The final notice has been received and the Helping Hand, a mission of the Pentecostal Church, has until October 17th to vacate its location in the old Morrisburg High School, where it has been a source of clothing for those in need for the past 11 years.
Unfortunate, but true, the Helping Hand used clothing depot, answers a very big need in South Dundas and the surrounding area with an average of 2000-2,500 visitors benefiting from it each year.
The fact that the Helping Hand has to vacate is not a surprise as they were put on notice way back in 2009, that they were in their location on a monthly basis. With the upcoming renovation to the historic high school building to house an expansion to the St. Lawrence Medical and the South Dundas Municipal offices, the monthly basis has ended and the Helping Hand is closing.
The problem is that since they were put on notice of the eventual loss of their location they have been unable to find a new location that would be rent-free, or at the very least, very cheap.
“We have a lot of people not happy about it,” says Pentecostal minister, Rev. Duncan Perry. “But we can’t afford to go somewhere else. We have a couple thousand dollars (donations) a year coming in, but that is not enough to rent.”
“We don’t want to locate in the mall, and the only other building in town is the former St. Lawrence Parks building.”
According to Rev. Perry, that building is in such poor shape it is no longer an option, and he understands the Food Bank will replace the County Library in its lower level arena location should the library move to the high school, once renovated.
“I was really hoping they (municipality) would give us half of the bottom of the arena,” says Rev. Perry. “But I understand that it is going to the arena staff for a workshop/storage. It would have been a perfect fit for us.”
“We’ve been open for 11 years, and we are averaging 2,000 to 2,500 people a year. The $2,000 we receive in donations (goodwill donations from those who benefit from the Helping Hand, and donations from the community) is put back into the community.”
Recently, money was donated to the Breakfast Programs at Seaway High and Morrisburg Public Schools. “We’ve also given a lot to the Food Bank over the years.”
“People have come to us and told us that if we weren’t (Helping Hand) here, they didn’t know what they would do. The clothing donated to us is top notch and we made a decision at the start, that if we wouldn’t wear it, it wouldn’t be used.”
“One lady has been using it over and over through the years to clothe her children.”
“Those are the kind of stories we hear every week.”
“It is really amazing what we have done locally, and we’ve sent truckloads of clothes overseas when we couldn’t handle it all.”
The Helping Hand is run by volunteers and there is no charge for the clothing, although visitors can make goodwill donations.
“We have helped people from all over. We wish we could keep it open, we really do. It’s too bad, and I understand the town doesn’t have the money for a building.”
“I do believe the number of working poor is getting larger. It’s unfortunate we need a place like this but we do. If there was a place found, we wouldn’t even think about shutting it down. If they would reconsider letting us share with the Food Bank that would be ideal.”
That, however, according to Rev. Perry, is not an option at this time, and the Helping Hand is preparing to close by the October 17 deadline. Arrangements have been made for representatives from Agape in Cornwall to visit the facility, with the hope that they will be able to take the clothing.
Located at 40, Fifth Street West in Cornwall, the Agape Centre runs a Food Bank, Soup Kitchen and Thrift Shoppe.
South Dundas mayor Steven Byvelds says he is appreciative of the service the Helping Hand provides to the community. “It’s unfortunate, but hopefully they will find somewhere in the community.”
Byvelds confirmed that the long-term plan is for removal of the former Parks building. “That building is done, and we are only spending what we have to, to keep it going.”
He says there has been some discussion of moving the Food Bank to the arena location, but the discussions are very preliminary and nothing is decided and nothing can or will be decided until the final plans are in place for the high school.
Those plans, are for the St. Lawrence Medical Clinic to occupy the first floor (ground level) and the municipal offices to occupy some or all (if necessary) of the second floor. Once these two entities are accommodated then the remaining space, including the third floor, will be considered.
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
… Thanks for reading this article. Local news is important. We hope that you continue to support local news in your community by reading The Leader, online and in print. Please consider subscribing to the print edition of the newspaper. Click here to subscribe today.
On the afternoon of March 27th, fire broke out at Iroquois Enterprises in the dust collector.
“Crews arrived to find flames coming from the side hatch and from the lower portion of the collector,” reported South Dundas Fire and Emergency Services chief Chris McDonough.
“Iroquois requested Morrisburg to assist and the flames were quickly extinguished. It took,” he continued, “three hours to remove the excess sawdust and ensure there were no other ‘hot spots’ in the collector.”
Owners of the company were “put on notice” and were made “aware of the maintenance that is required and of the fire code regulations surrounding the operation of the facility.”
