The Darden Foundation

Thank you to the Darden Foundation for helping us to ease the suffering of the poor.

Shepherds of Good Hope today announced it has been selected to receive a $1000 grant as part of the inaugural Restaurant Community Grant Program from the Darden Foundation, the charitable arm of Darden Restaurants Inc. The Restaurant Community Grant Program is a local grants program intended to help support nonprofit organizations in the hundreds of communities Darden and its restaurant brands serve.

Bill's Memorial

On April 18th I had the honour of attending Bill Tookenay’s memorial service at the Oaks.  Bill had been a resident of the Oaks for 3 years and a regular visitor to Shepherds of Good Hope before that. 

I looked around me and was astonished to see how many people Bill’s life touched.  The room for the memorial was packed with those that respected and loved Bill.  Many had the opportunity to share fond memories of Bill.  Others spoke about his tough exterior and his very soft side that he liked to keep hidden.  One person, Bill’s younger brother spoke about his admiration for his older brother who was extremely intelligent, witty and kind.  He really gave everyone in the room an insight to how proud he was of Bill.

Someone read a story that Bill had written about his experiences being homeless and one line really said a great deal to me and that was, “I can’t believe they allow a piece of heaven for the lost”.  That was how Bill felt about his last years at the Oaks.  He was a man suffering from an alcohol addiction and had experienced atrocities from his life living on the street.  His last years provided him with a community that cared deeply for him and a new chance to reconnect to his birth family.  This is what is so astonishing about Shepherds of Good Hope.  It has formed a community that acts like family.  The tears I shared with those around me was the testimony.

Thanks Algonquin College Public Relations!!!

On April 12, I attended the "Network to Nourish" event at Aulde Dubliner.  This event was the last event put on by Algonquin College first year PR students to raise money for Shepherds of Good Hope.

The students put on a total of 8 events on to raise money for this city's most vulnerable.

Here is a clip of me speaking at the event:

Here's a photo of the cheque that was presented at the event



We are just so thrilled that the students got together and put on such fantastic events in support of our cause.  They made a grand total of $8190.45!

Amazing!

Need for Volunteers

Here at Shepherds of Good Hope, we love our volunteers. Without volunteers there is no way that we could do the work that we do for the most vulnerable people in this city.

Currently we have a need for more volunteers to join the Shepherds of Good Hope family.  We are looking for cooks, volunteers, administrative staff, recreational assistants, gardeners, cleaners and much more. If you are 18 and older and can spare 4 hours a week to help those in need, we would love to hear from you!

Please contact Ann at 613-789-8210 for more information.
Also, please visit our website section on Volunteers.

Algonquin College Public Relations

What an exciting month of fundraising it has been! Shepherds of Good Hope was honoured to be chosen for the 24th Annual Algonquin College first-year public relations student fundraising campaign. This year's event is named "Help Halt Hunger" and the goal is to raise $6000 for the Shepherds of Good Hope kitchen & grocery program.

So far there have been exciting events including an open mic night, bowling, dancing, dodge ball, a pool tournament, a movie screening of "Hunger Games" and a dating night. The most recent event was A Night at the Races. This took place at the Rideau-Carleton Raceway and our very own Rob Eady was there to enjoy the evening. Here are some great photos that he took that evening.

Please check out the rest of the photos in our album on Facebook.

The next event is on April 12 at Aulde Dubliner. Media Q's Network to Nourish - A fantastic opportunity to mix and mingle! Come on out to the meet and greet! See you there.

For more info on Network to Nourish, click here.