Hike for Hospice Peterborough On Their Way to Meet Fundraising Goal
/Hospice Peterborough’s Hike For Hospice event already raised over $30,000 since it started on Saturday for its one-week campaign.
Image courtesy of Hospice Peterborough
Peterborough Blogs
RONA Cobourg Donates to Mental Health Association Through Lowe's Canada Heroes Campaign
/The Canadian Mental Health Association of Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (CMHA HKPR) are the fundraising recipients of the Lowe’s Canada Heroes campaign announced Monday.
Employees at RONA Cobourg. Photo Courtesy of RONA Cobourg.
The national campaign is running throughout the month of September at RONA Cobourg located on Division Street.
Customers visiting participating Lowe’s, RONA or Reno-Depot stores during the campaign can make donations at the cash register in support of each store’s respective cause.
Lowe’s Canada will match 50 per cent of the funds raised by each location, up to $2,000 per store.
RONA Cobourg has chosen to support CMHA HKPR’s Four County Crisis program which supports anyone sixteen or older who are experiencing a mental health crisis.
The Four County Crisis program serves Peterborough and County, Northumberland, Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton.
“We are so grateful for the support of RONA Cobourg and Lowe’s Canada. Their donation will go directly towards life-saving measures supporting some of our community’s most vulnerable individuals and helping them on their path to recovery,” said Jack Veitch, CMHA HKPR Manager of Community Engagement and Education.
To learn more about the Lowe’s Canada Heroes campaign click here.
To learn more about CMHA HKPR click here.
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Five Counties Children's Centre Receives Government Funding For Rehab and Speech Services
/Five Counties Children’s Centre (FCCC) has received $1,487,968 from the Ontario Government to enhance the centre’s services in an announcement made Thursday afternoon.
(left to right) Ashley Parsons, occupational therapist; MPP Dave Smith; Kristy Hook, board chair; Scott Pepin, CEO gathered in a colourful treatment room at the FCCC. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
The press conference was held at FCCC with centre members and MPP Dave Smith as the government ambassador.
The Ontario government is investing $240 million over four years to increase access to critical rehabilitation services for children and youth with special needs and help them live happier and healthier lives.
This investment is part of the 2021 Budget, Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy.
When children in Ontario begin school, almost 30 per cent have at least one developmental vulnerability that could pose a risk to their lifelong health, learning, and behaviour. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
With this investment, $60 million in new funding will be provided annually starting this year to build additional service capacity and increase access to preschool speech and language services and community-based and school-based rehabilitation services across the province.
“We know when our kids thrive, our communities thrive. It’s incumbent on all of us to ensure we invest in our children and youth by providing the support they need,” said Smith. “Children with exceptionalities deserve every opportunity to learn, grow and thrive. Today’s investment will build on our government’s existing support so children in our community can live fulfilling and productive lives.”
In 2019-20, more than 53,000 children received services through Ontario’s Preschool Speech and Language Program. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
As part of the $60 million in new annual funding, Five Counties Children’s Centre will receive $1,487,968 to support the following:
Preschool Speech and Language New Budget Allocation:
$311,723 – 2021/22 new investment (including annualization) representing a 37% increase
Community-Based and School-Based Rehabilitation Services New Budget Allocation:
$664,286 – 2021/22 new total annualized investment for School-Based Rehab
$511,959 – 2021/22 new total annualized investment for Community-Based Rehab representing an 18.2% increase
The total new annualized investment is $1,487,968.
Children’s Treatment Centres also provided School-Based Rehabilitation Services for 71,000 students in publicly funded schools in 2019-20. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
“Part of this is targetted for early intervention,” explained Scott Pepin, FCCC CEO. “By the assessment, we can help parents guide them in the most appropriate service. Sometimes we have parents coming to us asking or not knowing if this is normal or not.”
These investments will improve service experiences and outcomes for children and youth with special needs and their families across the Peterborough-Kawartha.
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Former Trent Student Founds Website Incentivizing People to Shop Locally
/In an innovative and creative way to incentivize people to shop local while promoting small businesses, former Trent student Nick Mitchell founded a new community engagement project called “Take a Challenge, Make a Change" (TACMAC).
Mitchell has been a lifeguard instructor in Kenya and a chef in British Columbia. Photo Courtesy of TACMAC.
