Peterborough Blogs
Local Female Artists Combine Forces For Awesome "Bean Up" Series To Support Local YWCA
/Local female artists are gathering every Friday throughout the month of June at the Silver Bean Café in support of YWCA Peterborough Haliburton for the "Bean Up" Series.
This great initiative was the brainchild of well known local artist Brianna Gosselin, who teamed up with the YWCA Peterborough Haliburton and the Silver Bean Café to hatch "Bean Ups" that feature her and other local artists.
Brianna Gosselin
Featured Bean Up artists in June include Lucky Jackson on Friday, June 3rd; Brianna Gosselin on Friday, June 10; Silvia Ferreri on Friday, June 17th; and Lisa Martini-Dunk on Friday, June 24th.
The featured artists will be at the Silver Bean on their scheduled Friday from 10 am to 11 am creating live art for the public to view, and a piece of their art will be on display—and available to win—for those who sign up as a YWCA Monthly Donor during the event.
The YWCA will be present and providing information to the public about the vital services they offer in the community for women and kids fleeing domestic violence.
The Community Is Rallying Around Sarah McNeilly
/Sarah McNeilly is an amazing performance artist who is a huge part of the local, inclusive Peterborough arts scene—including recent productions at The Theatre on King, Mysterious Entity, Showplace Players and more.
Photo of Sarah by Andy Carroll
Shortly after her 31st birthday, Sarah was diagnosed with cancer. And now, the community Sarah has given so much to and so loves is giving back to her as a GoFundMe campaign has been launched for her as she begins her battle against it.
Photo of Sarah by Andy Carroll
"Sarah is one of the most popular and loved artists in this town," fellow performing artist Ray Henderson tells PTBOCanada. "She has her hands in so many different projects and mediums. A singer, actor, Improv artist, just to name a few. Her fire and passion is tireless and relentless."
"The smile you see in all her pics is genuine because she is just so full of life," adds Henderson. "Her partner, Spencer Allen, is just as loved as he is such a valuable piece to the artistic puzzle of this community. You won't find another couple whose outlook, work ethic and creativity provides such a rich environment in our community. Sarah herself is such an incredible and beautiful soul."
Sarah is going to have to take a lot of time off work to fight this cancer, and her and Spencer need the community's help for all of the expensive treatments, prescriptions, travel and time off work that will be required.
Spencer and Sarah
Give what you can to the GoFundMe campaign here, and spread the word on your social media channels. (Already, more than $7,000 [**UPDATE: more than $14,000 has now been raised***] of the $10,000 campaign goal has been reached in a short period of time.)
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A Big Mac For Fort Mac: Local McDonald's Helping Fort McMurray Families
/UPDATE: May 10th, 2016 -> The Big Mac For Fort Mac is going across Canada. "An Every Big Mac Supports Fort Mac fundraiser is happening across the country this coming Friday through Sunday," Adam Grachnik, External Communications Manager with McDonald's, tells PTBOCanada. "A number of guests and franchisees, including in Peterborough, came forward with similar ideas. We’re donating $1 from the sale of every Big Mac purchased in every one of our 1,400 restaurants across the country over the three days to the Red Cross."
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ORIGINAL POST
Local Peterborough area McDonald's restaurants have stepped up bigtime, with one dollar from every Big Mac sold going to help the relief efforts for the people of Fort McMurray.
This amazing "Big Mac For Fort Mac" news comes via our friends from The Wolf...
Photo via The Wolf
As one Fort McMurray evacuee remarked on The Wolf Facebook page, "As a former resident of Ptbo & current evacuee of Fort McMurray this makes my heart swell ❤️ Please go have a Mac for the Mac!"
Another Fort Mac evacuee had this to say: "Peterborough born and raised, but now I'm here back from the Mac after 4 days on the run. I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that every little bit helps. We have our cats and the shirts on our back, but we are still fortunate and lucky to be home."
A local McDonald's employee tweeted at us about how kind a gesture this is for the local franchise owners to do this...
The locations involved are in Peterborough, Lakefield, Lindsay and Bancroft, but we hope to see this spread to other franchises across Canada.
Spread the word. And buy a Big Mac.
[Related: There's A Little Bit Of Fort McMurray In All Of Us]
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Holy Cross Students Walk A Mile In Her Shoes Event Was A Thing Of Beauty
/[***UPDATE: YWCA tells PTBOCanada that the total amount raised for the Holy Cross Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event is $2,383.25—surpassing their goal of $2,000! Awesome!!]
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This year's Walk A Mile in Her Shoes event for YWCA takes place May 27th, but in the build up to the big day many local schools—Holy Cross, Crestwood and Kenner—are hosting their own special events to raise money and awareness among students.
On a beautiful Tuesday (May 3rd), Holy Cross students and staff hosted a great day at their school to show their support for Walk a Mile and promote healthy relationships.
More than 50 staff and students participated, walking four laps on the school track in heels.
Eileen Kimmett was there and snapped these great photos...
There were also great tweets throughout the Walk a Mile event at the school...
The day was further proof that youth in our community—the next generation to make an impact—are amazing.
