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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-05-06, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 1987. PAGE 5. Family and Children's Services: BYTOBY RAINEY For the past 76 years, The Family and Children’s Services of Huron County and its forerunner, The Huron County Children’s Aid and Humane Society, has been providing a broad range of services to the people of the county aimed at strengthening family life and improvingchildcare by presenting programs and facilities which have changed and progressed over the years as the social structure of life has changed. Today, May 6, has been named the Children’s Aid Society “Awareness Day,’’ and has been designed tocommemorate the 75th anniversary of the Ontario Associ­ ation of Children’s Aid Societies, which came into being in 1896 after agroupof concerned citizens in our own county became interested in helping needy children. The event is of special signifi­ cance in The Citizen’s readership area since it is expected that a MorrisTownship man, Jim Barnes JIM BARNES ofRR5, Brussels, will be named chairman of the Children’s and Family Services of Huron County’s board of directors at a special meeting this week, while a new board member, Dorothy Coultes, also of RR 5, Brussels, will begin work on the committee consisting of 11 volunteer directors and four representatives appointed by the county, one from each region of Huron. Morris Township Reeve Doug Fraser represents the north-east sector of the county, along with Warden Brian McBurney of Turn­ berry. Allan Gibson of Turnberry, and Bill Mickle of Exeter. The 1987-88 Board of Directors, elected at the association’s annual meet­ ing in Goderich on April 22, consists of Suzanne Symes and Paul Zurbrigg, both of Colborne Township, Roberta Kloss of Bruce- field, Graham McEwan of Bay­ field, Mike Park of Seaforth, Peter Shephard of Goderich Township, Carol Simons of Varna, Dr. Art Steed of Clinton, and Norm Tait of Exeter, along with Mr. Barnes and Mrs. Coultes. The executive will be appointed this week. Mr. Barnes is well known in this area, not only as a sheep farmer on Morris Township’s third line, but also as an English teacher at the Central Huron Secondary School, Clinton and as the husband of the Resource Teacher at both Brussels and Wingham Public Schools, Pat Barnes. Aswell. he has been active as a family and children’s advocate for a number of years, having served on the board of directors of the Wingham Day Care Centre, where as chairman he became prominent in the 1984 battle to retain provincial funding for the centre when such facilities were "As an adopted child, I always felt very special. I used the fact to impress myfriends. " Jim Barnes, Chairman-elect, Family and Children s Services threatened with closure as a result of government cutbacks in fund­ ing. Now entering his fourth year on the Family and Children’s Services board, where he has served as both secretary-treasurer and vice- chairman, Mr. Barnes says he has a special interest in the organiza­ tion because of the role it plays in adoptions in the county: as an adopted child himself, he has always been very proud and gratefulforhisbeginnings, and feels such a role is a vital importance in society. “My adoptive parents were always very open with me about it, ’ ’ he explains. * ‘They always told me they had chosen me in a very special way, and I always used the facttoimpress myfriends. I felt special and I loved it.” Adoption and foster care are only two of the programs for which the society is responsible; others include a counselling service for young, single parents, parent training groups for adults who are having difficulties with their adol­ escents, and an after-school group for teenagers who are having trouble at home, or just need some outside help in a peer-group setting. Individual and family counsell­ ing is also available to families with children under the age of 16, from cases of reported child abuse to families voluntarily asking for help in managing their child’s behavior. Trained social workers are on duty 24 hours a day in case of an emergency in a family with children; intensive in-home coun­ selling is available to young, inexperienced parents; and the Childreach program, which has been available in various centres across the county, is a 12-week program which provides vital social contact to mothers who feel isolated by the demands of young children, while volunteers offer a play group to the kids in a separate area. As well, Family and Children’s Services offer training and service co-ordination around issues relat­ ing tochild abuse identification and treatment, providing com­ munity workersto educate such groups as police, medical person­ nel and teachers, who often must provide the first line of defense to a child. The association also co-ordin­ ates Huron County’s high-profile Christmas Bureau, reaching 400 to 500 needy families each year with gifts of clothing, toys and food hampers; it also runs a summer camp program for more than 100 kids each year, at places as far ranging as the Outward Bound programs right down to local church camps, and provides anoth­ er 200 kids with day-camp oppor­ tunities within their own commun­ ity. The Huron association employs a staff of 22, andoperateson an annual budget of about $1.2 million. The province, under the Ministry of Community and Social Strengthening family ties Services, funds 80 per cent of this, with the county providing the other 20 per cent. However, not all programs are eligible for public funding, and executive director John penn says that more than $50,000 mustbe raised locally each year to support such activities as the Christmas Bureau and the summer camp programs, each of which costs more than $20,000 per year. All of the money raised locally goes directly to the 600 needy