The House of Lazarus recently suffered a devastating fire at it's food bank in South Mountain. With the exception of one freezer of meat, everything else in the food bank was lost. Our club has donated $1000 to help them rebuild and replenish their supplies. Pictured below, club treasurer Dave Pelletier presents our cheque to House of Lazarus executive director Cathy Ashby.

 

 

We would challenge other service clubs and businesses to match our donation to this valued organization that assists so many in this area.

The speaker at our March 28th meeting was Angie Brown. Angie has lived in Kemptville most of her life. She currently works for Victim Services (Leeds & Grenville) as a crisis response team leader and as a homeless outreach coordinator. At various times she has managed our local food bank, volunteered with the Fill-A-Bag food drive, kettles, been a coordinator of a teen moms program, coordinator of the community Christmas dinner, friendship lunch board and local volunteer. 

 

 

In her presentation, Angie provided some insight into the hidden poverty in our community. We tend to think of homelessness and individuals sleeping on the streets which we really don't see here. What we don't see is the number of people "couch surfing", that is sleeping on a friend's couch for a couple of days or in their car if they can afford one. The lack of affordable housing in this area makes a difficult for people to get by. Without adequate housing, it is impossible for most to maintain any sort of employment, which also has an adverse effect on a person's mental health. This is just one example of the need.

Angie's presentation was an eye opener for many of us as to just how great the need in our community is.

Rotarians Cora and John Beking recently returned from working on a project in El Salvador. The project involved the purchase and distribution of smokeless stoves to the needy population. The stoves which are brick and mortar with a flat metal surface burn at a high temperature with a minimum of wood needed to fuel them. The stoves, which cost US$100 each are donated by contributions from area Rotary Clubs and are provided to underprivileged families. It should be noted that the stoves aren't free and that each family pays a small amount (to us) to receive one. Being smokeless, the stoves greatly improve the air quality in the homes where they are used. For more information, please contact our Rotary Club.

 

 

Pictured above, Rotarians John and Cora serve a traditional El Salvadorian meal to members and guests for the evening.