The holiday season is upon us, and the New Year is fast approaching, so this seems like an opportune time for an update on the happenings at Land O’ Lakes Community Services. 2015 has been a busy and productive year for both our community based services and Pine Meadow Nursing Home as well as for the board of directors. Following are a few highlights of what’s going on.

Christmas Hamper Program:

With the support of our community and the hard work of our dedicated staff, the Christmas Hamper program has been helping local area families at Christmas time for ­31years. Through this program, we are able to provide local families with all the ‘fixins’ for a traditional Christmas dinner and a bit extra to help through the season. We also provide gifts for the kids to help make the season a little brighter.

The deadline to apply for a Christmas Hamper this year is December 4; you will need to come to the office and request an application. Hampers will be ready for pick-up on December 22 and delivery on the 23.

If you would like to help, we are accepting donations of non-perishable food items and new toys that can be dropped off at the office. Of course, monetary donations are also accepted, with tax receipts provided. For more information about the program, please call the office at 613-336-8934 and ask for Penny.

Partnerships:

Once again this year, we partnered with Napanee Community Health Centre and the O.P.P. to take applications for and help provide 40 local area children with winter boots, and with Clothes for Kids to supply 60 area children with warm winter outerwear.

Community Support Services:

Adult Drop-In: The Christmas dinner for Adult Drop-In will be held on Dec. 15 at noon at the Lions Hall in Northbrook. For a cost of $13 you can enjoy a home cooked Christmas lunch, prepared by our volunteer cooks. You also get to enjoy a bit of entertainment and the company of others from the community. If you plan on attending this drop-in, please contact Pam by Dec.1, as we need to know the numbers for preparation.

“The Golden Girls” is a new women’s group and their first meeting was very successful; 18 women participated in the group and it sounds as though everyone enjoyed it. If you are interested in joining the group or would like more information, call the office @ 613-336-8934 and ask for Pam.

Pine Meadow Nursing Home

As you are probably already aware, the redevelopment of Pine Meadow is complete, and the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care gave us the designation of a “new” home. However, as with all infrastructures, there are ongoing needs, and we are currently undergoing efforts to replace many aging windows.

We have also applied to the South East LHIN (Local Health Integration Network) for licensing for four new beds. This has been an ongoing process and our waiting list shows the need for these beds. There are petitions available in the community for you to sign and show your support of this need; petitions are located at Pine Meadow Nursing Home, Land O’ Lakes Community Services, and Lakelands Family Health Team. Please consider stopping to sign one of the petitions.

Each year, nearly a million seniors and people with disabilities use the services offered by Ontario's community support service (CSS) providers - and that demand is growing, Even If you've never heard of these unsung heroes of the health care system, you've benefited from their work.

October was Community Support month, but any time is a good opportunity for Ontarians to get to know, donate, volunteer and raise their voices in support of the not-for-profit CSS providers in their local areas. They offer a wide variety of services which help people live independently in their own homes for as long as possible. These services include attendant care, adult day programs, Meals on Wheels, respite for family caregivers, personal care and home support, transportation to medical appointments, and supportive housing programs (to name just a few).

In Northbrook, Land O' Lakes Community Services (LOLCS) offers five different services to seniors in our catchment area. We provide Transportation, Meals on Wheels, Homemaking and Congregate Dining. These four programs are all fee for service. We do have subsidies available for individuals who have limited income. The fifth service is our Care Givers support services. This service provides education on various health-related issues and one-on-one support to seniors and their care givers.

Individuals prefer to receive support in the comfort of their own homes and communities, not in hospitals and institutions. By meeting this need, CSS providers improve the quality of life of clients and their families - and they also create significant cost-savings to Ontario's health system, freeing up desperately needed funds and hospital beds. They are a crucial part of building the strong, sustainable health care system we will all need In the future.

"I encourage all Ontarians to learn about the home and community support services available In their communities," says Deborah Simon, CEO of the Ontario Community Support Association.

''These organizations support a vast range of individuals In our communities - including some of our most vulnerable citizens. This month is an excellent opportunity to give them a little extra support in return."

Land O' Lakes Community Services is a community based· multi-services organization located in the Township of Addington Highlands. We provide three distinct programs, one of which is the Community Support Services for seniors. Last year we provided services for 654 different individuals. It is our goal to keep seniors healthy and in their own homes for as long as possible.

