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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2004-09-23, Page 14Treasure Valley Crocus Naked Ladies are coming at 38929 Belgrave Road and 39721 Amberley Road Potted blooms for sale Treasure Valley Crocus 357-2697 NEWS RELEASE On Tuesday, September 14, Huron County Council agreed to support Zurich's Blue Water Rest Home with redevelopment of their Long Term Care (LTC) beds by acting as guarantor for the mortgage that the Home for the Aged would have - to, undertake to meet its project requirements. Blue Water is a charitable, non-profit, community-operated Long Term Care facility that opened in 1966. Its 65-bed operation was designated by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care in 2000 as a split "D" and "C" facility, one of a very small number of Homes in Ontario to receive such a designation. Under. Ministry guidelines the Home is required to redevelop the "D" beds in order to meet current standards for LTC facilities. However, since only 34 of the beds were designated "D", the Ministry funding available for the Home was inadequate for the scale of the project. Although Blue Water has never operated with a deficit, the Board and Administration was challenged to produce a financially viable capital plan. Much of the existing amenity and service space dates back to the original building, and the Home is challenged with redeveloping much of its infrastructure with little equity and inadequate capital funding. Blue Water presented a number of redevelopment scenarios to Huron County Council. They agreed that Blue Water's continued presence in Zurich is fundamental to maintain the necessary number of LTC beds for Huron, and for the Home to continue to be a strong employment and economic force in the southern part of the County. As well, the County, through downloading of social housing responsibilities, also oversees the September 17, 2004 operation of 34 seniors apartments that are part of the Blue Water corporation, and already carries a contingent responsibility for those units. There are still a number of approvals to come from the Province before Blue Water can proceed to redevelop, and the County's support for the Home is conditional on those approvals being received along with other conditions being met. For example, Blue Water is asking that the provincial capital funding that would normally flow after project completion be provided up front to provide necessary equity for lenders. Blue Water is also requesting access to a mortgage at the lowest possible interest rate. Huron County Warden, Bill Dowson, said: "The County's support for the Home hinges on a number of conditions being met to our satisfaction, and the County acknowledges that there are numerous hurdles yet to come for Blue Water before the province will allow the project to go ahead. However, we're confident that they can successfully meet the challenges, and Queen's Park will view our support as an important contribution. It's important that all residents of Huron have equal access to quality Long Term Care across the large area we have to cover." Blue Water Rest Home Board Chair, Brian McHugh, said: "One of the conditions that we will be fulfilling quickly is to ask our membership to approve the addition of two County representatives to our Board. We welcome their experience and wisdom as we proceed with the next steps in this large and complex undertaking, and we are extremely grateful to County Council and the County Administrative staff for all their support." For further information on this release, please contact: Bill Dowson, Warden, The County of Huron, 1 Court House Square, Goderich, ON N7A 1M2 Tel: (519) 524-8394 Martha Craig, Administrator, Blue Water Rest Home, RR#3 Zurich, ON NOM 2T0 Tel: (519) 236-4373 PAGE 14 THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2004. Groups work together to Drive Away Hunger behind it (the project.) Some people in our community don't have a lot to eat and this is a great way to help them," said Mitchell. So, together with Rob Snell of Grey Central Public School, they organized a collection box in every room from kindergarten to Grade 8 at both schools. "Whenever we can, we try to give our students the opportunity to be good citizens and understand the important values of helping others," said Mitchell. The students from Grey Central Public School collected 326 pounds of food and the students from Brussels Public School collected 364 pounds of food plus $95 in cash donations. Initially, the tour was planned as a project that would lead up to the FCC's national promotional campaign designed to inspire others from across the country to give. "It's a perfect fit," said John Ryan, FCC's president and CEO. "Our community investments are directed towards organizations that matter to our employees and customers. Dale's involvement in this tour is a great example of the caring people Continued on page 15 Group effort Students from Brussels Public School joined Dale Snider's fight against hunger through his Drive Away Hunger campaign where he travelled by tractor to various towns, collecting food and cash donations to help feed the hungry in Huron County. With a food box in every room, students from kindergarten to Grade 8 managed to collect 364 pounds of food plus $95 in cash donations. (Elyse DeBruyn photo) By Elyse DeBruyn Citizen staff A Kitchener-area man took to the roads last week in an effort to fight hunger and bring awarness to food issues in the region. Building up to World Food Day, Dale Snider, the Listowel' district manager of Farm Credit Canada (FCC), launched a Drive Away Hunger tour on Sept. 13, rolling through several communities in mid- western Ontario over a period of eight days. - Snider drove a tractor pulling a flat-bed trailer full of food donations that he collected on his winding route which began at the FCC office in. Listowel. "It's the world's largest shopping cart," Snider joked. "I just wanted to do something to support agriculture and bring awareness to the hunger issues." His goal was to pull in over 20,000 pounds of food or cash donations for local food banks. FCC agreed to match the first 10,000 units collected towards the tour's goal. In an effort to get local business involved. Snider approached MDL Doors in Brussels to make a commitment to his cause. MDL Doors supervisors who thought it was a great project for , the employees to get involved in. Supervisor Gary McNevitts devised a plan to divide all employees into two teams. Each team member was able to purchase "squares" on a board for $5 and then through the process of elimination, one winner per team was determined. The two winners received a day off with pay on the Friday prior to the Labour Day weekend in September. Employees raised $670 which was then matched by MDL Doors president Mervin Lichty, making a grand total of $1,340. Taking the money to Brussels Foodland, Stroops Meat Market and Smiths Packaging, MDL Doors employees received extra donations and price breaks to purchase food for the food bank. MDL Doors committed to 500 pounds of food, but went well over their goal. On Sept. 15, Snider stopped at MDL Doors to collect the donations. He said, although he was only two days into his tour, he already had 2,646 pounds of food. He said it was about a 50/50 split between food and cash donations. "I'm stunned. I didn't think I would get this much so fast," said Snider. After only the second day, the truck carrying all the food that Snider collected, was full and had to be dropped off at the Salvation Army in Listowel. The next drop-off was the Wingham Salvation Army. Salvation Armies throughout the region welcomed the donations and properly distributed them throughout the region. After his stop at MDL Doors, Snider continued on to Brussels Public School where more donations were waiting. Marie Mitchell, a teacher at the school, said she saw an ad in a local paper and decided to drop into the FCC office and talk to Snider. "I agreed with the philosophy