Second Annual Panda Feeds Canada Golf Tournament Brings In $2600 For Kawartha Food Share

Panda Feeds Canada, a grassroots organization aiming to end nationwide hunger starting in Peterborough, hosted its second annual golf tournament at Keystone Links Golf Club and raised $2,600 for Kawartha Food Share.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Parnell.

To date, Panda Feeds Canada has contributed over $15,000 to local food banks and over 20,000 lbs of food.

Beginning in March of 2021, Andrew Parnell created the Instagram page ‘Panda Feeds Canada’ in hopes to gain enough followers to have the ability to present advertisements and sponsorships via the social media platform.

Mid April of this year that account got hacked, and ultimately had to be deleted which means everything that Parnell had been working towards was gone - though that didn’t stop him.

Parnell started from scratch and is slowly gaining followers back.

The golf tournament was already in motion before the original account was deleted, and went off successfully.

Because of KFS’s buying power, the $2,600 donated by Parnell will have approximately six times the buying power - meaning they can purchase $15,600 worth of food.

He hopes that next year the golf tournament generates over $5,000.

“Try and make a difference. You might put some hard hours into it but you’ll feel good about what you’ve done, even if you only make a minor change and help one person it’s worth it,” said Parnell in a part interview with PTBOCanada. “There’s too much negativity in this world right now so any kindness and compassion that we can put out into the universe is only going to help everyone in the long run.”

To donate to Kawartha Food Share click here. To be featured on Panada Feeds Canada send a screenshot of your donation via direct message.

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Rotary Club Of Peterborough Kawartha Commits $25,000 To A New Passenger Coach On Miniature Train At Riverview Park And Zoo

The Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha has committed $25,000 of support to sponsor a passenger coach of the new miniature train at Riverview Park and Zoo.

File Photo.

The passenger coach is one of three available for sponsorship as part of the Park and Zoo’s project to replace the existing locomotive and coaches.

The miniature train ride was first established in 1974 with the support of James Hamilton. After nearly 50 years and many kilometers of service, the existing locomotive and coaches now need to be replaced.

“This generous offer of support by the Peterborough Kawartha Rotary Club is just one more example of a long tradition of the club’s support of our community at large, and the Park and Zoo in particular,” said Jim Moloney, Manager Curator Riverview Park and Zoo. “Their commitment is a big step in putting us on track to meeting our fundraising goal of $300,000.”

"We are excited to once again work with Riverview Park and Zoo. We have committed $25,000 for the purchase of the new miniature train which has always been a major attraction for visitors at the zoo, Community partnerships are very important to our club as shown in our past contributions,” Carl Brown, Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha President. “In the past, Kawartha Rotary has financed park benches and in 2019 provided $30,000 for the purchase and installation of an Outdoor Musical Playground. We know that the new train will provide countless joy to the community.”

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Sysco Central Ontario Donates $4,000 To Kawartha Food Share After Foodie Friday Initiative

Sysco Central Ontario presented a cheque for $4,000 to Kawartha Food Share, on Wednesday.

The Sysco Central Ontario team with Kawartha Food Share GM Ashlee Aitkin in the KFS warehouse. Photo by Angela O’Grady.

Teaming up with PTBOCanada, Sysco Central Ontario sponsored a segment called ‘Foodie Fridays’ which highlighted a local restaurant each Friday.

The same Friday that restaurant was featured, Sysco vowed to donate .50 cents from each entrée sold that evening to Kawartha Food Share.

After featuring over 20 local restaurants, local diners raised $2,000 by purchasing entrees. While Sysco was thrilled with this amount, they thought doubling the donation was fitting.

On Wednesday, representatives from Sysco arrived at Kawartha Food Share to surprise general manager Ashlee Aitkin with the cheque.

“We could buy so much peanut butter with this,” Aitkin joked.

She noted that this time of year donations slow down, after holidays like Christmas and Easter.

“People associate the holidays with giving, so we always get a lot then which we are so grateful for,” she said.

For every one dollar Kawartha Food Share receives they can purchase up to six dollars of food.

Cash donations received by KFS can be used to buy bulk items, and gives them the option to buy items they are in need of.

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Hometown PTBO: Jenn and Braden Glasbergen Putting Up Four Different Front-Yard Displays for Charity

This week on Hometown PTBO, Pete Dalliday talks with Jenn and Braden Glasbergen of Ravenwood Drive about their Easter display, how they put on four different themes a year and strengthening the Peterborough community with their setups.

