If you’re looking for a meaningful way to support the local community while shopping for gifts this holiday season, the Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha’s annual Christmas Auction returns for its 26th year on Monday (November 18).

The annual auction features more than one hundred items donated local businesses and organizations, including children’s toys and games, clothing and accessories, gift cards to local businesses and restaurants, theatre and hockey tickets, home appliances and decor items, and more.

Bidding for the online auction opens at 11 a.m. on Monday at www.kawartharotaryauction.com and closes on Sunday, December 1st in 20-minute intervals, from 1:20 p.m. until 5 p.m.

The Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha was established in 1989 and held its inaugural Christmas Gift Auction in 1994, raising $6,965. Originally broadcast on television, the auction went online only in 2008.

Over the years, the Christmas auction has raised many thousands of dollars to benefit worthwhile community initiatives supported by Kawartha Rotary, including a new washroom at Brock Mission’s primary care clinic, the splashpad at Nichols Oval, the outdoor gym at Beavermead Park, the outdoor musical instruments park at the Riverview Park and Zoo, the Peterborough police canine unit, capital projects at Hospice Peterborough, Peterborough Regional Health Centre, YES Shelter for Youth and Families, and the Peterborough Animal Care Centre, and more.

Last year’s auction raised over $16,000 to support a variety of community projects in Peterborough, with proceeds from this year’s auction doing the same.

This year’s auction is sponsored by Stone Guide Realty Limited Brokerage, Herod Financial Services, Darling Insurance, Commercial Press, Park Place Financial, ISL Insurance Brokers, Best Western Plus Otonabee Inn, Nexicom, Comstock-Kaye Life Celebration Centre, and Iron Horse Ranch.

Payments for winning bids can be made via e-transfer to kawartharotaryauction@gmail.com or using cash or debit. Visa and MasterCard will also be accepted, but e-transfers, cash, or debit are preferred to avoid credit card processing fees so all of the proceeds can stay in the community.

For more information on the Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha, visit kawartharotary.com.

This branded editorial was created in partnership with Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha. If your business or organization is interested in a branded editorial, contact us.

‘Tis the season and the East Peterborough Lions Club is calling on the community to help bring turkey, ham, and joy to homes and kitchen tables throughout the city this year.

The East Peterborough Lions Club is once again hoping to gift each Peterborough family in need a holiday meal for Christmas. The club is coordinating the collection and distribution of turkeys and hams for hungry families through the “Great Turkey Exchange.”

“The East Peterborough Lions Club would like to see our community come together ensuring no one goes without a holiday meal,” Frank Hewitt, president of the East Peterborough Lions Club, told kawarthaNOW.

“Every donation, whether big or small, brings us closer to this goal and helps spread the spirit of giving,” Hewitt added. “Projects such as this enable us to remember why we are here — we serve.”

The Great Turkey Exchange was first organized in 2009 by Lois Tuffin through Peterborough This Week when she was the editor-in-chief. The program ran for 12 years and distributed 2,700 turkeys and hams until it went on hiatus in 2021, after pandemic-related supply chain shortages made it difficult to get donations.

At Tuffin’s request, the East Peterborough Lions Club agreed to take over the program in 2022 and subsequent years.

“Our club has helped out by delivering turkeys to groups and we saw how grateful people are to have strangers help feed their families,” Hewitt said. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to continue the program and fill such a great need in our community.”

Over its history, the program has delivered the main course for more than 17,000 Christmas dinners in the Peterborough area.

Most of the turkeys and hams donated to the program came from individual residents and businesses who recognized the sentimental and nutritional value of a traditional Christmas meal, according to a media release from the Lions Club.

Residents and businesses can help by donating turkeys and hams for those who don’t have access to an oven, or they can donate cash or gift cards so the food can be purchased.

Donations will be welcomed at Kawartha Food Share, located at 665 Neal Dr. in Peterborough, or can be picked up by the Lions Club if residents provide their address by sending an email to greatturkeyexchange@gmail.com.

Food items will be distributed to families who can’t afford a turkey or ham and would otherwise go without one. Those in need are asked to email greatturkeyexchange@gmail.com and request to be placed on the donation list.

Last year, the East Peterborough Lions Club delivered 75 donated turkeys and hams to residents.

Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization with more than 1.4 million members in approximately 46,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas around the world.

The East Peterborough Lions Club was established 47 years ago.

