From now until October 7th, you can make a donation at any one of Peterborough’s five local Shoppers Drug Mart locations to help Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) purchase a new electronic fetal monitor.

A group of new moms — all of whom had their babies at PRHC in the last 12 months — visited Shoppers Drug Mart at Lansdowne and High Street with their babies this afternoon to thank the local stores for choosing to help safeguard expectant mothers and their babies. Representatives from the PRHC Foundation, which raises funds on behalf of the hospital, were also there.

As part of Shoppers Drug Mart’s annual Growing Women’s Health campaign, customers and employees will have the opportunity to purchase a $1 leaf, $5 butterfly, $10 apple, or a $50 bird, which will be displayed in the store’s front window for the duration of the campaign. For every dollar donated, customers also receive 10 Shoppers Optimum Points.

Pharmacist owner Zebrina Kassam thanked the moms for coming and explained the Shoppers Drug Mart annual campaign is even more focused on supporting women’s health initiatives, through a new program called Love. You. Putting Women’s Health First.

“We believe you’re at your best when YOU love YOU,” Kassam told the group. “Sharing that love means a healthier community for us all. We hope that, together with the employees of Shoppers Drug Mart, our customers will join us in supporting this vital tool that will help PRHC’s doctors and nurses keep mothers and their babies safe, and help ensure a positive birthing experience.”

All donations made at local Shoppers Drug Mart locations will support the purchase of a new state-of-the-art electronic fetal monitor, one of 14 currently being fundraised for by PHRC Foundation on behalf of the Women & Children’s Program at the hospital.

“We’re so honoured to have been chosen as the beneficiary of the 2016 Growing Women’s Health campaign,” said Lesley Heighway, PRHC Foundation President & CEO.

Heighway explained that 1,600 babies from across the region are born at PRHC every year. She said the hospital’s existing electronic fetal monitors, which are used every day on every patient in the Labour & Delivery Unit, are reaching the the end of their lifespan and must be replaced.

“This equipment provides instant, detailed vital signs information for both mother and baby, right at the bedside,” she said. “The monitors not only track the mother’s condition, they let our doctors and nurses know how the fetus is reacting to the process of labour.”

Until October 7th, you can make donations by visiting any one of the following Shoppers Drug Mart locations in Peterborough: 1875 Lansdowne St. W., 741 Lansdowne St. W., 971 Chemong Rd., 225 Charlotte St., and 361 George St.

The Shoppers Drug Mart annual Growing Women’s Health campaign (formerly Tree of Life) is focused on supporting organizations that make a difference to women’s health in each store’s own community. The campaign has raised over $29 million since 2002, with 100% of all proceeds benefiting local women’s health initiatives, ranging from improving services at local hospitals to supporting mental health programs.

Locally, past campaigns under the Tree of Life banner have seen a total of $24,636 in combined local and Shoppers Drug Mart corporate donations go towards cervical cancer prevention, and labour and delivery equipment.

For more information on Shoppers Drug Mart’s Love. You. initiative, visit www.shoppersloveyou.ca.

For more information on PRHC Foundation, or to find out how you can help make great care possible at your hospital, call 705-876-5000 or visit www.prhcfoundation.ca.

A recent update from Transport Canada points to the likely reason why a small plane stolen by a young man from Markham crashed in Peterborough on August 12, 2016.

Mohammad Hassan Chaudhary stole the Piper PA-38-112 aircraft from the Markham airport shortly after 1 a.m. on Friday, August 12th. His motive for stealing the aircraft remains unknown, although his family has said Chaudhary was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2014.

Around 40 minutes after takeoff, Chaudhary attempted a forced landing on Lansdowne Street at High Street in Peterborough, close to the Lansdowne Mall. The aircraft’s left wing struck a metal traffic light pole and part of the outer wing was sheared off. The plane then continued across the intersection and struck a second traffic light pole that collapsed on top of the aircraft cabin.

Although there were no injuries on the ground, Chaudhary was fatally injured and, according to witnesses, died while still strapped in the cockpit before emergency services arrived.

Chaudhary was not a licensed pilot and had not received any formal flight training, according to his family. A September 8th update in Transport Canada’s Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS) implies that this lack of experience, when combined with the condition of the aircraft, is the most likely reason the plane crashed.

The Piper aircraft belonged to Donald Peck of Newmarket, who had purchased it in 2008. The plane had not been flown for several years and Peck was in the process of returning it to an airworthy condition.

While storing the aircraft at the Markham Airport, Peck had protected it against insect entry by plugging several openings on the engine and airframe. This included the two fuel tank vents located under each wing, which were each blocked by a clear plastic tube with a bolt inserted at the open end of the tube.

A fuel vent is critical to the operation of an aircraft’s engine. When the engine is running, fuel is pumped from the fuel tank and replaced by air drawn in through the fuel vent. If the fuel vent is blocked, a vacuum will gradually build up in the fuel tank, eventually overpowering the fuel pump’s ability to feed gas to the engine, and the engine will die from lack of fuel — even if the fuel gauges in the cockpit show there is plenty of fuel.

As part of the pre-flight checklist, an experienced pilot will always check the fuel tank vent, because a blocked vent is an insidious failure. Because of his lack of flying experience, Chaudhary would have been unaware the fuel vents were blocked when he stole the aircraft.

