St. John's Community News

The City of Oshawa is looking for people to join their newest consultative committee – the Community Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. The committee’s goal is to develop a community-driven model for supporting the implementation of the Diversity and Inclusion Plan.

Although the province has several months until snowmobiling weather, the summer is a good time to groom trails and fix up old bridges. A group of volunteers took advantage of some nice weather over the weekend to get together and fix up one of the bridges in George’s Brook that was in need of repairs.

The not-for-profit organization has been in operation for 15 years and has awarded $150,000 in scholarships for leadership and volunteer work. The organization says they will continue to be present in the community even during the pandemic. They will alter their events and community participation to fit public health guidelines.

After a flood of community financial support, a daycare in the Shea Heights neighbourhood of St. John's that had said it would have to close its doors Friday is now able to stay open, at least for now. At the beginning of the week, the situation at Panda Bear Daycare was dire. COVID-19 complications had forced its already struggling operation into a financial corner, and the head of its volunteer board estimated they'd need $20,000 immediately to live to see another week.

Partnering with Global Medic, Oshawa firefighters dropped of food boxes to 100 families in need. Tiffany Wallace, a dispatcher with Oshawa Fire Services who helped organize the project, explains the food came from Toronto through a partnership with GlobalMedic and Hand Up Toronto.

Volunteer Week kicks off today, and like everything these days, the way in which volunteers are being recognized has changed. Penelope Rowe of the Community Sector Council says Volunteer Week normally includes a variety of means to celebrate and recognized the work of volunteers in Newfoundland and Labrador, but they’ll have to do things differently this year.