Iroquois Enterprises manufactures new hardwood or softwood pallets and industrial wood products. The company is located at 32 Dundas Street in Iroquois.
Dundas Soil and Crop Imporvement Association of Dundas County hosted the annual Seed, Forage and Agriculture Show March 6, at Matilda Hall.
Perrenial Premier Exhibitor award winner Francis Henderson of Terrdale Farms was once again awarded the title.
Terrdale Farms took home numerous awards including; Premier Forage Exhibitor, Champion Forage Exhibit, Reserve Champion Forage Exhibit, Champion Haylage Exhibit, Champion Dry Hay Exhibit, Premier Seed Exhibitor, Champion Corn Silage, Champion Cereal Exhibit, First Place, Wheat in Field Crop Classes and Champion Special Shelled Corn Bin Classes.
Reserve premier exhibitor was Ian and Tracy Porteous of Ayrporte Farm. They were also Reserve Forage Exhibitor.
Tracy told The Leader, that they had a decent growing season last year, resulting in the produce submitted for judging at Friday’s show.
“For us, we grow IP (identity protected) beans so we had none of the mould problem that ocurred throughout much of Eastern Ontario.
“Hay, as always, it was a challenge to get it off dry,” she added.
For corn, she said they experienced a good season having adequate heat units.
“In the end, we got everything off in good time. We had a good fall. There was lots of opportunity to get the crops off in the fall, because the snow didn’t come until later.”
Tibben Farms Inc. picked up the Champion Shelled Corn and Champion Soybean Exhibit awards.
Dave Chambers of Riveredge Farms won the Champion Ear Corn Award.
Olivia Mudde was Premier 4-H Exhibitor.
This year’s baking contest featured apple pie.
Of the eight pies entered in the contest, that of Amy Tibben was selected the winner in a blind taste test by guest judges South Dundas mayor Evonne Delegarde, North Dundas mayor Eric Duncan and John Roosendaal of the Ottawa Valley Seed Growers Association.
Asked what’s so special about her apple pie, Amy said, “The crust – I think.”
She went on to explain that she uses and old-fashioned shortcrust. “It’s an old recipe – butter, flour, sugar and water– the butter makes it better.”
The prize winning apple pie filling was half McIntosh apples and half empires. Amy explained that she really loves Macs but, at this time of year they are a little soft, so she chose to add the empires. She also baked the pie, immediately prior to the contest, so the filling was still warm when the judges had a taste.
The happy judges all agreed on the winner, though admitting that the competition was close, with only a few points separating the top pies.
What is your vision for South Dundas? Where do you see your community and your township in 10 years?
In the hope of answering these questions, South Dundas Chief Administrative Officer, Stephen McDonald submitted a request to council at the November 1st meeting for the acceptance of a “Proposal for a Community Wide Strategic Plan.”
According to McDonald, this is a “project we’ve been looking at for a couple of years now. We wanted to wait until the new council was somewhat settled before we undertook this.”
He reported that a few other studies had already been done, “namely the South Dundas Strategic Economic Development Plan and the Strategic Plan for Recreational Programs and Services. Both of these,” he continued, “were undertaken because a need existed and funding assistance was available.”
McDonald told council that “a lot of recommendations have been followed up on, so it’s time to update.”
He “recommended that we retain the services of a qualified consulting firm to assist with the development of a community vision/strategic plan.”
“This community vision/strategic plan will provide the township with a blueprint that will govern and establish strategic priorities and directions for the development of South Dundas over the next 10 years.”
McDonald supplied council with a “draft Request for Proposal” for them to review, informing council that he’d talked with a few of his peers and the process is both costly and time consuming, so that’s why staff has kept the proposal fairly broad.
Deputy Mayor Jim Locke commented that “hiring a consultant gives good press and when you consider the scope, we get an unbiased view of what people expect.”
He agreed “council needs something to see where we’re heading.”
Councillor Jim Graham was concerned about the budget requirements. It was confirmed that the money required to complete this project was, indeed, already allotted for in the current budget.
Councillor Archie Mellan agreed that it was “worthwhile to spend the money and get an unbiased” account.
Mayor Steven Byvelds stipulated that “we need a consultant that’s fairly practical and that knows how to handle a rural/urban setting like we’re in.” He referred here to the Waterfront Project, reminding council “that it didn’t really meet the needs of the community.”
With McDonald’s request approved, Byvelds suggested that they “get the public out” to ensure they get “their say in the direction South Dundas goes.”
©2026 — The Morrisburg Leader Ltd.
Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.
Be the first to comment