The giving has already started at the Ottawa Catholic School Board

Most of us look forward to Fridays. For many of us, it's hopefully the end of a rewarding work week and the signal to some rest and relaxation on the weekend.

I like this particular Friday for another reason. This morning I had the pleasure of meeting with the Ottawa Catholic School Board Director of Education Denise Andre. The Catholic schools do a lot of fundraising for us every school year and I wanted to thank them for their past support and to talk about the upcoming year.

Little did I know they already had donations ready for me to take back to the shelter. The board offices have two very cute baskets at different locations where people can drop off items for Shepherds of Good Hope. We had two large bags filled with toiletries.

Toiletries are expensive and it's natural to forget that homeless men and women need deodorant, toothpaste, etc. So these gifts are very much appreciated. Thank you to the men and women who collected these items.

It's only the first week of school but we've already had several schools approach us about bringing their students on a tour of our facilities. Thank you for reaching out.

Just based on the first few days of the school year, I think we're going to have a great year and a great partnership over the next 10 months. To all the students, we look forward to meeting you in 2015-2016.

If you're a teacher and you would like to visit Shepherds of Good Hope with your students, please contact me at 613-789-8210, ext. 247 or at asilverman@shepherdsofgoodhope.com.

Charlie makes the local newspaper

Charlie, the special six-year-old boy from Renfrew who donated his lemonade stand money to us, was back in the news last week. His hometown newspaper, the Renfrew Mercury, ran a photo on Page 1 followed by a story on an inside page. Click here for the story.

Charlie, you deserve all the accolades you are getting. With the school year just around the corner, I hope you get a chance to talk to your friends at school about how easy it is to help people who have so little.

And speaking of schools, I know it's not what a lot of people think about on such a hot day, but the start of schools is just a few weeks away. This fall, like past years, we'll be reaching out to the schools. So many students and teachers take the time every year to help us either by holding food drives, making sandwiches or raising money.

We're looking forward this year to visiting as many of you as we can. See you in a couple of months.

Tree of Hope is blooming

It’s spring and the leaves have bloomed. The leaves are also blooming on our Tree of Hope located in the lobby of our Hope Living Residence in Kanata.

This morning I was there to place another leaf on the tree on behalf of the Ottawa Catholic School Board Community. I want to give a big thank you to everyone there who raised money for our Tree of Hope Campaign. This is the second year in a row they've made a donation and each time they've donated $10,000.

The goal of the Tree of Hope Campaign is to give Hope Living a $500,000 upgrade. Thanks to your generous donations that have already come in, we’ve fixed the roof and made repairs to the foundation. We’ve also replaced some of the floors but there’s a lot more work to do. To date, we’re almost halfway through our campaign.

It was great to visit today. The trees were providing some much needed shade and it was nice to chat with the residents I've come to know over time. Many were outside on the patio enjoying the warm weather.

If you haven't heard about our Hope Living Residence, it's a supportive living residence in a quiet, suburban neighbourhood at 145 Castlefrank Rd. There are 99 beds and residents have lots of quality outdoor and indoor living space. We also have a nurse on staff and a full dining room with a creative chef, just to name a few of the services residents have access to. If you want to read more about the Hope Living Residence or any of our other programs, please visit here. 

If you want to contribute to our Tree of Hope Campaign, you can purchase a leaf in your name or the name of a loved one for $2500. Micah Garten, our Development Officer, would be happy to provide more information and take your donation. Please contact him at 613-789-8210, ext. 241 or send him an email at mgarten@shepherdsofgoodhope.com.