Month: October 2014

While the Dundas County Food Bank board of directors had hoped to have their renovation project at the former Morrisburg Library location well underway by now, that is not the case.

The plan was to have the renovation of a portion of the former library completed and for the food bank’s Morrisburg location to be in its new home early in the new year.

“There have been delays, so the food bank has been unable to get the project started,” said Dundas County Food Bank administrator Ian McKelvie, following last week’s board meeting. “The move may have to wait until spring.”

While the board is planning for the renovation and the move, the focus of the food and client coordinators remains on the needs of those being served.

“Donations have been slow,” said Amy Jamieson coordinator for the South Dundas location in Morrisburg.”The summer months are always rough, but through the support of our regular donors, we have been able to make it though and continue to meet the need.”

The Morrisburg location of the Dundas County Food Bank regularly feeds between 85 and 100 families a month, which represents 280-330 people.

McKelvie reports that across Dundas County, the number of people being served by the food bank is up about 15 per cent, year over year. 

Jamieson is looking forward to a few timely food drives to help replenish the Dundas County Food Bank shelves here in Morrisburg.

The most immediate needs of the local food bank are pasta, both canned and dried. “I’ve had to buy pasta lately, and that’s unusual, it’s usually one of the first things people tend to donate. Dry cereal is also needed to replenish the shelves.

Regarding the food bank’s relocation project, McKelvie reports that the Dundas County Food Bank is applying for funds from various sources to help offset some of the cost of the project estimated to cost about $46,000. The Municipality of South Dundas has offered the food bank an interest free loan of up to $46,200 to help with the re-location project.

South Dundas will allow the food bank to use the municipally-owned space, rent-free and will continue to cover utility costs, as it does in the present location.

Once the food bank has taken advantage of the municipal loan, they will need to find a way to pay back those funds to the muncipality, while continuing to meet the food needs of those using the food bank.

McKelvie, who is new to the Dundas County Food Bank, is impressed with how supportive this community is of its food bank. 

McKelvie has spent most of his career in magazine publishing and has significant experience fund raising for not for profit organizations. He is excited about the encore career opportunity which that will allow him to put his skills to work locally in this important community-based organization.

Here at the Dundas County Food Bank , McKelvie plans to actively work on raising awareness of the organization and its needs.

[…]

“Here at The Hartford Retirement Residence we celebrate our seniors everyday,” said Julianne Swindells, general manager. 

But on October 1, Hartford staff and local dignitaries gathered on National Seniors Day to recognized the contributions of the Hartford’s resident volunteers. 

South Dundas Steven Byvelds read the Mayoral Proclamation and local MPP Jim McDonell handed out scrolls to the honoured residents who were also provided with certificates of recognition, on behalf of MP Guy Lauzon by his representative Eric Duncan, who is also Warden for SDG and mayor of North Dundas.

Twenty people were rewarded for their volunteerism ranging from help with various activities and events, food preparations within the Hartford Community. 

Some were recognized for their ambassadorship and others for the help with community events and services like Meals on Wheels and knitting for newborns.

October 1, communities across Canada joined together to recognize National Seniors Day. National Seniors Day focuses on celebrating and recognizing the contributions made by seniors to better their communities, families and workplaces.

Recognized at the Hartford were; Ruth Fetterly, Nelda Brown, Esther Allin, Ellen McKeown, Ena Douglas, Madge Lewis, Luva Irven, John Darling, Ethel Caldwell, Margaret Innes, Delores Wells, Doris Thompson, Vivian Holmes, Wanda Storto, Lois Grant, Stella Haystead, Barbara Bern and Inez Bilmer. Eileen Tuckey and Dawn Froats were also recognized posthumously.

[…]

Over the past two years locals have helped to raise about $110,000 for local prostate cancer research and care.  Participants have done this by getting support from their friends and family to either grow a moustache or shaving their facial hair off.   

