Article - Celebrating Those Who Do Good
3 articles from Sympatico NetLife magazine about celebrating those who do good
Celebrating Those Who Do Good
By June Rogers - Sympatico NetLife Magazine
www.netlifemagazine.com - Nov/Dec 2001
"As the holidays approach, it's time to sing the praises of a few of the local heroes who use the Net for their good works."
Pierre Anthian was ladling soup for the destitute one day at a shelter in Paris, France, when he realized that he wasn't doing enough to help their plight. A few months later, when he moved to Montreal, he started walking the streets and talking to the men who were huddled on the sidewalks, down on their luck.
He offered them the gift of a lifetime. Anthian, who had studied operatic theatre, promised to teach them to sing if they would join his newly formed choir, La Chorale de l'Accueil Bonneau, housed in a shelter for the homeless in Montreal.
Only a few straggled in for the first rehearsal, but Anthian was not deterred. Slowly but surely more men showed up. The ragtag choir, dressed in simple white shirts and black pants, began singing Christmas carols in the echoing halls of the Berri-UQAM metro station. That first performance netted the men $800 in donations, which they divied among themselves.
Besides helping his choir members sing for their supper, Anthian's goal has been to help them to develop enough self-esteem to stop drinking, taking drugs or committing petty crimes. "These men are sailors who have been shipwrecked on the sea of life," he says. "They are trying to keep their heads above water. Many have succeeded. Some have gone back to school, others have found full-time work. Still others have reconciled with their families."
Five years after its first performance, the choir of about 16 men has blossomed into an international touring company, travelling to Europe, the U.S. and across Canada, appearing on TV and producing its own CDs. The choir has also created a Web site (http://itineraire.educ.infinit.net/bonneau), which lists concert dates and venues, so you can catch a performance when it comes to your area.
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Coming in from the Cold
By June Rogers - Sympatico NetLife Magazine
www.netlifemagazine.com - Nov/Dec 2001
One chilly morning in Toronto some 15 years ago, a homeless man named George was found close to death in the area of Bathurst and St. Clair Streets. This disturbed the students of St. Michael's High School and teacher Sister Susan Moran so much that they started the Out of the Cold program.
The initiative came at the right time. Canada's biggest cities had record numbers of homeless people -- kicked out of their homes and apartments in droves because they couldn't afford the cost of living. Today, the Out of the Cold program is operated by an inter-faith group that feeds the hungry and shelters the homeless.
Estimates of the homeless in Toronto now runs as high as 32,000, more than a quarter of whom are children. [ Compare this to the populations of Welland or Fort Erie, here in Niagara. ] Every day during the coldest months of November to May, some 9,000 volunteers in Toronto and York Region serve dinner, breakfasts and lunches to these people. The homeless can also have showers, clean clothes and basic nursing care. Many spend the night in makeshift dormitories in about 100 participating churches, mosques and synagogues.
The new OOTC Web site ( http://www.ootcrc.ca
allows volunteers to sign up and others to make donations online. "We're really looking forward to the response that our Web site will get," says Evande Wilkinson, executive director of the OOTC Resource Center. "This site will also provide job postings for the homeless."
The OOTC organization movement has spread to seven other Ontario cities: Niagara Falls, Welland, Ottawa, Cambridge, Brampton, London and St. Catharines.
On that fateful day when Susan Moran was so disturbed by that homeless man's tragedy, she had no idea how far her efforts would reach. But she can be added to the list of unsung heroes who have selflessly taken up a cause.
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Give us our daily bread
By June Rogers - Sympatico NetLife Magazine
www.netlifemagazine.com - Nov/Dec 2001
In 1983, Sister Marie Tremblay and Brother Robert Hagler opened the doors to the first food bank in Toronto. They asked the food industry to stop throwing out still-edible foodstuffs and instead, donate the food to them.
Susan Cox, executive director of the Daily Bread Food Bank, says, "They were dumping incorrectly labeled products or ones with the wrong colour, when they could have been feeding the poor. The idea was to marry the needs of the hungry with environmental concerns."
Today, the Daily Bread Food Bank ( http://www.dailybread.ca serves more than 170 agencies across the city and is the largest distributor of free food in Canada. Last year alone, more than 140,000 people a month sought food relief, the majority of whom were single moms, the disabled and seniors.
"Our site has helped us to get the message out to the public and explain how we work and how great the need is," says Cox. "It also gives people a practical way to respond, either through online donations or by volunteering."