The Community Drop In is a weekly meeting place for people of all ages, abilities and interests. Each Wednesday about 25 people meet at the Anglican Church hall in Sharbot Lake to connect with friends, enjoy a friendly game or two and share a home-cooked noon meal. The Drop In, which began in 1996, is a collaborative effort between Northern Frontenac Community Services and Community Living-North Frontenac. Over the past 19 years the Drop In has grown from an average weekly attendance of 12 to a single highest gathering of 40 at a BBQ this past summer. Favourite meals include pork chops, Pizza and Lasagna, often served with homemade bread fresh from the oven. We wish to thank St. Andrew’s Anglican Church for their continued support over the past 19 years as well as many individuals who regularly donate their time and talents. Everyone is welcome at the Drop In every Wednesday from 9am till 3pm, where the first coffee is always free. See you at the Drop In.

Nine-year-old Leila Lawrence-Montag of Harrowsmith offers a bag of donated groceries to volunteers with the Southern Frontenac Community Services Food Bank who were collecting food and cash donations outside the Foodland in Sydenham on October 3. The items deemed most needed by coordinators at the Food Bank include canned meats (tuna, salmon, ham and chicken and turkey), beans, soups, chilis and stews, pasta sauces, canned fruits and vegetables, peanut butter jams and jellies, dry rice and pasta, cold cereals and assorted lunch snacks like granola bars, puddings and apple sauce. For those who missed the event, any food and/or cash and cheque donations can be dropped off at 4419 George Street in Sydenham any time from 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. 

Northern Frontenac Community Services took a look backwards at their Annual General Meeting (AGM) last week.

Since the agency, which provides services for children, youth, families, and the elderly, is 40 years old, former staff and board members came out to mark the occasion. Marcel Giroux, who was involved in the founding of the agency in the early 1970s, talked about the early days in the basement of the manse of the Anglican Church, pumping out a newsletter on a Gestetner, and holding public meeting after public meeting in order to get some services established. Susan Ablack, who worked for and with NFCS from 1986 until she retired as the rural worker for Providence Care early this year, spoke about the way NFCS developed and maintained a caring service model, and survived attempts by the government of the day to shut it down.

Frances Smith talked about the early 1980s, when she was the welfare officer for Oso township and decided it was unwise to continue doing that job out of her own home when a client made a not so veiled threat to her one day.

“They found a corner of the basement for me at NFCS, and its was great to have people around who were working with the community, just as we were at the township,” she said

Marcie Webster, who has worked as a playgroup leader and Aboriginal programs co-ordinator since the early 1990s, spoke about some of the changes that have come about in Children's Services.

“I remember a pickup truck carrying two or three families coming to playgroup one time. There were kids and parents in the front, in the cab, and in the back of the truck there were more. That shows how things have changed,” she said.

Aside from the reminiscences, the AGM business was conducted, but before that the annual Life Membership Awards were given out, this year to Vern and June Crawford. The Crawfords are long time volunteers with NFCS, delivering Meals on Wheels to the most remote households in the region.

“Vern had a knee replacement last year,” said Community Support Services Co-ordinator Catherine Tysick, “and I had to deliver meals for a few weeks. I kept calling back to the office to say I was lost and they said to keep driving. When the Crawfords were coming back I told the clients not to worry; they would start getting hot meals again the following week.”

This was the first AGM for the new NFCS Executive Director Louise Moody. She said she was honoured to be working in an agency with such a history and thanked the staff and board for their support in her first few months on the job.

Check your social calendars to make sure you are free to participate in what promises to be a highlight of the fall season. Community Living-North Frontenac (CL-NF) is sponsoring a Masquerade Ball at St. James Major Church Hall in Sharbot Lake on Saturday night, October 24, starting at 8:00 pm.

“We want to share more with the community,” said Dean Walsh, CL-NF Executive Director. “This is a community that is very inclusive. People here love to support each other, and when one of our managers, Marcel Quenneville, said we should try putting on a ball, we thought, why not.”

The theme of the evening is late 19th, early 20th century dress, the Edwardian era of ball gowns and formal attire for men. CL-NF will have masks that people can purchase as well.

Anne Archer will set the evening with some classical flute music, and Community Living's own Brian Roche will perform as a well, followed by DJ Dave Barr spinning the tunes. It will be a licensed event with Perth Brewing Company supplying beer and wine.

The ball will also include a silent auction, which will include boat cruises, art by local artists, and other items, and there will be door prizes and draws throughout the evening. At 11 p.m. a light lunch, supplied by Primitive Catering, will be served and the dance will wind up at midnight. All proceeds from the dance will go to Community Living Programs, including the Treasure Trunk. Tickets are $25 and they are limited in number. They are available at the Community Living office, Sharbot Lake Pharmacy, Gray's Grocery, the Parham General Store, and Burns Jewellers in Perth. For further information, call 613-279-3731.

