Council supports outdoor rink in Riverside Heights

 

The cost of eating healthy in the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry and Prescott-Russell (SDG & PR) has increased by 52% over the last 10 years. 

In 2003, it cost a bit over $125 per week to feed a family of four consisting of two parents and two children. 

By 2012, a survey on the cost of a nutritious food basket conducted by the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) determined that it cost about $190 a week, or $823 per month.

This amount does not include convenience food items, eating out, or the additional cost of inviting company to share a meal. 

The results of the Nutritious Food Basket survey show that households with limited income struggle to pay rent, bills, and eat healthy. 

Limited accessibility and insufficient income to purchase nutritious food is therefore threatening the health and well-being of many families and individuals in our communities.

In light of the rising cost of food, the EOHU is launching an online Directory of Local Food Programs and Services. 

The resource, which can be found at www.eohu.ca, enables residents of the five counties to easily find resources and programs where they can access nutritious food in their neighbourhood. 

Food banks, the Green Food Box program, Meals on Wheels and community kitchens are a few examples of programs and services listed in the directory.

The Green Food Box is a non-profit program available in the five counties that gives clients access to a box or bag of fresh fruits and vegetables at a fair price on a monthly basis. 

To find out more about the Green Food Box program in your community, call 613-933-1375 or 1 800 267-7120 and ask for Health Line. You can also visit www.allthingsfoodbouffe360.ca or the Green Food Box page on the EOHU’s website at www.eohu.ca. 

The page can be found by clicking on the Community Health tab on the homepage and then selecting the topic of Nutrition.

Every year, the EOHU completes the costing of 67 food items designed to reflect an eating pattern that meets the guidelines established in Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide. 

The data collected in the Nutritious Food Basket survey helps to determine the average cost of eating healthy for families and individuals.

 

For more information about the directory and the Green Food Box program, visit the Community Health section of the Eastern Ontario Health Unit’s website at www.eohu.ca and click on the topic of Nutrition.

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The Dundas County Food Bank’s Every Plate Full campaign wrapped-up with a final food drive at Riley’s Valu-mart in Morrisburg. Food donations totalled 351 pounds and $493.70 was collected.

Also contributing to the campaign were students at North Dundas District High School who collected 360 pounds of food from a food drive organized by the Futures class.

Empathy was the virtue of the month for students at Winchester Public School. Students collected 628 items totalling 571 pounds to show their empathy with people in need in the community. They easily surpassed their target of 455 items — the number of staff and students at the school.

The final totals for the Every Plate Full campaign was 2,806 pounds of food and $2,131.15 in cash donations.

Using information from Statistics Canada and the national Hunger Count survey, food banks are able to provide three meals to people in need for every dollar donated. 

Based on this ‘meals measure’ the equivalent of 6,393 meals were donated during the campaign.

“I am very pleased with the results. This is the first time we have tried a county-wide food drive at various locations’ said Ian McKelve, Dundas County Food Bank Administrator. “Our community was once again very generous with their donations. Of course we couldn’t have done it without our volunteers who generously donated their time to gather and process the food we collected.”

Every Plate Full was a national campaign organized by Food Banks Canada to make sure none of our neighbours went hungry this summer.

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Despite the lack of snow, this year’s Snowarama for Easter Seals, held at the Riverside Heights Community Centre on Saturday, February 2, still raised nearly $2,000, according to Leslie Disheau, co-ordinator with Jean MacDougal of the event, now in its 17th year. “It was disappointing the snow disappeared just ahead of the day,” Disheau said, “but the Nation Valley Snowmobile Association, made up of the South Dundas Snowmobile Club, the Winchester Township Snowmobile Club and the Mountain Trailblazers, continues to support us. The funds raised in our area, stay in Dundas to help our kids in need.”

This year the Easter Seal Society set up a website to make it possible for people to pledge on line. As in other years, the pancakes and sausage breakfast served at Snowarama was run by the Brewers R. A. Hockey Club and Keith Robinson. Helping fund raise, top photo (l-r) are Abby Steward, Hailey Steward, Mia Serviss and Kylie Schell, while Lacey Schell and Ben Serviss sit in front. Getting ready to dig into the syrup and pancakes (left) is Kurtis Steward.

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