For 26 years, the Southern Frontenac Community Services Corporation (SFCSC) has been a community hub, providing health and social services to seniors, and at-risk and low-income families in rural Kingston and South Frontenac.

In 2015, the agency served over 850 clients and provided over 17,000 services, an increase of 72% in just five years. Some of these services include: hot meals on wheels, adult day programs, food bank, diners’ clubs, foot care, transportation to appointments, respite training, homelessness support, and so much more.

Behind every statistic is a personal story about how SFCSC services have made a difference in the lives of those most vulnerable in our community. This June, SFCSC is sharing a few of those stories during its fundraising campaign. In the June 9 edition of the Frontenac News, you will find an insert showing real people and their words describing the impact that SFCSC has had on their lives.

Annually, SFCSC receives core funding from the Province of Ontario and local municipalities. But the demand continues to outpace the funding, and some services, such as the Food Bank and Hot Meals program, are funded partially or entirely through donations.

SFCSC is seeking your donations to enable it to continue supporting seniors and other at-risk people in our rural region. SFCSC has also elected to run their campaign during June to take advantage of the Great Canadian Giving Challenge: for every one dollar donated online in June, SFCSC will receive one entry into a chance to win a $10,000 donation from Canadahelps.org.

Check out the flyer, read a few short stories, and consider making a donation to support SFCSC. Together with its donors, SFCSC is Making a Difference.

You need to get up pretty early in the morning to attract many of the movers and shakers of the Sydenham Village business community, and the grateful staff and board of Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCS) did just that last Wednesday morning.

Coffee, muffins and a copious breakfast buffet greeted a full house at the Grace Centre at 7:30 am. The morning chat was interrupted briefly by SFCS Executive Director, David Townsend, who welcomed all those who have contributed to its fund-raising campaigns over the past couple of years.

Townsend pointed out that the agency depends on local fundraising to make sure it can provide service to all those who come looking for help.

Since 2011, the annual budget of SFCS has gone up 48%, to almost $1.4 million. About $1 million comes from funders such as the Ontario Ministry of Health (through the Local Health Integration Network) the United Way and the City of Kingston. The other $400,000 comes from client fees, and fund-raised dollars.

“The important statistic for us is that the overall number of people we serve each year has gone up by 72% in that same time period,” said Townsend.

SFCS receives provincial funding to serve 1,100 hot meals per year, for example.

“Last year we served 3,890 hot meals to seniors. And that was without promoting our program. And now people want us to expand the hot meals program to Fridays as well. It is only because of the generosity of the local community, and the people in this room, that we are able to continue to meet these needs,” Townsend said.

SFCS board member Mark Segsworth then addressed the audience. He outlined briefly how SFCS is looking outward to work with partners, including the township and other service organisations.

He also let it slip, in his role as SFCS fund-raising chair, that in the month of June, SFCS will be holding its major fund-raising campaign for 2016.

Southern Frontenac Community Services provides services for seniors, operates a busy Food Bank, and co-ordinates programs under the City of Kingston and Frontenac County homelessness prevention strategy.

After spending two months interviewing service providers, people with 'lived experience' of homelessness and/or poverty in Frontenac County, and interested community members, Kim Allen was ready last Friday, May 6, for the key event of the project she was facilitating, a rural summit at St. James Church hall.

The summit came about when Louise Moody, the Executive Director of Northern Frontenac Community Services, with support from Southern Frontenac Community Services, secured a grant from the United Way to fund a rural summit. Kim Allen was hired to pull it together.

Participants included front-line social workers in Frontenac County; agency representatives; guests from other communities who have worked on the issues that arise from poverty and homelessness; township and county politicians, including three of the eight members of Frontenac County Council; and community activists who are itching to make a difference.

The meat of the gathering was what Allen described as a modified version of a World Cafe. Participants were seated at tables, and a question was posed for discussion at each of the tables. A note-keeper was appointed at each table. After a few minutes, everyone but the note-keeper stood up and moved to another table. Throughout the day participants moved from table to table and discussed their response to a series of questions.

The first question was general, asking why the topic was important to people and what they hoped the day would accomplish.

Before asking any further questions more detailed information was presented. After sharing the results of some of the research she has done, Allen introduced Tabitah Morton, who is the data analysis co-ordinator for the Ontario Early Years Centre. While Morton is tasked with collecting data about children under the age of six, a lot of the data she uses applies to the general population. She outlined the difference between the northern and southern parts of Frontenac County and Frontenac Islands, and talked about the metropolitan influence of Kingston and how it wanes the further north you go. Another presenter, Dierdre Pike, a Senior Social Planner, newspaper columnist and community engagement expert from Hamilton, talked about how other communities have come together to bring about social change. Pike, who might have been a stand-up comedian in another life, also lightened up the tone of the proceedings considerably.

