News

United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes distributes emergency funding to support seniors’ programs in Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton.

United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes has announced that it will distribute $49,278.00 in emergency funding to several organizations in the City of Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton.

This funding was made possible by the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program. United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes thanks the Government of Canada for their continued support during this time, and for increasing supports for individuals age 55 and older.

“While physical distancing is essential to protecting seniors from COVID-19, it risks isolating them from their community. That is why the Government of Canada is proud to work with United Way Canada to help support the needs of seniors during this difficult time. By using local expertise, this funding will help provide support tailored to the unique, local needs of seniors across the country. As we work together to flatten the curve and slow the spread of the virus, the government is supporting Canadians every step of the way,” writes The Honorable Deb Schulte, Minister of Seniors

 

Community Care City of Kawartha Lakes has been granted $20,000 to support their existing Meals on Wheels Program, which has seen increased demand due to the current pandemic. This program delivers prepared meals to seniors across the City of Kawartha Lakes, reducing the need for them to leave their homes.

“We’re very grateful to the United Way for supporting the increased service demands of our Meals on Wheels program, allowing us to continue providing nutritious meals and important security checks for our most vulnerable clients,” says Barb Mildon, CEO, Community Care City of Kawartha Lakes. “We’re proud to serve the seniors in our community, ensuring that they can stay safe and comfortable at home for as long as possible.”

Grant recipients in Haliburton County include: The Central Food Network, the Rotary Club of Haliburton’s Good Food Box, and SIRCH Community Services. These organizations provide essential food services to seniors who are self-isolating, as well as individuals and families experiencing economic insecurity. Grants will range from $3,000-$5,000 and aim to help expand the organization’s capacity to serve seniors.

“Our hope is that this grant will enhance and support established programs.  We are concerned that we have many seniors in rural areas who might become easily isolated, explains Penny Barton Dyke, Executive Director of United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes. “Together, we can ensure they receive food, supports and wellness checks with this funding.  Seniors need to know that we are here for them and this is an unprecedented time, and so we all need to check in with others and ask for help or a friendly phone call.”

Organizations were selected based on their current capacity to serve the immediate needs of seniors, their geographic area and the needs that they identified to United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes.

The New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) provides grants and contributions for projects that help improve the well-being of seniors and foster their social inclusion. To provide more support for seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada announced flexibility for organizations to use funding received through the NHSP community-based stream to provide immediate and essential services to seniors impacted by COVID-19.

For more information about local funding through the New Horizons for Seniors Program, or to donate to United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes please visit ckl-unitedway.ca

 

Contact:

E: office@ckl.unitedway.ca T: (705) 878-5081

Funded by The Government of Canada's New Horizons For Seniors Program. [image of Canada wordmark]

 

To access a New Horizons for Seniors Program supported service see the information below:

Meals on Wheels

Community Care City of Kawartha Lakes

E: info@ccckl.ca     T: (705) 324-7323

Central food Network

Wilberforce – E: tina@centralfoodnetwork.org T: (705) 448-9711

Cardiff – T: (613) 339-2704

SIRCH Community Services

E: info@sirch.on.ca

T: (705) 457-1742

Haliburton Rotary Club

E: bri.nash@hotmail.com

T: (705) 455-9388

 

By |2020-05-01T11:52:08-04:00May 1st, 2020|News|0 Comments

United Way CKL invites you to the world premiere of the original documentary ‘The Garden’

United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes is excited to announce the world premiere of The Garden, an original documentary produced by YourTV. This documentary covers the first year of Edwin Binney’s Community Garden – an innovative food security initiative that has provided over three tons of fresh vegetables to non-profit agencies and food banks across the City of Kawartha Lakes.

“This movie celebrates community leaders and how partnerships are key to the creation of a highly productive garden,” says Penny Barton Dyke, Executive Director or UWCKL. “It shares the story of a community willing to seize the opportunity to create a response to produce higher yields of food to support food programs while simultaneously creating a unique experiential educational centre for Fleming students and local elementary and secondary schools,” she adds.

This completely innovative garden is located on roughly two acres of Crayola Canada’s previously unused land in Lindsay. In its first year of operation, Edwin Binney’s Community Garden provided more than 5,500 pounds of fresh vegetables to ten food banks and eleven social service agencies in our community: supplementing budgets for agencies while providing healthy and fresh options for their clients. At the same time, our staff hosted educational agriculture workshops for 350 children from 15 summer camps and school classes.