This year’s “Dare to Flash a ‘Stache” event, hosted by the Eastern Ontario Prostate cancer Awareness Committee has now officially begun, marked by the launch of the website – www.flashastache.ca.  So, individuals, companies, and organizations can now sign up and start to raise funds. 

It’s really easy to participate – just go to our website at www.flashastache.ca and follow the links to sign up or donate.   

The moustache growing period is during the month of November – as the person must be clean shaven on October 31st to be eligible for the best moustache competition.  

Alternatively, if you’re raising funds to shave a beard, it can be clipped on the spot at our wrap up event on Saturday, November 29th at 7 p.m.  

The wind-up will be held at the Joel Steele Community Centre above the Winchester arena following a few hockey games.  

To start the night off, a South Dundas vs. North Dundas ladies hockey game, followed by a Morrisburg Lions two Alumni vs. Winchester Hawks Alumni hockey games (First game, players over 35, second game players under 35).  

Following the game, there will be a moustache judging competition and announcement of top individual, team and Fire station fund raisers. There will be prizes and draws with fun for everyone.

This will be the third year that this Prostate Cancer Awareness event has been held by the Eastern Ontario Prostate Awareness Committee.  The proceeds raised this year are once again being split 50/50 between the Winchester District Memorial Hospital (WDMH) Foundation and the Ottawa Hospital Foundation (OHF).  

The funds staying at our hospital are to support the new cancer navigator program.  Navigating the cancer journey can be stressful and confusing. 

Linda Johnson – the new Cancer Care Navigator – is here to help.  Linda will support patients through the cancer journey and help them connect with other regional resources.  

This service is available to all cancer patients in the local area.  Linda has worked  as a nurse at WDMH for over 30 years, including 16 in the chemotherapy unit, and so, has a wealth of experience and knowledge to offer those patients facing a diagnosis. 

The 50% of the proceeds being directed to the Ottawa Hospital Foundation are to support a research program on men’s health, as related to Prostate Cancer, run by Dr. Anthony Bella. His is the first position in Canada for this type of research.  His official title is Dr Anthony J Bella MD FRCSC, Greta and John Hansen Chair in Men’s Health Research, Assistant Professor of Urology, Department of Surgery Associate Scientist, Neuroscience University of Ottawa.  Dr. Anthony Bella’s work is focused on researching and finding novel ways to prevent and repair nerve damage  following treatments for prostate cancer. His work is already making a profound difference for men locally and around the world as he researches the repair and regeneration of nerves for men facing prostate cancer along with working to answer countless critical questions about men’s prostate health.

With your help, our committee members look forward to a fun event with a focus on creating more prostate cancer awareness in the region – and raising funds for great local causes along the way!  

Individuals and businesses are encouraged to become more informed about prostate cancer throughout the month of November.  Resources can be made available and for more information about education or participation, contact Co-Chairs of the E.O. Prostate Cancer Awareness Committee, Tom Clapp (613-774-3565) or Linda McMahon (613-774-3431).

[…]

Monday September 29th 2014, the Honorable Jeff Leal, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, alongside the Honorable Ted McMeekin and MPP Bob Bailey announced the launch of the new Food Donation Tax Credit for Farmers.

This tax credit is the first and only one of its kind in Canada, making this a historic week for farmers, food banks, and the provincial government. Farmers in Ontario are now eligible to claim a 25 per cent tax credit for all agricultural product that they donate to the province’s community food banks. 

“Everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy local food, and we applaud the Ontario government for introducing a tax credit that will encourage more farmers to make that food available to families and individuals who need it most,” says Bill Laidlaw, Executive Director at the Ontario Association of Food Banks. 

“Many food bank clients do not receive the recommended daily servings of fruit, vegetables, and protein, which can cause additional strains on one’s health and well-being,” says Laidlaw. “A balanced diet with local, fresh, and nutritious foods will help improve the health of food bank clients as well as the health of communities across Ontario.”