Launching this Thursday, the website encourages participants — primarily post-secondary students — to engage in fun challenges to earn discounts or rewards and support charity while supporting small businesses.
Challenges are complete by posting a picture of themselves at the establishments on Instagram with the hashtag #TACMACJACKPOT. Anyone who enters will be registered for a weekly jackpot for a chance to donate $100 —money supplied by TACMAC — to a charity of the winner’s choice.
The charitable idea stemmed from Mitchell’s time working at One Roof Community Centre. It inspired him to create a business dedicated to giving back to the community. The inspiration for creating TACMAC came from his time at Trent where his friends and classmates knew of very few places to spend time and shop in town and go to the same place repeatedly.
"I’ve come across so many of my fellow peers who time after time say there's nothing to do in Peterborough," said Mitchell. "The response was that they didn't know this (certain places) even existed."
Some examples include having a home cook-off with a friend based on one ingredient from The Food Shop or purchasing crickets from the House of Scales and make a meal from them.
TACMAC creates an outlet for students to experience Peterborough outside of the ‘campus bubble” according to Mitchell.
Photo Courtesy of TACMAC.
Businesses can register themselves through TACMAC’s website for a small fee to allow customers to take part in their challenges. The incentive is another way for entrepreneurs to promote and advertise their businesses.
Mitchell says the timing of TACMAC could not be any better since some people are unsure of what is open or closed during the current stages of the pandemic.
"It just gives people a clear-cut path to activities in Peterborough," said Mitchell. "There's probably going to be a lot of confusion to what's okay. When they see it on the website, it kind of reduces a bit of the anxiety."
Over 20 businesses have registered for TACMAC.
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Lions Club Shoe Drive Shatters Goal By Collecting Over 2,500 Pairs of Footwear
/After a month-long campaign and 2,549 pairs of footwear later, the Peterborough Lions Club concluded a successful Shoe Drive that ended Friday.
MPP Dave Smith (left) with Gwen Sawyer, Lions Club membership director after tallying the final total of pairs of footwear collected. Photo Courtesy of Peterborough Lions Club.
Present at the ceremony were Lions Club President Garth McQuaig, Lions service chair Judy Jenkins, MPP Dave Smith, Haily Whitelock from Bioped Footcare & Orthotics and other committee members to announce the completion of the shoe drive.
Gently-used to brand new footwear of all kinds were accepted at the drive from shoes, flip-flops, cleats, skates and more were taken in as part of the month-long campaign. Community members could drop off their donations at the club located on 347 Burnham St. or at Bioped Footcare at 655 The Queensway, Unit 6.
Judy Jenkins with the shoe drive sign with a minor correction after Smith’s final donation. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
The donated footwear is repaired and restored by Bioped before being redistributed to needing families or individuals, prioritizing locally before donating them abroad.
The club’s goal was 1,000 pairs which was easily shattered which was a pleasant surprise from the committee members.
"I couldn't believe the overwhelming support of our community," said Jenkins. "We put out what our need was and the community just rallied around us and the shoes just kept coming and coming and coming."
Over 150 garbage bags filled with shoes were donated to the Shoe Drive. Photo Courtesy Of Peterborough Lions Club.
Shoes that go abroad will go to needing families in countries such as Haiti, South Africa, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica. They can sell the footwear in order to help sustain a living.
“One pair of shoes pays for food for one week for a family of four. Twenty pairs of shoes abroad pay for one year of education for a student which every student has to pay for their education from grade 1 and up. Another 20 pairs pay for the residence in which the students live,” explained Jenkins.
Smith officially made the last donation, removing his pair of shoes for the cause.
“The Peterborough Lion’s Club has been a key community-oriented organization for decades. They are always working – donating their time and resources – to support those who need support,” he said.
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Ice Cream Parlour Serving Up Smiles for Children's Charity
/Central Smith Ice Cream served charity ice cream cones for Five Counties Children’s Centre’s “Do It For The Kids” campaign on Saturday.
(Left to Right) Allison Zomer, Central Smith server; Jennifer Scates, Central Smith co-owner; Linsay Kampf, Five Counties communications coordinator and Olivia Stevenson. Central Smith server. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
The creamery was selling $2.50 single-scoop vanilla ice cream cones with blue and green sprinkles — the Five Counties’ colours — where proceeds go towards the charity. They also sold $2 donation cards as another method to raise money.