More warm meals on the table and better access to primary health care for Peterborough’s seniors are two needs that have received a boost, courtesy of funding from the Greater Peterborough Health Services Foundation (GPHSF).

On Thursday (November 14), GPHSF announced the inaugural recipients of its senior care micro grant program. Community Care Peterborough’s food insecurity programming and the Peterborough Family Health Team’s unattached patient clinics have each received $5,000.

Earlier this year, the foundation announced it was launching the program that provides grants of up to $5,000 to support senior care projects and healthy aging initiatives in the Peterborough area.

“In offering these grants, our objective is to do something that can positively impact the quality of life for seniors in our community,” GPHSF executive director Vince Bierworth told kawarthaNOW.

“Both projects selected address barriers to access that seniors may encounter, whether that’s access to nutritious food or access to medical care. Our hope in offering funding such as this is to help make the daily lives of seniors in our community just a bit easier.”

GPHSF announced the program this summer and the deadline to apply was September 30. Applications were open to community and not-for-profit organizations, including medical organizations, that run programming and services or were proposing to run programming and services within the city or county of Peterborough and Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.

GPHSF said ideal projects were those that were general in scope and included and served as many seniors as possible.

Choosing the recipients was not an easy task and required a lot of thoughtful consideration, the foundation noted in a media release.

“It was a difficult process to narrow down the applications,” Bierworth said. “Trust me when I say that if we had more grants available this year, we would have funded every project that was submitted.”

“Our committee, which was made up of healthcare professionals and community members, were very impressed with the quality and variety of projects submitted. After much deliberation, they settled upon two projects that will have both an immediate and lasting impact for seniors in our community.”

Community Care Peterborough applied for funding to address food insecurity within the community’s population of seniors through its Meals on Wheels program, along with grocery shopping and delivery support.

“This support from GPHSF strengthens our commitment to ensuring that no senior in our community goes without the nourishment and support they deserve,” said Community Care Peterborough CEO Danielle Belair.

“Access to healthy meals and essential services like grocery delivery can be life-changing, helping our clients live with dignity and independence. We’re grateful for this partnership and what it means for those we serve.”

Meanwhile, the Peterborough Family Health Team (PFHT) applied for funding towards equipment aimed at increasing ease and access to care for seniors who do not have a family doctor and are using one of the two PFHT’s unattached patient clinics.

“These new exam beds will improve accessibility for seniors at the PFHT health clinic,” said PFHT CEO Duff Sprague. “We’re addressing the need for primary health care among our Peterborough residents who are without a family doctor or nurse practitioner. This need is more urgent for those with health conditions and older adults with multiple health issues.”

“Since our funding doesn’t mandate care for those without a family doctor, we are doing what we can and relying on community partnerships to support these services,” Sprague added. “We’re thrilled to receive this contribution to help support those without a primary care team.”

GPHSF was originally established in 1999 as the St. Joseph’s Care Foundation with its primary focus to fund senior care projects and healthy aging initiatives within the Peterborough community. Over the years the foundation has grown, taken on new partnerships, and expanded its focus. While it also took on the name GPHSF, Your Family Health Team Foundation, senior care has remained a primary and important focus for funding.

The senior care micro grants have been made possible by the June Towle Trust. Before she passed away in 2023, June Towle established a trust fund that would see money from her estate be donated to GPHSF.

GPHSF noted the senior care micro grant program will be an annual program, with the next request for applications opening again in August 2025.

Each year on November 15, people in North America celebrate National Philanthropy Day to show appreciation for the those who give generously in support of the betterment of their communities.

Locally, the Peterborough Regional Health Care (PRHC) Foundation is celebrating National Philanthropy Day by acknowledging all the donors who have helped raise $49,492,814 for the hospital — a significant milestone in the $60-million Campaign for PRHC that aims to reimagine healthcare delivery in the region.

“I’m so grateful for how much this community values and supports our hospital — it’s what makes it so special,” says PRHC President and CEO Dr. Lynn Mikula. “Every corner of PRHC has been touched by the generosity of donors, which has helped ensure patients can receive the highest standard of care and treatment right here at home.”

While government funding supports operational costs of the hospital, the purchase and replacement of equipment and the advancement of technology is funded entirely by donors. Funds raised through the Campaign for PRHC are advancing medical care and introducing additional lifesaving services and pioneering treatments to the regional hospital.

