curr
ent
TORONTO (February 6, 2012) – Today marks the beginning of Carpool Week, an annual awareness campaign presented by Metrolinx’s Smart Commute Program, aimed at getting more people to share the ride to work.
For people like CarpoolZone.ca user Cynthia Koch, who commutes from Waterdown to Mississauga, carpooling has becoming an effective way to deal with rising stress levels, and greatly reduces the costs associated with her commute to work. “I was spending two to three hours commuting each day, a tonne of gas, frustration and a lot of stress.” Cynthia now makes arrangements to share driving responsibilities with her colleagues, which she’s found creates time for collaboration and brainstorming. “Some of our best ideas and best initiatives have come out of carpool.”
About Smart Commute
Smart Commute is an initiative of Metrolinx and the municipalities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area that works with employers to improve commuting options for their employees. Smart Commute helps employers and commuters in the GTHA explore different commuting options like carpooling, cycling and transit. Our goal is to ease gridlock, improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while making your commute less expensive and more enjoyable. To date, 204 employers with 524,000 employees across the GTHA have signed on and are designated as Smart Commute workplaces.
About Metrolinx
Metrolinx is the Province of Ontario's regional transportation agency for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). The organization’s mission is to champion, develop and implement an integrated transportation system for our region that enhances prosperity, sustainability and quality of life.
For more information about Carpool Week and carpooling in the GTHA, visit www.smartcommute.ca.
Neighbourhood Network will be accepting gift donations to pass along to our community partner organizations, who will distribute them to individuals and families in need throughout Aurora and Newmarket.
Gift donations can be delivered to:
In Aurora:
Neighbourhood Network’s office
14988 Yonge Street
Monday to Friday
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
In Newmarket:
RC Design
241 Main Street South
Monday to Friday
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
If you cannot drop off your donations, please call us Neighbourhood Network at 905-726-3737 and they will assist.
When you make your donation through Neighbourhood Network, they guarantee that it will reach the hands of someone who needs it most.
Below is a list of some items that have been requested by families in need.
- Older children – DVDs, (Cars 2, Fast Five, Pirates of the Caribbean DVD set)
- CDs (Mariana Trenche, Hedley)
- Teens – clothing
- Arts & crafts for adults
- Puzzles
- Books
- Gift cards – grocery stores, Sears, Zellers, Walmart, gas stations, Tim Hortons, Costco, Best Buy, HMV, EB Games, Mastermind Toys, Upper Canada Mall, Lasenza, Stitches, Winners, Chapters
- Long distance calling cards
- Movie passes - Silvercity
- Alarm clocks
- Watches
- Wallets
- MP3 players with earphones
- Lamps/flashlights
- Hats/gloves/scarves
- Winter vests, coats, fleece sweaters
- Socks, slippers
- Magazines
- hair products, brushes, combs
- Running shoes
- Track pants
- Pj’s
- Bedding
- Coffee makers
- Toasters
- Sets of drinking glasses
- Cutlery sets
- Plate sets
- Towels
- Cleaning supplies
- Laundry baskets
- Mom gifts – perfume, make up, sweaters, pj’s, creams, gloves, slippers, robes
- Wii Pictionary
- Wii Sports Resort
- Baby Formula – Good start Omega 3
- Men’s clothing (winter boots size 10, hooded sweats, work pants 36Wx34L)
- Calendars, Day Planners
- iPod
There are so many reasons to recycle your e-waste - whether you want to help save the environment or help save yourself from identity theft, it's important that electronic devices are disposed of properly. ARTEX Environmental Corporation in conjunction with the Town of Newmarket is here to help you do just that on October 1st!
Saturday, October 1st, 2011 join Regional Councillor John Taylor at the Ray Twinney Recreation Complex and help do your part to save the environment!
Click here for more details on the time and place. For futher information, you can find the FAQ's here.
Magna International Inc. today announced that the Company will match a $1 million contribution from the community toward the establishment of Belinda’s Place, York Region’s first homeless shelter for single women.
Magna is matching a $1 million contribution that has been pledged by the Belinda’s Place Foundation, established in June 2009.
“Magna is proud to be a supporter of this vital community initiative,” said Marc Neeb, Executive Vice-President, Global Human Resources at Magna. “The Magna donation will help give women without a home the shelter, skills and resources they need to get back on their feet and start anew.”
Expected to open in 2013, Belinda’s Place will offer single homeless women the opportunity to rebuild their lives through life-changing services that promote stability, dignity and self-reliance.
For more information, please visit Belinda's Place, or click here to see the work we've done for Belinda's Place.
Robbie Maddison was paid $2M by Red Bull to do this jump - but he says he wouldn't do it again, not even for $10M...Click "Read More" below to watch the video!!
Some of Ontario’s poorest children will be going back to school this year with full backpacks and new running shoes, thanks to a big-hearted Aurora family.
(Aurora, Ont.) Like many Canadians, 21-year-old Jordyn Harrison and his 17-year-old sister Brooke didn’t realize they had a Third World in their own northern backyard. It wasn’t until Brooke heard a talk at a local Aurora church by Anglican Bishop Mark Macdonald that she learned of Ontario’s Ojibwa and Cree children going to school hungry and cold. Macdonald, Canada’s first indigenous bishop, compared conditions on northern Ontario reserves to Haiti.
