Personalized vehicle licence-plate holders for residents of the Saanich Peninsula are back by popular demand.
The Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation’s last week announced the return of licence-plate holders branded for each of the peninsula municipalities. Funds raised by the sale of the holders benefit the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation and the Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce.
“Each municipality on the peninsula has a distinct personality. That’s a large part of what we were attempting to capture with sales of these licence-plate holders,” says project originator Kenny Podmore. “I first approached the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation with this idea almost 10 years ago, and it met with considerable success. I’ve had many people ask me when there would be more for sale, and it just seemed like the right time to bring them back.”
The last time the plates were offered, the foundation raised more than $7,000 for hospital projects. On behalf of the foundation, Podmore, a councillor for the Town of Sidney, created designs for each municipality and received approval of the designs from the various municipal councils.
“With the return of this one project, we are making people more aware of the needs of the hospital and inspiring pride in our community,” said Gordon Benn, hospital board president.
The licence-plate holders will be available for a donation of $10 per pair and will be available in a variety of locations, including the offices of both the Saanich Peninsular Hospital Foundation, the Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, the Town of Sidney and District of North Saanich municipal offices. People can get holders directly from Podmore, who at a later date will announce times when he will make himself available to install the licence-plate holders for donors. For more information, go to sphf.ca.
Poinsettias make for warmer babies
Proceeds from the sale of poinsettias over the holidays has resulted in a new blanket warmer for babies at the Victoria General Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Vancouver Island’s smallest and most fragile patients will benefit from the fundraising efforts of the Victoria General Hospital Auxiliary, which recently helped raise more than $87,000 toward the purchase of a cardiac ultrasound monitor and a blanket warmer to improve treatment and patient care for infants who need specialized care.
“The cardiac ultrasound monitor helps put Victoria General Hospital in the forefront for this technology,” said Dr. Brian Sinclair, medical director, child, youth and family health. “It gives our pediatric medical teams a window into the hearts of these babies, providing exceptionally detailed information and guiding vital medical care. We are so thankful to the auxiliary. It is extraordinary that a dedicated team of volunteers has funded this equipment for our Island’s pediatric specialty hospital.”
The blanket warmer heats receiving blankets to support the temperature regulation that is critical to newborns in intensive care. Madison King was one such baby. She was born at 32 weeks, weighing just 2.5 pounds and needing the specialized care of the NICU.
“With my baby being so small, I did worry about her being cold,” said Tiffany King, Madison’s mother. “The warm blankets were so comforting. It was some of the most beautiful time we had together, when her skin was next to mine and we were wrapped in warm blankets.”
After four weeks in the NICU, Madison is now at home and growing stronger.
The Victoria General Hospital Auxiliary partnered with the Victoria Hospitals Foundation in December on the Poinsettias 4 Patients campaign. The Auxiliary sold poinsettias and other holiday plants, raising more than $7,000. For more information, go to vgha.ca.
Birthday party becomes a gift for students
A request for friends and well-wishers attending a birthday party to substitute a book instead of cards or gifts has resulted in the donation of more than 600 books for two elementary schools.
For his 60th birthday last month, City of Victoria councillor Chris Coleman decided to celebrate with a cake-and-ice-cream drop-in event at the James Bay New Horizons Centre. In lieu of gifts, people were asked to bring along a children’s literature book, which would be donated to the James Bay Community School and South Park Family School.
Expecting to collect 180 books, Coleman was pleasantly surprised when people came by with over 600. CFAX Santas Anonymous, a local children’s charity, donated $1,000 to each of the schools to purchase more books and the Victoria Firefighter’s Union (International Association of Firefighters, Local 730) donated an additional $250 to each school.
Orca Books gave both schools a gift of a further 60 titles each, to be selected at the discretion of the school librarians.
Coleman has heard that other people have been inspired and plan to do variations of the initiative for other schools in the region.
“It became the best birthday present I could have ever received,” he said in a letter.
Mass to remember Michael Dunahee
The public is invited to a mass on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the disappearance of Michael Dunahee.
The then-four-year-old disappeared from a playing field near Blanshard Elementary School 23 years ago, spawning one of the largest police investigations in Canadian history. To date, over 11,000 tips have been received by police.
Unfortunately, he is not alone. In 2012, there were more than 45,000 cases of missing children in Canada, with about 8,000 reported in British Columbia.
The mass will be held for all missing children and in support of the Dunahee family as the search for Michael continues.
The service starts at 12:10 p.m. at Our Lady of Peace Church, 849 Old Esquimalt Rd. For more information, go to michaeldunahee.ca.
Participaction funmobile stops in Victoria Monday
As part of its national campaign to increase physical activity, Participaction is asking Canadian families to Unplug and Play for 60 minutes a day from March 24 to 30.
To encourage families to get outside and unplugged from electronics, the organization’s Bring Back Play Funmobile will tour the province, with a stopover in Victoria Monday. The Funmobile encourages kids to get out and move, while educating parents on the importance of play with hula hoops, skipping ropes, balls and chalk.
The national non-profit organization says that although 92 per cent of Canadian children say they would rather play with friends than watch television, they still spend almost eight hours every day in front of a screen, be it computer, smartphone, video game or television.
Active play is fundamental to every child’s physical, cognitive, emotional and social development. While playing children can get to try new things, test boundaries and use their imaginations.
The Funmobile will be at: Quadra Elementary School, 2780 Richmond Rd., between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. at the Panorama Recreation Centre, 1885 Forest Park Dr. between 4 and 5 p.m. For more information, go to participaction.com.
Cops to hit the ice for Special Olympics
Police officers will trade their guns and handcuffs for hockey sticks and pucks to raise money for Special Olympians on Tuesday.
Members from the Victoria Police Department will face their counterparts from Saanich in a game for bragging rights and to raise money for Special Olympics of British Columbia.
What started as a low-key challenge has grown into a more involved event, with the Victoria Police Capitals and the Saanich Police Watchdogs playing 60 minutes of hockey to determine a winner.
Team honour is at stake — the losing team will have to fly the winning department’s flag in front of their office for the weekend following the game. Last year, the Saanich Watchdogs were victorious, but the real winners were the Special Olympians, who were presented with a cheque for almost $3000.
Saanich Police mascot, Ace will be on hand for the kids. There will also be noisemakers and door prizes, which include a Victoria Royals jersey and Royals tickets.
Admission by donation. The game starts at 7 p.m. at the Gold rink at Pearkes Recreation Centre, 3100 Tillicum Rd. For more information, go to specialolympics.bc.ca.
Shelbourne Community Kitchen needs volunteers
The Shelbourne Community Kitchen, an exciting new project in the Shelbourne area, is looking for volunteers. They are having a volunteer meeting Monday for anyone who interested in volunteering and would like more information.
The project is the collaborative effort of a number of community partners including community associations, faith groups, community groups, local business and individual residents. Partner organizations include the Lutheran Church of the Cross, St. Aidan’s United Church, St. Luke’s Anglican Church, Mount Tolmie Community Association and Camosun Community Association.
Monday’s meeting will include building teams of interested volunteers and discussing satellite kitchen schedules. There are also opportunities to be part of garden planning, as well as outreach and foodbank.
The purpose of the community kitchen is to provide support through a neighbourhood resource centre for people who lack adequate access to healthy food. The kitchen will work with people to prepare, share and help build important food skills. Twice a week the kitchen will teach groups of five to six people on how to prepare healthy food.
Light refreshments will be served.
The meeting takes place 6 to 8 p.m. at St. Luke’s Hall, 3821 Cedar Hill Cross Rd. For more information, go to stlukesvictoria.ca.