Peterborough Blogs
"Porch Pirates for Good" Community Food Drive to Benefit Kawartha Food Share
/Hoist the mainsails because the porch pirates are coming to get your treasure for Kawartha Food Share.
(from left to right) Susan Dunkley, Lois Tuffin, Ashlee Aitken and Megan Murphy taking the “Porch Pirates for Food” gimmick to another level. Every $1 donation gets $6 of food purchasing power for the food drive. Photo Courtesy of Megan Murphy.
“Porch Pirates for Food” volunteers will collect non-perishable foods and/or money left in front of houses for Kawartha Food Share as a food drive campaign on Saturday, Apr. 10.
The event is a twist on the infamous “porch pirate” term where thieves steal delivered items from your doorstep but applying a positive spin.
Beginning at 9:00 a.m., residents are encouraged to leave their donated items in a bag outside their homes either on their porch, driveway or steps in a visible manner for volunteers to pick up.
Any donating businesses will be collected on Friday and can e-mail Susan Dunkley at susan@suzihomemaker.ca to participate. Pickups will run from 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The business goal is to collect 20,000 pounds of food said Dunkley in the press release.
Kawartha Food Share warehouse volunteers have been reduced from 50 to 10 to comply with the COVID-19 pandemic. All food is sorted and inspected before being redistributed to the public. Photo courtesy of Megan Murphy.
This is the third food drive campaign run since the COVID-19 pandemic last March. The Spare-A-Square food-raiser drives — in reference to last year’s toilet paper shortage — collected 41,267 pounds of food and over $5,000 in monetary donations according to a press release.
“The need for food has increased by 20 per cent since the pandemic,” says Megan Murphy, event organizer. “I am so excited and so grateful for all of our volunteers and our drives and every community member who was able to leave stuff outside. It’s been a horrible year but this is a way to stay safe and connected.”
Despite no official goal for the community food drive, Murphy would like to see roughly 9,000 pounds in food donations to a grand total of 50,000 pounds from prior collections.
Money can be donated with the goods or online at Kawartha Food Share’s website. Photo Courtesy of Megan Murphy.
On average, 8,700 people are using food banks every month in the City and County of Peterborough with 35 per cent of local food bank users under the age of 18.
If you would like to make an online monetary contribution, you can go online to Kawartha Food Share’s donation page.
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Peterborough Petes Cap Off Community Challenge with Blood Drive
/The next chapter of the Peterborough Petes and Be a Hero Challenge continues with a blood drive in partnership with Canadian Blood Services and Hockey Gives Blood on Tuesday.
The blood drive is held at Canadian Blood Services at 55 George St. N from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and is fully booked. An expected outcome considering the Petes fanbase to Jill Gemmiti, Canadian Blood Services event coordinator.
“The Peterborough Petes have such a great fanbase,” she said. “It did not surprise me at all.”
Gemmiti encourages the community to continue giving blood as there is always a need for donors.
“We need people to continue to donate,” she said. “I was looking at our April numbers and we need 207 people.”
Morgan Blaind, Petes Major Events and Game Operations Intern, (pictured) was a main contributor for the team in organizing the #BeaHeroCHallenge. Blaind is working towards her at degree in Sport Management at Durham College. Photo by David Tuan Bui
The blood drive caps of the end of the Be a Hero Challenge as the Petes — and the Oshawa Generals as part of their rivalry — encouraged their fanbase to get on the stem cell registry donor list.
Their goal is at least 1000 registrants and to have more than the Generals as part of the challenge. The losing team will have their mascot wear the winner’s jersey and results will be announced on Apr 2.
Each blood donor will receive a swag bag consisting of a toque, mini-stick and hockey puck. Photo by David Tuan Bui
Petes mascot Roger and player ambassador John Parker-Jones will be in attendance at the event.
All participants of the Petes Blood Drive will receive a Hockey Gives Blood swag bag and participate in a digital Petes trivia during their appointment for a chance to win additional prizes.
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Local Rideshare Company Rallies Community to Replace Child's Stolen Bike
/It was all smiles for Caleb Armstrong as he received a new bike from Y Drive PTBO on Wednesday following a theft back in December 2020.