“Brooke and I were blown away,” says her mother, Gina, after discovering that the children lived in overcrowded, mould-filled houses on the isolated, fly-in reserves, many without running water. “We came home and called my son at university and said, "Hey, this is the next bunch of children you should help."
Jordyn Harrison has been helping children in foster care with his charity, Kids for Kids since he was eleven-years-old. Sending backpacks and duffle bags with a book and gift to thousands of children in over 23 CAS agencies in the province, he has garnered a host of awards for his generous civic engagement, including the Ontario Junior Citizen’s Award and the Me to We/Free the Children Award.
Brooke, meanwhile, has published two books and donated the proceeds to childhood leukemia research, and is currently the Youth Ambassador for Magna International’s Neighbourhood Network and founder of the Philip Aziz Centre’s Youth Advisory Council.
With the help of Gina and their father Dale, the Harrisons solicited donations from friends, family and businesses, working their way through “wish lists” provided by the communities situated more than 600 kilometers north of Thunder Bay. “The wish lists are incredible, such basic items,” says Gina. “Clean bedding, gently used shoes, warm clothing for the children and school supplies. Every child in this province and country should be entitled to a warm bed and an education.”
The Harrisons discovered what, precisely, was needed by consulting the North-South Partnership for Children, a coalition of caring individuals and organizations in Southern Ontario who have partnered with 30 remote First Nation communities in the North to collectively tackle the poverty. Partners include Rotary Clubs, church congregations, non-profits like Save the Children and UNICEF. It is co-chaired by Chief Donny Morris of Big Trout Lake, and former Senator Landon Pearson of Ottawa.
Most people assume that the federal and provincial governments safeguard the basic needs of First Nations children, but they are wrong.
“I must say when we tell people what we are doing and why,” says Gina, “they are totally shocked as we were!! They had no idea that fellow Canadians are living in such conditions, some communities without a school and some families without running water??
So far, the Harrisons have filled 90 backpacks with a book and gifts, with over 700 more to go, and have collected over 20 boxes of bedding, over 200 pair of new shoes donated by one generous family member, fabric, sewing and notions for a new parent group, baby clothing and warm clothing for children and young adults, boxes of school supplies, books, and art supplies.
They plan to ship the supplies with the help of the Ontario Provincial Police.
The OPP are going to transport the donations from the Harrisons’ home to Sioux Lookout, where the OPP will fly everything to the communities.
For more information, contact:
The Harrisons @ charity4fun@sympatico.ca
Or
Betty- Lou Scholey – Director of Operations
North South Partnership for Children
Betty-lou.scholey@northsouthpartnership.com
416-644-5162 ext 1
On Friday, August 12th, at 7:00 p.m., The Village of Richmond Hill Five Senses Festival will kick-off at the Richmond Hill Centre for Performing Arts, and will continue to take place in the Village of Richmond Hill at Yonge Street & Major Mackenzie Drive, on Saturday, August 13th, at 10:00 a.m. Attend this spectacular festival to view beautiful artworks by local artists, listen to the fabulous Teresa Marchione sing, be entertained by the one and only Mike Mandel, and much more!
Visit www.5sensesfestival.org to learn more about this exciting event. Let your senses come alive!
Mark Holden is a master at creating Expressionist-Pop works. His pieces in the “DJ Cuttin on the Dancefloor” series are in honour of musicians that have influenced him throughout the past 12 years. With his great passion of working with colour, Mark continues to create works of art that are tasteful while keeping consistent with his established and recognizable techniques. A total of 31 paintings are currently in the "DJ Cuttin on the Dancefloor" series.
Visit www.markholden.info to browse through more DJ paintings, or other artworks that Mark has created.
Mark Holden’s work will also be displayed at The Village of Richmond Hill Five Senses Festival, taking place on August 12th and 13th. Visit www.5sensesfestival.org to learn more! If you would like to get in touch with Mark, call (905) 830-2049 or e-mail markwholden@hotmail.com.
The York Region Children’s Aid Society applied to TVO with over 300 other groups for help with building an outdoor playground for children in their care when parents are visiting at their Leslie St. location.
The funding that was to be available for this did not happen and they are seeking your assistance. They have a rubber floor mat surface committed but still need $20,000 to purchase the playground equipment in order to fully complete the project in advance of the July 15, 16 & 17th filming by TVO, in a series called 'Giver'.
“Giver” is a new series on TVO (TV Ontario) where they engage groups of kids in communities across the province of Ontario to revitalize their playgrounds to become community hubs. The show is a first impression of many for all the different aspects of playground construction.
The show aims to unleash the potential of youth by allowing them to use their creativity and imagination to build the most amazing themed playgrounds in areas across Ontario that are in-need of love and giving back to their communities. It teaches them the value of collaboration, responsibility and empowerment.
YRCAS are hoping to generate some funds with local businesses in the Newmarket area in order for to build a car themed playground in the parking lot of the York Regional Children’s Aid Society—an area much in-need of love. This playground will provide kids and their visiting parents a safe, fun space to meet and be observed by a social worker as right now the meeting spaces are very small rooms in the Children’s Aid Society building that make it hard for kids to relax.
Businesses or individuals who participate in the build (while it is being filmed) will be invited to a media event for the opening and will be permanently recognized on an onsite plaque.
HOW TO HELP! If you can assist or know of someone who might donate funds please ask them to contact Leslie directly at 905 895-2318 x6347.