Hands-On & Community Service Activities– Gillian Dugas :
Rotary Etobicoke Holiday Winter Support - More to be Delivered: With thanks to many private donors and funding from our Hands-On Etobicoke budget, our Rotary Club of Etobicoke has once again been shopping for lots of items to brighten the holidays for many this year. Gill has already delivered, on behalf of Rotary Etobicoke, dozens of gifts baskets and bags to support the Rexdale Women's Centre in North Etobicoke for their families who need extra support. The photo below shows our delivery to support Seniors Alone on Christmas. The Franklin Horner Community Centre provides a full Christmas lunch for over 200 seniors in our community who welcome the friendship, kindness and wonderful meal that can be collected or will be delivered free on December 24th. The program Seniors Alone at Christmas asks for donations for each senior so that all the 200 plus participates can also have gifts - to show how much we care for them. We donated many dozens of lovely items (thanks to Anne Heber and Lynda Ryder) and our funding from Hands-On Etobicoke which allowed us to deliver a lot of special gifts, Including lap throws, mugs full of chocolates, socks, dozens of toiletries, pots of jams (from Iosif Ciosa), treats, boxes of cookies and hats and scarves.
Next is our donation to Ernestine's Women's Shelter - each of the large bags has a new, fluffy throw and toiletries, cosmetics and socks. The Merry Christmas boxes are full of 6 toiletries (from Theresa Sherwood) and socks and the baskets have assorted lovely gifts and there is a container of 100 children's activities and fun projects for the in house kiddies. There are chocolate treats and cookies also in the bags and boxes.
The below photo is our annual support for Brunswick House First Nations Reserve. Every August and December we provide items for the families in Brunswick House. Derek Reid, Director of KIP Canada, drives his own vehicle to the reserve to meet and greet the families and share our good wishes. As you can see there are bags of throws, toiletries and socks, two containers of children's activities/games, colouring books and crayons (thanks to Theresa Sherwood) baskets of small gifts and baby clothing, and two bags full of children's gifts from Anne Heber. Anne also donate two bags of groceries which will become part of a food support delivery happening soon to groups with Christmas distributions.
55 Beautiful hats and mittens to keep our friends warm this winter: Gill would like to express her thanks to Margaret, Lynda Ryder’s Sister-in-Law, who knitted the beautiful hats and matching mittens. Gill has been boxing and packing them into gift boxes and gift bags so she was able to admire every one of them. Margaret and Gill know many ladies and youth will be so grateful for these thoughtful and lovely gifts. Gill puts a card into each container with best wishes from Margaret and Rotary Club of Etobicoke. She can only guess at the hours that Margaret spent knitting to keep others warm this winter.
Hats and Mitten Delivered to Etobicoke Seniors Services: On December 15th, with thanks to Anne Heber who delivered the beautiful hats and mittens from Margaret (Lynda's Sister-in-Law) to Alejandro at the Etobicoke Seniors Service, that will keep folks warm in the cold months. ESS provide support, programs and friendship to seniors in four locations, and were very appreciative of our donation. The hats and mittens will also be shared with Jean Tweed's Palmerston House, Women's Habitat and Anduhyaun and Nekenaan Shelters, and the bags she will distribute to Elisa House Shelter and to church food banks as they distribute their Christmas support.
Rotary Etobicoke donations to Families Support by Women's Habitat Shelter Christmas/Holiday Distribution: On December 15th we delivered our Hands-On/In Kind donations to help the dozens of families that are in our community and supported by Women's Habitat Shelter. We provided boxes of toiletries, throws, jams, socks, cosmetics, toys, activity sets, chocolates, mugs, hats and mitts and more. There were young students packing up the prepacked bags of groceries ahead of the final distribution. Women's Habitat Shelter have been doing this amazing Christmas/Holiday distribution for many years and we are proud to always be a small part of helping the families registered to receive support.
St. Joseph Health Centre Social Work Fund - Cheque Presentation: On December 15th, Tom Sanderson presented a cheque for $5,000 to the St. Joseph Health Centre Social Work Fund. Below is a thank you note from Catherine Dunn Stadtegger, Associate Director, Development; Thank you to the Rotary Club of Etobicoke for your tremendous support of our Social Work Fund. Your generous support will provide critical assistance to those in need, recognizing that financial difficulties often prevent patients from accessing essential healthcare-related services. I’ve attached the cheque presentation photo that I took with Tom Sanderson this afternoon to share with your members. Please pass along our thanks and gratitude and we will send out our receipt and letter of acknowledgement and appreciation in the New Year. I look forward to also providing periodic updates in terms of the impact that you are helping to make possible. Thank you, Catherine
Delivery of Rotary Etobicoke support for Anduhyaun and Nekenaan First Nations Shelters: On December 16th, our Hands-On/In Kind delivery was made to Anduhyaun First Nations Shelter and Nekenaan Second Stage Housing Shelter. We delivered new large throws, hats and mitts, toiletries, socks, colouring books and an activity set. Both shelters are almost completely full. There are 15 children between the two shelters and two newborns.