Erica Young (left), Y Drive PTBO co-owner, delivered the bike to Caleb Armstrong (right)
Erica Young, co-owner of Y Drive PTBO dropped off the new bike for Armstrong that was supplied through a community fund within the rideshare company.
She was met with a grateful, “Thank you, I like this bike a lot!” from Armstrong after he got on his new bike.
“He (Caleb) bikes all day long, all over town,” said Melinda Armstrong, Caleb’s aunt. “He’s gone until curfew and bikes around town with his buddy. I can’t put into words Y Drive replacing his bike. Caleb was upset for a while and this made his day, his summer!”
Robert Davidson — Young’s husband and business partner —witnessed the incident in front of PJ’s Diner on Sherbrooke Street during a rideshare drive.
Erica Young (left) and Robert Davidson (right) officially launched Y Drive PTBO on November 2020. Photo Courtesy of Robert Davidson.
Davidson saw Caleb getting tackled off his bike by another male but the rideshare co-owner was unable to assist.
He did the next best thing and went to the community to raise money for the bike and identify Caleb. All proceeds Y Drive PTBO made on Dec. 8 went towards the new bike according to their official Facebook post.
“Unfortunately while driving clients and with how fast it happened, there wasn’t much I could do at the time,” said Davidson. “We then decided to make a post online asking for anyone that could reach out with the kid’s name or contact as we wanted to help.”
Y Drive PTBO’s post received several comments and volunteers to donate money or a replacement bike while trying to identify Armstrong. Screenshot
Caleb was identified on the second week of March and Y Drive PTBO wanted to meet the 13-year old to select his bike. They decided to let him pick his bike online because of the red zone Peterborough was under.
“Community is really important to Peterborough,” said Davidson. “Inevitably, we as a city continue to grow and lost some of that charm. We want to be an example of how local can compete against larger businesses.”
Y Drive PTBO with their community fund has donated to several local GoFundMe fundraisers and One Roof Community Centre.
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Local Boy has Imagination Soar Through Mentorship Program
/The sky is the limit for Kenner student Alex Ouimet’s imagination as he and volunteer Thomas Jenkins from Big Brothers of Peterborough use it to connect with art and nature.
Ouimet, 14, and Jenkins have been meeting every Saturday for the last three years through a Big Brothers mentorship doing weekly activities and learning life skills.
Alex Ouimet (left) and Thomas Jenkins (right) met through the Big Brothers program where Jenkins was a substitute Big Brother for Ouimet during a Toronto Blue Jays game. Photo courtesy of Thomas Jenkins
A common activity is outdoor hiking involving forest explorations, walking through trails and exploring everything outdoors. During all activities, the two engage in conversation to let Ouimet unwind and express himself.
"This is about giving time and attention to your Little, it's not about the fancy things you do," said Jenkins. “It’s an escape. You get to develop a relationship outside of the family that can provide a different perspective.”
Alex Ouimet (pictured) has explored the outdoors from The Gut Conservation Area in Apsley, Ontario to the Petroglyphs Provincial Park in Woodview, Ontario. Photo courtesy of Thomas Jenkins
Physical health and proper dieting are other skill Ouimet learns through the Big Brothers program. Before the pandemic, the pair would often make healthy meals with workouts.
Big Brothers allows their matches to have a safe space for emotional control, a place to vent and develop social skills according to Jenkins.
“It's all about Alex. That’s the most important thing about this is Alex's time during the week where he can be himself and do what he wants to do,” said Jenkins. “We do that and all the positive reinforcement and building confidence such as talking about what his week was.”
One way Ouimet likes to express himself is through professional wrestling. It is not the violence that appeals to him but as a form of expression through music, visual and dramatic arts.
"We make a lot of wrestling characters, we've made shirts and we draw some of our characters,” said Ouimet. “They're actually all from my brain."
Alex Ouimet (pictured) has created over 30 different wresters each with their own backstory and persona with Jenkins. Photo by David Tuan Bui
Fictional wrestlers are brought to life from drawings, t-shirt designs and composing music that all stem from Ouimet’s ideas.
“The wrestlers are the vehicle to get to the creative things,” said Jenkins. “It happens to be about wrestling but it’s learning things about music production, drawing, costume design for acting.”