The rest of the day was devoted to dealing with three further questions. One dealt with people's responses to the presentations, and a second sought ideas, or seeds, that can be used to find real solutions that will have an impact on the lives of people in Frontenac County. The third question, “What needs immediate attention going forward”, resulted in seven proposals for further action, which were then looked at by the group as a whole.

Participants came forward to put check marks beside proposals they supported. They wrote their names beside proposals they not only support but are willing to work on, and they circled their name if they are willing to take the lead pushing a proposal forward.

The results will all be gathered in a final report, to be released in June.

On the day, four of the proposals drew high levels of support. One of them was to look at a model that has been put into practice in Haliburton County. A group has renovated abandoned properties as interim places to live for people who need them. With support, rent had been paid for these properties, allowing the group to expand the stock of temporary housing over time.

Another proposal was to build a small, off-grid house using inexpensive materials and volunteer labour. Using a design put forward by Geoffrey Murray from Granite Ridge Education Centre, the small house could be built for $50,000 in his estimation, and would be suitable for youth trying to establish themselves in Frontenac County.

A third idea that was popular was more process- oriented. It talked about a group of people getting together to form a sort of pressure group to make sure that Northern and Southern Frontenac Community Services, the local township councils, and Frontenac County address the issues raised at the summit on an ongoing basis.

It falls to Frontenac County Council to ensure that the Frontenac County initiative receives its share of attention, and funding from the City of Kingston, which has received provincial funding to work on a ten-year housing and homelessness plan for itself and Frontenac County.

Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS) is leading a community process to respond to issues of poverty and homelessness.

NFCS has received a grant from the United Way to respond to the issues in Frontenac County with support from Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCS).

“One of the strategic directives of the City of Kingston's 10-year plan to eliminate homelessness is to develop a rural homelessness strategy and that is what motivated our agency to take on this initiative,” said Louise Moody, executive director of NFCS.

The rural strategy addresses the following goals in rural areas: expand housing options for low-income and homeless individuals; improve access to services; enhance targeted prevention; and promote local leadership in “ending homelessness” (i.e. putting an effective system in place to make the absence of housing short-term and rare, and eliminate long-term or repeated episodes of homelessness).

There are four levels of homelessness as defined by the Canadian Homelessness Research Network, and in Frontenac County the focus has been on level 3: provisionally accommodated; and level 4: at risk of homelessness.

“We have used the United Way funding to engage Kim Allen as a consultant to meet with community leaders, with people who have experienced poverty and homelessness/housing security issues, and service providers in the various communities of Frontenac County,” said Moody.

“Getting to meet people from throughout the county who are facing or have faced these issues, people who work in this area, and others who are interested in making a difference on a community level is key to ensuring that we can truly address these deep and complex issues,” said Kim Allen.

After two months of collecting information about rural poverty and housing security, NFCS is convening an all-day summit in Sharbot Lake on May 6. During the summit, participants will discuss the findings of the community consultations, explore the issues of rural poverty, identify assets in the community and develop new strategies to deal with the issues.

“We will employ a world cafe style process on May 6. The goal will be to access the collective wisdom, encourage intentional conversations, invite diverse contributions to the discussion and foster a sense of commitment to the necessary actions that will be identified at the summit,” said Allen.

A minimum of three strategies will be identified for the community to address/prevent homelessness as well as to help inform the City of Kingston's Homelessness strategy for Frontenac County and the United Way's Youth Homelessness strategy.

The geographic and economic diversity in Frontenac County will likely result in different initiatives being taken on in different communities within the County.

A further hope of the organizers is that by getting people who are committed to addressing these issues they will take it upon themselves to act collectively in the future, within and between the community of communities that is Frontenac County.

If you are interested in learning more about this community initiative or the summit, please contact Kim Allen at 613-583-4569 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

By popular demand, on Saturday, April 23 at 7:30 pm, the Grace Centre in Sydenham will present the return of “Sheesham, Lotus and 'Son: The New Kings of Old Time”, with Sheesham Crow, Lotus Wight and 'Son Sanderson. They are committed to the preservation of music and tradition of the past. The core of the show is a repertoire based on their love of the American fiddle tune, joyously played, not only with fiddle, but also with jaw-harps, banjos, and homemade instruments like the contrabass harmoni-phonium. Ragtime and blues never sounded so good. Their performance last year was sold out and very enthusiastically received. There was lots of toe-tapping and big smiles all round at the astounding musicianship and antics. The concert is a fundraiser for Southern Frontenac Community Services. Tickets are only $12 in advance and $15 at the door. No cost for children 10 and under. Tickets can be purchased at: Gilmour's in Harrowsmith; the SFCSC office at 4419 George Street; the One Stop in Sydenham; Ormsbee's Mercantile in Sunbury

I chose the above words to appear on my ski wear as I participated in the annual international 51 km x-country ski competition in the Gatineau Hills on Feb 27 in order to raise money for SFCSC Food Bank Healthy Snacks Program.

