one space to temporarily house all of the cats, in hopes to be able to monitor them all at once.
If they cannot find a recovery space, the organization may need to temporarily pause their operation.
To volunteer with Operation Catnip or to offer a rehabilitation space contact them on Facebook or Instagram.
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Peterborough Fire Services Receive Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms Through 'Safe Community Project Zero'
/Enbridge Gas has donated $500,000 to the Safe Community Project Zero, which aims to to improve home safety and bring fire and carbon monoxide-related deaths down to zero.
Photo courtesy of the City of Peterborough.
Safe Community Project Zero is a public education campaign that will provide over 16,600 alarms to residents in 70 municipalities across Ontario.
Peterborough Fire Services received 318 combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to distribute throughout the city.
“Carbon monoxide is known as the ‘silent killer’ for a reason, and we have proof that prevention saves lives. We know that the best way to avoid carbon monoxide exposure is to eliminate it at the source by properly maintaining fuel-burning equipment, and that the alarms are a critical second line of defense to protect against carbon monoxide poisoning,” said Steve McGivery, Director, GTA East Operations, Enbridge Gas.
This year, Enbridge Gas invested $500,000 in Safe Community Project Zero, and over the past 13 years, the program has provided more than 68,000 alarms to Ontario fire departments.
“The objective of Safe Community Project Zero is to deliver combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to Ontario communities who need them the most,” said Jon Pegg, Ontario Fire Marshal and Chair of the Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council. “It’s a program that fire departments can adopt to help educate their communities about the requirement for all Ontario homes to have a CO alarm if they have a fuel-burning appliance or an attached garage.”
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United Way and St. Vincent de Paul Team Up to Keep Peterborough Warm With Coats For Kids Program
/United Way Peterborough and The Society of St Vincent de Paul have teamed up and are distributing free coats to those in need through the annual Coats for Kids and Adults Too Program.
Group of Vinnie’s volunteers load up donations. Photo courtesy of United Way.
United Way Peterborough has been coordinating Coats for Kids and Adults Too since 1987. Community members donate clean, new and used coats on donation days at Vinnie’s thrift store.
Coats that are donated are sorted by volunteers who check for things like rips or broken zippers before they are given to people in the community that need them.
Following the same protocols they did last year the coats are left to ‘quarantine’ for at least 72 hours prior to distribution.
In 2020, the Coats for Kids program distributed close to 1,000 coats, snowsuits and snow pants to children and adults in Peterborough.
“The need is there. With the pandemic we think the need is even greater, we know there can be issues and if they have to give up something it might be a nice warm winter coat,” said Stephanie Levesque, Coats for Kids Coordinator, United Way Peterboroguh. “ We’ve considered in the past ending this program, but then we see the response and how many people are in need.”
Coats were collected Oct. 16 and 17 at Vinnie’s Peterborough and Lakefield Location.
Levesque says each year they rent a 15 foot truck to transport the donations and for the first time since she started the position five years ago it was filled by the end of the day.
Coats will be distributed on Saturday from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Murray Street Baptist Church, 175 Murray St.
Mitts for Kids, a program that provides hand knit mittens and hats for kids, will also be there Saturday.
Those wishing to receive a coat need nothing but patience and a mask, says Levesque. Due to COVID protocols there is a limited number of people allowed in the building, so attendees should expect to wait in a line outside the building.
Masks will be available on site for those that need them.
Any coats left at the end of Saturdays distribution will be given to local shelters to distribute throughout the season. None of the coats will be sold for profit.
For more information contact Stephanie Levesque at 705-742-8839 X32 or by email at slevesque@uwpeterborough.ca.
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Be Nice Campaign Launched in Peterborough
/The ‘Be Nice’ Campaign was launched on Thursday by Dave Smith, Member of Provincial Parliament for Peterborough-Kawartha and Terry Guiel, Executive Director of the Downtown Business Improvement.
Photo courtesy of the Office of Dave Smith.
