Project 417 Fundraising Gala

Tonight was the We are Family Fundraising Gala. It was held at the RBC Auditorium at 315 Front Street West in Toronto. The event was put together by volunteers to raise money for Project 417 and their street outreach ministry. Among other things, Andy, from Project 417 organizes Sandwich Runs where he takes volunteers out to the streets of Toronto to hand out bag lunches to our homeless friends. A truly worthwhile cause indeed.

We had a good turnout. Entertainment was provided by Big John & The Night Trippers a Motown/Blues/R&B/60's Rock & Roll band. They kept the crowd hopping with their groovin' tunes. In between sets a DJ spun songs to keep things lively. A variety of tasty hor d'oeuvres and pastries served by the waitstaff throughout the night. That was great. I couldn't get enough of what I can best describe as a pineapple pie dessert. Yumm-y! In addition to the tickets sales, guests were able to donate more through either the live or silent auctions.

All-in-all I'd have to call it a successful evening. Thanks to all the hard work put in by Andy, Ed, Joe and the rest of the crew both money and awareness was raised. I'll be posting more photos soon. Go to my Flickr.com page in a day or two and you'll see them up.

Boarding Homes Ministry

I've been visiting Mrs. Carter's boarding home (Carter Manor) since 2000 with Boarding Homes Ministry. It was started by Rodger Hunter (pictured on right, with Owen) back in 1996. The residents in these homes have varying degrees of mental illness, some mild; some severe. Rodger, bless his heart, set out to fill a need he saw in these places. Some residents, for one reason or another, didn't have many friends or family that would come visit. At the best of times life in these homes can be more than trying. Living in close quarters with others who have mental illness is no easy feat. Rodger sought to bring some grace and compassion back into these peoples' lives by visiting them on a regular basis and giving them someone to sound off to. At the beginning he used to visit these homes on his own. When the need became too great he decided to recruit some help. I became involved after Rodger came to our church and gave a sermon on his ministry. It touched my heart.

There have been quite a lot of changes over the many years I've been volunteering here. For one, Mrs. Carter no longer runs the home. She turned it over to Kelly who was her assistant before I believe. Also, many faces have come and gone. Some moved to places that were able to provide more care; some to places that gave less care. It all depended upon the particular individual. There were a few that, sadly, passed away as well. I suppose it mirrors real life in a way. We've all had friends that have come and gone. Out of the thirty-odd residents that lived here when I first started, I believe there are only four left. That would be Robert Cormier, Duchen, Tonica and Ray. There might be one more... I'm not sure. There's another Robert who almost never leaves his room. I think I see him on average less than once a year. Out of the four (or so) residents that I've mentioned only Robert C. functions at a reasonably normal level.

To see Rodger's webpage click here.