“The excitement and enthusiasm of the United Way CKL were enough for YourTV to become involved in the process of documenting Edwin Binney’s Community Garden,” says YourTV producer Marcus Ferguson, who directed and produced the movie.

“The transformation from a muddy field to a thriving garden was truly an inspiration and we couldn’t be more proud to be a part of it. YourTV looks forward to sharing this special program which will serve to document not only the transformation but the effort to assist the community in combating hunger through community gardening,” he adds.

More than anything, this event is a celebration of community and the power that comes from working together. The documentary features interviews with the Dean of Fleming College Frost Campus, the Mayor of the City of Kawartha Lakes, Managers of Crayola Canada, and some workshop participants.

The event will take place at the Crombie Lecture Theatre at Fleming College Frost Campus from 6 – 8 p.m. on February 6, 2020. Mock-tails and popcorn will be served before the movie, which begins at 6:30. Tickets are available for $15 and all proceeds go toward Edwin Binney’s Community Garden.

We would like to thank our sponsors: Electric Electric, Brant Doyle Plumbing, and Crayola Canada for supporting this cause with such enthusiasm.

Contact us to get your tickets today!

E: office@ckl.unitedway.ca t: 705 878-5081

By |2020-01-15T16:49:16-05:00January 13th, 2020|News|0 Comments

2020 Mona Hall recipient announced

United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes (UWCKL) has announced A Place Called Home (APCH) as the recipient of a $5,000 grant from the Telecare Mona Hall Fund to pilot a new Youth Emergency Fund Project.

This pilot will ensure that the immediate needs of youth in crisis, facing homelessness, or at risk of homelessness are met during the waiting period for other financial aid. Funds provided in the form of gift cards will help youth stay warm, fed, and connected to their community.

“Over the years, we have been given the privilege of small legacy gifts which have allowed us to invest in people in real time.  When donors give to UWCKL they do so with purpose and with the knowledge that funds go to high priority needs. These funds are monitored with the help of citizen review panel teams to ensure transparency and accountability,” explains Penny Barton Dyke, Executive Director of UWCKL.

When Lifeline Telecare closed its doors, funds were transferred to UWCKL to administer through a committee process and to help local groups initiate innovative programs in response to emerging or identified community priorities over a five-year period. The funds have been overseen by a committee of volunteers with expertise. Five agencies have received funding since the launch of the grant fund in 2016: Kawartha Sexual Assault addressed dating violence prevention for youth; Ontario Early Years created the Queen Victoria Public School Summer Outreach Program; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kawartha Lakes-Haliburton created an in-School Mentoring Resource initiative and marketing for mentors, The John Howard Society started a Caring Dads Program to increase skills for fathers needing special supports, and last year Community Care Health and Care Network created a teleconference caregiver support program.

This was the final round for the Telecare Mona Hall Legacy Fund.  The criteria and process was created through the efforts of volunteer panels, led by Lynne Downey, with support by UWCKL staff.  UWCKL has been able to support several pilot projects and the agencies awarded the gifts were able to capture measurable outcomes and help identify potential new programs.  Together we have helped strengthen supports for people who live here.

 

For further information on the Youth Emergency Fund, please contact:

Jennifer Lopinski, Youth Trustee – A Place Called Home

(705) 328-0905

 

By |2020-01-07T15:23:16-05:00January 7th, 2020|News|0 Comments

19 things that we accomplished in 2019!

As we swap our calendars and welcome the new year, the team at United Way has been reflecting on all that we have accomplished in 2019. The best part is – each milestone that we have reached has been because of someone’s generosity.

Although it could be much longer, here is a list of 19 things we (our volunteers, local businesses and supporters) accomplished in 2019:

  1. We planted Edwin Binney’s Community Garden for the first time ever!
  2. Collaborated with countless local businesses in the fight against poverty,
  3. Taught more than 350 local children from 15 different schools and summer camps about where their food comes from
  4. Provided funding to vital programs at local not-for-profit agencies
  5. Learned about sustainable agriculture from the experts (and students) at Fleming College
  6.  Had another successful fundraising campaign with LCBO
  7. Had an original documentary made about our garden initiative thanks to Cogeco / YourTV
  8. Provided paid training opportunities for students through the Canada Summer Jobs program
  9. Expanded our program funding in Haliburton County
  10. Had one of our most successful Crayola sales yet!
  11. Planted 1500 tomato plants – that’s A LOT of tomatoes!
  12. Provided nearly 3 tons of vegetables to 10 food banks and 11 non-profit agencies.
  13. Found new friendships in unexpected places! We are always so grateful when people take time out of their day to volunteer with us.
  14.  Finally got to share a dream that we have been working on for years with the help of Crayola at our garden’s grand opening party
  15. Built garden plots at the Coboconk Legion!
  16. Received funding from the Lindsay C.H.E.S.T. Fund, TD Friends of the Environment, and the Ontario Trillium Foundation
  17. Continued working hard towards our goal of reducing poverty in the City of Kawartha Lakes
  18. Supplemented the Good Food Box program with our veggies
  19. Found unlimited potential in our community.
By |2020-01-03T16:11:21-05:00January 3rd, 2020|News|0 Comments

