The pandemic has been difficult for many, and many are feeling the strain. Fortunately, there are many places to turn and see members of this city coming together to support each other and the community as a whole.
I want to take this column this week and recognize some of those people who are making a difference. I can’t name them all hear, but I feel highlighting their good deeds and community efforts might help get all of us a little closer to feeling normal and that light at the end of the tunnel that is the end of the pandemic.
First, I want to recognize Bill Makinson. We had a story in our paper last week about Bill’s retirement from YourTV Cornwall. Bill has been a supporter of the Cornwall community for many years, both through his work at YourTV and through charity work with Big Brothers/ Big Sisters Cornwall, the United Way, Crafting a Cure, and more. On Thursday night, dozens of members of the Cornwall community came together on Zoom to wish Bill a happy retirement, as he leaves our community for Amherstview to be closer to his grandchildren.
I also want to recognize the local service clubs in Cornwall. Pandemic or not, the Cornwall service clubs are responsible for fundraising tens of thousands of dollars every year. Dollars that are spent on making Cornwall a better community for everyone. These service clubs have seen their memberships shrink over the years as members age, and few new members join, but without these clubs, the City of Cornwall would be poorer, in every sense of the word. The Kinsmen Club of Cornwall, as an example, recently donated $30,000 to the Cornwall Community Hospital Foundation (CCHF) to help buy the hospital new anesthesia equipment. This is just one of many donations that the Kinsmen have made to the hospital over the past year. The fact that they have been able to raise this money and fund these important community projects despite the pandemic is impressive.
Speaking of our frontline workers at the hospital, the CCHF in partnership with Dairy Queen Cornwall has been working to rally support and recognize frontline healthcare workers, who have borne more than their fair share of strain from this pandemic.
During the month of April, CCHF and Dairy Queen Cornwall held their “We Stand Behind our Healthcare Frontlines” art contest, challenging members of the community to create art in their windows or on their lawns to show their support for frontline workers. Dairy Queen Cornwall had art work placed on their solarium as an example and to show their support.
“It’s amazing what a month can do. As I write this column, the scenario at our hospital is much more optimistic than it was in April, and I think we all have high hopes for a healthier, happier summer ahead,” CCHF’s Executive Director Amy Gillespie said in her column last week.
On Saturday, a large number of members of the Cornwall community, joined with their neighbours from Akwesasne in a peaceful march to recognize the 215 Indigenous children who were found in graves at the Kamloops Residential School.
It can be hard to know what to do in response to shocking and sad news, but I think that Saturdays march was a step in the right direction. I have since heard of different community members pledging to run 215 km to raise awareness around residential schools. It is impossible as a non-Indigenous person to truly know how this impacts the Indigenous community, but showing support and being willing to listen is a good start.
Like I said these are just a few examples of bright spots in the Cornwall community during this exceptionally difficult time. There are many, many more. Too many to name here, but every effort to make Cornwall better and to put out positivity is appreciated.
Who else setting a positive example in our community? Email me a Letter to the Editor at nseebruch@seawaynews.media