[Related: 10 Things You Should Know About 2016 Walk A Mile In Her Shoes]
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$11,000 Raised At 2016 Walk So Kids Can Talk In Peterborough
/Despite a rainy first day of May, almost 100 walkers turned out for the 2016 Walk So Kids Can Talk supporting Kids Help Phone on Sunday morning.
The James Strath Public School Drumline provided entertainment as walkers registered...
Photo by Daniel Morris
Kids Help Phone is a free, anonymous confidential counselling and information service for young people—an invaluable resource for them.
At Sunday's event, there were many great volunteers, including Justine, a first-time volunteer pictured below...
Photo by Daniel Morris
People of all ages came out to support this amazing cause, which raised more than $11,000 for Kids Help Phone.
That included a younger walker sporting a cape on the route...
Photo by Daniel Morris
After the walk, Boston Pizza was kind enough to donate pizza for participants...
Photo by Daniel Morris
Faceless Doll Project Teaches Powerful Lesson To Students About Missing Indigenous Women
/Standing side-by-side, in a seemingly endless row that stretched the length of more than five tables, the image of hundreds of Faceless Dolls painted a powerful and haunting image.
It took several hours and the work of 80 students from Grade 7 to 12 in Peterborough to produce the end effect.
Students from St. Catherine Catholic Elementary School and St. Peter and Holy Cross Catholic secondary schools took part in an outreach Thursday (April 28th) to learn about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
The event took place in partnership with the Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwewag Services Circle and the Curve Lake Cultural Centre.
The students heard first-hand accounts about the issues from members of Curve Lake First Nation before taking part in the Faceless Doll Project, crafting hundreds of felt dolls to represent those voiceless missing and murdered women. The dolls will be attached to banners that can travel from school to school.
“We’re getting a first hand experience, so we’re a part of the project— we’re not just hearing about it,” says Brenna Roblin, a Grade 10 St. Peter CSS student. “As you’re making it, you can just see each and every woman or girl that has been affected as you put together each dress or each piece of hair. You just care about the person as you’re thinking who has been affected and who that doll is.”
Liz Stone, Executive Director of the Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwewag Services Circle in Peterborough, helped lead the discussion.
“I’m hoping that the students and the faculty that are involved will start to see that this is a Canadian issue, not an Aboriginal issue," Stone says. "It affects everybody. If individuals at a grassroots level starting at a young age have the knowledge, then they can create change at a large scale.”
Bringing the issue into the curriculum can be challenging for any teacher, says Amanda McInnes, the St. Catherine CES teacher who helped organize the outreach. That’s why having a tangible activity such as the Faceless Doll Project can bring home the lesson as an experiential exercise, she said.
“It makes it real," McInnes says. "Hearing about it is a powerful teaching tool, but putting these dolls together and being mindful that these are women in our community that have faced extreme violence and they are voiceless right now… it’s really important to teach.”
Phillip McQuade, a Grade 12 Holy Cross CSS student, has a new appreciation for the issue:
“I think I’m going to have a lot more awareness about what is going on, the unfairness that is going on in the Aboriginal community—especially towards women. And I think one thing that I will take from it is that it actually impacts me as a community member."
—guest post by Galen Eagle
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The Pregnancy Support Services Annual Gala Raised Over $50,000 for Expansion
/Peterborough Pregnancy Support Services Annual Fundraising Gala “All About Love” took place Saturday (April 23rd) at The Venue in downtown Peterborough, and raised $55,487 for centre operations and expansions.
About 100 people attended the event, which featured dinner, silent auctions and guest speaker The Honourable Dr. Kellie Leitch—Member of Parliament for Simcoe-Grey and a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon. Kellie has practiced medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children and presently works as volunteer surgeon at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
Pictured: Shawn Cooper and The Honourable Dr. Kellie Leitch
"I was pleased to attend the Peterborough Pregnancy Support Services gala and fundraiser,” says Dr. Kellie Leitch. “I commend them for doing their part in providing guidance and help to those who need their community health care services.”
The funds raised from the gala will help to pay for the PPSS expansion happening this year, including a facility upgrade, restructure of their corporate operations, and the hire and training of staff in order to open as a clinic to provide specific health care services beginning with the confirmation of pregnancy.
Great crowd at The Venue
“The 100 people who attended our gala now have a better understanding of PPSS services and their plans for expansion," says Catia Skinner, Co-Chair of the event. "We hope they spread the word of how PPSS can help expecting parents facing unplanned pregnancy."
To learn more about PPSS, click here.
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Peterborough Police Unveil Gender Neutral Bathrooms
/The Peterborough Police Service and its community partners are calling on the community to help create safe, inclusive and positive spaces.
Police themselves have taken leadership and a significant step in that direction by changing their single-stall bathrooms throughout the police station into gender-neutral washrooms.
“We know that people look to police services to set an example of what safety, inclusion and well-being looks like," says Peterborough Police Chief Murray Rodd. "This is one step in the right direction of what we can do to demonstrate our commitment to safe, welcoming and inclusive spaces."
Chief Murray Rodd pictured with Police community partners