There are over 500 individuals, 227 of which are children, relying on food banks in Morrisburg and Winchester each and every month. It is only with the generous support from farmers and local community members that the Dundas County Food Bank is able to provide meals and provisions for those in need. It is without a doubt that the Food Donation Tax Credit for Farmers will help stock local food bank fridges and freezers, and provide members of this community with fresh, healthy, and local foods that they otherwise would not receive.

Farmers in the area who want to learn more about the tax credit can email Ian McKelvie, Dundas County Food Bank Administrator, at dcfbadmin@bellnet.ca.

The Ontario Association of Food Banks is a network of 125 food banks and over 1,100 hunger-relief agencies. 

Together, we serve 375,789 individuals, including 131,734 children every month, through a number of food programs and services. This includes: breakfast clubs, school meal programs, community kitchens, emergency shelters, community food centres, seniors’ centres, and small neighbourhood food banks. For more information please visit www.oafb.ca

[…]

Local optometrist, Dr. Karen Salaj is taking part in the World Sight Day Challenge in October to help give the gift of vision to people living in areas of need.

Now in its 7th year, the World Sight Day Challenge is the largest annual global fundraising campaign to address avoidable blindness caused by uncorrected refractive error–simply the need for an eye exam and glasses.

The campaign goal for 2014, is to raise $1 million globally.

“World Sight Day is October 9, but I picked the last Thursday in October as my day, as I thought we could use the whole month to promote it and what I am doing,” said Dr. Salaj from her office at 69 Main Street in the Morrisburg Plaza, main court, last Thursday. “Everything we take in on eye exams on Thursday, October 30 will go to the World Sight Day Challenge.”

“It’s me giving, but it is also enabling the public and my patients to get involved and give too.”

The World Sight Day Challenge is run globally by Optometry Giving Sight, which was established in 2003 to address the needs of over 600 million men, women and children around the world who are blind or vision impaired simply because they don’t have access to an eye exam and a pair of glasses. 

World Sight Day is an annual day of awareness held on the second Thursday of October to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment. It is coordinated by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and is supported by eye health organizations around the world, including Optometry Giving Sight.

Optometry Giving Sight supports programs that offer, not only eye exams and glasses in countries with little or no access to them, but that establish the infrastructure and train the local human resources required for sustainable, quality vision care. It is a registered charity in Canada and is the International Charity of Choice of the Canadian Association of Optometrists.

“This is our first opportunity to support Optometry Giving Sight and the World Sight Day Challenge,” said Dr. Salaj. “Preventable blindness is a solvable problem, and we are proud to help give sight to those in need.”

Just $5 can be enough to help provide an eye exam and a pair of glasses to someone living in an under-served community. Every contribution is meaningful.

“If you can’t see, it is difficult to learn, it is difficult to work and it is difficult to go forward in your life,” says Dr. Salaj. “Here, we are all blessed with being able to get our eye care, but it is not like this everywhere.”

In addition to Dr. Salaj donating the proceeds from eye exams on Thursday, October 30, patients, from now until the end of October, will be able to donate to the Challenge. “It doesn’t need to be anything major, but every penny counts. Our office doesn’t charge for repair or glasses adjustments, so we would like to suggest to our patients that in lieu of, they use that as a way to make a donation.”

For more information on donating or to make an appointment, Dr. Salaj’s office can be reached at 613-543-3208.

“We’d love our patients to get their eyes tested during October to help raise awareness and funds for this great cause.”

[…]

A new restaurant option will be on the menu in South Dundas in mid to late November when Morrisburg resident, Bill Dillabough opens his Pizza Hut ‘take-out’ franchise in the Pinkus Plaza.

“My target date is November 30th, earlier if possible,” says Dillabough who has 10 years experience with Pizza Hut in Cornwall.

To be located at the east end of the Pinkus Plaza, Dillabough’s franchise in Morrisburg will be a ‘take out’ only.