“The outcome of reaching 82 per cent of our $60 million campaign goal will touch so many people at different points in their lives — from the birth of a child to supporting our elderly as they age,” says PRHC Foundation President and CEO Lesley Heighway. “The community has really stepped behind the campaign and sees the need for it.”

The impact of the funds raised so far is already being felt around the hospital through a number of investments completed or underway, including the upgrade of two cath labs with state-of-the-art technology, the upgrade and renovation of the interventional radiology suites, and the development of the new purpose-built Scotiabank Youth Eating Disorder Day Treatment Clinic.

“We have the benefit now where we can actually turn back to our donors and point at everything they’ve helped to accomplish here so far,” says Heighway. “It’s just remarkable — there’s nowhere in the hospital where the donors haven’t transformed care. Everywhere we go within this hospital, we see the result of community supporting community.”

That includes a donor-funded investment of $4.57 million for two new cutting-edge CT scanners, an essential upgrade that is helping PRHC’s healthcare professionals diagnose injuries, cancers, and other illnesses sooner, while also allowing for more scans to be done.

“We’ve done our best to keep up with new equipment and technology — much of it thanks to donors — but there’s more to be done,” says Dr. Mikula. “There are incredible advances and critical treatments that we could be offering here at PRHC, and lifesaving new services that could help make sure fewer patients have to travel outside the region to get the care they urgently need.”

That includes donor-funded investments like the $1.5 million that has allowed the hospital to acquire a second MRI machine, after having operated with just one for the past 15 years. The upgrade will facilitate more than 5,000 additional procedures every year, with faster, high-resolution imagery and a more comfortable experience for the patient.

“These advancements will help to address and reduce the challenges related to wait times and offer a more efficient patient care experience,” says Heighway. “Every time we make these major investments, they come with so much advancement. Care becomes much more streamlined, so it’s much better for the patient.”

Current donations are going towards the in-progress construction of a courtyard outside the hospital’s Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). The last of PRHC’s six donor-funded courtyards, the purpose-built courtyard will provide some of the hospital’s most vulnerable patients with access to an outdoor space. Currently, PICU patients have no access to the outside, despite their stays being weeks or even months long.

“Having that courtyard will be a safe space and a beautiful space in a natural environment,” says Heighway. “These patients will be able to go out there with their psychiatrists or social worker or their friends or family. It will be a nice place for them to receive care and access the outdoors like all the other patients here at PRHC.”

A major priority area for the Campaign for PRHC is to raise funds for a $2.5 million investment in the future of cancer care diagnostics through digital pathology. This innovative technology will digitize slides to create images that can be easily shared, managed, and interpreted, leading to improved analysis, multiple-angle views, better opportunity for collaboration, and reduced turnaround time.

At a time when there is a system-wide shortage of pathologists, the hospital’s donor-funded investment in digital pathology will also encourage world-class healthcare professionals to make a career at PRHC.

“When physicians are coming to PRHC to interview, it’s a two-way street,” Heighway explains. “As the hospital is interviewing the physician to see their skills and credentials, the physician is also looking at the hospital, questioning if the practice and technology is there and if they can deliver excellent care. Having donors invest in this campaign to help us bring that level of technology here also helps the hospital recruit the best physicians.”

As its gets closer to meeting the Campaign for PRHC’s $60-million goal, the PRHC Foundation is also inviting members of the community to think about and share their connections to the hospital.

“We really embrace the entire community to get involved in whatever way they can,” Heighway says. “If it’s a financial donation, that’s wonderful, but if it’s sharing stories, that’s also wonderful because those will really galvanize our community. We would love for people to step forward and share their stories of great care and what the hospital has meant to them, because it will inspire other people to consider their own involvement.”

As for making a donation to PRHC, there is no better time than National Philanthropy Day.

“National Philanthropy Day is all about the community and people in the community who are stepping forward and giving from a place of gratitude, because they’ve had great care and they’re paying it forward,” says Heighway. “It’s their kindness and generosity making things better for those who need it tomorrow and into the future.”

“We have the energy and the imagination to address any obstacle that comes our way,” adds Dr. Mikula. “We just can’t do it alone. Donor support is critical to our success.”

For more information on the Campaign for PRHC or to make a donation, visit prhcfoundation.ca. To volunteer as a campaign ambassador, email foundationeventsonline@prhc.on.ca or call 705-876-5000.

This branded editorial was created in partnership with the PRHC Foundation. If your organization or business is interested in a branded editorial, contact us.