31st Annual Crayola Sale Cheque Presentation

On Wednesday November 27th, 2019 a group of United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes Staff, Board members and volunteers met at the Crayola Canada office to be presented with a cheque from the 31st Annual Crayola Sale. The sale is held every year at the Lindsay Exhibition Fairgrounds (LEX) and attracts shoppers from all over the province; some shoppers even travel from the United States. The sale creates both local and global impacts as several attendees return each year to purchase Crayola products for mission trips to Mexico, Cuba and even Zimbabwe! Other attendees purchase goods for Holiday presents, or as supplies for classrooms.

Two years ago, the team at Crayola Canada set a goal of raising $40,000 to reach a total of $1,000,000 donated to the United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes over 29 years. This goal was exceeded in 2017, and the success continued in 2018 with another $42,620.80 raised. United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes is excited to announce that 2019 was in fact the largest ever Crayola Sale, bringing in $45,132.00. United Way will use these funds to continue implementing their vision statement of crafting human care agendas within and across our communities, building coalitions around these agendas and increasing investments by expanding and diversifying resource development. The staff, board members and volunteers at United Way work tirelessly to ensure that these investments have recognizable impacts, and extend their thanks to Crayola for leading the way for other businesses to invest in our community.

Crayola Canada believes that every person in the community deserves an opportunity for a quality and colourful life: “We are very fortunate that the annual Crayola Sale can assist children, youth, and adults in the City of Kawartha Lakes.  The sale started simply as a yard sale with a few Crayola products added in.  It was the beginning of a long-term relationship and, thanks to the efforts of countless volunteers from Crayola, the UWCKL, and the community, it has grown to its current form.”

Penny Barton Dyke, Executive Director of the United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes shares her gratitude: “Our campaign this year has been about inspiring others to care and to lead.  Crayola and its employees truly are exceptional in their commitment to helping children, youth and families.  Their corporate leadership is outstanding as are the employees who volunteer for the sale and join in their workplace campaign. It is amazing to see shoppers from across the province support the sale and know there is a ripple effect in addition to the funds helping thousands of children and their families for 31 years. We would also like to thank the LEX for hosting the sale once again this year; when we all work together on community projects, lifelong impacts happen.”

United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes and Crayola Canada have recently launched an exciting development in their partnership. In 2019, Crayola Canada, Fleming College and United Way CKL partnered to develop nearly 2 acres of unused land on the lot adjacent to the Crayola building into Edwin Binney’s Community Garden. Some of the funds raised at the 31st Annual Crayola Sale will go towards this Community Garden project, which in its first year of operation was able to provide over 5,500 pounds of produce to 10 food banks and 11 agencies in the City of Kawartha Lakes, while also teaching agriculture workshops to 350 children from 15 school and summer camp groups. Plans for expansion in year 2 are well under way; those interested in getting involved should follow United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes on Instagram (@unitedwayckl), Twitter (@UnitedWayCKL), and Facebook (@UWCKL).

By |2019-11-27T10:13:06-05:00November 27th, 2019|News|0 Comments

2019 Crayola Sale Raffle Winners Announced

United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes and Crayola Canada are excited to announce the winners from the raffle that took place at the 31st annual Crayola Sale last weekend! Crayola and United Way would like to congratulate:

1st prize!

Congratulations Tracey Newlove!

2nd Prize

Congratulations Linda Rodger!

3rd Prize

Congratulations Melissa Franzen!

By |2019-11-27T10:24:55-05:00November 21st, 2019|News, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Volunteers Needed!

WHO: Any and all volunteers who are willing to help us close down Edwin Binney’s Community Garden for the season!

WHAT: We will be harvesting the last vegetables of the season, putting the compost pile to good use, moving some of our perennial plants, and emptying the raised garden beds at the front of the garden. Some moderate physical activity will be required so please come prepared with water bottles, closed toe shoes, and weather appropriate clothing. (Important: wear clothes and footwear that you don’t mind getting dirty!)