“I will have a full Pizza Hut menu, but there will be fewer choices in some of the items. For instance, I will have Caesar salad, but maybe not all the other choices.”

Dillabough says the take-out menu will include Pizza Huts’ popular sides and desserts, pizzas, pastas and wings.

He expects to employ up to 20 employees and positions will be available for cooks, order desk receptionists and drivers. In-house and on-line training will be provided and resumes are now being accepted.

 “We will be offering delivery and take out, but there will be no dining in. We will be open seven days per week from 11 a.m. until closing.”

Pizza Hut take-out franchises are very popular in urban areas and Dillabough estimates that of the 11 Pizza Huts in Ottawa, only three or four are dine in. The take-outs are very successful he says.

“I will have all that Pizza Hutt has to offer, and will be operating on a personal and local level.”

Customers in South Dundas and surrounding area will be able to order online and through the Pizza Hut call in service, but there will also be a local number available to place orders. “You will never get a busy signal.”

The new Pizza Hut location in Morrisburg will be fitted with its specialized equipment over the next few weeks and with two ovens to be included, Dillabough says he will be able to put out 45 pizzas per oven in one hour.

[…]

Half a world away, in the nation of Madagascar, children who might otherwise never have had the chance, are  going to school. They are also receiving at least one nourishing meal a day. They even have the opportunity to visit an on site doctor, perhaps for the first time in their lives. 

The Madagascar School Project, which began in 2007, under the leadership of former Maxville teacher, Kathy Lucking, is an attempt to directly “confront the problem of education” in this desperately poor African nation. 

Inspired by the work of missionary Mary Sherwood in Madagascar, Lucking has devoted the last seven years to building schools, with the help of many Canadian donors, and giving children hope and the chance to dream. Lucking was recently honoured with an Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario Humanitarian Award.

In her efforts, she has been heartily supported by the South Dundas Anglican Parish Outreach committee. On October 3, 2014, the all volunteer, not-for-profit committee sponsored their second fund raising dinner for the Madagascar School Project.

“The congregation that lives by itself, dies by itself,” said the Reverend Sid Irwin, who along with his wife, Elizabeth, first proposed to the Outreach team the idea of supporting Lucking’s educational efforts. “We needed to do something which fell outside our own local concerns and we found this international project.”

“The whole parish is now behind the project,” added Elizabeth Irwin.

The fund raising dinner was held at the Morrisburg Royal Canadian Legion, and drew 145 guests. Before the delicious meal (served by volunteers from Seaway High School), the crowd was entertained by the elegant musical stylings of Tea and Tartan, Cathy Graham and Sharon Baird. Just before the guest speaker, a phenomenal young artist, 10-year-old Kayleigh Styles, delighted listeners with her powerful songs.

In her inspiring address, Kathy Lucking showed the crowd the  great progress that has been made at the Madagascar School Project, as a result of their support. This includes, in 2010, the opening of a second school, the Sekoly Tenaquip school, which now teaches 126 new pupils. 

She also introduced the audience to Toonie Twinning, a new concept which permits people to “adopt” a child in the Project. A  sponsor’s toonie a week pays for a Malagasy child’s education.

Robin Lane, with the organizational committee for the Project, reported that Kathy and the South Dundas volunteers were excited that nine new Toonie Twinners signed up. 

Ticket sales and donations on the night brought in $4,595. Other donations brought in a further $1,111. “We are really thrilled with the great support,” said Lane. “And funds are still coming in.”

[…]

 On Sunday, October 5, the Friends of the Sanctuary held a special day to welcome visitors from South Dundas and regions far outside the local area to the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary near Ingleside, Ontario.

What many of the visitors found they could not do this year was use the open water board walks along the Blue Heron Trail and the popular Redwing Trail. The serious structural deterioration of those walks has forced the Sanctuary to post them.

Unfortunately, these walks are also the access routes to marshland areas where special educational programs often take place.