The one-day event is a wrap-up of a campaign that the creamery runs monthly. The events were organized by the creamery staff including a cakewalk, bake sales, 50/50 draws and a “Do It for Dad” ice cream day.
“It’s really been a grassroots organization and it’s been driven by the staff,” said Jennifer Scates, Central Smith co-owner. “It’s been phenomenal.”
Central Smith has over 60 flavours of ice cream, sherbet or sorbet that are available in cones, cups or sundaes. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
The ice cream parlour has raised roughly $1,800 towards their $5,000 goal to be donated on Halloween. Central Smith has unaccounted funds in the past month that has yet to be counted toward the total.
The staff chose Five Counties as their charity of choice back in September. The creamery runs a charity campaign every two years where Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Team55 and Terry Fox have been past recipients.
Central Smith began exclusive production of premium ice cream in 1952. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
The store plans to run future campaigns until September such as charity walks, 50/50 draws and bake sales. Several of the events run have been organized and initiated by the staff.
“We’ve just been slowly building momentum through the year,” said Scates.
Central Smith was founded in 1896 and celebrates its 125th anniversary in mid-July.
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Community Care Peterborough Wins National Contest For $20,000
/Non-profit charitable organization Community Care Peterborough (CCP) won $20,000 in the 2021 Great Canadian Giving Challenge held by CanadaHelps according to a press release on Wednesday.
Meals on Wheels deliver food from Monday to Friday between 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Photo Courtesy of Community Care Peterborough.
CCP — a charity providing services to senior citizens and adults with physical challenges — was selected from 16,611 other charities. A total of $26,218,918 to those charities were donated last month.
June is considered the month with the least amount of donations to CanadaHelps — a non-profit networking charity organization —as stated in the press release.
All last month, CanadaHelps asked Canadians for online donations to win $20,000 for their favourite charity.
Every dollar donated in June through CanadaHelps or with an affiliated charity gave an entry for the grand prize.
“We are so thrilled to win the Great Canadian Giving Challenge,” said Alicia Vandine, CCP Donor Relations and Communications Lead. “We adapted our fundraising plans, operating virtual events and improving our online presence, to make it easier for people to support this work with their donations, improving our capacity and process to make online donations easy and secure using our Canada Helps charity account.”
Alicia Vandine (left) of Community Care Peterborough speaking with Nicole Danesi (right), CanadaHelps Manager in an online interview following the announcement of the contest winner. Screenshot.
$10,000 will be used towards the Give a Meal program which subsidies Meals on Wheels. The other $10,000 is for their Drive for Dialysis program which drives dialysis patients to medical appointments.
Without this support, many Ontarians living in rural communities are left to cover the transportation costs of these regular appointments that can add up to between $8,000 and $10,000 per patient according to the press release.
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The Alzheimer Society of Peterborough Kawartha Lakes Northumberland and Haliburton Announces New Executive Director
/The Alzheimer Society of Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland and Haliburton has announced Andrea Cant as their new Executive Director on Monday.
Photo Courtesy Of The Alzheimer Society PKLNH.
As of May 31, Cant has taken over duties from retiring Leslie Parham, executive director.
Cant has been working in the non-profit sector for 16 years and previously worked for the Alzheimer Society.
She is eager to build on the legacy left by Parham and will be hard at work guiding the organization out of the pandemic which has taken a toll on both clients and their care partners.
“When the pandemic made in-person services impossible Leslie and her team pivoted the organization to include virtual education, activities and support programs,” says Cant. “Now we’re looking forward to getting back into the community in the fall and providing in-person services to community members who are disproportionately isolated and who depend on social engagement for support and to help slow the progression of the disease. They’ve had to endure a long pandemic largely on their own.”
Social connection, physical activity and barrier-free healthcare are essential for slowing the progress of dementia. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many vital resources were unavailable to patients living with dementia. Cant hopes that as restrictions loosen, in-person services will resume.
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Two Local Girls Earn $10,000 Grants For Habitat for Humanity In Writing Contest
/Elementary school students Olivia Grady and Emma Mattson were runner-ups in the “Meaning of Home” writing contest that earned a $10,000 grant each for Habitat for Humanity announced Monday.
Mattson (left) and Grady (right) were two of over 12,000 entrants across Canada that participated in the contest. Photo Courtesy of Habitat for Humanity.