Staff at the Northern Frontenac Community Services Child Centre in Sharbot Lake held an on site, by donation barbeque lunch at the center on September 10, which attracted numerous supporters from in and around the community. In an effort to reach those supporters who were not able to attend the barbeque, staff offered up for the first time a lunch delivery service for those wanting to support the United Way but who could not get away from work or home that day. Maribeth Scott, manager of the Child Centre in Sharbot Lake, and her staff hold numerous United Way fundraisers throughout the year as a way to support the organization. The United Way, in turn, supports two NFCS programs, which include the family counselor located at the adult services building in Sharbot Lake, and the youth leadership program for grade 8 students. The program runs for a full day at the Granite Ridge Education Centre and assists the students in acquiring their volunteer community hours by making opportunities available to them through partnerships with local businesses and organizations.“It's very important for us to support the United Way not just because they support our own programs but also to support all of the other agencies in the community that are supported by the United Way,” Scott said.

For those who missed the fundraiser, there will another opportunity coming up to donate to the United Way at a chili lunch and pie auction fundraiser, which will take place at the Child Centre on Thursday, October 8 from noon until 1 p.m.

Land O’ Lakes Community Services in conjunction with Kingston Community Health Centre and Stanford University is holding educational workshops in Denbigh, at the Denbigh hall, 222 Highway 28. This workshop will help participants gain information and skills to better manage their diabetes. This free, six-week workshop starts Sept 10 - Oct 15 for 2.5 hours per week, 1 - 3:30pm (Living Well With Diabetes). You can learn new skills, and information that will help manage your diabetes daily, prevent complications and live healthier. Developing self-management skills will empower you to actively achieve your best health and wellness. You will gain the confidence and motivation to better manage your symptoms and the challenges with living with diabetes. This workshop is for people living with Type 2 diabetes as well as their caregiver and family members. You will learn about healthy lifestyles, managing stress, make action plans and set goals. The facilitators, Nancy Willis and Pam Lemke, received their training through Stanford University, and have been certified to deliver the program. If you miss this workshop, others will be offered in the future. For more information, call Pam Lemke at 613-336-8934, ext. 229, 1-877-679-6636, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

It may have been the free breakfast, a restaurant full of clients and their families, the way the agency staff relates to the board and the community, or holding the meeting in the summer.

Whatever the reason was, the Community Living-North Frontenac Annual General Meeting that was held at the Maples Restaurant in Sharbot Lake last Wednesday (August 26) felt more like a party than the statutory meeting that all not-for-profit corporations must hold each year.

Bob Miller, the long-serving chair of the Community Living board, conducted the business end of the meeting. He said that the agency has continued to both serve its clients and encourage a healthy relationship with the broader community this year, and “The books are all balanced, so we're ok on that end as well.”

In his address, Executive Director Dean Walsh talked about some of the events that have taken place over the last year, and about some of the plans for community outreach that are under development.

One of the major outreach programs, the Treasure Trunk store, continues to be a priority. In October, Community Living is sponsoring its first ever fundraising dance, which will be a costume Ball at the Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake on October 24th.

There has not been a lot of rain in recent weeks, but last Thursday afternoon was an exception. At 5 in the afternoon Sharbot Lake was not visible from the bandshell that faces it.

Five o'clock also happened to be the start time for the annual Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS) Community BBQ, this one marking the 40th anniversary of the agency.

Although they hung on to the idea of holding the event at the beach for as long as possible, about an hour earlier NFCS staff had decided it was time to move indoors.

The balloon castle was not going to fit into the Oso Hall, so it had to go, as well as some other outdoor events, but the band set up on stage, the food was prepared and as the storm was raging outside, over 200 people crammed into the hall to eat and laugh together.

“It was the last thing we wanted to happen,” said NFCS Executive Director Louise Moody, “but in the end we pulled it off and people showed up anyway. Everybody still had fun, although it has been a bit hectic for us.”

To mark the 40th anniversary, the first executive director of NFCS, Wayne Robinson, was on hand, as were a number of staff and board members from over the years.

“It's wonderful to see that something we put together so many years ago has continued to find its way and flourish like this,” said Robinson.

NFCS had its roots in a series of meetings between community members in the early 1970s to talk about community needs. In 1973, St. Lawrence College, which was itself only seven years old at the time, gave the group a grant to hire a “community animator”.

Forty-two years later NFCS provides services to children and youth from its Child Centre location on Road 38, and to adults and seniors from its Adult Services building in the middle of Sharbot Lake.

With funding from a number of provincial ministries, the United Way and the community itself, it provides services for youth throughout Frontenac County, and for adults and seniors in the area from Verona north to Plevna and Ompah and beyond.

“When a young family needs information, a teenager needs training to become a babysitter, an adult is in crisis, or a senior needs help to stay happy and active in their own home, we are there for them,” said Moody.

The NFCS BBQ survived the rain, but that does not mean it will be scheduled as an indoor event next year.

“It is pretty hot in here,” said one mother, “and humid, too.”