Hundreds of people, many of them families with small children, take advantage of opportunities to come out and support the Friends and the work they do to build wildlife education, maintain trails, and ensure that birds and animals in this area have a safe year round sanctuary. On Sunday, there were displays, exhibits, and special shows featuring both birds of prey and mammals. Audiences could see first hand how vital the Sanctuary is to this region.

The Friends of the Sanctuary have launched a programme, the Get On Board Project, to try and raise the funds to rebuild the park’s vital walkways, and to restore them to the use of all visitors to the preserve.

“We want to re-build the board walks, yes, but we also want to construct them with educational platforms so that we will be able to provide educational classes  for students,” said Sue Clavet, treasurer for the Friends of the Sanctuary. “We also want to make the new boardwalks wheelchair accessible. This is a huge endeavour to raise enough funds to carry this out. We need volunteers to help us in this project, and to also come up with ideas that will help the project.”

It is estimated that the cost of restoring/replacing and enhancing the boardwalks at the Sanctuary will cost over $400,000.

Some local businesses, including Morrisburg Home Hardware, which donated bird seed for sale October 5, profits to the Project, are already trying to help. The support of the public will be desperately needed to improve the park which draws 60,000 visitors yearly. 

Go to friendsofthesanctuary.org to Get On Board and help restore the park trails. 

[…]

South Dundas  and area residents in need of physiotherapy now have the option of finding it closer to home.

Last week, Morrisburg Physiotherapy opened at 147, Main Street, in the former Glo Soleil, Sears location.

The new business is owned and operated by registered physiotherapist Suzanne Johnston, a registered physiotherapist a graduate of Western University, with 18 years experience.

Johnston lives in Cardinal, and when she was planning to go into business for herself, she decided that Morrisburg would be a great location.

“Physiotherapy patients here are travelling to Prescott, Cornwall, Winchester, and farther to have their physiotherapy needs met,” she said, adding oftentimes, these other locations already have lengthy waiting lists. 

“Now, there’s quality care available right here,” says Johnston. She has been a physiotherapist for 18 years having worked in many different settings including hospital, private clinic and longterm care.

“At Morrisburg Physiotherapy, my mission is to provide exemplary physiotherapy services to individuals of all ages in Morrisburg and surrounding areas. My aim is to improve the physiotherapy experience by putting patient needs first. I combine experience and best evidence to generate individualized client-centred treatment programs.”

The location features two private treatment rooms, and an open treatment area. A typical visit would start with a one hour evaluation, from which Johnston creates an individualized treatment plan that would typically include a manual treatment and home exercise program.

Johnston plans to keep the operation fairly small. “That allows me to spend more time one-on-one with the patients,” she says, allowing her to fully follow a patient’s progress.

Although, she is willing to grow the business, should the need warrant it, she says that the location is definitely large enough for two physiotherapists.

At Morrisburg Physiotherapy Johnston treats: joint strains and muscle strains, repetitive strain injuries, tendonitis, bursitis, frozen shoulder, arthritis, sciatica and back pain, whiplash, radiculopathy, cervicogenic headaches, postural dysfunction, deconditioning, fibromyalgia, balance impairments, chronic fatique syndrome, chronic and complex pain, plantar fascitis, achilles tendonitis, reduced mobility strength after fracture or surgical intervention, parkinson’s disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, temporal mandibular joint dysfunction, vestibular rehab, post concussion.

Services provided include; joint mobilization and manipulation, soft tissue release, acupuncture, interferenial current, ultrasound, TENS and microcurrent, therapeutic taping and custom orthotic fitting.

Morrisburg Physiotherapy is not OHIP funded, so those who are not covered through insurance will pay for the service out of pocket.

Anyone considering the service is welcome to visit the location which is open 8-4 weekdays, to discuss their physiotherapy needs. 

“I try to work with what’s feasible for you,” says Johnston. 

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