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Auto Connect Sales Makes Donation To Peterborough Child and Family Services New PlayScape

Auto Connect Sales has made a $1000 donation to Peterborough Child and Family Services to help them complete their new natural playscape at their Antrim Street site.

Photo by Angela O’Grady.

The new Playscape will appear more ‘natural. This project will replace the existing structure with more natural elements like sand, water and open green space. It will be geared more towards younger children than the current structure.

“About five years ago we decided it was time to upgrade our outdoor Playscape, which hasn’t been updated in over 20 years,” said Nicola Lyle, CEO at Peterborough Child and Family Services.

Before they began the planning process, Peterborough Child and Family Services conducted a community consultation to find out what type of play area nearby families wanted. Lyle says that area of town houses a lot of young families, so the consensus was that a play space geared towards young, pre-school aged children would be the best fit. There is no lock on the gate to this facility, so it is open to anyone that wishes to use it.

Auto Connect Sales donates a portion of each sale they make quarterly, do a different local organization each time.

When Peterborough Child and Family Services reached out regarding a donation they had already lined up the organizations they would donate to this year, but liked the proposal so much they made a donation anyways.

“We thought this was really nice for kids to have a space to go to,” said Cheryl Watson. “As nice as Peterborough has been welcoming our new business, it’s nice to give back to the Peterborough community.”

In the past Auto Connect Sales has donated to organizations like Kawartha Food Share, One Roof Community Centre, Operation Catnip and The Peterborough Humane Society. Watson’s love of animals shows in her donating, though she says she likes to spread donations to all different types of charities.

“They’re doing great work and it’s open to everyone,” she said. “It shouldn’t be hard to be a kid, so anytime we can help with something like that it’s great to be able to give them a boost.”

Peterborough Child and Family Services are still fundraising to help complete their new Playscape, click the link to donate.

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Soubliere Family With Friendly Fires Donates $25,000 To The Peterborough Humane Society

The Peterborough Humane Society (PHS) has received a $25,000 donation from Alex Soubliere of Friendly Fires.

The Soubliere family with their dog Olive. Photo courtesy of the Humane Society.

The $25,000 will be distributed to the Peterborough Humane Society’s Our Pet Project capital campaign to build the Peterborough Animal Care Centre (PACC).

In recognition of this donation, the Memorial Patio will be named The Friendly Fires Patio. This Gift will also be recognized on the Donor Wall located in the lobby of the new PACC as ‘Alex Soubliere & Family / Friendly Fires’. The Friendly Fires Patio will be utilized for education sessions, business meetings and for staff and public use.

“We are so very fortunate to have such a dedicated, hard working and committed team at the Peterborough Humane Society that goes above and beyond caring for animals. The fact that they have spearheaded an initiative to have a new world class animal care facility built right here in our city is a testament of just how great this team really is,” said Soubliere. “My entire family, including our Portuguese water dog Olive, is very happy that we could help contribute to the new Animal Care Centre and we hope this helps encourage others to do so as well.”

Photo courtesy of the Humane Society.

“Support from local businesses like Friendly Fires and individuals like Alex and his family are incredibly important to the success of this project. This new Centre will put Peterborough on the map in regards to setting a new standard in animal wellness & care, which in turn will also support our local businesses and community. We are extremely grateful for these relationships, they are what makes our region so amazing!” said Shawn Morey, Executive Director at Peterborough Humane Society.

The Peterborough Animal Care Centre will be over 24,000 square feet and include a state-of-the art Animal Adoption & Education Centre, Publicly Accessible & High-Volume Spay/Neuter Clinic and a Provincial Dog Rehabilitation Centre.

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Kawartha Food Share Receives 5,000 Pounds of Potatoes From Local Organizations

Roughly 5,000 pounds of P.E.I. potatoes travelled across the country to Kawartha Food Share from the Rotary Club of Peterborough and McWilliams Moving & Storage to help feed the community facing food insecurities.

Ashlee Aitken, Kawartha Food Share general manager in front of roughly 50 bags of donated potatoes totalling 5,000 pounds. The P.E.I. potatoes had been an export ban on fresh produce since the end of November. Farmers there have been forced to discard millions of pounds of potatoes. Photo courtesy of Kawartha Food Share.

The new joint effort Peterborough Kawartha, Second Harvest Canada and with support from the Government of Canada got the 500 10-pound bags of potatoes to Kawartha Food share.