A plane can fly for a considerable period of time with a blocked vent before the engine fails to due fuel starvation. This is most likely what happened when Chaudhary was flying the aircraft and why he attempted to land the plane.

While the police investigation into the plane’s theft is ongoing, the RCMP have already concluded Chaudhary’s theft of the plane was not a national security matter.

However, the theft has resulted in increased scrutiny of the security of small airports. The Markham Airport from where the plane was stolen only has fences around a portion of the airport, a limited security camera system, and most aircraft are only secured with ropes. The August theft is the first time a plane has been stolen from the facility since it opened more than 50 years ago.

A quilt created by the Kawartha Truth and Reconciliation Support Group (KTRSG) is prominently on display at Peterborough Public Health until September 23, 2016.

“We are honoured to provide a public location for this beautiful quilt created as a response to the history of residential schools in Canada,” says Dr. Rosana Salvaterra, Medical Officer of Health.

“This quilt is strongly connected to public health as the stories it holds are intended to support healing and good health by honouring this difficult part of our national heritage so we can move forward as a country that respects all First Nations.”

At 8′ wide by 6′ tall, the quilt is comprised of 24 squares, each representing an individual KTRSG member’s response to the legacy of residential schools.

The quilt was created to circulate throughout the wider community, both to acknowledge the pain and suffering inflicted on Indigenous peoples by this brutal system and to promote the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 calls to action.

“Local public health agencies are working with Indigenous partners across Ontario to develop local strategies that address the health inequities experienced by many First Nations people,” says Dr. Salvaterra. “Our own board of health takes the commission’s calls to actions very seriously and is privileged to have leaders from Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations serving on the board for the benefit of everyone’s public health.”

Peterborough Public Health serves the residents of Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations, as well as the County and City of Peterborough.

Members of the public are encouraged to view the quilt hung on the second floor outside the elevators at Peterborough Public Health at Jackson Square on 185 King St. during business hours from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The quilt will be on display at this location until September 23.

The story of Chanie Wenjack – Heritage Minutes

The terrible legacy of Canada’s residential schools — where more than 150,000 Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and culture and which caused the deaths of thousands of these children — is again in the public eye with yesterday’s news that Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip is releasing a new album and graphic novel about the tragic death of 12-year-old Chanie “Charlie” Wenjack.

Wenjack died of exposure and hunger in 1966 after running away from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in Kenora in an attempt to return to his home, Marten Falls First Nation, many hundreds of kilometres away. His death sparked the first inquest into the treatment of Indigenous children in Canadian residential schools.

All of the proceeds from Downie’s multimedia project, called Secret Path, will support the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba.

For one week only (September 12 to 18), you can buy a freshly baked chocolate chunk “Smile Cookie” for $1 at participating Tim Hortons restaurants in Peterborough, Bridgenorth, and Lakefield and help Hospice Peterborough build a state-of-the-art facility for those living with serious illness and grief.

When you buy a Smile Cookie, your full $1 will be donated by Tim Hortons restaurant owners towards Hospice Peterborough’s Every Moment Matters Campaign.

Over the past two years, Hospice Peterborough has been raising funds for its goal to build the Hospice Peterborough Care Centre, a 10-bed care facility and programming centre that will offers a homelike, safe refuge throughout the journey of illness, death and grief.

By the end of June, the organization had raised over $7.62 million of its $8.25 million goal, and is now entering the final “Bring It Home” phase of its campaign. Funds raised through Smile Cookies will help raise the remaining $635,000 needed to meet the goal.

“Once again it is such an honour for Hospice Peterborough and the Every Moment Matters Campaign to have been chosen by Tim Hortons owners as the recipient of this year’s Smile Cookie Campaign,” says Betty Morris, Campaign Chair. “Every dollar raised through this event will be designated to construct the new Hospice Peterborough Care Centre. We are grateful for the continued corporate support and partnership with local Tim Hortons restaurant owners.”

Nationally, Tim Hortons supports more than 460 local charities, hospitals, and community programs its Smile Cookie campaign. Last year, the Smile Cookie campaign raised $6.3 million across Canada, including $37,240 for Hospice Peterborough’s Every Moment Matters Campaign.

“The Smile Cookie campaign has been generously supported year after year thanks to the kindness of our loyal guests,” says Donna Annett, a Tim Hortons restaurant owner. “They embrace Smile Cookie week and make it the incredible success it is. We are honoured to support Hospice Peterborough with all of the proceeds raised staying in our community.”

The launch of the Smile Cookie campaign in Peterborough takes place at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, September 12th at the Tim Hortons at 1527 Water Street, just past the Peterborough Zoo.

You can stop by any local Tim Hortons from Monday to Sunday next week to purchase a Smile Cookie. You can also pre-order cookies using forms are available at Hospice Peterborough and local Tim Hortons restaurants throughout Peterborough, Bridgenorth and Lakefield.

After you buy a Smile Cookie — or better yet, buy a dozen! — take a selfie and post it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #SmileCookie.

Visit www.timhortons.com/smilecookie to learn more about the charities the Smile Cookie campaign supports across Canada.

Photos courtesy of Hospice Peterborough