Thank you service clubs, church groups, restaurants, Southern Frontenac Community Services staff, fellow volunteers, board members, and old and young friends. Together through our sponsorships, we raised $2770 for the program, which will now be able to continue this year.

The weather and conditions were kind to this old 75-year-old this year. For 15 years I have had a special chosen place on the course where I pause to admire a breath-taking vista. Always the question occurs to me “Why me”? There have been years when tears froze on my face during my reflection. I have been blessed with a kind aging process and good health. “Please allow me to come back to this special place one more time”.

I was motivated to use my ski adventure as a fundraiser for the SFCSC food bank partly because of a community need, and partly because of some disturbing statistics for the year 2015 published by Canada Food banks, and the Ontario Association of Food banks:

• 850,000 people accessed food banks monthly in Canada.

• 360,000 people accessed food banks monthly in Ontario.
• One third of the above numbers were children.
• One in three jobs in Ontario are full time. The remainder are part time or contract, with little or no benefits, and less wages.

The above are just some of the disturbing stats. Unaffordable housing, and the rising food prices are contributing factors to the prediction that over a million people will have to access food banks in this year of 2016…in Canada.

Our children are Canada’s most important natural resource; each child is unique. Each may see our world differently. Each may be innovative accordingly. To preserve that innovation, we need to continue to insure that each child reaches their maximum potential in the growing years. This means all children should have proper nutrition. Dreams are the foundation of reality. No child should be deprived of the right to dream.

Thank you again to supporters of SFCSC Food Bank Healthy Snacks Program fundraiser.  

From Street to School- photography show at Sydenham's Grace Hall

Anyone wanting a look at what has inspired two Kingstonians to turn their attention and fundraising efforts to the beauty and promise of Africa, specifically Kenya and its street children, should visit the Grace Centre in Sydenham for a show of photography titled “The Kenya Initiative: From Street to School”.

The purpose of the initiative is to assist young Kenyans with the funds they need to attend school and 100% of the proceeds of the show will be going towards that goal.

The Kenya Initiative was born out of a trip to Kenya by Irwin Streight and his family and on February 21, Streight and friend Raymond Vos gave a slide show and talk about the project at the Grace Centre.

In 2009 on their trip to Kenya, Streight and his family befriended two recent high school graduates, Caleb and Isaac Machira, who were working and making $1 /day with the hopes of attending university. They also met another Kenyan, John Nijane, who volunteers his time making monthly deliveries of food to local households in need and supporting a number of children living on the streets, for whom he was hoping to find housing and school funding.

Back in Kingston Streight had a conversation with his good friend Raymond Vos, owner of the Raymond Gallery, and the two dreamed up the The Kenya Initiative: From Street to School.

Vos recalled, “My heart broke when I heard Irwin’s stories and it was then that I realized that I had some resources, art pieces that I have tucked away, and that the money from their sales could be used to help meet the needs of the Kenyans that Irwin had met.”

The project was started out of that conversation and just six and a half years later, $100,000 has been raised to assist young Kenyans to attend school.

Together Vos and Streight traveled to Kenya in June 2013, meeting face to face with the people they are helping, not only to see how their fundraising dollars were being spent but to also to gather artwork made by Kenyan students to raise more funds in Kingston.

Raymond Vos said the main message he wants to get across to those who see the show is “how a small act of kindness can have enormous results and that when you invest in the lives of others, primarily through education, it will not only change one person's life but their entire family and extended family’s lives.”

The show is comprised of many gorgeous photographs that Vos took in Kenya back in 2013 and they include the Kenyan people and a wide variety of the animals they came across while on safari there. There are zebras, birds, hippos, lions, and much more, but most notable are the smiling faces of the youngsters, many of whom are now students thanks to the work of these two gentlemen and many generous donors over the years.

The show is not only an eye opener to life in Kenya but an opportunity for lovers of photography to support young Kenyans through this educational initiative. For more information visit www.galleryraymond.com

For visiting hours at the Grace hall go to www.sfcs.ca

Seven years ago, the Southern Frontenac food bank was nothing but a few shelves in a closet in one tiny office. Now, thanks to dedicated volunteers – currently over 20 – and community support, it provides food for over 50 families in need every month. For the past year, the food bank has provided healthy snacks and lunches for school children, and local skier Dave Linton, wants to see that continue.

“Super Dave,” as he is called by his close friends, feels strongly that feeding children healthy snacks helps them learn and perform better, and he will be competing in a 51 km cross-country ski marathon in the Gatineau Hills in late February to raise funds for the snack program, which is not eligible to receive external funding support this year.