Second Harvest arranged for a trailer full of potatoes to be delivered to Barrie. Dan McWilliams of McWilliams Moving & Storage picked up the potatoes and brought them to back Peterborough.

It’s estimated that the potatoes purchased by the Canadian Government will help 9,000 individuals using the food banks within the community.

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Champion Gymnastic Athletes Rallying Around Coach Donating To Ukrainian Relief Efforts

Champion Gymnastic athletes are rallying around their coach Mariya, who is from Ukraine, and donning blue and yellow leotards.

Athletes with Coach Mariya. Photo courtesy of Champion Gymnastics.

Funds from the leotards, purchased from Jagwear Canada, a gymnastic clothing supplier in Mississauga, will support relief efforts in Ukraine.

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Local Entrepreneur Donates Car As a Raffle Prize to Kickstart Not-For-Profit Organization's Fundraiser

A 2022 Nissan Maxima (Platinum Edition) is up for grabs through a Peterborough Northumberland Crime Stoppers raffle thanks to local entrepreneur Steve Daynes as he purchased and donated the car for the cause.

Steve Daynes, general manager of The Staffing Connection and Level A Professional Group (left) with Detective Constable Keith Calderwood of Peterborough Northumberland Crime Stoppers (right). Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Daynes, general manager of The Staffing Connection and Level A Professional Group purchased the vehicle from Trans Canada Nissan — valued at $50,000 —for the raffle’s inaugural year that began last month.

He has been supporting Crime Stoppers for over a decade through initiatives such as sponsoring hockey games and charity golf tournaments hosted by the latter.

"I think it's important because I live in Peterborough and I want to support my community and make sure that it's safe,” said Daynes. “We have locations throughout the area of Peterborough and in Cobourg as a business and I want to make sure we give back to the communities that we serve."

The 2022 Nissan Maxima (Platinum Edition) from Trans Canada Nissan is the first car raffle from Crime Stoppers. Photo courtesy of Peterborough Northumberland Crime Stoppers.

As a not-for-profit organization, Crime Stoppers relies on donations and fundraising efforts to keep the program running.

"It's pretty rewarding to know that there are businesses out there supporting the community," said Detective Constable Keith Calderwood. "It's pretty big for him to step up like that and we're really excited about it."

The raffle for the car is on Sept. 1 during the Crime Stoppers charity golf tournament at the Quarry Golf Club in Ennismore. Four early bird draws of a $500 cash prize are done on Feb. 15, April 15, June 15 and Aug. 15. Gerry Berringer was the winner of the first draw.

To purchase your raffle tickets, click here.

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Nexicom To Double Donations To 4th Line Theatre Emerging VOICES Program Until March

4th Line Theatre announced on Wednesday that Nexicom is doubling donations to the theatres Emerging VOICES Program until March 1.

Photo courtesy of 4th Line Theatre.

“Through our Emerging VOICES engagement program, local youth are given the opportunity to gain experience, skills and training that will ultimately help them to achieve their goals, artistic and other,” said Managing Artistic Director Kim Blackwell. “What makes the program particularly unique is that local young people work alongside and learn from, professional artist. And the program is completely free of charge.”

This is not the first time Nexicom has donated to 4th Line Theatre.

“This unique program recognizes the importance young people play within our community, and gives voice to their ideas and stories through their participation in the Arts. We greatly encourage anyone looking to support the arts to consider this wonderful program,” said Lance Nachoff, Sales and Marketing manager at Nexicom.

4th Line Theatre’s Emerging VOICES Youth Apprenticeship Program requires an average of $20,000 in funding annually in order to effectively train youth volunteers.

4th Line Theatre’s Emerging VOICES Youth Apprenticeship Program requires an average of $20,000 in funding annually in order to effectively train youth volunteers.

In 2021, 4th Line’s dedication to students did not waiver despite the challenges of the pandemic: partnering with Trent University’s Traill College, they employed a group of young, diverse regional youth in a new initiative, The 2021 Young Company. These young artists worked with industry professionals to produce livestream virtual play readings and performance pieces. 

 Generally, in the summer season, as many as 60 or more youth actors are engaged in productions, each contributing more than 210 hours, while learning to work collaboratively to achieve artistic excellence. The Double Your Impact with Nexicom initiative will ensure the program’s success in the theatre’s upcoming 30th season.

To donate, click here or call the 4th Line Theatre Box Office & Administrative Centre at 705-932-4445 until March 1st to qualify for a matching donation by Nexicom.

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