Thomas Jenkins (left) composing entrance music for Alex Ouimet’s (right) created wrestlers in a jam session. Jenkins has music studio that contains guitars, a keyboard, audio mixer and microphones. Photo by David Tuan Bui
Ouimet says he is always eager for every Saturday to spend time with Jenkins as they both consider each other to be “brothers’ because of their close bond.
“He makes me feel relieved with less anxiety and less depression,” said Ouimet. ‘There’s less stress.”
Lyric composition and vocals are some of the musical expressions both participate in as several artistic activities. Photo by David Tuan Bui
Jenkins notes that developing a relationship with another person takes time and trust compared to a quick fly-by of a motivational speech.
“The only way to get there is by developing strong long-term relationships,” said Jenkins. “It has to be this thing that takes a long time and building a lot of trust.”
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Local Man Devoted to People With Special Needs
/It takes a special man to bring joy to countless special needs people and Peterborough’s Craig Meredith has been up to the task.
Meredith has been a support worker for Community Living Trent Highlands for the last decade. He named his group he supports, “Meredith’s Mean Machines”, and he describes it as the greatest job in the world.
“I have had the opportunity to watch my clients grow into independent individuals on a day-to-day basis,” said Meredith. “I have connected with great family members of individuals I have supported. Just watching them laugh and smile is a great day’s work.”
“Meredith’s Mean Machines” get together every Friday with activities such as mini-golf, nature walks or group decisions. Photo by David Tuan Bui, PTBOCanada
The group competed for the “Meredith Cup” in a friendly bowling competition at Lakeview Bowl in Peterborough. David McLeod won the award after “judge’s decision” from Meredith.
“The support I have received from the community through text, phone calls and emails have been overwhelming,” said Meredith. “I will continue to support everyone to the best of my knowledge and abilities.”
David McLeod after winning the “Meredith Cup”. Craig Meredith started the “Meredith Mean Machines” since the Covid-19 pandemic began restricting the country. Photo by David Tuan Bui, PTBOCanada
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Local Boy And Grandpa Hit The Trails After Fundraiser Goal Met
/Hudson Wells, 10, and his grandfather Doug Fudge towed along the snowmobile trails in Lake St. Peter after a GoFundMe of $5,000 afforded them a sled on Friday afternoon.
Wells suffered from encephalitis since he was 13 months old that caused his physical disabilities. The sled would cater to his limitations while Fudge towed him with a snowmobile.
Brian Denena of Orillia, Ont. started the fundraiser on Feb. 11 where the goal was met in less than 24 hours. The community’s generosity was overwhelming for Fudge and his family.
“Just the overwhelming support was unbelievable,” said Fudge. “It was a dream come true. I never would have for it without the help of everyone.”
Hudson Wells excited to ride his sled for the first time. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Wells
Both of them rode the trails for an hour. The experience for Fudge was surreal and said it was mutual for Wells.
“He was over the moon,” said Fudge. “I don’t know how to explain it. It was so emotional.”
Hudson Wells (left) was limited to short rides in the driveway before obtaining his new sled. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Wells
The sled was purchased from Kijiji in Ottawa. Fudge drove there last weekend to pick up the sled. Fudge originally intended to purchase a used sled and fix it up himself.
”I had people offering to build me one (sled),” said Fudge. “I might have had 20 sleds of all types and sizes donated to me if I wanted to. In my wildest dreams, I never thought that this would happen.”
Hudson Wells typically gets to visit his grandfather two to three times a week. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Wells
Fudge will add wheels to the sled so Wells can enjoy it during the warmer months. The grandfather owns 220 acres of property and will use an ATV to tow the sled.
"Nothing compares to the sound of you child’s laughter and their happiness,” said Stephanie Wells, Hudson’s mother.
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Donation Of $46,631 Made To Kawartha Food Share From 2020 Free Parking Periods
/A total of $46,631.06 was raised for Kawartha Food Share in 2020 through the generosity of people who opted to put money into the parking machines during the 2 Hours Free Parking periods last year sponsored by HotSpot Parking.
“This donation is helping people throughout our community to put food on their tables,” says Mayor Diane Therrien. “The pandemic has forced many families to access food banks for the first time ever. We appreciate the remarkable generosity of our community for making donations despite the challenges of 2020.”
Photo of Ashlee Aiken courtesy City of Peterborough
