Globe and Mail: Friends Step up for Lori's Legacy

GIVING BACK

Friends step up for Lori's Legacy

The donors Lorna and Doug Martin

PAUL WALDIE

November 29, 2008

The Gift: Nearly $1-million and climbing

The Cause: St. Joseph's Health Centre Foundation

The Reason: To fund special rooms for cancer patients and medical equipment.

When Lorna and Doug Martin lost their only daughter, Lori, to esophageal cancer in February, 1996, they wanted to do something in her memory. They remembered the old crank-up bed their daughter had at St. Joseph's Health Centre in Toronto and they asked for donations to buy the hospital a new electronic bed. So much money poured in that the couple managed to not only fund a new bed, but also refurbish an entire room with air conditioning, a reclining chair for family members and a warmer decor. The first "Lori's Room" opened in August, 1996, but the Martins didn't stop there.

With the help of friends in their Toronto neighbourhood, they raised more money to fix up other rooms in the hospital's cancer wing. They also started an annual walk-a-thon in 1999 that raised around $75,000 last year.

Today St. Joseph's has 26 Lori's Rooms, which cost about $10,000 apiece. The Lori's Legacy Fund has contributed $500,000 toward construction of a new, spacious chemotherapy clinic and a special quiet room, where doctors, patients and family members can meet privately. It has also funded awards for oncology nurses to help pay for educational courses and it is raising money for a $350,000 digital mammography machine.

"I don't know how to put it but we sort of threw some seeds into a garden, the garden started to grow and it kind of grew way beyond our expectations," said Ms. Martin, 79, who is a retired school secretary. "It started as a mom-and-pop operation at our kitchen table."

When Mr. Martin, a long-time school board administrator and community volunteer, died last year Ms. Martin worried that she wouldn't be able to continue the fund. But a dozen friends have stepped in to help.

"I thought this is going to be the end of Lori's Legacy," she said. "But we have a group that is really gung ho."

pwaldie@globeandmail.com

Calls for bottled water bans grow in Canada

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Calls_for_bottled_water_bans_grow_in_Canada

Saturday, August 23, 2008

London, Ontario is the latest in a string of Canadian cities to have acted on increasing public demand to ban bottled water. On Monday, the decision to eliminate bottled water sales in city-run facilities was passed by London's city council with a vote of 15-3 in favour. The move was driven by a desire to reduce waste and shipping, have a lower impact on the environment and promote tap water as a cheap and safe alternative.

London's new restrictions will be implemented over the next several months in buildings that are already equipped with water fountains. Bottled water will still be permitted at many city-run events, such as upcoming summer festivals. Privately-owned retailers will not be affected by the ban.

Other cities, such as Vancouver, Ottawa and Kitchener, that are already engaged in debate on the issue, may now be watching London carefully for how the ban plays out. Other areas have already begun to phone London with questions on the details of its new regulations. Toronto has begun taking a look at bottled water packaging as part of its waste diversion strategy, and its public school board is looking into the possibility of a total restriction on bottled water sales.

In recent years, an awareness of the energy that is required to manufacture, transport and recycle the product has spread nation-wide. Proponents of the ban point to the fact that it can produce as much as 150 times the volume of greenhouse gas when producing bottled water as compared to supplying the same volume of tap water. They also point out that the water that goes into bottled water products is not inspected as frequently as tap water in Canadian cities.

Some have taken this cause to heart more than others, such as British Environment Minister Phil Woolas, who called the use of bottled water "morally unacceptable." Restaurant critic Giles Coren of The Times of Londoncriticizes those who use the product as "the new smokers."

Canada's beverage industry has come down with criticism on the increasing opposition to bottled water. Spokesman Scott Tabachnick for Coca-Cola Co., which produces Dasani brand bottled water, commented on the convenience of the product: "It's hard to bring your kitchen sink with you."Vancouver City Councillor Tim Stevenson thinks that bottled water's time has come and gone: "Bottled water companies have had a fabulous ride on an unnecessary fad." Vancouver officials are still determining how bottled water restrictions, which have been voted for by the City Council, can be phased in.

Next month, the city is planning to initiate a marketing campaign encouraging Vancouver residents to choose tap water and to remember to carry reusable drinking containers whenever possible.

Renowned environmental activist Dr. David Suzuki has praised London's decision, saying that it represents a turning point for people's perceptions on the issue: "I'm really delighted that London has done this because it really makes us focus on some fundamental issues." He hopes that someday people will "look at anyone who hauls out a bottle of water and say, 'What the hell's wrong with you?'"

Important Meeting in our Community, November 27, 2008

Your participation is very important.

For information on this issue see:

www.fiftyonelakeshoredrive.blogspot.com

Community Consultation Meeting

Meeting Date: Thursday, November 27, 2008

Meeting Time: 7 P.M. to 9 P.M.

Meeting Location: The Assembly Hall, in the Performance Hall

1 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive

Planning application for: 51 LAKE SHORE DRIVE

Site

The site is located at the southeast corner of Lake Shore Drive and Fourth Street, and is adjacent to Lake Ontario. The property is almost rectangular in shape and generally flat.  A two-storey building exists at the front of the property beside Lake Shore Drive and was formerly used by Lake Side Lodge, a seniors retirement home.

Proposal

The development proposal is to permit a 4-storey townhouse block containing 7 townhouse dwelling units. Driveway access to six of the townhouse units will be from Lake Shore Drive. Driveway access to the most southerly townhouse unit in the block will be from Fourth Street. The front facades of all the townhouse units will face Fourth Street.

Purpose of the Meeting

The meeting will provide an opportunity for the community to have input on this project, view the plans and ask questions.  If you cannot attend the meeting, you can still make your views known by sending a fax to  (416) 394-6063 or by writing to Gregg Lintern, Director, Community Planning, Etobicoke York District, City Planning Division, 2 Civic Centre Crt.  3^rd Floor, Toronto On., M9C 5A3.

If you would like further information about the proposal, please contact Greg Hobson-Garcia, Planner, at (416) 394-2615.

You may also contact Councillor Mark Grimes, Ward 6, at (416) 397-9273 or by email to councillor_grimes@toronto.ca

Notice to correspondents

Personal information received at the community consultation meeting or contained in your correspondence to the City, is collected under the City of Toronto Act, 2006, the Planning Act, and the City of Toronto Municipal Code.  The City collects this information to enable it to make an informed decision on the relevant issue(s).  Individuals who submit correspondence should be aware that any personal information in their communication will become part of the public record.  The City will make it available to the public, unless the individual expressly requests the City to remove the personal information.  Questions about the collection of this information may be directed to the Planner listed above.

Attendant Care Services can be made available with some advance notice.

We were away

We were away on vacation for several weeks.  Please wait for us while we reorganize ourself and get back to publishing community news.

Warmest regards,

April