The nationwide contest invited Canadian kids from grades 4-6 to submit a poem or essay explaining what home means to them.
A winner and three runner-ups are selected from each grade and are awarded $30,000 and $10,000 respectively towards their local habitat build. The earnings will go towards building homes for families in need of a safe and secure place to call home according to the press release.
Matson wrote her poem “Houses and Homes” which earned her a runner-up award, sharing the spot with two other girls representing Habitat Greater Ottawa.
“A house is made of wood and bricks.
A home is made of love and family.
Home is the heart of my family.
Home keeps us all together.
Home reminds us of those good times.
Home means love.
Home means family.
Home helps us make memories.
Our home is always there for us.
When I am in my home, I feel safe.
I feel comfortable in my home.
My home means so much to me.
My home is no ordinary house.
It’s a home.
Our home means more to us in these times.
Covid-19 made us spend more time in our houses than normal.
I now realize what my home really means.
It means family.
Home is wonderful.
When I think of home I think of my indigenous culture.
When I am home, I feel like me.
When I am in my home I think of my family, my culture and my background.
I don’t live in a house.
I live in a home.”
Grady got runner-up with her entry, “What Does Home Mean to Me?” for the grade 6 category.
“Home can mean several things. To me, it doesn’t just resemble a building. Those 4 walls and a roof I’ve spent my whole life in means more than I can explain. The comfort, safety and love that comes from my home makes this place more than what you think.
I know I’m at home when I feel that single feeling of comfort the moment I walk through the door. My dog, greeting me with her kisses and happiness, mom and dad, giving me the hug that I have awaited all day for and my brother so joyous to see everyone together again. However, comfort isn’t just the hug you get when you walk into the house. It’s also helping each other, doing fun things together and knowing that you are loved.
An essential part of home to me is safety. Knowing that in the darkest conditions, I am always safe in my parent’s warm embrace. Safety is trusting that I can come home to escape my sorrow, bitter thoughts and just be myself. It also means to flee the cold rainstorm that I’ve been drenched in to a place that brings me a sense of security and safety. When I’m safe, that’s how I know that I’m at home.
Finally, the heart of my home is love. You don’t have to spell “love” to feel it. The simplest things my family does shows me that they love me whether it’s watching movies together, playing games or just giving each other our time. When someone says “home” I immediately think of love for it is the true key to a happily ever after.
I hope that one day, everyone will have a home to experience the things that I believe home means.”
Sarah Budd, Humanity CEO, expressed her gratitude for the girls’ efforts in earning $22,890 for the habitat build. Each student entry also earns a $10 donation for their local Habitat.
“I’d like to congratulate both Olivia and Emma for their participation and incredible efforts in supporting affordable housing in their community,” she said. “Because of their hard work, these $10,000 grants mean that we can help more local families and individuals have access to safe and affordable homeownership.”
This year’s Meaning of Home contest raised a record of $300,000 for local Habitat for Humanity organizations across Canada.
Full contest results can be found on the contest’s official website.
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PTBOCanada Donates Sign Wars Funds to Children's Foundation
/The Kawartha-Haliburton Children’s Foundation (KHCF) received a cheque of $6,360 from PTBOCanada on Thursday morning.
Deb Aben (left) recieves the cheque of $6,360 from PTBOCanada owner Kirtus Evoy (middle) and Pete Dalliday (right). Photo by David Tuan Bui
The funds came from the Peterborough Sign Wars campaign PTBOCanada ran in late April, selling “Meet me in Aisle 15” t-shirts.
The PTBOCanada team including owner Kirtus Evoy, Fresh Radio 100.5’s Pete Dalliday and editor David Tuan Bui arrived at the charity to donate the proceeds.
Fresh Radio and The Wolf were one of several businesses that were highly active in the #PTBOSignWars. File Photo.
Deb Aben, Executive Producer of KHCF was there to accept the money on behalf of the charity and could not be happier to receive the donation.
“When the call came through was just so thrilled that it’s going towards helping kids who are in need of our community,” said “It’s going to make a huge difference this summer.”
“It was amazing to see the community come together over a quick period handing out thousands of smiles through the sign wars and raise money for a great cause,” said Evoy. “I’m proud to be part of an amazing community.”
KHCF sends kinds either for one or two weeks of summer camp every year with the exception of last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