WHEN: Thursday October 17th from 1-4pm

WHERE: Edwin Binney’s Community Garden (15 Mary St W, the large garden adjacent to the Crayola Canada building). Parking is very limited so please walk if you are able, or park in the large lot at 55 Mary St W and walk across Crayola’s front lawn to the opening in the fence.

WHY: This garden has provided over 5,000 pounds of fresh produce to people who need it in our community, and it’s time to shut it down for the season so we can properly prepare for year two!

HOW: Just show up! Anytime between 1-4pm. We will be there.

By |2019-10-10T14:14:34-04:00October 10th, 2019|News|0 Comments

Edwin Binney’s Community Garden Hits Huge Milestone

United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes is excited to announce that its newest endeavour in food security work is paying off in a big way- 1,046 pounds worth, to be exact! Edwin Binney’s Community Garden is the name of the new endeavour: it is 30,000 square feet of Crayola Canada’s previously unused land that United Way and Fleming College staff have developed into a fully operational community garden. The garden is maintained by staff from both United Way for the City of Kawartha  Lakes and Fleming College’s Sustainable Agriculture program, as well as several volunteers from Crayola Canada, Farm Credit Canada, and the community.

In just two months since its Grand Opening, staff and volunteers at Edwin Binney’s Community Garden have: planted and maintained 30,000 square feet of land plus twenty-four colourful raised garden beds; set up an innovative and sustainable irrigation system; hosted educational workshops for kids ranging from 3 to 17 years old; and harvested and donated 1,046 pounds of fresh vegetables to local agencies such as food banks, shelters, the Good Food Box, and kids programming agencies.

The work is far from over! “1,046 pounds of vegetables is a huge milestone for us, and we are so excited to share this news with the community,” said Elly Millington, Projects and Communications Coordinator at United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes. “The excitement doesn’t end here for us this summer; we are only just getting started with the harvest and are putting out a call for more volunteers to help with our first annual fall harvest. If you enjoy spending time outside and want to get your hands dirty while helping your community, we want to meet you!”

Anyone interested in volunteering their time to help with a worthy and innovative cause should contact the United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes office at 705-878-5081 or fill out the volunteer form here.

By |2019-08-27T09:39:11-04:00August 26th, 2019|News|0 Comments

2019-2020 Campaign Chairperson Announcement

The United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes is pleased to announce their Campaign Chair for the 2019-2020 Campaign. The Campaign Chair will be Inspector Tim Tatchell, the Detachment Commander for the City of Kawartha Lakes Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police. 2018-2019 Campaign Chair Kawartha Lakes Police Chief Mark Mitchell joined Tatchell and United Way CKL Executive Director Penny Barton Dyke to make the announcement on BOB FM.

“I am excited to take on the role of Campaign Chair and work with the staff at the United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes during their 2019-2020 campaign. We all lead busy lives but when I saw the great work being done in our community by the local United Way and their awesome partners I knew it was important that I do my small part, and commit my time to assist them in achieving their goals,” Inspector Tatchell said, “Having returned to the Kawartha Lakes in the past year as the Detachment Commander of your local OPP detachment, I look forward to meeting the different community members that actively support the United Way at the many workplace and community events throughout the upcoming year.”

 

“We are thrilled to have Inspector Tim Tatchell as our Campaign Chair for the upcoming campaign. He has embraced the role with enthusiasm and looks forward to learning more about the work United Way and its member agencies does in the community,” said Barton Dyke. “The number of people who benefit from United Way funded programming continues to grow as over 50,000 people now access services in City of Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County. This increase is a testament to our funded agencies’ ability to be aware of emerging needs in our community and to adapt their programs and services to address these needs.”

United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes supports agencies and programming in the City of Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County. All funds raised stay local. Therefore, funds raised in City of Kawartha Lakes stay in CKL and funds raised in Haliburton County stay in Haliburton County.

 

United Way CKL would like to thank Chief Mitchell for his continued support and for engaging Inspector Tatchell as Campaign Chair.

United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes would also like to invite the community to join us for our campaign Kickoff at Smitty’s Restaurant on Wednesday, September 11th from 7:30-9am. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased in advance at our office at 50 Mary Street West or reserved by calling 705-878-5081 or emailing communityinvestment@ckl.unitedway.ca

Crayola Sale Date Change: The date of the annual Crayola Sale for United Way has changed. The sale will be on Saturday November 16th from 8am to 12pm at the LEX.

By |2019-08-27T09:40:32-04:00August 13th, 2019|News|0 Comments

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