Additional Food Delivery with hats and mittens to Christ Church St. James Food Pantry: On December 16th, we delivered bags of grocers thanks to donations from Anne Heber and Andre Dugas to Christ Church St. James Food Pantry for their final and important distribution on December 23rd. Also you will see a box full of knitted hats and gloves which were very welcome - thanks to Margaret. Lynda Ryder also took more of her own food donations to CC St. James Food Pantry. The last distribution, on Saturday, November 13th CC St. James gave out new toys to children along with groceries. As you know back in October we delivered dozens of Halloween treat bags along with Halloween themed activities to the CC St. James' families and I heard it came as a wonderful surprise when they entered the church hall.
Rotary Etobicoke's Timely Support for Families at Christmas - at St. James Food Basket: On December 17th we presented our $5,000 cheque to Marcia Powers-Dunlop, Lead of the Steering Committee at St. James Food Basket on Burnhamthorpe while the distribution was happening. Without doubt this was the busier distribution Gill had seen in over ten years at St. James. St. James Food Basket have two volunteers checking registration numbers and identifications on their laptops. Coloured cards were provided from the registration to each client that indicated how many in a family. The lineup was long even though many had appointment time slots but I suspect they came outside their appointment time. Someone had fainted and the ambulance and fire truck was there. All the dry food, fresh produce was prepacked but there were tables were families could find support items, and all the breads and bakery items were at the end of the line. Our funding will help providing additional grocery items along with protein that is greatly needed. We know from the grant application that the Daily Bread has to provide food to many other food banks and therefore delivery amounts are much less now. The mission of St. James Food Basket is to provide groceries to each family for 3 days of food. Gill and Andre also delivered three full bags of groceries from President Lynda - which will be used as the distribution goes on for many hours this afternoon. Gill also took the opportunity to photograph the large bins/buckets roped onto flat trolleys that the food basket loans out to clients to carry out the grocery bags to their vehicles. The trolleys are then collected from the car park and given to the next clients. A very clever idea as there is a long ramp down from the distribution level and a walk across the full parking lot.
Rotary Etobicoke's Funding to Purchase a Levity Walker – Silver Creek Preschool: The Community Service Committee donated $8,000 to Silver Creek Preschool to fund the majority of the cost to purchase a Levity Hands-Free Gait Trainer (Levity Walker). Its unique design provides individualized support for each child with adjustable features such as body weight support, harness fit, walking speed and directions. There is no government funding available to cover the cost of this type of specialised mobility equipment. Therefore with our funding Silver Creek can provide children with a unique opportunity to experience independence and inclusion and will allow multiple children each year to engage in therapy through play, classroom learning and social activities.
Cheque Presentation to The George Hull Centre for Children and Families: On Thursday, November 18 President Lynda presented our Rotary Etobicoke funding for $5,000 to The George Hull Centre for Children and Families. Our funds will be dedicated to fully implementing the Neurofeedback Therapy Program within George Hull Centre's community clinic and day treatment settings. Specifically the money will be used to purchase specialized neurofeedback computer equipment required to deliver the therapy safely and effectively and, Medical and clinical equipment needed to support assessments, monitoring and treatment. These items are needed to expand access to their Neurofeedback Therapy Program, a groundbreaking, evidence-based intervention for children and youth who have experienced complex developmental trauma and often do not benefit fully from traditional therapies. Thanks to the team of Rotarians and friends who organize and volunteer to cover shifts at Delta Bingo and Gaming that in turn allow us to provide important funding to support our community.
Merit Awards: The Youth Services Committee has donated $10,000 to Merit Awards Scholarship Program to provide scholarships for High School students. The scholarships are designed to keep High School students attending High School or PostSecondary Education. Our donation will be matched by Merit which will turn the $10,000 into $20,000.
Jamaican Hurricane Relief: The International Committee has donated $5,000 for aid to Jamaica after the devastating hurricane.
Baby Birthing Project in East Africa: The International Committee donated $2,000 to help fund our Member Safia Ahmed’s Baby Birthing Project. Safia is also looking at pursuing a District Grant
Other Projects: The International Committee also donated 1,000 each to Steve Rutledge’s Adopt a Village in Laos Project, and Richard Mewhinney’s Project in Adjumani, Uganda for the purpose of renting 10 acres of land, clearing and ploughing and purchasing seeds which is a vital project towards food security.