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The above articles come from the Sympatico NetLife Magazine, which is available online at www.netlifemagazine.com and is available in print six times a year.
By June Rogers - Sympatico NetLife Magazine
www.netlifemagazine.com - Nov/Dec 2001
"As the holidays approach, it's time to sing the praises of a few of the local heroes who use the Net for their good works."
Pierre Anthian was ladling soup for the destitute one day at a shelter in Paris, France, when he realized that he wasn't doing enough to help their plight. A few months later, when he moved to Montreal, he started walking the streets and talking to the men who were huddled on the sidewalks, down on their luck.
He offered them the gift of a lifetime. Anthian, who had studied operatic theatre, promised to teach them to sing if they would join his newly formed choir, La Chorale de l'Accueil Bonneau, housed in a shelter for the homeless in Montreal.
Only a few straggled in for the first rehearsal, but Anthian was not deterred. Slowly but surely more men showed up. The ragtag choir, dressed in simple white shirts and black pants, began singing Christmas carols in the echoing halls of the Berri-UQAM metro station. That first performance netted the men $800 in donations, which they divied among themselves.
Besides helping his choir members sing for their supper, Anthian's goal has been to help them to develop enough self-esteem to stop drinking, taking drugs or committing petty crimes. "These men are sailors who have been shipwrecked on the sea of life," he says. "They are trying to keep their heads above water. Many have succeeded. Some have gone back to school, others have found full-time work. Still others have reconciled with their families."
Five years after its first performance, the choir of about 16 men has blossomed into an international touring company, travelling to Europe, the U.S. and across Canada, appearing on TV and producing its own CDs. The choir has also created a Web site (http://itineraire.educ.infinit.net/bonneau), which lists concert dates and venues, so you can catch a performance when it comes to your area.
-----
Coming in from the Cold
By June Rogers - Sympatico NetLife Magazine
www.netlifemagazine.com - Nov/Dec 2001
One chilly morning in Toronto some 15 years ago, a homeless man named George was found close to death in the area of Bathurst and St. Clair Streets. This disturbed the students of St. Michael's High School and teacher Sister Susan Moran so much that they started the Out of the Cold program.
The initiative came at the right time. Canada's biggest cities had record numbers of homeless people -- kicked out of their homes and apartments in droves because they couldn't afford the cost of living. Today, the Out of the Cold program is operated by an inter-faith group that feeds the hungry and shelters the homeless.
Estimates of the homeless in Toronto now runs as high as 32,000, more than a quarter of whom are children. [ Compare this to the populations of Welland or Fort Erie, here in Niagara. ] Every day during the coldest months of November to May, some 9,000 volunteers in Toronto and York Region serve dinner, breakfasts and lunches to these people. The homeless can also have showers, clean clothes and basic nursing care. Many spend the night in makeshift dormitories in about 100 participating churches, mosques and synagogues.
The new OOTC Web site ( http://www.ootcrc.ca
allows volunteers to sign up and others to make donations online. "We're really looking forward to the response that our Web site will get," says Evande Wilkinson, executive director of the OOTC Resource Center. "This site will also provide job postings for the homeless."The OOTC organization movement has spread to seven other Ontario cities: Niagara Falls, Welland, Ottawa, Cambridge, Brampton, London and St. Catharines.
On that fateful day when Susan Moran was so disturbed by that homeless man's tragedy, she had no idea how far her efforts would reach. But she can be added to the list of unsung heroes who have selflessly taken up a cause.
-----
Give us our daily bread
By June Rogers - Sympatico NetLife Magazine
www.netlifemagazine.com - Nov/Dec 2001
In 1983, Sister Marie Tremblay and Brother Robert Hagler opened the doors to the first food bank in Toronto. They asked the food industry to stop throwing out still-edible foodstuffs and instead, donate the food to them.
Susan Cox, executive director of the Daily Bread Food Bank, says, "They were dumping incorrectly labeled products or ones with the wrong colour, when they could have been feeding the poor. The idea was to marry the needs of the hungry with environmental concerns."
Today, the Daily Bread Food Bank ( http://www.dailybread.ca
serves more than 170 agencies across the city and is the largest distributor of free food in Canada. Last year alone, more than 140,000 people a month sought food relief, the majority of whom were single moms, the disabled and seniors."Our site has helped us to get the message out to the public and explain how we work and how great the need is," says Cox. "It also gives people a practical way to respond, either through online donations or by volunteering."
-----
The above articles come from the Sympatico NetLife Magazine, which is available online at www.netlifemagazine.com and is available in print six times a year.