‘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.

There’s a new resource in Peterborough intended to help keep a roof over people’s heads by resolving conflicts and improving relationships between tenants, neighbours, and landlords in the city.

During a time when access to affordable and suitable housing is becoming increasingly difficult, Annie Hedden, manager of the housing resource centre at CCRC, hopes the housing mediation program helps provide some solutions for Peterborough residents.

CCRC is partnering with the John Howard Society of Peterborough to offer the housing mediation services to Peterborough residents, according to a media release. Housing mediation is aimed at helping tenants resolve issues and challenges that can be uncomfortable, cause stress, and even lead to people losing their rental units.

“The hope for the impact of the housing mediation program is to facilitate opportunities for discussion and collaboration between landlords and tenants, between roommates, and between neighbours to resolve conflict, disputes or disagreements,” Hedden told kawarthaNOW.

“The aim is to prevent these types of interpersonal conflicts from eventually leading to housing loss. We know that interpersonal conflict is a major contributing factor influencing people to leave their homes, and that sometimes small resolvable issues can lead to loss of housing and homelessness.”

Aspects of the housing mediation program include short-term services, like conflict coaching or assistance to instigate a difficult conversation, often in one or two sessions. Residents can also access more intensive services, such as more formal mediations between the affected parties.

“Participation in the program is always voluntary and the level and length of service depends on the needs and wants of the people involved,” Hedden noted.

When asked about when residents should consider connecting with the resources through the housing mediation program, Hedden said, “people should reach out for help anytime they are having a difficult time communicating with a landlord, roommate, or neighbour.”

In addition, landlords can reach out if they are having difficulty communicating with a tenant.

Hedden said the issues range from something as simple as a disagreement over washing dishes to something more complex, like resolving a landlord and tenant issue that would otherwise be heard by the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB).

That could include a neighbour disturbing the peace in a rental complex, for instance, or an eviction.

“One of the major benefits of our program is that it’s more accessible and faster than applying to the LTB, and co-developed solutions tend to be more enduring and longer lasting than decisions handed down from an external authority,” Hedden explained. “Housing mediation prevents housing loss and homelessness. In a time of housing crisis, it is more important than ever to keep people housed.”

Hedden said it’s “extremely difficult” to find housing in the current rental market. Rents are very high and the vacancy rate is very low. People who do manage to find new housing tend to find units that are more expensive than their previous units, and that are less adequate to meet their needs.

“Housing mediation can prevent the physical, emotional, and financial costs of moving and the upheaval of leaving your home to find a new one,” shed said. “For folks who have recently left their housing due to disagreements or personality clashes, housing mediation can help uncover the root of the issue, improve relationships within the housing unit, and facilitate a return to housing.”

The program is being offered through a “unique partnership” that brings together the housing resources and supports offered by CCRC’s housing resource centre with the transformative mediation expertise of the John Howard Society of Peterborough.

Tenants can self-refer or be referred by a community organization or partner. For more information or to book an appointment, contact Laura Greenwood at 705-743-2272 ext. 202 or email lgreenwood@ccrc-ptbo.com.

A non-profit charitable organization, CCRC provides both professional counselling and housing resources and is also a partner in the Peterborough Domestic Abuse Network and the Family Services Employee Assistance Program. Prior to 2021, CCRC also provided credit counselling, financial literacy, and debt management services.

The organization that became CCRC was established in 1998 when the Catholic Social Service Bureau and Volunteers and Information Peterborough — established in 1956 and in 1971 by groups of concerned local citizens who saw a need for services — merged to become Family Counselling Services and Volunteers and Information Peterborough. In 2001, the organization was renamed Community Counselling Resource Centre, shortening its name to CCRC in 2016. In 2021, all CCRC services were consolidated at a single location at 540 George St. N. in Peterborough.

For more information on CCRC and its programs, visit www.ccrc-ptbo.com.

The Elizabeth Fry Society of Peterborough (EFry) is shining a light on local community leaders who are making a difference in their fields and, in turn, providing a reason for hope during challenging times.

That’s one goal of the society’s upcoming fundraising event on November 27 that includes the presentation of “Rebel with a Cause” awards to local change-makers.

The 2024 recipients are Cheyenne Buck (drop-in program coordinator for One City Peterborough), Kelli Marshall (Indigenous enrolment advisor/dancer for First Peoples House of Learning at Trent University), and Jocelyn Enright (community engagement coordinator for Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre).

EFry will recognize the three recipients with an awards ceremony, which is part of an overall evening of entertainment for those who attend the fundraiser taking place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, November 27 at Showplace Performance Centre in downtown Peterborough.

Kristal Jones-Craighead, EFry’s morning drop-in program coordinator at Trinity Centre, told kawarthaNOW it’s important to acknowledge the change-makers and highlight the contributions they are making in the community.

“Those who work within helping professions don’t choose their field for praise or accolades, yet they remain some of the most deserving of praise and accolades,” Jones-Craighead said.

“It is important to recognize the very good work that so many are doing — work that often goes unnoticed and unappreciated,” Jones-Craighead added. “There is so much heaviness all around us but, like Mister Rogers taught us, you’ve got to look for the helpers.”

“When you take a moment to inventory the accomplishments, unwavering empathy, and innovative thinking of Rebel with a Cause award recipients, things begin to feel a little lighter, we feel more inspired, we contribute to building a more inclusive community and continue to dismantle systems of oppression — one meal, one dance, one delegation, one tiny home, one anti-oppressive business practice at a time.”

This year, EFry is introducing two new awards categories that recognize the efforts of community partners and businesses that work in thoughtful and creative ways “to support and uplift vulnerable communities experiencing challenges associated with mental health, addiction, homelessness and criminalization,” a media release noted.

The inaugural recipients are Peterborough Action for Tiny Homes (PATH) with the Radical Audacity Award and Arising Collective with the Business Excellence Award.

This year’s EFry awards event raises money for its morning drop-in program at Trinity Centre. For five days a week, the program provides breakfast, shelter, and resources to as many as 79 people.

EFry is promising a “fun evening” for people who attend the November 27 event, which features a performance from Babe Chorus and a reading by Peterborough poet laureate Ziysah von Bieberstein. There will also be fundraising endeavours including a silent auction, a 50/50 draw, and a photo booth.

“Mostly, attendees can expect to leave feeling energized from being in a room with so many radically audacious, empowered, and deeply kind community-builders,” Jones-Craighead said. “It is our hope that attendees feel entertained, inspired, and excited that they’ve helped to celebrate some incredible people while raising funds for essential resources in our community.”

Tickets for the event, which is sponsored by LLF Lawyers, cost $25 and are available online at showplace.org or in person at the Showplace box office at 290 George St. N. Tickets include a light dinner and refreshments.

EFry is a not-for-profit organization that has worked for more than 15 years toward ending the criminalization of poverty, mental health, addiction, and domestic violence.