Meanwhile back at the Branch…

  “Give ‘em that old Razzle Dazzle/ And how will they know you’ve got no talent?” The 27 students taking the 2015 summer theatre school course at Upper Canada Playhouse sang this song during their […]

Churches everywhere, including those within South Dundas, are struggling but the churches in South Dundas do something special every year to demonstrate to the community that churches are still relevant and still have an important message to share, a message of love.

“Love South Dundas is our way of presenting it,” says Rev. Clarence Witten of the Community Christian Reform Church in Dixon’s Corners. 

Together, every church in South Dundas is behind the Love South Dundas initiative.

This is the fifth year for Love South Dundas. 

This year it starts June 9, and runs through June 23, when it culminates in a large children’s fair. 

Throughout the two weeks, through the Love South Dundas movement, volunteers from all of the churches will be out in the community engaging in service activities and random acts of kindness.

A car wash June 15 at the Iroquois Fire Station, a hymn sing at the Morrisburg Pentecostal Church, a food drive where donations can be dropped off at any church and delivery of baskets of baked blessings, are taking place. Witten says that they too are offering to do chores for seniors and those in need. 

New this year, Love South Dundas will be sharing the love with those attending the Bluegrass Festival in Iroquois on Sunday, June 16.

“We are offering those at the Bluegrass Festival a free breakfast from 8 a.m. to about 10 a.m. It should be lots of fun,” said Witten.

“The whole point is to show love to the community. Love is what God is about. We are giving freely for free,” said Witten.

“We do hope that you’ll come out and take advantage of our service projects, be blessed by some random acts of kindness and will join us at our closing event of June 23.” 

The June 23 event, in Morrisburg’s Earl Baker Park, which starts at 2 p.m. will feature bouncy castles and clowns and new this year, a petting zoo and free pony rides. Supper is at 4:30 p.m. with burgers and hotdogs being served. 

It all ends with a huge outdoor worship at 7 p.m. with guest speaker Ken MacLaren.

This is the third year that the closing event is a children’s fair, and a tradition that Love South Dundas hopes to continue. Two years ago it attracted a crowd of about 400 people. Last year it was rained out. 

For further information, to suggest someone in need of a hand, or to find a way to get more involved with Love South Dundas contact Nancy Blockland at communitycrc@ripnet.com 

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As part of an ongoing effort to understand and address the risks faced by youth today, the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) administered the Youth Risk Behaviour survey to over 3,509 grade 7 to 12 students.

All four school boards in the EOHU jurisdiction were invited to participate. In total, 49 schools participated in the survey from November 2010 to March 2011. Here are some highlights of the results:

• Injury prevention: 60 per cent of students reported rarely or never wearing a helmet when bicycling

• Bullying: 25 per cent of students reported having been bullied on school property, while 18 per cent reported having experienced cyberbullying

• Mental health: 26 per cent of youth reported depressive symptoms and 11 per cent reported seriously considering suicide (suicidal ideation), while 7 per cent reported planning suicide and 4 per cent made a suicide attempt that did not require treatment

• Nutrition: 10 per cent of the students reported never or almost never eating breakfast and 3 per cent of respondents reported that they never or almost never eat lunch

• Physical activity: 40 per cent of respondents reported meeting or exceeding the recommended levels of physical activity set out by Canada’s Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living 

• Body weight: 24 per cent of students reported being slightly or very overweight 

• Tobacco: 19 per cent of students reported having tried smoking

• Alcohol: 63 per cent of youth reported ever having had an alcoholic drink

• Marijuana and other drugs: 25 per cent of youth reported having tried marijuana before and 16 per cent of them self-identified as regular users

“Based on this information, the EOHU and its community partners will target appropriate interventions and strategies to address the issues that our local youth are currently facing,” explained Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, Medical Officer of Health.  

“We will also continue to collect data to measure the effectiveness of these strategies. This process truly reflects our strategic priorities to invest in children and in youth and to work closely with community partners.”

To view the executive summary of the survey, visit the Eastern Ontario Health Unit online at www.eohu.ca.  

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