“As the food bank grew, it became eligible for grants from the Ontario Association of Food Banks,” states Dave, whose wife, Jennifer Linton, founded the food bank and volunteers as the warehouse coordinator, “A year ago the food bank accessed funding to enhance its existing children’s snack program with fresh food items. Unfortunately, those funds are no longer available this year.”

The school snack program provides healthy and fun snacks to children in families with limited incomes to ensure kids receive the fuel they need for their bodies and brains to succeed. For five years, the food bank has been providing children with non-perishable snacks, such as pudding and applesauce. In 2015, thanks to the one time grant, these snacks were enhanced with perishable items like yogurt, cheese, grape tomatoes, baby carrots, and celery, making them even healthier. The cost of these purchased items is about $4 per snack, with an annual cost of over $2,400.

A 51 km international level ski race sounds daunting enough, but it can be especially challenging if you are 75 years old. “I’m an advocate of daily exercise and physical activity,” says Dave, “I’ve been able to compete at this level for a long time and still hold my own. I’m excited to race again this year and dedicate it to this cause.”

Dave – a long-time volunteer with SFCSC – has a goal of raising $2,500 to support and enhance the kids’ healthy school snack program. “At 75 years old, this may be my final Loppet of this magnitude,” says Dave, “I want to dedicate it to helping kids in our community achieve greatness, and often that starts most simply, with active living and nutritious food.”

Dave is challenging his friends, family, local businesses and the community in general to support his fundraising efforts by pledging to donate an amount per kilometre, or a flat rate donation. “I’m also offering to wear logos of businesses who want to sponsor my race and support this cause,” offers Dave.

To support Dave, you can reach him at 613-376-6883, drop in to the food bank at 4419 George Street in Sydenham or go to his fundraising campaign page: www.sfcsc.ca/superdave.

Dave adds, “If this international race is cancelled for any reason, I’ll ask sponsors to continue to support me in a 100km kayak relay race from Kingston to Smiths Falls.” Super Dave indeed!

Just before Christmas, the Community Foundation of Kingston and Area (CFKA) announced they were awarding a record $251,000 in grants to support 23 different programs.

Of those, 21 were located within the City of Kingston and two in Frontenac County.

The largest grant in Frontenac County was a $21,702 grant to Southern Frontenac Community Services.

In announcing the grant, the foundation described the organization's scope: “Southern Frontenac Community Services will purchase, move and retrofit three former school portables to its new Grace Centre site in Sydenham, Ontario, allowing the organization to reduce costs associated with operating two sites, increasing organizational efficiency, providing better networking and shared services with other agencies cohabitating in the facility, increasing the community profile of the organization, and ultimately, providing more and better health and social services to seniors, at-risk and low-income families in need.”

The second grant in Frontenac County went to Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS), which is facing an aging vehicle problem.

The CFKA granted NFCS $7,500 to help them purchase a used vehicle.

“This capital request for funding for a replacement vehicle will provide outreach playgroups and youth recreation programs to residents of the many small hamlets and villages throughout Frontenac County. This service will ensure that rural children and youth have access to local programs where they have opportunities to play and socialize together, attend special events and build social networks,” said the foundation in announcing the grant.

The grant from the Community Foundation is not the only one that NFCS has received for vehicle replacement.

Early this week it was announced that NFCS has received a $45,000 grant from the Trillium Foundation for a new vehicle to be used by staff serving seniors, adults, youth and children who use the services of the agency, which prides itself on providing 'cradle to grave service' in North, Central and parts of South Frontenac. Its youth programs are delivered throughout the County.

NFCS staff travel 5750 kilometres a month throughout the 3150 square kilometre County.

“With this grant we will be able to replace one of the aging 2006 vans that we have. We will be purchasing a seven-seat van so we will be able to transport clients as well as staff. The van may also enable us to enhance the services offered by Frontenac Transportation Service, which is one of our programs,” said Louise Moody, executive director of NFCS.

On November 21, several friends got together at the Sydenham Legion for a family and friends event, calling it “Keeping it Local”. Proceeds from the event, totalling $630 were presented to the SFCSC Food Bank from the event organizers, Nicki Mundell and Ashley Reynolds. A total of seven families were instrumental in organizing the event and wanting to support local agencies helping local residents. Many thanks to Nicki Mundell & Andrew Watson, Ashley & Kyle Reynolds, Shannon & Chris Bowes, Josh & Nicole Revell, Farrah and Adam Heska, Felicia & Matt Dowker and Lisa & Jordan Livermore.

Southern Frontenac Community Services held an open house on December 1, to kick off a month-long fund raising campaign for its food bank, which serves South Frontenac and rural Kingston (south to the 401). Their goal for December is $25,000.