families, with about 1,000 child­ ren, across the county, and Mr. Penn says that the people and service clubs of Huron are “Ama­ zingly generous” with their contri­ butions, which range in size from the $2 bill mailed in by a pensioner to several handsome bequests, the result ofsome benefactor’s will. As well, any Huron resident over the age of 18 may become a member of the association for a membership fee of $ 1, and may then run for any psoition on the board of directors at the annual meeting held each spring. But the lifeblood of the Family and Children’s Services of Huron County, both Mr. Penn and Mr. Barnes agree, is its network of volunteers which provides services “whichnoamount of money can buy.” Anyone in the county may offer tobe a volunteer, and in cases where it would help, there is volunteer training available, as well as an orientation program for anyone coming in for the first time. People who have been success­ ful parents themselves are often the best volunteers, according to Mr. Penn, who adds that the list of skills needed covers the entire gamut of helping, from an ability as a little league coach, to people who are “just good with kids,” to the legion of drivers required to keep life running smoothly for the society’s clients the length and breadth of the county. “1 also consider our foster parents volunteers. ’ ’ Mr. Penn says, because although they do get a small allowance to cover expens­ es, it is not nearly enough. Most of them do it just because they care.” The International Scene Tips to foreign travellers BY RAYMOND CANON I can count on one thing when the warm weather starts to roll around. That is precisely the time when friends, real or imagined, will start to introduce foreign travel into their conversations with me. “Where,” they will ask, “are the cheap countries this year?’’ “Whe're can one exchange money at the best rate of exchange?” or even “What airlines or hotels are the best to use?” All this presumes that I have an encyclopedic knowledge of all hotels, airlines and currencies, not to mention the many places where the latter can be exchanged. I doubt whether anybody has such knowledge. Having said that, however, there are things that can be done to tip the odds a bit more in your favour. First of all, currencies. If you have tochange money, the best thing to do is exchange it here in Canada and at a bank. I have three “DON’TS”. Do not exchange your money at the border, in a hotel or at an international airport such as Malton. There may be a few exceptions but the vast majority of the above three places will give you a horrible exchange rate; by that I mean that it is very much to their benefit and not to yours. Stick with the banks. On the subject of cheap coun­ tries, “I’m not sure whether some people think that countries take turns at being cheap for Cana­ dians. This is most assuredly not true. Switzerland is always rather expensive as I discover over and over again when I get there. Portugal on the other hand always seems to be cheap. There may be changes over a long period of time but not in the short run unless, of course, there are dramatic changes in the value of the Canadian dollar. Finally I would like to get to the topic of tipping, a subject that seems to bedevil many travellers. They seem uncertain as to the proper procedure and they end up far too often overtipping. This is certainly appreciated by the re­ cipients, many of which are staunch members of the Order of the Out-stretched Palm. To be honest, manyofthese members make only minimum wagesand are thereby dependent on the tipping system for much of their income. They are delighted when people overtip and it is understandable that they are not going to do much tocorrectthe customer’s ignor­ ance. If you are travelling in another country, it would do you no harm to find out if the tip is included in the bill that you are paying. In some places it is, and it is generally at the rate of 15 per cent and, if this is the case, your problem is solved. If your French or German is non-exis- tent, try looking for the words ‘compris’ or ‘inbegriffen’ at the bottom of the bill. Those are the words that count and they mean thatyou donot have to leave a tip in a restaurant. If, on the other hand, the service has been excellent, leaving a bit more will not do any harm but not too much, please! lfthereisnotipincluded, the rule of thumb is to leave about 15 per cent or even a bit more if some ofthatexcellentservicehasbeen in evidence. Remember, too, that the lack of a tip is your way of showing that the service left a lot to be desired. Don’t back down on this and ignore any signs of displeasure at your action on the part of the staff. Just leave and resolve not to go back there again. If you are driving in another country and a gas station attendant goes out of his way to be helpful in putting in oil, checking anything that you might have over'ooked and is pleasant doing it, reward him for his behaviour. Depending on the size of the bill 50c - $ 1.00 in the local currency would be in order. Don't be intimidated under any circumstances. English-speaking people have a reputation of backing down under pressure and even though your knowledge of the language may be superior to others, if you are speaking En­ glish, the obnoxious ones have ways of bringing you down to size. Thereare a few you can use too. The word for “bill" in a restaurant in France is “addition." If you think you have been overcharged, ask for the “multiplication." That is guaranteed to get an instant reaction. Please add the bill to make sure it is correctly calcula ted. You will sometimes be surprised what elementary mistakes can be made. In short, reward good service and good food. Do not under any circumstances reward incompe­ tence, arrogance,rudcnessand the like. You are not doing you or your fellow tourists any favour.